I spent almost a year living and exploring
the west coast of Australia and now I’ve been back living 1 month on the west
coast of Canada.
Normally time fly’s by these days but this
past month has been such an enourmous step I’ve really taken the time to
appreciate everything as it comes. Though I have been busy….
I have so many things to be grateful for in
life and over this past month to name but a few I found 2 jobs I’m happily
enjoying as a physio, I’ve found a really lovely ground level suite and am
happily living on my own for the first time in years. I’ve got so many lovely
friends around for support and I’ve got the outdoors on my doorstep so rain,
hail, snow or sunshine I’m able to embrace the elements and get out and enjoy
it.
My own personal space has been a fun task
to furnish on a budget. I’ve been lucky and lent furniture, got some great
second hand bargins, given free things including people being kind enough to deliver for free plus a big trip to Ikea and all of a
sudden what was an empty shell has become my home. I’m not one for just sitting
at home alone but what I do appreciate so far about living on my own is that
when I do return home it’s a space I feel comfortable in, can relax and
recharge….
This past month has also allowed me to get
back into my passion for music too. I got to see Joshua Radin play live, I’m back taking Ceroc dance classes, I’ve
purchased my first acoustic guitar finally having time to learn and have just
bought a second hand electric piano off a family who have upgraded to an upright piano for their child and dropped the price for me without me even asking and wanted me to stay and have dinner with them some people are just so welcoming. Music for me is a way to release and express a
feeling, you can just switch off from everything else and become absorbed
purely in the moment of creating….
The outdoors and exercise are never far
from my mind and Sandra and I have committed to my first ever half marathon end
of Novemember in Seattle so I’ve been running a fair bit. I’ve got 2 awesome
training runs one is 17.5 km and includes the beautiful loop of Stanley park
and the other is 12km and allows me to run along the ocean front. The grouse grind is a short bus ride away if
I feel like a leg burning exercise hike up the mountain and being able to cycle
to work in the cold and rain still has me smiling as my short commute time
allows me to get some exercise in on the way to work as well.
Since I’ve been back we had 2 amazing weeks
of mostly sun with days as warm as summer and now Autumn has hit so the parks
have lit up with leaf colours of bright reds, oranges and yellows such a
beautiful sight. This week we have had
an increase in the rain and now there is new snow falling low on the mountains.
Soon it will be time to clip in the ski’s and strap on the snowshoes for the
winter wonderland that awaits. I’m planning to do my Avi 1 course and hire some
touring ski’s to start to learn more backcountry and ski touring this year. All I need is some willing friends to teach me!!
Us girls have explored High falls creek, Lynn valley and half the baden powell trail doing some lovely hikes and bike rides too. September is the month Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving and it was such a lovely experience my first real one with all the trimmings and I got to experience two!!! I was so spoilt with so much lovely homecoked food and great laughs with friends.
I’m grateful that technology allows me to
keep in contact with friends and family around the world so much easier than it
was once upon a time. Though my beautiful nephew continues to grow up too
quickly I cherish the moments we get on skype and I know the times we are all
back together become even extra special.
For now I stand up tall and feel proud of
the steps I’ve had to take to reach this point, the lessons I’ve learned along
the way, the people that come in and out of our lives and share special moments
with, the changes that will continue to take place and the opportunties that
I’m open to.
This week my grandma turns 95!!! She has a such a sharp witted mind and is still so mobile I'd love to remember as much as she does even now let alone at her age. I'll admit I'm a little sad to be missing a family celebration but I got to spend time with her before I left and I'm grateful I've had many wonderful years with Grandparents and grateful for everything they provided for us over the years. Fresh stewed Rhubarb and ice cream will never taste the same as it did picked straight from their vegie garden...
“I believe everything happens for a reason.
People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so you learn to
appreciate them when their right and sometimes good things fall apart so that
better things can fall together”
