What a Week!

So, things got a bit crazy around here for a while! Not that its not always a bit crazy around here, but this week has been more so than usual. I managed to finally get all those boxes unpacked but now I have the task of finding somewhere to put all the unpacked items. I emptied the last box today but now I have a huge pile of things that have not yet found their way off the floor. Most of it will be sold or given away I imagine and the rest that I won't be needing to use right now will be stored in boxes for my next move in the near future. I'm trying to downsize after realizing that I just do not need so much stuff and at 1100 dollars to have it moved here, that is a bit costly considering I don't know what end of the country I might end up in next! I have to say that it was stressful but kinda fun at the same time opening up all those boxes filled with things I haven't seen in so long!

On top of all this moving stuff, I also had to get caught up on some writing projects and tend to some much needed business such as having my eyes checked and refitted for new glasses since I forgot to do that for the last 5 years. Fortunately, my prescription barely changed at all and it won't cost an arm and a leg like I thought it would to change my prescription. Turns out the eye-strain I was experiencing was due to the number of scratches that accumulated on the lenses and not my eyes deteriorating. So that is good news!

Despite being so busy, I still had some time to enjoy myself too. I spent a fun evening playing pool with a friend and I did manage to get out for a few drives to Donkin and Port Morien and a few walks in the evening to listen for the coyotes at the 8:30 whistle. I actually finally saw a coyote on a drive to town one evening but unfortunately couldn't grab my camera quick enough to get a picture! I also tried something new this week too. Well, not really new because I did it a lot when I was a kid. I went sledding in the apple orchard not far from my house. It was loads of fun and made me realize that even adults have to loosen up once in a while and just act like an 8-year old for a day. Tomorrow, I will attempt those new snowshoes while there is still snow on the ground after that first real big storm we had a few days ago!

Might be Away for a While but Hopefully not too Long......

Well things are starting to happen and that means things just got a whole busier around here! I finally got a moving truck to pick up my things in St. John's and they should be arriving first thing in the morning if the ferry manages to dock in this storm. I remember there being a lot of things but after a year, I forgot just how much stuff I have. The person who was holding them reminded me yesterday that there is quite a bit. An entire living room...stacked to the ceiling! So this evening I am rushing around trying to make room for it all. Than once it is here, I have the tedious task of having to sort through it all and figure out what to do with it. I figure since I have been here for a year without it and got along fine, I don't really need it. Of course, I will keep my photo albums, a few of my favorite books and maybe some items of clothing but I am thinking of maybe selling or giving away anything else I don't need. I beginning to see how much of a burden it is to have too much stuff. A harsh lesson learned after accumulating a decade worth of things and realizing how difficult it is to get back and forth over long distances. And, truth be told, I don't foresee me staying in one place for too long anytime soon! I'm young, I'm single, I'm adventurous, I have nothing tying me down and I can go anywhere I want so why stay in one place? But it is hard to move around when you have to lug so many things with you.

Other than that, not much else has been happening. Still waiting for some snow so I can test out those snowshoes. Hopefully the snow that is falling now sticks around for a while. Still trying to figure out where I might take a trip this spring with those air miles and still working on getting Captain Jack back here. Progress is being made....slowly but surely!

This Video is a Must See for All!!! Please Read and Spread the Message!

The video, "Killing us Softly 4", I am sharing in this post has been around for some time but I only came across it today so maybe everyone has already seen it. But if you haven't, please watch it and share it. The message is clear and although it targets marketing directed at women, all men should watch it too. It talks about how the media is dehumanizing women and how that dehumanization causes men to see us in a negative or positive light depending on how we look and how perfect we are. Define perfect? Well, as you will see in the video, perfection does not exist and what we see in magazines and in the media is not real. Photoshop is a great tool when trying to portray an image of perfection that does not exist.

Women need to grasp the concepts in these videos in order to understand that that image of perfection they are trying to achieve in the mirror every morning is simply not healthy and men need to understand this as well. They need to understand that the women in their lives have an impossible "role model" to live up to that is causing them to go to unhealthy lengths in order to achieve this impossible perfection and it is partially their duty to become aware of what the media is doing to the women in their lives so that they can help them realize that they are already as perfect as they can be and that is perfectly fine!

The second video "Fotoshop by Adobe" I am sharing is shorter than the first but with a similar, more comical approach to the whole message.

"Killing us Softly 4"
http://youtu.be/1ujySz-_NFQ

"Fotoshop by Adobe"

http://youtu.be/1ujySz-_NFQ

The New Year is off to a Fairly Good Start so Far

Well, we are a week into 2012 and so far, things are going pretty smoothly for once. Still a few things up in the air but moving slowly forward at least! All that snow we had for Christmas here in Cape Breton melted but than a new fresh batch fell in a surprise storm that hit the area a few days ago. I was hoping it would stay around longer because for the first time since I was a kid, I'm looking forward to lots and lots of snow so I can test out my snowshoes I got for Christmas and go sleighing on the orchard! There has not been enough snow to test them out yet but even though I didn't like shoveling the stuff, I did manage to get out and do some wintery activities. I got out for some walks and took some pictures and even made a snow man! Well, actually it is more like a snow man-caterpillar-cigar-smoking-cowboy or something like that! You can be the judge of what you think it is from the pictures below!

A New Year....Another New Start....I Seem to be Starting Over a lot but Hopefully This New Start is a Good One!

New Year's has come and gone again and with it comes more promises to myself and more resolutions to fulfill. The thing with resolutions is I don't really have any this year except to do the things I already do better. For example, I already eat pretty healthy, exercise daily, meet my daily freelancing goals, take lots of pictures and frequently participate in the things I love doing so I guess I will just be thriving to do those things better in 2012. I suppose when I think about it, there are a few things I could change and try to stick to in the coming year. I have a habit of turning down social engagements in order to catch up on work and than I regret not going. I think it might be beneficial if I accept more of these invitations and get out more! I also love to travel and have done so quite a bit in the past but I have not traveled nearly as much as I would like. I keep putting it off because of money and debt and other excuses but I'm starting to see that I am not getting any younger and there are only so many tomorrows left so now is a better time than any! I also have another "trait" that I would like to improve on for good and unfortunately, it is something that I had always hoped I would never have to worry about; being careful about who I trust and screening who I bring into my life. I know, I know.....it sounds bad but after what has happened in the last few months, it has become a necessity for me to not automatically trust the people who come into my life. I have a habit of assuming that no one has a reason to hurt me or set me back and have learned that sometimes, some people do not need a reason to mislead and mistreat. By now on, anyone who comes into my life will have to earn my trust before I let my guard down and believe that they are not in my life for their own good while ignoring my needs. By now on, the people who come into my life will have just as much to offer me as I do them instead of them taking up my valuable time and filling me up with lies to benefit their own agenda! I'm going to learn from my experiences and be more careful so that I don't make these same mistakes again!

This time last year, I was not in all that good of a place. I was days away from boarding the ferry back to Nova Scotia except it was not for my yearly vacation, it was for good. At that time, I had a love-hate relationship with St. John's. I loved some of the people, I loved the scenery, I loved the somewhat laid-back feel of the city, I loved my apartment. However, I was jobless after the company I was working for went under and I was feeling defeated and like I was not living up to my potential. By that time, I was spending my days doing the same things all the time and not really going anywhere, kinda like a hamster on a hamster wheel! I see now that loosing my job and being thrown into having to make some very hard and fast decision was a blessing in disguise because, although I am still a long ways from being where I want to be, at least I am now seeing results and I am, at least, slowly moving forward.

As for the near future, I am currently trying to get a moving company to move my things from Newfoundland to Cape Breton and than I will be working on trying to find a way to get Captain Jack safely back with me. I miss that little bugger! It has been almost nine months since I last saw him and I'm afraid he won't know who I am! At some point in the next year, I assume I will be moving, either forcibly when this house sells or on my own free will due to my feet getting itchier by the day and the need for a change of scenery. Not sure where I will end up. Could be out west or just to Sydney or elsewhere in the province. Just taking it day by day right now. I do know that moving back to St. John's is not in the cards, at least for now. Who knows...if you believe the hype surrounding the 2012 apocalypse, than maybe it is a good idea that we all live the next year to the fullest! I'm not sure what to believe and I am not taking it too seriously. I do know one thing and that is December 21st, 2012 and the days leading up to it are going to be quite interesting.

Anyway, so it's 2012 and since I didn't leave the house last year to ring in 2011, I thought it would be a good idea to get out and do something this year. Nothing to extravagant but an entertaining night indeed. Some drinks, some music and some dancing all in good company! The festivities ended with dad and I watching some, in my opinion, crazy people take a dip in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean for the 4th Annual Lawrence Desrosiers Memorial Polar Bear Dip at Lingan Beach.

I leave you now with some pictures of the night in question and some motivational quotes to bring you into 2012.

Happy New Year!

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things". ~John Burroughs

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions". ~Joey Adams

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us". - Hal Borland

"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go". - Brooks Atkinson

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow". Einstein

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right". Oprah Winfrey

"If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people". Confucius

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year". Ralph Waldo Emerson