Doin' the Pretty Girl R.O.K.: family

Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Reflections and Resolutions

Happy New Year Everyone!!

It's the first day of the first week of the first month of 2016 (here in Toronto), and I felt like making one of those posts about how last year treated me (or how I treated myself last year) and what my plans are for this year.

TL; DR: 2015 was a good year. Here's to an even better 2016!

Ok, here we go!

In 2015, I:

got rid of all of my furniture and most of my possessions,
went on a cruise with my family, celebrating my 28th birthday in the Caribbean on the water complete with (if I recall) 14 different birthday songs and many people I love,
moved to Korea for a great job teaching high school English with the help of an awesome, generous, kind friend,
met some really good new friends, one of whom convinced me to pursue what could be a life-changing endeavour, another of whom keeps me motivated, another of whom listens to me winge (is this a word?) with patience, and more,
gained greater clarity on where I want to be in the years to come,
set SMART goals for my finances, my career, my health,

developed a better relationship with food (eating when I'm hungry, less comfort eating, no more binging but not by force),
started working on a better relationship with my body (this is a bigger job, pun intended),
started work on getting to a better relationship with my self (lifetime work in progress),
discovered that standard classroom teaching is not my forever, especially since I have a great job now and still feel this way,
was able to go to the wedding of a special friend of mine and felt more included in THEIR day than I could have expected,
learned more about the way I respond to the world, how the world can change, how I can change, and how I have already changed,
spent quality time with my family during the holidays. Even now as I type this, my mum is sitting next to me working away on her own laptop haha.

Whew! I wouldn't be surprised if there was more that I forgot, but that's a lot on its own! I'm quite pleased with the way the year went, even when it wasn't pleasant in the moment.

So what's next?

In 2016, I'd like to:

renew my contract for one more year,
accomplish the short- to mid-term goals I set in 2015,
build my portfolio and skillset in web developing,
do a better job of lesson planning ahead of time,
continue with the habits I formed in 2015 re: eating and physical activity,
criticise myself less,
love myself more (i.e. actively do things to show love to myself).

TBH, I'm just seeing how things go. It doesn't feel as much like a new beginning as I'd thought it might, and I suspect it's because a lot of the changes that I wanted to make were made during 2015. I'm impatient and if I genuinely want to do something I don't do well with waiting until a significant moment to start over. Plus it isn't starting over. I've learned that (in my life, anyway) everything goes in waves, or cycles. There are new phases, but I don't hinge all my hopes on them, because I know myself better and that has helped me to make better habits last longer. When I slip, I let myself slip, then I get back on track. Life can be stressful without us realising; there's no need to bring it on ourselves.

Anyway that's all for now. I'll make another post about my trip here and the trip back... when I'm back in Korea.

I love you all, be well!
Angel xo

Monday, August 17, 2015

I Dreamed a Dream.... and then it happened. Kinda.

So I've been experiencing some dream realness lately.

Exhibit A

The night of Aug. 6. I dreamt that I received an envelope I was waiting for from Air Canada, but instead of the cheque for $400 that I was expecting, it was a gift certificate to some store for $280. I was frustrated and bewildered. The next day, I received that envelope and instead of a cheque for $400, it was a NOTICE of compensation. In other words, an I.O.U. I was frustrated and bewildered.

Exhibit B

The night of Aug. 7. I dreamt that I received a cheque from my alma mater for $13,000 because I had such a high GPA. I remember saying, "Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!" I felt elated. The next day, I didn't receive money BUT there was a sale at the Shoe Company and I got 3 pairs of shoes, all shoes that I'd been meaning to get for a WHILE, for less than $150. I felt elated and said something like, "YES! THAT'S what I'm talking about!"

Exhibit C

Last night. I dreamt that I had a conversation with Sammy, a family member who passed away earlier this year. I don't know if it was a visitation dream, because we didn't talk about much, except going out for dinner. He wasn't eating (didn't need to anymore), but was happy to go with us and chat and drink tea while we ate. Mostly I remember him just looking at me and smiling. This morning, my first day of work for the semester, I'm in the final stages of getting ready to go and I get a text from my Korean teacher liaison and he tells me that there's been a schedule change and today (and every Monday now) I only have 2 classes and don't start until 4pm (rather than 4 classes and starting at 10:30am). His English name.... is Sam.

Mind Blown

That is all. Enjoy your day!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Eau Canada!

This post is not about water, but I thought "Oh Canada" would have been too unoriginal. So just give me a tiny clap for my tiny piece of creativity in that title

*waits for tiny applause*... Okay moving on.

I went to Canada! From July 31st to August 11th I was really quite blessed to be present for the wedding of a great friend of mine from high school and also to see friends and family in Toronto. And now I'm back! People had asked me early on in my time here in Busan whether or not I missed Toronto. And I started to miss it after a while, but at first the only response I had was "I miss my family. I miss my friends. I don't really miss Toronto." I do love Toronto, but it was really the presence of my mum and dad; my brother and sister-in-law; my friends that made this trip great.

PARKSVILLE, VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC

Jana's wedding was BEAUTIFUL. She was BEAUTIFUL. The day was BEAUTIFUL. And that whole weekend was just..... you know. I felt so loved and even though I wasn't in the bridal party I felt like I was a part of it all. It wasn't my day, so it wasn't about me, but I'm the protagonist in the movie of my life and in this part of the movie all I felt was joy for Jana and Craig and also for myself, because I felt so included. I don't know how Jana did it. I suspect she is magical. Leenie and Cierra think so too. Speaking of Cierra and Leenie (and also Izzy), THANK YOU for the long ass ride from/to Comox airport. Also thank you for listening to my rant about that gosh darn taxi driver. It was a good story hey?! Chad, another good friend from high school, was the awesomest roomie/wedding buddy ever. And I got to reconnect with/meet Andrea (also from high school but we didn't really talk). It really was all quite perfect.

All packed and ready to head out the door. July 31, 2015

FINALLY in Parksville and hanging out the night before Jana and Craig's big day.

Chad and Leenie

The beautiful bride, Jana

Andrea!

Wedding Day!

Teehee!

Maude/Betsy

I was SO happy to eat this breakfast. It was SO tasty and now I want to eat it again.

Cocktail time!

We're so good looking.

But she's just gorgeous!

First dance as a married couple!

Leenie and Cierra (just cuz they're awesome)

L-R: Leenie, Cierra, Some girl.

Their room had a gorgeous view!

TORONTO, ON

My week in Toronto was chill (literally and figuratively. HA!) and pleasant and I didn't do everything I had initially planned to do, but I did the important things, and I did them fully. I got to spend some really substantial time avec ma famille and got to see some of the friends I'd been missing while here in Busan. Thanks for making time for me (in order of appearance) Matt, Sarah, Leona, Keith, Letesha (plus Praise!), and Najla. I had a blasty blast with you all! Thank you to my Mama and Papa for all the great food and for letting me stay with you in your new home! It was great to see my cousin Kay-Dean and my Uncle Evon at the BBQ (on one of the few Sunny days while I was in Toronto womp womp).