Needing a Change

I was feeling a little stuck.  I was dealing with minor health issues, I was sick for weeks and I was struggling to keep up with school and then I was starting to struggle with skating.  I feel like a lot of people feel this way;  you get to the middle of the semester, you get stressed and then fight or flight kicks in.  For me the instinct to run kicks in, I want to quit, to change my whole life, to move somewhere else, just do anything to change the situation so I did the cheapest change I could and redecorated my room.

My room was an absolute disaster and I felt like it was a direct representation of how unbalanced and out of control I was feeling so the first step was cleaning up.

the before picture

I bought some new bedding for $12.99 at IKEA, new cushions, and I replaced my magazine clippings and One Direction posters with some more age appropriate decor.  Even though redecorating didn't cure me of being sick or make me caught up on homework it did make me feel better and less anxious and stressed out.

after

it's not perfect but it's more organized at least 

I put up a card my Grandma gave me to remind me what's important and a picture and old good-luck letter from one of my friends to remind me that there's people who are proud of me and who believe in me

no more 1D, I'm such a grownup

An Open Letter to My Best Friend Niela

Hey Niels,

     I'm writing you this great public declaration of my love for you because I didn't get you a going away gift. This is all I have to offer you.  I was going to get you something, I was going to make a nice little going away gift basket with a cute mug from Starbucks and some other small travel/going away goodies but I ran out of time to send it to you because we all know Canada Post takes about 27 years to deliver anything. So here we are.
     First of all don't freak out. I will admit that what you're doing is scary but think of how exciting it is! When I first moved to Calgary I was completely fine until the morning my dad left and that was when I started panicking but there were so many people here in the same situation that I was in and I can guarantee it'll be the same for you so it'll be easy to make friends (you're like a super likeable person anyways so you'll probably end up with too many friends ... don't forget about me).
     Mostly I just want to say that you're super brave and I'm so proud of you and you're making me seriously consider doing things that I honestly thought I would never do.

I love you and miss you always,
Sam

This is still one of my favourite pictures of us

Mini Update and Work Stress

Oh hey there, it's been a while.  If I'm being completely honest I've been finding this whole working and training very overwhelming lately so any time I've had at home (and it's been very limited) I have spent sleeping or sprawled out on the couch getting caught up on the many TV shows I watch.

Since I last blogged I've been to Salt Lake City where I raced the first competition of the season (just for fun it didn't count for anything) and then I came back to Calgary and worked 6 evenings straight.  So for 6 days I trained all day and then worked until 10pm and on the 7th day I left for Ottawa for a visit to see friends, family, and to spend some time at my cottage.  The visit was short and sweet but a much needed break from my day to day routine and of course it was nice to see family and friends that I hadn't seen in a very long time.

Then after my nice trip home I came back and worked 4 evenings straight, great.  Adding school into the mix life became very stressful.  As of right now I'm a little stressed out and sick (because apparently I'm always sick) but I'm managing to balance it all (just barely) I'm just hoping that if something goes south it's anything but skating.