Another New Beginning

My first day of 1st year starts tomorrow.
An exciting blend of classes this term. No chemistry or math. It worries me that I might forget how to do the calculations and what not, but I'm also thankful for a break from acid and base jargon.

English, Active Health, Leisure and Sport in Society and Biodynamics. See? A fun mix.

And hopefully things won't be so tough that I won't be able to practice BJJ as much. I try to do an hour a day, but I don't think I'll be able to do that much. I might be shifting to more weekends for the first little bit of May and June.

I also want to paint more. I had some friends over for a wine tasting event at my house (not as fancy as it sounds, we watched UFC) and one person really liked this painting I did. So I told her she could have it. The other friend mentioned that he should commission me to paint something. And I jumped at it. I never paint because I don't know what to paint and I'm never happy with it. I'm never inspired. But when people want me to paint something for them, then I start looking at art in a new light. I get inspired and it's a beautiful feeling.

I like this spring. It's a good spring. The best spring I've had in a while. I feel healthy, physically and mentally. There are always things I can work on. But I feel so much more uplifted than this time last year. Not being a vfx artist can do wonders for your mood.

I also can't wait to ride my bike to school tomorrow too. :D

Better Yourself

I'm always looking for ways to better myself. Small ways.
Like eating more veggies. Drinking more tea. Taking my vitamins. Taking a moment each day to just sit and "meditate".

And I discovered a neat little list making app (because for whatever reason, google tasks doesn't sync to my phone so screw them) that has a practice use I promise. It's called Wunderlist. Compatible with android, mac, windows and on desktop. Anyway, because I am an organizational freak, I made a list of how to better myself. Yup.

And I thought I would share it with whoever still reads this god forsaken blog.

• Prepare veggies the night before (chop 'em up!) 
• Drink green tea instead of coffee
• Take vitamins daily
• Floss
• Wear skirts (summer time! yay!)
• Whiten teeth (curse you coffee)
• Make fruit smoothies for breakfast
• Wake up early enough to eat breakfast AT HOME, not on the go.
• Make lunches
• Eat outside (yay summer!)
• Make dinner for My Love more often
• Attempt to grow another garden
• Stretch daily
• Meditate
• Go camping
• Write small lists of things you are grateful for each day.
• Take more photos
• Spend some time at the beach (No excuses! I live so close to the beach)
• Do homework at the public library instead of at home
• Do small things everyday to keep the house clean
• Bike to school (8km each way! Good thing my college has showers!)
• Discover a love of reading again
• Finish reading A Casual Vacancy and A Clash of Kings
• Train at least 4 days a week at jiu jitsu.

This is my list. I'm open to additional suggestions. 

I feel like I should elaborate on a few though. Because why not? 

A new term is starting in May. Actual college. First year stuff! I'm wildly excited about it. But I need to pull my socks up higher than they are now. I need to discover a love of reading again. 

You see, when I was younger, I would hide in my closet so my parents couldn't see the light under the door, and read until 2 or 3 in the morning. I loved it so much. Now a days reading feels a bit like a chore. I read when I'm on the bus, but that's only 10-15 mins. Hardly enough time to really get in the groove. And now that I'm in the "high level" English course, there's going to be a lot of focus on reading things. And I need to be able to sit my arse down and power through material. So that's why I need to finish reading my two books. 

And of course keep training hard in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I feel stagnant right now, but I think it will pass. I'm training 5-6 days a week for 3 hours a day. I executed my first successful takedown/trip/throw/whatever you want to call it today that WASN'T pulling guard. I actually managed to land in side control. It was invigorating and I was so stunned that had done it that I lost position. But it gives me hunger to train more!

I should go to sleep.

I have a chemistry test tomorrow. 

April!

I got the highest mark on my LET (English exam), so I get to take the highest first year English course. Go me!

I also got my 3rd stripe on my white belt today in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu! Yay!

I got into all the courses I need to take this summer.
My schedule is neat. 24hrs/week (4 6hr days) of classes for 6 weeks, and then for the rest of the term, 8 hr weeks (4 2hr days). I'm pleased. Lots of time to volunteer and work and do stuff! Wee!

I need to learn to want to read again. I'm not much of a person to sit down and power through a book anymore, although I wish I was.

I have nothing else to say.

Maybe one of these days I'll sit my butt down and write an actual blog post. Until then...

*poof*

Another Update! Tra la la la

I've been a bad blogger lately. But I promise to rectify this very soon.

School has been in full tilt since January. Math is surprisingly my easiest subject. Chemistry on the other hand is a challenge. I still hold a B, but I'd like it to be... higher. Everyone wants an A, really. I'm not sure what I can say about school that won't bore you. I haven't done any explosive labs in chem class yet, and this saddens me. I kind of want some danger in my study life.

There is a little bit of danger. I'm taking the LET (Langara English Test) next weekend. It's a diagnostic exam to determine how proficient my English skills are. As you can see that last sentence was a little more sophisticated to prove that English really is my first language. I've been studying through a little book they gave me. I think my worst area might be spelling. Thanks to the internet, all my spell check is done witha little red line under all the wrong words.  I should harass Annelise...

1st year Uni starts in May. I've decided to try to join two things. Biology and Human Kinetics. I think it will be fun. I'll also be able to get certified as a personal trainer through the HKin program as well. So that might be good! A little extra income.

Speaking of income, I've been running my little video business. My latest project is a Promo Video for a hair salon in my neighbourhood. "Ravishing Red."

I've also started doing some volunteer work. Monty (my dog) and I now go to a local elderly home on Fridays for a few hours and visit the residents there. A lot of them are over the 80 year mark, and have progressed dementia and Alzheimer's and have lost the capability to communicate in the conventional sense. But when they see Monty, they smile and laugh and stick their arms out like little kids. There was one gentleman who was sitting on a recliner and he shuffled over so Monty could sit next to him. I honestly didn't expect the reaction we got from the people.

I've also been keeping busy with sports. Well, I try to anyway! Since Christmas I've torn my hamstring, sprained my ankle (lateral and high ankle), hurt my back and sprained about 5 toes and 2 fingers. I know, ridiculous. But I keep at it! Taekwondo would be better if there were more than 2 classes a week available to me. I missed a week because of midterms but I'm back on Monday. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu on the other hand has been taking up a lot of my time haha. Roughly 15 hours a week. It's a blast. I'm seriously considering competing at the end of April. Because why not?!

I'm also really excited to be getting my Wine Club back up and running. I know how snobbish that sounds, but it's a total blast. Everyone gets together, drinks wine, eats cheese, fancy cured meats, baguettes. We pretend to be sophisticated but really we just get plastered. Well, most of us anyway. I like to drink a ton of water, so I spend a lot of time in and out of the bathroom. I may or may not add in Cards Against Humanity. I've heard it's crude, so I think the group will enjoy it just fine.

And... yeah. I do believe that is about all I have to talk about. I'll come up with a topic and write an actual blog post at some point in the near future.

Whoa!

It's been a while since I last left a little posty post here for you guys...
Those of you still hanging around?
*crickets*
Anyway...
Uh hi.

What's goin' on? Um well. School! ALL A's last term! Wee!
Shit is harder this term. But I believe I will do well. Working hard.

ALSO!
TKD. Trained some of my team mates for the BC Championships this Sunday! Wee!
BJJ! Got my 2nd stripe on my white belt yesterday! Wee!

And.. uh..
yeah..
That's about all. Thanks for listening :)

I'm a Tomboy

The first thing I do when I'm picking out shoes to wear in the morning is ask myself, "If I got mugged today, would I be able to run or fight back in these shoes?"   The answer is mostly yes. Flats, sneakers, and hiking books.

I've been a tomboy ALL my life. And it's dictated how I look. Grades 1-3, everyday I'd be on those damn monkey bars, or playing soccer, tetherball or baseball with the guys, or crawling under the school (in the earlier grades anyway). If I wasn't at school, I was at home, playing in my back yard, climbing trees and walking on all fours pretending I was a dog. And everyday since I started dressing myself I'd make my decisions based on what sport I wanted to do that day. My mom asked me why I didn't wear dresses or skirts to school and I answered back right away, "If I wear a skirt, I won't be able to do flips off the monkey bars without everyone seeing my underwear." She made me wear a skirt the next day, and I, refusing to miss out on a day of monkey bars, wore shorts underneath and snuck a t-shirt to school. I changed right away.

In grade 4, I started martial arts, which meant I had to be able to tie my hair back. So I grew out my bangs and my hair. I started keeping my nails short. When I was 13, I was REALLY serious about my sports. When all the other girls started styling their hair, and wearing nail polish and make up, I was sitting there with my hair in a slicked back ponytail, my nails cut down to the wood and my face bare (because who wants make up being washed into their eyes when they're sweating?)

It was no different in high school, and now, it's no different in adulthood.

My nails are short so I can rock climb at a moments notice, or go to TKD and not scratch my palms while my hand is in a fist. I get sad with the callouses on my hands fade because that means I haven't been climbing enough. I don't wear nail polish because it just chips off when I climb anyway. My hair is long, and I have no bangs, so that I can slick it back into a ponytail or bun and not worry about it getting in my face while I'm moving around. I wear pants and sneakers daily so that I can run for the bus, or protect myself, or just walk quickly if I want (I can't walk in heels, it's impossible). And I just don't even bother with make up because one, I don't really know how to apply it, and two, I subconsciously rub my eyes a lot, so screw that.

I'm trying to learn how to embrace my LARGE tomboy side with the small girly side who wants to wear a skirt and heels one day out of the week. It's really hard. I wish t-shirts were more widely accepted as awesome fashion.

And I wish I could wear sports bras every day, because actual bras suck. (The straps always fall, no matter how tight/short you make them.)

Fun Friday

I had a good day today. I feel productive :)

This morning I had a campus tour at UBC. It was 3 hours long and a lot of walking. I've been on and around the campus before, and so the only reason I went was so that I could speak to a recruiter afterward. I got some great feed back about doing a 3rd year transfer from Langara, and what kind of program for the Sciences I should be looking at. I was really happy.

After, I had some time to blow before I had to be at a hair appointment at Textura Salon where I had agreed to be a practice head for one of the new girls to practice her styling techniques. So I went to my favorite sushi joint and had a really tasty lunch by myself while I read A Game Of Thrones and sipped on coffee. It was nice and relaxing, and I got to order whatever I wanted! I even had time to stop in Bella XO before I headed off. I still really want to buy a cloche hat. I just love the way they look.

And then my hair appointment. I love having my hair done. It's like a mini spa. I had my hair coloured last week by the lovely Bailey. I couldn't afford to get the blond streaks anymore, so I had wanted to go back to my natural hair colour. Beth (the owner) convinced me not to and instead do an ombre look. Low maintenance, and I still had the blond tips. I think it turned out great.

So here I am, back at home infront of a roaring fire with my pups, reading a book about organic chemistry.

I love days like today.

Tomorrow, I get to go to a Black Belt Self Defence Seminar held by Master Ottesen and I'm REALLY excited about that. I went to one last year and I learned so much, he's a really amazing teacher. Self defence is easily one of my favorite "subjects" in Taekwondo. I think it's really important, especially for women to know how to avoid dangerous situations and how to control and escape a situation. It's really empowering, for me at least, to learn how to protect myself in the smartest way possible.