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Another Season Gone

In a blink of an eye, summer is over. This season was FULL of LOVE, CHANGE, LEARNING, FRIENDS and FAMILY. My heart is truly happy.

For the first summer in a long time I let go of my routine, I let go of my meal plan, I said YES a lot more than I said NO. I packed my schedule with friends and family. I made the most of our FIRST SUMMER in our new house and I embraced plans instead of to-do lists.

It was WONDERFUL.

I did this because everyone needs a break! I know my fall/winter will have me in full blown business mode as I open my first brick and mortar space. Since I know myself well, I am aware that I have an all or nothing attitude (which can be both a blessing and a curse)! With this in mind, I decided to take the step back and just enjoy life before diving deep into my career and fitness goals.

Letting go of a meal plan doesn’t mean going crazy and over indulging everyday. See what happen was this summer I was working a landscaping job which was intense physical labour for 12 hours a day! This meant I had a much higher calorie expenditure, which allowed me to eat more than I could during my office days.

I consciously decided to take advantage of this!

September will be a month of DETOXING for me.

Pulling the reins back in on my nutrition and workout routine (which won’t be hard thanks to the NEW BADASS FACILITY I get to train at EVERYDAY! (@crossfit_shallow_lake )
Putting my business first, which means more discipline aka saying NO and OPENING THE DOORS to my NEW office space as part of the SHALLOW LAKE HEALTH TEAM

WHO’s READY FOR FALL??

I am.

Let’s do this!

Cottage Gives Me All The Feels

Spending the weekend at the lake had me full of mixed emotions. Something about water always makes me feel calm and at peace.

Yet As I laid on the dock, I began reminiscing of all the weekends spent here over the past decade. Remembering the ones who have come and gone in our lives and shared this special place with us.

Fishing with old friends, building a shed with my Grandpa, canoe rides that ended with us in the water, my first time wake boarding and water skiing, and the countless nights filled with laughter as we played spoons.

It’s funny how a place can hold such happy memories and yet bring so much sadness all at the same time.

As I watch my little cousins play, I am sad for them as I realize how lucky I am to have spent 26 years with our Grandpa.

While feeling down, my quivering lips slowly turns to a smile as my heart melts while I watch Joe laughing away as he plays with the little ones.

Although this weekend was hard, this cottage has brought so much joy to my life. I am so grateful for this home away from home which brings us all together year after year.

I will hold my memories close.
Thank you for everything Grandpa xo

Think With Your Heart

“You’re crazy. You haven’t thought this through. Don’t make any drastic decisions. Sleep on it a bit. How could you do that? It’s so irresponsible.” These are just a few of the statements I heard on a regular basis.

I think with my heart and I listen to my gut.

To some, this may be a foreign concept, but for me… this is life.

No, I don’t walk on the path society has left out for us.. I tend to veer off into the unknown trails and mark my own paths. For a lot of people this can seem scary… the whole fear of the unknown.

However, for me.. MY FAITH IS STRONGER THAN MY FEAR. When I have that gut feeling and it won’t stop nagging at me… I know what I have to do. LISTEN.

At the end of 2017, I walked away from the safe and ‘secure’ corporate world. That 9 to 5 grind that gave me a steady and desirable paycheck which came with full benefits.

Others around me seemed to think this was a ludicrous idea.

Yet I left that rat race to pursue my PASSION. I now have the pleasure of HELPING others everyday.

Somedays I still get comments like “you left the bank for this!?”. My response is always an “I sure did.”

You know why?

My heart is truly happy now. Everyday, I get to lend a hand and be a part of someone’s journey. I get to make a DIFFERENCE in someone else’s life.

Last week, I had a man come into the gym and before he left he had me in tears. Tears of joy as I felt an overwhelming amount of inspiration and a deep sense of ‘I’m right where I am supposed to be’.

This fairly overweight gentleman walked in. I could sense his nervousness as he said very quickly “I’ve never been in a gym before. I don’t have a clue where to start but I know I need to. Can you help me?”

I took one look at him and simply said.. “I am SO PROUD of you for walking through our doors today.. You know that was the hardest part right?” – He lit up like a Christmas tree with a huge smile as though he had never heard those words before.

As our conversation went on, I was full of joy.. Conversing with him to find out his WHY. Why was it important to him to get in shape? What was going to be the drive for him to keep coming back?

By the end of our conversation I could see how fired up he was so I asked when I could book him in for his first complimentary training session.

He suddenly backed up into his nervous state and quietly said he was waiting for his gym clothes to arrive in the mail as he had ordered some online since the stores didn’t make gym wear that fit him.

His answer caught me so off guard. I could feel my eyes starting to water. I have never experienced this myself, so it is just something I have never thought of.

Immediately, I knew I had to switch this back to a positive conversation and pull myself together so I told him how inspired I was by the fact that he had already ordered his clothes before even walking into the gym to check us out!

By the time we were done, I told him just how happy I was to have met him.

Now, everyday that he walks through our front doors for another workout, my heart feels a sense of warmth as I smile and let him know how great it is to see him.

This is just one of the many inspiring people I have met.

When I ‘clock out’ of work, I leave with a sense of pride. I am truly grateful for the connections I get to make and the inspiration and motivation I get to share with so many others.

All thanks to my intuition and listening to that feeling inside, I found my way through the unknown… which led me right where I am supposed to be.

Have you been thinking about quitting your job? Or leaving your relationship? Do you have nagging thought that just won’t leave your mind?

GO.

DO.

TAKE THE LEAP.

2017 Reflection – What a year! :)

As I sit in my new home staring out the window at the fresh falling snow as it covers the naked trees, I can’t help but smile. How did I get here?

To say 2017 flew by is an understatement. I honestly have no idea where the time went! Do you?!

Today, I sat down with my journal and began to reflect on the past year. I can not believe just how much took place in the 365 days. To describe my year in five words I’d have to say ADVENTURE, STRENGTH, LOVE, COURAGE & CHANGE!

This year was FULL of change. Every time my anxiety began to settle the next wave of change was just around the corner. It truly was a roller coaster of emotions and many life lessons!

It’s hard to believe I spent time in 6 different countries on 4 different continents this year!

After traveling around the world and meeting some of the happiest people I have ever met, selling coconuts on the side of the road… I knew I wanted what they had. I want to be that happy while at work. I mean, we spend most of our lives working.. so we need to be genuinely happy!

So, I changed jobs, twice! Leaving the ‘secure, proper job on paper’ because it felt right and not because it ‘made sense’. If there’s one thing I’ve learned… life is far too short to settle. I took this huge leap to focus on my Health Coaching business because I know the happiness I have found in truly helping others to find joy in their life and feeling comfortable in their bodies is worth the risk!

My greatest lessons this year were to follow my heart, listen to my intuition, and GO WITH THE FLOW as we are not in control… the universe sometimes has other plans!

The experiences I had in 2017 will be forever cherished and I will begin to build on these life lessons and jump into 2018 with a whole new perspective of life. THANK YOU to each and every person who made my year what it was!

MY YEAR IN REVIEW…..Continue reading “2017 Reflection – What a year! :)”

Australia, I Am Truly Disappointed In You. Get Your Shit Together.

Why was Australia so great? This is a question I get asked all the time after raving about my golden years living down under. However, as time has passed I felt as though I lost the answer to this question. I’d usually shrug it off and just say something like “it’s just the best, I’d go back in a heartbeat.”

After spending time in Sydney over the past few weeks I felt as though all the memories came flooding back. First of all, Australia is one of the cleanest countries I have ever seen. It is rare to see garbage or should I say “rubbish” on the beach. Every night there are people cleaning the streets, I mean actually washing the road and picking up garbage.

While walking to the grocery store we saw a citizen confront another man for dumping a bag of garbage out of his car on the side of the road. This made me happy to see people caring about the place which they live. Each time I see someone litter it makes my heart ache. How can people not realize that Earth is our home, our ONLY home. There is no plan B.

Another aspect of Australia that makes it a pleasant place to visit is the incredibly laid back culture. They truly have a great sense of work-life balance! Stores don’t necessarily have set hours and they love putting the “back in 5” signs up. They also get paid more to work on weekends and have more paid vacation days than we do in Canada. This is something I believe to be incredibly beneficial for our mental health. If your employees have more time off, they are more beneficial to you when they are at work!

Australians are also extremely friendly. No matter where we went we were constantly being approached by friendly citizens asking us where we are from. One of my favourite days over this visit was when a girlfriend and I rented some stand up paddle boards. The friendly gentlemen closed up his shop, put our boards in his car and drove us to the beach which we wanted to SUP at. How crazy is that? This is something that would NEVER happen in Canada.

While Australia has always been on a pedestal in my life, I must say it came crashing down during this visit. With “VOTE YES” or “VOTE NO” written all over the country, I asked what this was regarding. The answer? Same sex marriages. I was honestly shocked to hear that this is not currently legal in Australia. Not only is it not legal, but it is also now the cause for 100’s of millions of dollars of government campaigning. I’m sorry, what!? I think there are FAR bigger issues in the world that could use some government funding and the worse part is, every commercial I saw on television was campaigning to vote no!

How is it that in 2017 one of the most laid back cultures are honestly debating over this? Canada legalized same sex marriages in 2005. Why are you so behind, Australia? I mean seriously, even several states in America have legalized it and I think that alone shows just how far behind you are.

I find it hard picturing a time when this wasn’t allowed considering I was still in elementary school when same sex marriages were legalized in Canada. However, I do remember my mom explaining to me that as a reverend, she had decided to be a minister for same sex marriages and she went on to tell me we may lose some family friends because of this. I truly couldn’t understand why. Love is love. It’s so simple to me.

It’s just as simple now as it was then. I am blown away by the fact that we are sitting here in 2017, over a decade later.. Wasting government resources on a postal survey (not even emailing.. Real paper and stamp mailing) to see what the people of Australia vote. The kicker part is that at the end of the day, the opinion of the country really doesn’t even matter in the end because the political parties still have the end say despite what the country wants.

As I said, Australians are always so laid back… I think this is why it is so shocking to me that this is an actual debate in this country. What happened to “No dramas mate”.

Australia will always hold a part of my heart, but right now, I feel as though you should get your shit together and let people live the life they’ve chosen.

Since this nonsense is an actual paid and government funded debate. VOTE YES and move onto more pressing matters. Like perhaps people starving on the streets, preventing WWIII, and reducing crime.

LOVE IS LOVE.

Thank You Cambodia

After already being in Vietnam I felt as though landing in Cambodia was going to be ‘easier’. Meaning, less of a culture shock and easier to adjust.

Boy was I wrong. Maybe it’s the fact that I just came from beautiful, clean land of ‘no worries’ aka Australia where avocado on toast is $18 and everyone walking on the streets of Sydney are decked out in designer handbags and high heels.… but after being in Cambodia for only a few hours I feel as though my world has been flipped upside down.

When you hear of the year 1975.. What do you think of? For me, I think that it really wasn’t that long ago. I mean, my parents were just beginning their teenage years. However, for people living here in Cambodia, that year is one they will never forget as tragedy shook their country.

Continue reading “Thank You Cambodia”

Gold Coast, We Meet Again.

As I sit on the beach listening to the waves crash I find myself people watching and reminiscing. Being here five years later is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. One I know I needed to ride in order to move forward in my life.

One minute I feel a sense of joy and calmness as I always do when I am next to the ocean and the next minute tears are strolling down my face as I think of what a different place in my life I was in when I was last here on the Esplanade. The Gold Coast will always hold a part of my heart but being here once again allowed me to see this place with a fresh set of eyes. This is not somewhere I would want to live at this time in my life. It is amazing just how much one can change in such a short period of time. Five years doesn’t seem that long, but being here now feels like that was a lifetime ago.

I wish I could share the view I have but it’s honestly can’t quite put it into words as I look around. I see young families everywhere, something I never recall noticing here before. I assume most of them are on their family vacations as they snap pictures giving away the fact that they are most likely tourists while others seem to be locals out for their morning walk on the beach. I realized being here in this stage of life would be very unpractical as I don’t see it being a very great place to raise kids. Especially when all my family is on the other side of the world. Continue reading “Gold Coast, We Meet Again.”

Emotions I Wasn’t Expecting While Traveling Vietnam

Where has the time gone? As I lay in a hammock on the beach listening to the waves crash I feel a sense of relaxation for the first time in weeks. I thought I was leaving for this trip to escape the 9-5 grind and be schedule free. However, that has yet to happen. Today is the first day which I can say I woke up refreshed after a full night’s sleep, with no alarm at 8 am and spent my morning how I wanted to spend it. Meditating, walking along the beach and really just taking in the last few weeks of chaos and reflecting on what I’ve learned.

When we arrived in Vietnam we were incredibly overwhelmed so our hostel suggested we hop on a tour to feel more at ease in this new world. The price of the tour was far more than we wanted to spend, especially at our first stop on our trip but we decided to go ahead with it because we liked the idea of traveling with a group rather than being three young girls traveling alone.

We traveled 7 days and 6 nights from Hanoi all the way down to Hoi An. What an incredible journey! From experiencing our first overnight bus, touring caves, visiting the war museums, Buddhist temples, playing with adorable Vietnamese children, zip lining, and a jeep tour down the coast of Hoi An, the fun never stopped! I honestly can’t even choose which day was my favourite because they were all so different. Continue reading “Emotions I Wasn’t Expecting While Traveling Vietnam”