Simple Thoughts... Bigger Meanings

Making Adjustments...

2012-02-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

I had my first physio appointment this morning. I have what's called Patellofemoral Syndrome. My knee cap doesn't track properly because some muscles in my leg are too tight, and some aren't strong enough to create a balance. Also, with much surprise, I have an issue with my lower back putting pressure on a few of my nerves which is apparently a huge contributing factor to this.

So along with some pain, we've got a healing plan worked out, and six sessions booked. He did recommend that because my forms and tai chi cause the most swelling in my knees, that I'll have to take it easy or it might disrupt the healing process.

Although this is going to be very difficult for me (I do A LOT of forms and tai chi) I want my knees to get better quickly. Some adjustments are going to have to be made...

2012-02-21T14:54:00.001-08:00

The title of this post pretty much sums it all up.

Last night, I wasn't paying attention and I ended up missing a step going downstairs to the kitchen resulting in me falling down 7 hardwood steps. After lying on the ground for a bit, I realized that I wasn't hurt, and I *thankfully* didn't knock myself out on the way down. I'd like to give a shout-out to my Kung Fu for this. The many minutes of laying flat on my back and holding my head off the ground really payed off for me. I was able to subconsciously tighten my neck muscles and keep my head up while I was falling down the stairs. I truly think that the fact that I didn't even have to think about doing this was awesome. I walked away with only sore neck muscles and what we think to me a minor concussion.

On a lighter note, I've been given an opportunity to develop one of my personal requirements tomorrow afternoon. I was asked to help photograph the dress rehearsal of our school production of Seussical The Musical. This is extremely exciting because I will be able to use one of our schools hi-tec cameras and all of our editing equipment. Since one of my personal requirements for the UBBT was to create my own photography portfolio, I will be able to use some of these pictures to kick start this little project. I am extremely excited as I've never gotten the chance to photograph theatre before, and I believe that there's a lot to be learned tomorrow and I'm excited for every chance that I get.

Cheers! :)

Just An Update

2012-02-16T15:17:00.001-08:00

I do have a certain blog post that I want to put up, but I have to think about it for a bit longer. So stay tuned.

But, I felt that It was time to put up another little update on how my training has been going.

First off,

I'm really excited about the get together between all of the I Ho Chaun members tonight after the kids classes. I've missed the last two, being sick and such; but today I feel the best that I've felt in awhile. I think I've finally beat this cold thing I've had for quite awhile. Needless to say I'm back into action.

One of the weapons that I've decided to focus on are the Sais. I've decided to try to create a 'rough draft' of an original form. I really struggled with this at first, but now the creative juices are starting to flow, and It's finally starting to look like something. Yay!

We have yet another short week at school, and we can all tell that the teachers are starting to stress a little bit. We've been getting tones of homework, but I haven't started falling behind, and I don't plan on that ever happening. So far I've been able to maintain all of my averages at around the 90% mark. Which is really good, considering my personal requirement was at least 80%.

My training has been going really well, and I haven't quite started to badly fall behind on my numbers yet. I've been booked to start physio on the 2nd of March for my knees, so we will see how that goes.

Cheers:)

It's A Juggling Act.

2012-02-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

This week is a very short week.

With winter games and teacher convention, tomorrow will be my last day of school until Monday next week. Teachers are giving a lot of homework and such, but I'm finally starting to get settled into a new routine in school. I have taken on a grade eleven honors biology class this semester, and I defiantly have my work cut out for me.

Because I've been spending so much time getting used to my new routine at school, my schedule at home, after school, has really done a bit of a flip-flop. Between homework, my daily training, helping out with the house to get it ready for sale, etc. I haven't been going to bed at the same time that I usually do. So that's been really tough.

My strategy skills have really been put to the test these past few days. I have different alarms set on my phone to remind me when to drop and do push ups, sit-ups and squats; and when to bang out a repetition of a form or two. I've never really planned like this before and I'm struggling with it. My mind doesn't process this way, but I've been slowly training it to start. I'm getting there... but it's defiantly a process.

Everything else has stayed content though.

I get to make T-shirts in my Com-Tec class next week =)

Book 1 out of 5 : To Kill A Mocking Bird

2012-02-01T18:27:00.001-08:00

One of my personal requirements for the UBBT was to read 5 books that have an impact on me and to tell a little something about each book on my blog. Reading books for me is easy; I read a lot of books. Each book impacts me in a way, but when I made this requirement, I wanted to make it clear that I would be picking books that I know will make an impact on me before I read them.

My mom ordered this book for me through the Scholastic book order when I was in grade 7. I think her exact words were "I want you to read this. It's a good book." Needless to say, the book sat on my shelf for 3 years untouched, just another dust collector. I didn't pick it up until we did it for a novel study in my English Honours class a couple months ago. But, the novel study was really rushed and still, I didn't get a lot out of it. It wasn't until I recently picked it up and read it cover to cover in about 4 days that I realized the huge impact it had on me.

First of all,
I loved the way this book was written through the eyes of a child. Out of the many books that I have read that shared this perspective, Harper Lee did an extremely good job of bringing out the innocence of a child towards the events in this book, but she also balanced in the more pressing issues that were talked about in a more adult tone.

Second,
Harper Lee teaches her audience about the issues that were faced towards racial intolerance and prejudice in the "Old South." But she also throws in many small, rich lessons in the mix. My favorite part of the book was the Tom Robinson trial. Although it was extremely dark, it definitely brought out the ugliness of racism. This is one of the few books that I have read that have not "turned a blind eye" towards how extreme racism used to be, and unfortunately in some cases, still is.

Lee also shows us the quick and judgemental nature of humans by using the character Boo Radley. We see how easy it is to misjudge and label people because they are different then us. I know that I have done it even though I know that it is wrong, and I'm sure that a lot of others have done it as well. In the book, we see how the impact and the actions of adults rub off on their children. All of the kids are afraid of him because he is different from them. Is it fair that we still do this everyday as a society? No, of course it isn't, and sometimes it isn't something that we can help. We've been doing it ever since we've been in preschool. We just don't see the impact that it has on others.

I loved this book, and it is one that I will for sure be reading again and again because I know that each time that I read it, I will get something new out of it.
One last thing that this book taught me was that you should keep reading a book, even though you don't understand the first chapter... You might miss out on something amazing if you don't =)

(The quote below is important to me because it was the part of the book that made my cry... Yes... I'm a sap for these things...

"When I pointed to him his palms slipped slightly, leaving greasy sweat
streaks on the wall, and he hooked his thumbs in his belt. A strange small
spasm shook him, as if he heard fingernails scrape slate, but as I gazed at
him in wonder the tension slowly drained from his face. His lips parted into
a timid smile, and our neighbor’s image blurred with my sudden tears.
“Hey, Boo,” I said."

A Change In Me.

2012-01-22T14:35:00.001-08:00

Chinese New Year is tomorrow, which means the official start of this year's new I Ho Chaun program, and I would like to publicly post all of my requirements for everyone to see.

Set Requirements

- No Quitting

- 50, 000 Pushups and Situps

- Master Two Forms With A Minimum of 1000 Repetitions

- Log 1000 Rounds Of Sparring

- 1609 Kilometers of Running/Walking/Biking/Rollerblading or Equivalent

- Record 1000 Acts Of Kindness

- Mend A Relationship

- Journal Once A Week

- Qualify and Perform In At Least Three Public Performances.

- Learn To Lion Dance

- Compete In The Tiger Challenge

- Excel In Your Core Class Curriculum

- Memorize Mastery By Stuart Emery

Personal Requirements

- 1000 Repetitions Of Tai Chi

- 12,000 Squats

- Minimum Of 10 Minutes Of Stretching When I Wake Up, And Before I Go To Bed Every Day.

- Start A Photography Portfolio. Either Online, Or In A Folder With The Following Categories:

- Portrait

- Animals

- Landscape

- People

- Nature

- Miscellaneous

- Sports and Motion

- Receive An Overall Average Of Over 80% In My Core Subjects (the ones I need to graduate)

- Math

- Science

- Social

- English

- Religion

- C.A.L.M

- Read 5 Books That Have A Personal Impact On Me. Document And Journal About How, And Why.

- Create A Career Profile.

- Play THe Piano For At Least 1 Hour A Week

- Obtain My Drivers License

- Keep A Private Prayer Journal. To Be Written In Once A Week

My overall goal throughout all of this is that I see a change in myself spiritually, mentally, and physically.I'm really excited for this year, and I'm hoping for a year of success for everyone that is in the I Ho Chaun this year.

Time.

2012-01-05T22:32:00.001-08:00

Happy New Years everyone! :-)

I'm extremely excited for this year, as there are so many exciting things going on for me.

I'm proud to be a part of this years UBBT team, I have been preparing for this for awhile and I am hoping for a very successful year for all of the participants.

My family is going to be preparing our house to put it up for sale; for we will be moving into our new house around the beginning of June!

In March, we are going on a trip to Disneyland with some friends that have never been before. I was pretty little the last time we went, and I can't remember bits and pieces of the trip, so I am really excited to be going again soon!

I am sending off my application to volunteer at the Stony Plain hospital. It is my dream to attend medical school, and even though it is still really early, I want to start exploring some of the medical fields, and begin to see what I would be interested in.

I have two wedding this summer, one of which is in BC. So I am also very excited to be going to those :)

I've got a busy year ahead of me, and with this in mind, I would like to share an entry out of my creative writing journal with everyone. I think that it really fits with this year, and it reminds me to always stay focused and in the moment while the small things fly on by...

Time

Take your time. Cherish the moment.

When we're young, we look forewords to so many milestones. Graduation, experiencing the real world, university, a job, and for some of us: marriage, kids, and grandchildren. We want them to come as quickly as possible so that we may move onto the next.

Sometimes, we have trouble staying in the moment; taking time to en grain this very second into our heads, so that we may remember it for a lifetime. We know that we'll always remember those big moments, because they're all we've ever looked forewords to. We become unfocused on the small things, which are just as important as the big things.

We need to become aware of our surroundings. We need to remain in the now and not in the past, or the future. The past is over, and we have no way of knowing the future, but we have control over what is happening right now.

Because when all these big milestones have passed us by, we're going to wish that we could remember the small things. Because when there's nothing left for us to look forewords to, we're going to with that we had more to look back on.

When You Think About Seuss...

2011-12-12T20:33:00.001-08:00

Its going to be a really hectic week. I've literally got 35 hours worth of play practice for our upcoming production of "seussical the musical". Its crazy because I've been doing a lot of catch up for parts I've missed because of kungfu, appointments, etc. But, its been really crazily fun :)

I recommend that when tickets come on sale, you should come check it out :) especially if you have kids. Its going to hopefully be a huge success, for we have some really talented actors, singers, and dancers on the cast this year. We're all really excited!

That's all for now.

Goodnight!

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2011-12-10T12:48:00.001-08:00

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Busy Busy Busy

2011-11-30T20:48:00.001-08:00

Everything has been so busy lately. I haven't blogged in a really long time, but here's an update on everything....

School:

Really busy. I've been struggling to keep my marks up. We just finished our physics unit in science with two tests in the past couple weeks. A quiz and a physics final. To my surprise I pulled off a 97% on my quiz and an 85% on my unit final. I was pretty excited about that. And in english I got my first big essay that I wrote a few weeks back as a Shakespear final project. I pulled a 96% on that. One of the highest marks in my class :) I was pretty excited about that too. I really need to get my marks up for the career path that I want to take past high school... I need really high marks if I want to get into med school...

Extra Curricular:

I am currently involved in the making-of our schools production of "seussical the musical." Its been super busy. Dance rehersals, scene blocking, music rehersals... whewh. Oh, and I got the roll of makeup-director... and I have to have all my designes, tutorials for each person involved in the play, and the makeup for each character bought by January 13... that gives me... 2 full weeks (school days)... this should be interesting....

Kung fu:

Its been pretty crazy. I've been working pretty hard at trying to develope a concrete demo for my class for the black belt promotion ceremony, and it seems to be going pretty well so far! I've also ben trying (and struggling) to get all of my personal requirements finalized for the I Ho Chaun class starting in January. Where has our year gone...?

Other stuff:

I love my family, and my dog&lizard. We're in lock-up out at the acreage. We're hoping to move in aroung June... that's pretty exciting.

Well that's all for now...

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Thoughts In Process...

2011-10-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

(This blog post is from my free writing journal in my English class in school. I just thought I'd share it with you guys)

Topic - Write about something in a TV show or a movie that inspired you into deep thought.

Response:

I like this topic, not just because I've had this happen to me many times, but because it happened to me last night.

I was laying in bed late last night, close to dozing off while watching re-runs of "Grey's Anatomy," when all of a sudden one of the main characters said something that really made me think. It went something like this...

"I don't remember the last time that we were together, happy,

nor do I remember the last time that we kissed. You never remember the

last time because you never think that It's going to be your last time.

I almost died today, and this was all I could think about."

The episode finished and I closed my laptop. I lied awake for an hour thinking about these lines, and I realized how stupidly true it was. I realized that I can't remember the last time I saw my Uncle before he passed away, the last time I saw my friend before we stopped talking, nor can I remember the last kick I threw in kung fu. But I can remember all the stories that my Uncle told me, the time that me and my friend went camping together, and I remember being in Kung Fu and my Sifu correcting me on my Tai Chi on Saturday.

I think that everyone can relate to this, and for me, I realized that it is a simple problem of not being in the moment. We need to do everything like it's the last time that we will ever do it. There should be no more "I'll do it when I see ___ tomorrow," or "Well there's always next time..." because what if there isn't?

----------------------------------------------------------

That's as far as my response to the topic went because my 30 minutes ran out, but I think you see my point.

Live in the moment. Do everything as if there is no tomorrow, and like you'll never be able to do it again. I think that if we keep this mentality, we will be able to remember the last time we did something, that's maybe not so big or impactful (I'm pretty sure thats not a word...).

Just some food for thought...

"Study as if you were to live forever. Live as if you were going to die tomorrow."
- Unknown

My True Friends Really Pulled Through For Me...

2011-10-12T16:41:00.001-07:00

We're only halfway through the week, and I've learned two very valuable things.

1. I really have to stop dragging my feet while I walk... I tripped two times already this week. Fell flat on my face in front of a hallway full of kids. I'm pretty sure that binders are spring loaded, made so that when you drop them on the floor, everything it ejected out of them, making it very difficult to retrieve all 5 pages of your homework that is due in 5 minutes.

Now this ties into the second one... somewhat...

2. Never, EVER ask yourself if the week could get any worse. Because if you say that, it will.

My friend approached me in school to come with her to the counsellors office to talk to the counsellor about a friend of ours that was getting into some really bad stuff; skipping school, drugs, etc. She really didn't want to go alone, so I told her that I would come with her; plus, I was obviously concerned too. We both really care about what happens to our friend, and we only wanted to help him...

After a long chat with him (the counsellor), we decided that it would be best, if we contacted our friend (who was off who knows where doing who knows what when he should be in class) and got him to come in to talk with the him about everything that was going on.

To make a long story short, that "friend" approached me in the middle of the front foyer of the school, and screamed at me in front of dozens of our peers, calling me every name in the book, telling me to stay out of his life, and to keep my mouth shut. I yelled back obviously, but he kept at it until I was in tears, and everyone was staring at me.

Great.

I know, that what me and my friend did was right. The thing is, I'm being blamed for absolutely everything. I was closer with him then my other friend (the one that thought of the idea to get him help) and he blames everything on me. He's dropping out of school and taking through outreach, and he told me that he would be his happiest if he never saw me again.

Even greater.

All embarrassed and flustered, I came home crying. But, came to find missed phone calls, text messages, facebook/twitter messages from so many people asking me if I was okay, and telling me that I didn't deserve what I got. I've come to realize who my real friends are, the ones that appreciate who I am, and what I do. And this week, I am thankful for that.

I'm proud of what I did, and I stand by it 100%. You'll never hear me apologizing for what I did today, even if people hate me for it.

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from
distress, and grow brave from reflection. 'Tis the business of little
minds to shrink, bet he who's heart is firm, and who's conscience approves his
conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. - Thomas Paine

Today I Remember...

2011-09-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

If tears could build a stairway,

And memories a lane,
I’d walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again.
~Author Unknown

Ten years ago today, my Gido (grampa) passed away.

Even though I was only 5 years old at the time, all of my memories with him are very vivid. He was a very special man, and I miss him so much.

R.I.P <3

Also, today I found out that one of my very close guy friends lost their dad yesterday evening due to a heart attack. I found out today, from him, he was so strong about it, which truly inspires me. This really hit home for me, as I lost my uncle earlier this year from the same, unexpected cause. I'm keeping him, and his family in my prayers this week. I can't imagine the loss that they're feeling right now.

Loss of a family member, especially unexpectedly, really takes a toll on someone. It takes awhile for everything to kick in. For it to become real.

Today seemed to be a very emotional day. I pray that tomorrow will be better.

I Believe.

2011-09-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

I believe that everything happens for a reason.

I believe that things end so that new, better things can begin.

I believe that before you love someone else, you must love yourself first.

I believe that everyone deserves a second chance. It may not be the same chance that they had before, but they do deserve some type of second chance.

I believe that self image is a very powerful thing. If you don't have a good self image, no matter what anyone else says, you will always have negative thoughts.

I believe that the phrase "no one is perfect" is an understatement. Everyone is perfect, in their own unique way.

I believe that if you surround yourself with positive people, you will be a positive person.

I believe that addiction is a very powerful thing. But I also believe that everyone, no matter who you are can overcome addiction.

I believe that you cannot change for anyone. You can only temporarily alter yourself for them. It is only change, if you want it for yourself.

I believe.

Why...

2011-08-30T01:45:00.000-07:00

I found out today, that one of my very close friends, had gotten into some trouble. This friend, to my finding out, has gotten into drugs. I don't know what kind of drugs, but, it is affecting them to a great extent and said friend doesn't know that I know what they've gotten into.

This person was my best friend. One that I was able to confide in no matter what the circumstance. They were the kind of friend that I could call at any time during the night to talk when I couldn't sleep, when I had one of my night terrors, and they would sit up and listen to me talk. When my Uncle Mervin passed away, they sat on the phone with me for 16 straight hours, listening to my cry, and comforting me. They were the fist person that I called when something good happened to me.

Now, this friend, who has gotten into these hard drugs, has pushed me away. They will not talk to me, they've told me so many lies. There is nothing that I can do about it. I know what they've done, and what they're doing, but I cannot tell them that because they wont talk to me, and I swore to the friend that told me this that I would not say anything. I want to help but said friend will not accept my help, won't have anything to do with me anymore.

For the past two weeks, I have cried over this friend every night. I don't know what to do. I'm hoping that their parents will figure it out. I can only hope for this friend. There's nothing more that I can do but hang in there, and hope and pray for the best.

I know that it's not too late for this friend. That they can still straighten them self out, but unfortunately they don't want me around for that. Why do these things happen? They say that everything happens for a reason, but how come you can never figure this reason out?

My family tells me that I am a strong person, and that I can fight through the pain, and the hurt that I'm feeling right now. And I know that I can too. I've been dealing pretty well for the past few days, keeping my mind off what is going on. But I don't understand why this would happen, and I've stopped searching for the answer, because it hurts too much to think about it. I have lost my shoulder to lean on, and the guard to all of my secrets.

I pray to God to give me strength to overcome this hurt that I'm feeling right now. And I hope that everything turns out for this friend. But this right now, is the most that I can do.

I Didn't Know I Could Write Poetry...

2011-08-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

I could sit here

And think hard of something to write

But I know that it won't come to me

You can never find what you're looking for

Unless you've stopped looking

When it's really unexpected

It'll pop into your head

Or maybe run into you in the hallway

You have to recognize it when it appears

Grasp it and never let go

Don't let it slip away

Because you may never get it back.

School, Family, Friends, Kung Fu... Balance?

2011-08-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

I just received my timetable from school today and holy man... it is so so packed.

I have 3 grade 10 honour courses (Science, English, and Social) , pure math, French 7 Program (that means that it's 80 min a day for half a year), and grade 11 Biology. Plus phys. ed, Drama, Religion and Computer Technology.

It's finally starting to sink in... school starts next week, and I have to really work hard this year.

I have to eliminate my unnecessary distractions, and really focus on my school work. This is a huge workload, and I cannot let my grades slip this year. I've set a goal for myself of an above 80% average in all of my cores this year, and that won't happen if I slack off... like I did last year. Social is going to be a big one. It's a real big leap for me to request to be put in the honours class this year, because I've always struggled with Social. Last year was my highest social mark ever at 86%... I'm hoping that I can maintain this throughout this year...

The real trick for me is going to find balance. School, and my Kung Fu have dominated the top of my priorities list for this year, but I have to still fit in my family time, and time with my friends. Not to mention my extra-curricular activities that I plan to take through school. Balance is going to be tricky, and I can see myself getting really stressed out over everything (I already sort of am...) but I have to keep myself calm, and remain in the moment. I have to keep reminding myself that I can do this, none of this is outside of what I'm capable of doing, because I've done it all before.

I think I can, I think I can....

My List: Summit at least 5 Mountains.

2011-08-06T18:37:00.000-07:00

I have a list. A list of things that I really want to do. The first thing on that list is to summit at least 5 different mountains. I kick started that ambition on my family trip to Jasper.

The picture to my left is of me 8, 084ft up, on the summit of Whistlers Mountain in Jasper. 8.3km to the summit. It was an amazing hike, and I loved every minute of it. The view was amazing, totally worth it.

When I'm 17, I'd like to hike pyramid mountain, which is also in Jasper. It's a little over 9, 000ft to the summit, and an approx. 8 hour hike up to the top. One of the guides in Jasper told me that It's amazing once you get up to the top, and you can tent it overnight once you're up there. I think that's something that I'd like to try =)

Oh Ambitious Me.

Change.

2011-07-20T07:28:00.000-07:00

<--- Me and my grandma the night I received my blackbelt.

I'm not a person that deals very well with big changes in my personal life, and it seems that change is all that has been taking place this year.

In January of this year, we received shocking news that my Uncle Mervin had passed away of a heart attack at 57 years old. This was hard for everyone to take it, because it came out of no where. Everyone in the family was very close to Uncle Merv in some way, he made everyone feel really special. When all the nieces and nephews sat down and talked about him, we all thought that we were his favourite, which to me is pretty special. This has been a huge change for me, that I still have trouble accepting. I haven't really been able to move on from it yet, when it seems that everyone else has...

When my Uncle Merv passed away, my grandma went in for surgery. She's now 88 years old, and can no longer live by herself at her house in Saskatchewan. On our way home from our recent trip to Saskatoon, I was informed that we were going to be selling the house next month. The first thing that popped into my head was "what about the holidays?" I hold so many memories in that house. I've been at that house for every Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Wedding, etc. since I've been born. Over 40 aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. would pile into the small house and share old stories, and joke around, and then we would prepare and eat supper together. Nobody knows what's going to happen to these traditions yet. And I'm not ready to let them all go quite yet...

I don't know how I'm going to deal with all of these changes, I don't know if I ever will. But what I do know is that I can't let my fear of huge change keep me from doing the things that I love. So I'll move on, and keep myself occupied. I'll watch the changes unravel, and pray for the good things that will come out of them.

On a lighter note, I just recently inquired about a mission trip to the Ukraine July of 2012 through Global Youth Missions (GYM). I'm pretty excited about this, because this is where both sides of my family came from.

That that don't kill me, will only make me stronger.

~Kanye West

Happy Canada Day.

2011-06-30T21:26:00.000-07:00

I've always just thought of Canada Day as a day to go to celebrations, eat junk food, hang out with friends, watch the fireworks, etc. I've never really asked myself "what is Canada Day" until now of course. But I've really done some thinking, and I thought that I would share some of my thoughts with you, so here we go:

What does being a Canadian and living in Canada mean to me?

I'm very thankful to live in Canada. It's such a beautiful, independent and free place to be. I am very proud of my country.

Our freedoms, and rights are very important to me. I look at other countries where we are fighting for them to be able to have rights to their freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to vote! I am so glad that that's not the case in our Country. We have so many fair individual and collective rights, and the opportunities to exercises them. We're free to chose our government without being pressured, and intimidated by forceful, and endless campaigning. And we have a say in our government! We have the privilege to speak up when we feel something is unjust, or against what we stand for.

Canada is such a diverse country. Its nice to be able to walk around, and see the many different cultures that are formed all over Canada. There are so many different heritages and traditions to witness, and in some cases experience. We are able to be educated on what is happening in the world around us.

These things and many more are what make me proud to be a Canadian. I can honestly say that I for one cherish this country as part of my identity, and I cannot wait to celebrate Canada Day tomorrow with family and friends, and to be able to think about what it actually means to me.

I challenge everyone to ask themselves the question that is posted at the beginning of this post. And I want you to celebrate tomorrow with meaning. But most of all, have fun, and be safe =)

Happy Canada Day Everyone.

It'll Be A Busy Summer.

2011-06-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

It's finally starting to feel like summer, ironically, just in time for the first day of summer.

Everything has gotten pretty hectic in the past week with finishing up school. I've got something like 3 review packages of 100 questions each, all due in the next 3 days. I've been feeling a lot of stress in getting these done, while balancing my kung fu, and tasks around the house. Thank goodness this is all going to be over with by Friday.

This summer is going to be really busy. We're starting to build an acreage just outside of Spruce Grove, so there's a lot of things that we have to do. We're not doing anything huge this summer, which is odd, because we usually go somewhere different every summer. So, I've decided to take one of my school courses over the summer. I started it last week, and I really enjoy it. I like the independence of being able to learn at my own pace, and to figure things that I don't understand out for myself. It's a new way of learning, and it seems to be going really well for me.

For now anyways.

Tiger Challenge

2011-05-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

I felt that the Tiger Challenge this year was a huge success.

Everything was ran really smooth, and quick I felt. Except for the few mix ups at the kids table, everything went really well. From my perspective, I felt that running two rings for the kids went so well, we got the kids through in a little over an hour I believe. Everyone there pitched in and worked really hard, so congratulations to everyone =)

I'd have to say that going into my sparring events, I had a slight bit of an anxiety attack... Sparring definitely is not my strong point, and it's always been a bit of a fear of mine to compete in tournament sparring. I'm really glad that I did it though. I think that I've conquered that fear. Sifu Prince, and Sifu Regier were really good competitors, and they taught me a lot. I've got to really work on keeping my guards up, and being way more aggressive.

I learned a lot this today, and I had a lot of fun. Everyone did awesome today at the tournament, and you all deserve a pat on the back!

And,

Congratulations to Sihing Chessall on Senior Grand Champion, and to Mr. Rice on Kids Grand Champion.

Rain Rain...

2011-05-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

There's not much to write about today, but lets just put it out there that I enjoy the weather.

I'm a rain girl. I like walking in the rain, the smell of rain, the sound of rain, the feel of rain, I like everything about it.

Rain provides for so many things. It provides nutrients for the grass to grow, for the trees to bud, and the flowers to bloom. It gives the animals something to drink, and lets the lakes, and rivers flow. It's amazing to think how, a few minutes, or hours of water droplets falling from the sky, gives life to so many different, and diverse things.

I could do without the wind though.

To me, rain is beautiful. I love it.

Its Crunch Time.

2011-05-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

So I'm back into the world of blogging. I'd have to say that I'm happy to start religiously blogging again, I need a place to throw out all of my thoughts. It's been a long time.

Where to start?

School. We're coming into the last month of school, and It's pretty crazy. Teachers are cramming to cover everything before our government exams start, which means a ton of homework every night, and a lot of tests.

I've seemed to have developed a bit of test anxiety. I actually wrote part A of my English PAT on Thursday. Two hours straight of writing, one short story, and one business letter. I didn't feel very nervous before the test started, but once the supervisor told us to pick up our pencil, I had a sudden shake take over my whole body, and I broke out in a sweat (yuck). I couldn't begin to write anything, because the letter weren't even close to being legible. Incidentally, I sat at my desk, for 25 minutes with my eyes closed, deep breathing, trying to get my hand to stop shaking long enough to bang out my two figures of writing. The breathing seemed to help, and once I stopped and asked the well known question "where am I, what am I doing?" I seemed to be able to calm down instantly. I'll have to remember that next time right off the bat, instead of wasting 25 minutes...

So now, It's a matter of keeping my grades constant until the end of the year, and acing my finals. I'd like to see myself taking a grade 11 biology course next year, so I can't loose focus on my grades, I'm also taking a self-taught course over the summer. I know that all of this is achievable, I just can't loose focus on my goals, and what I want to see happen...

Well, that's all I've got for now.

Thanks For Listening.