Happy September!

Hope you all had a wonderful summer. September has always seemed like the start of a new year! With these new beginnings – whether they be school, job, city, activity, or friendship we should start afresh with our attitudes! We should open our hearts to new ideas; we should make goals; and we should ASK for what we want. You never know what amazing things will happen when you take action!

Do you have an activity that you love so much you could spend every day of your life doing it? Think about it; what would this activity be?

For me, without hesitation, this activity is swimming.

What is your favourite weekend activity that lifts your spirits? After going out for a friend’s birthday brunch this past Sunday, I realized one of my favourite weekend activities is going out for brunch. Enjoying a meal with friends, is a treasured activity of mine regardless if we go out to eat it at a restaurant or cook it at someone’s home.

When you travel, the focus is on the destination. Travel guides draw you in with the sites you will see and what you will experience when you are visiting the new places. But for me, the highlights of any adventure I have ever been on, are the beautiful heart-felt connections you will develop with the people on your journey.  

The people you meet along the way make the experience. I thought I needed to go to all these amazing places throughout the world to see the sites. What my soul craves, though, is to go meet new people and to build connections with them. Those are my most precious moments and souvenirs from travelling. The memories/lessons learned from these connections are what I cherish most.

Over a year ago, I had the privilege of profiling Jacqueline Boone. She writes an amazing blog called 6 Months to Live, which is all about living a life you love and embracing life as fully as you can. She has encouraged me to persevere in this journey, and I want to support her in achieving her BIGGEST DREAM yet!

Her deepest passion is to travel and to connect with people on a global scale, and she has an opportunity to travel the world for the next 6 months and to have enough money at the end of the trip to create her start-up, which will transform the way people connect and achieve their dreams!

On December 31st, I always take time to reflect on the events of the past year and the lessons I have learned.  Through the ups and the downs, I have experienced so much this last year and I would love to share 12 important lessons with you. 2012 was an amazing year for me. Let me share with you my reasons why through the top 12 lessons:

They say you don’t miss something until it is gone. 

Well, I didn’t realize how much I use my voice, until I lost it last week after getting a cold on vacation. 

It happened a few days after kissing the Blarney Stone in Cork, Ireland.  Kissing the Stone is supposed to give the person the “gift of gab.” I don’t need this gift because I like to talk. But, I kissed the Stone anyway, just for the experience.

I'M BACK! Sorry if I didn't respond to your comments and emails. I will soon :)  I have been away for the last three weeks on an adventure to Britain and Ireland.  It really was the trip of a lifetime. Instead of updating my blog every night, I decided to disconnect and write down what I was learning in my journal.  I travelled extensively with a wonderful group of people and gained so much insight.   I'm really excited to share my stories and pictures ( I took over 2000) with you all.  I will be back to posting regularly soon.  I just need sometime to recover from the journey and to get my thoughts down.

I'm so proud to be a Canadian, especially with the Olympics coming up in less than a month. I can't wait to cheer on all our athletes and watch them GIVE THEIR EVERYTHING!! I didn't chose a song of the week yesterday but it would be "O Canada." In honour of this special day, I thought I would show you my favourite parts of this wonderful country I call home. It is such a beautiful country from coast to coast! Here is a very small collection of pictures from my travels all over Canada.  I still have so much more to see.  Enjoy!!!

If you asked Jacqueline, “What is the most important goal in your life?” She would answer, “To follow my heart every step of the way.” Her heart has taken her to some pretty phenomenal places, including living in China for 3 years, one of them in rural Hunan when she didn’t speak the language, to working on a ranch in Montana, to San Francisco, in the midst of a recession, and to many others. 

Nearly 3 years ago, she began writing a blog called 6 Months to Live, which started out as a life experiment and turned into a life philosophy. Jacqueline’s vision is to create a community of people who support and inspire each other in choosing meaningful and authentic lives. Life is waiting. Will you join her?

I'm truly honoured that See Beautiful has awarded me with the title "Woman of the Month" for June. See Beautiful™ strives to be a place where girls and women feel empowered and recognize their beauty. I'm so flattered and humbled by the award.  Thank you, Lydia Cryss Mays, for this and for being such an active contributor to my blog. I'm so glad I connected with you. Keep up the amazing work! Please check out the See Beautiful site after you read this and connect with them too!

Hi everyone!

I haven't written in a while, there was a death in the family that caused me to take a break  from writing.  I'm back now!

Lately, I have been hearing songs that inspire me and relate to things that are currently going on in my life and the lives of others closest to me.  I heard the song "Jet Lag" by Simple Plan featuring Natasha Bedingfield and it made me think of how I fell for a silly boy (who will remain nameless).