Hello, Again!

Did everybody enjoy their Christmas?

This past week, I dipped into my spontaneous side, and I decided to bus it to Vavenby for the holidays. Now, I was planning on either working or spending Christmas alone this year, but I decided that I needed to escape the city for a while. I travelled here by Greyhound on Christmas eve. To my demise, there was a young man who I got stuck sitting with for most of the trip, and he consumed WAAYY too much caffeine, so he was mister motor- mouth for most of the trip. I, on the other hand, had barely 2 hours of sleep over the past 2 days, and absolutely NO caffeine, so I wasn’t too pleased. I kept hinting to him that I was tired and should rest, but he kept talking about his life, work, ect. Thankfully, when I pulled my Gravol out of my carry on bag and started yawning; He got the picture. Unfortunately, everytime I tried to fall asleep, my phone would go off, so I honestly couldn’t win. Fortunately, I rested from the Coquihala to Kamloops. When I got to Kamloops, I ran into my cousin , and we travelled from there to Clearwater together. It was nice to catch up with her, and it helped time pass faster.

Upon arrival, my grandfather greeted me with open arms and drove me to the house. After saying hello and visiting with my grandparents for a while, I went to the Christmas eve service at the church and had an excellent time with my friends singing Christmas carols, and enjoying refreshments and lovely baked goods.

It’s been a warm, welcoming and enjoyable visit so far. Christmas was spectacular, spent time with my family and played with my adorable baby twin cousins; it was excellent. For Christmas I got a few household items, like a bathroom set that consists of a tooth brush holder and a liquid soap container, it’s one of my favorite gifts, because it’s purple and sparkly. My hands down favorite gift is definitely a stereo system that my grandpa got me. My all time favorite part of Christmas though was Christmas dinner. It was great to have everybody sitting around the table joking and laughing.

These past couple of days, I’ve really enjoyed time with my family and friends catching up. Tomorrow, I’ll be going to my friends sheep farm and visiting with her and her family!! Another fun event will be New Years Eve, I’ll be going to another friends and we’ll be ringing in the new year with the community.

Something that I’ve come to notice since I’ve gotten here is the fact that I’ve come so far in the past year. This year has been a whirlwind of opportunity, struggle and overcoming challenges. It’s definitely been a colorful year. I’m really, really looking forward to 2011!

This past year I’ve made AMAZING friends, moved to a big city from a small town, gotten a job, dealt with a crazy landlord, moved a couple of times, gotten onto a youth agreement, enrolled into a wonderful school, my grades have shot up in school, saved around $1,000 dollars in my savings account, and I’ve strengthened as a person. I still have a lot to pursue and conquer, but I’m thoroughly satisfied and content with where I’m at in life.

My goals for 2011:
- Continue getting great grades.
- Maintain my job at the hotel.
- Stop looking at my flaws, and start looking at my good qualities.
- Start checking out colleges that provide excellent Journalism courses.
- Save up at LEAST $5,000 by next October, so that I will have a safety net for when I age out of the youth agreement.
- Continue great relationships with my friends.
- Enjoy the little things in life.
- Notice and appreciate the little things too.
- Create a plan and set goals for when I “age out” of the youth agreement.

I’ll be back in Vancouver next Monday, so I’m stoked to write and tell you guys how the rest of the week went.
I really hope that you had an excellent Christmas, and I wish you the best for 2011!

Have an excellent and safe New Years Eve!!