My cat’s adventure

Fun story… I was quite down and sad about my cat having escaped into the outside world and he went missing for a solid month. I honestly thought that I’d lost him for good and that he’s somewhere too lost to make it home or probably go killed in the wild. To my surprise, I got a call from a vet in the city that my cat was brought in by some lady and they scanned Ghibli for a microchip. Ghibli was nowhere near our neighbourhood. All this time I was putting food out by the door only to have some random animal eat it -eyeroll- Ghibli made it half way across Ottawa. It was a 20min hwy drive to get him back. Apparently my boy was trying to enter random people’s home (guess that’s his way of asking for help and it worked!)

This is a photo of his vet visit because I don’t want him to being home worms/ fleas and whatnot. Nothing like a $400 dollar vet visit just for a basic checkup ….gawd vets are so expensive.
He was sooo tired when he returned home. poor thing slept soundly snoring away for hours. You can tell in the photo he was tuckered out from his adventures. I kind of wish he could tell me about how he survived a whole month out in the wild/ city. We had some very bad nights with freezing rain.

Oh Winter is done

I thought a monthly blog post would be relatively easy to keep up with but hey for me it’s apparently more difficult than anticipated. Half the problem being my computer constantly crashing on me.

My snowboarding trip to Alberta was…fun but challenging. I wasn’t ready for keeping up with the rest of the crew. I think I’m definitely at the point where I want to take a pause and slow down for next winter season. I’ve made progress but I also feel like I’m struggling to get any better. I still suck at it even with weekly practise for the past 3 winters.

During my trip, I accidentally went down one of the most terrifying trails…it literally starts with a rock cliff drop that ended with moguls. I don’t even know how I survived getting down the mountain in one piece. It was totally squealing and going “wtf!” The whole way down which also involved a lot of scooting my butt.

Here’s a lovely photo of my boot. I gave up and ditched the crew and went on a much easier trail back to the chalet.

Here’s me looking cool at the top of the mountain. But honestly, trying to survive multiply consecutive days of snowboarding gets quite rough especially when you’re bad at it and not energy efficient.

2024 bingo

Here it is! My very own Bingo card. I tried to have some easy and hard things on it. I’ve been really slow on here hence the goal of putting 12 blog entries.

• 

I think the top 3 that gets me most excited is 1.) Starting a vermi composter since I’ve been think about one for a while now and I discovered I can get 24 worms at Petsmart for $6 and slowly let them multiply…the garden centre was selling them by the pound for $40 which deterred me from going ahead with this project.

2.) Becoming a yoga teacher. Had this on a bucket list since a teenager. I finally found an in person course I want to commit to. This doesn’t start unit October and carries over to 2025 but my mind is set and I’m getting lots of practise in before then.
3.) Try Reiki…this is going to be my weirdest and most random one seeing that it’s pseudoscience. I could see myself walking out being like WTF?! and being mildly irritated lol but you never know until you try it…and this seemed easier than doing mushrooms lol

See, in 2023 I tried a floatation tank and that experience freaked me out but was mild on the wtf scale. I personally don’t recommend sensory deprivation. Floating in salt water being totally weightless combined with complete darkness and silence bothered me immensely. I started having thoughts of wondering if this was what it felt like to be dead but still have a consciousness or if this would what being lost in space feel like…my brain when into a whole different headspace and it wasn’t enjoyable. I’m curious to see how I fair with hocus pocus energy healing in comparison. I like trying to be open minded.

That’s a wrap 2023

The past year has been a transformative year for me. I have a new appreciation to where I am in life. When I entered my 30s I felt like it was a big uhh oh and I tumbled into a series of bad relationships trying to find “the one” but now I’ve embraced where I am in life and what I have. I’m content with where I am, this year I really took time for myself and it has helped me grow in so many ways.

This is what my 2023 looked like at a glimpse:

January – Removed people who weren’t reciprocating the time, energy and respect I was giving them. (Excuse the photo, I didn’t actually replace human companionship with elks LOL, it was the only good January photo I had)

February – Focused on getting good at snowboarding

March – Started my veggie garden experiments. Very time consuming hobby. I like to do lots of reading and research.

April – watch my plant babies grow

May - self recognized that I don’t need to be in a relationship to feel fulfilled and I am happier and healthier on my own then being with the wrong person. Made a new friend in California and started pen pal writing to her.

June – Created my own happiness (made a birthday plan for myself and flew out to see my bestie). Also started planning and thinking of a hobby/ side hustle (thought process started at the airport).

July – Did the adult thing and bought a real bed and mattress instead of living off of my portable amazon wire frame bed. Also decorated my bedroom (just look at what twinkly lights and some wall decor can do!). Also went to my first naturist club.

August – Experienced camping chaos with friends (It involved 14hrs of road tripping with an overpacked car and missing a ferry ride home). Chaotic but memorable.

September – First time solo camping at naturist camp (I had to make it right for myself after the first camping disaster)

October – Challenged myself to do something new. Took my first heel dancing class and LOVED IT! It made me feel feminine, confident and it was empowering.

November – Did 30 days of hot yoga challenge (I made it to 23 classes)

December – Did my very first boudoir photoshoot… still waiting to find out how that turned out.

I fully embrace the fact that I have the funds and time to do things the things I love, try new hobbies and challenge myself. I have also accepted that my life stages and timelines may look different from others around me.

nude park as a form of self-love

I’ve been trying new things and discovering new experiences. I think it’s all apart of this self-care and love I’m doing for myself. As my friend calls it …”taking a hot girl summer”. So I drove myself to a nudist colony and did all my favourite outdoorsy things like kayaking, swimming and trail walking WITHOUT CLOTHES! It honestly took me a long time to be brave and actually pick a date to go to the park. I had the thought like 2 summers ago but I just kept it as a bucket list item thought. Now that I’ve done it, I’M IN LOVE WITH IT! and I am looking forward to going back the naturist park. The people at the campground are also a wonderfully friendly community. There’s nothing sexual about it, its just a freeing experience to be one with nature.

Me being someone that likes to take pictures also did a few photos for myself and I can say that it’s helped me view myself differently then what I see in my bathroom mirror. In the bathroom mirror, I see disconfigured chronic pain and it sometimes I feel like it gets to my head even though I’m trying to fight myself to not have those thoughts. When I did my photoshoot enjoying nature I was able to see something beautiful. Maybe because nature is not symmetrical and neither am I.

Some random green views since I don’t have a photo for this type of adventure lol

Some west coast chillin

( Totally forgot I had this written but didn’t post it last month) Well here’s to turning older. What can I say…I took a plane to Kelowna, BC and enjoyed some wineries, did some long walks by myself and dipped my toes into the Okanagan lake. Did some friend visiting.

Hello California

So May was when I had to fly over to San Francisco for a family wedding. I really wasn’t in the mood for it seeing how I’ve already explored San Fran and didn’t think I would get much out of the trip. I spent the last half year pondering about where else in California I can explore so I can make my trip worthwhile. Well…I ended up in YOSEMITE! and I’m very glad I got to fully experience what this National Park has to offer.

Beautiful views of mountains and waterfalls

This was my first time experiencing sausage finger swelling from hiking… maybe it’s the altitude or metabolic changes

Look at these next level hiking trails! I literally externally screamed going through this part because it was so cold. (Not me in the photo)

Friend took me for a walk by the coast. Nice escape from the city.

I walked across the entire bridge! Now I can say I’ve done Golden Gate. Got a nice photo when the fog lifted.

I finally got a chance to tour Alcatraz. The island and the architecture is really pretty for a prison.

City Hall where my cousin got married

When my extended family ask when will it be my turn…ahahaha quit joking, it’s me, I’m cursed. I just meet “dates” to have great “terrible experience” stories to tell.

Controlled plank flying

Basically what snowboarding is … you stand on a plank, fly down a mountain and hope not to die. This year I am committed to getting really good at it since I purchased a season pass to my local mountain. My first run on the season back in early December 2021 was …rough..I gave myself whiplash by tumbling down the mountain like a snowball. Last weekend I spent some more time on the bunny hill getting the technique down.

Photo from the ski resort village I stayed a weekend at.

I don’t know what it is but I swear I find French people to be so rude, even when I was going to pick up my lift tickets. Maybe they are maybe it’s just their tone of voice that comes off unpleasant.

A sibling picture to call it a day.

I have some crazy looking black bruises all over me from trying to learn. My massage therapist was rather concerned my body was so battered.

Dear French Guy

• In no particular order let me get this off my chest…
• It is not okay to tell a woman she is a “turn off” when you’ve made her cry
• It is not okay to push her away when she’s desperately attempting to calm you down by apologizing
• You can not constantly tell her that you have other women readily available to date and then just throw (just kidding) and make it a joke
• It is not okay to shame someone endlessly for being honest about sexual acts they enjoy
• I am not going to change my answer to the question “have you ever cheated on your partner” just because it’s your 4th time asking in a span of 1.5 months, do you think I’m suddenly change my no to a yes if you asked enough times?!
• Why is it necessary to pass a test with your friends and parents before you decide to officially date me… is your mother that’s dating me?
• You got angry at me saying you pay for everything and take me everywhere when the only dates when the only thing we’ve done week after week is dinner at your house and watching Netflix and I’ve been the one doing the 30 min drive over to see you.
• You say I act like an annoying child because I sweetly woke you up after our mid afternoon nap to pestering you about to taking me out on a day date on a weekend.
• You got angry at me saying I’m indecisive, when the only effort you made to take me out on a date was scrolling on your phone for and reading off date ideas and expecting me to pick one so you can get the task done with.
• Well what can I say… I can’t believe I put myself through dating hell. At least that only took 2 months to trigger all the red flags.

Cheers to my new life

At the beginning of June I made the decision to return to a big city, to actually live in a city and it was the best decision of my life. I didn’t realize how much I missed that lifestyle until I moved. This feels so right and I can see myself here permanently, which is something I haven’t been able to say in the last 8 years of my life. I now live in Ottawa! Hello capital city and government employee central! I honestly think it’s the perfect place for me, there’s plenty of hiking trails, I can kayak on the river, plenty of the best museums and art galleries as well as good selection of restaurants for a night out in downtown. Me and my brother now rent a beautiful little townhouse together with our pets. I’ve been going about my life solo for so long that it’s gotten really lonely, I think being around family is the best move for me. I’m coming to a slow down with the solo adventures and ready to settle into something home-y and comfortable.

International Firework Competition

Old train station by Rideau Canal

I rented a beautiful 2 bedroom townhouse in the suburbs.

Making friends.