2016: Oh What A Year

2016 was the year of rebirth, strength, and patience. Not much took place in January or February, expect enjoying the fruits of our labors with our kitchen and house renovations.  They were all wrapped up by the end of winter.  Then a huge change occurred- my husband made a business decision that finally brought forth work and home balance.  Over the last three years he has been building his business and it has been a struggle.  But when he refocused his business plan he found balance and in turn created a harmonious home life.  Not saying that our life was inharmonious before but now life is happier and easier.

 Thus began the chapter of rebirth for 2016.  When I look back now I think this turn in event spurned me to reconsider two aspects of my life and gain better control- one being work.  I ended June utterly physically and mentally drained.  Part of this was a low iron and B12 count, which took many months to rectify. Another was my teaching load.  Trying to balance junior and senior programs was not working for me, there was too much juggle between the two.  So when my department head asked what I wanted to teach next year I bitter sweetly gave up the juniors.  I love teaching grade 8's and 9's but the way the program was heading I knew I couldn't keep up the pace, so I bowed out, looking to focus on seniors.  This was the best decision I could make for my sanity.  I finished 2016 feeling less stressed than the previous year.  

Also in terms of rebirth I let go of relationships that stopped serving me.  I spent too much time hoping and waiting for certain people to make time for me; saying they wanted to but couldn't find the time.  The way I see it if you really want to see someone then you make the time.  And once I finally let them go I opened myself to others who I truly enjoy spending time with.  And I'm not sure if I would have done this if I hadn't mindfully cut ties with other people. 

Jumping back to late Spring, my husband and I ventured to Fraserway RV show to look around with a few friends and left with a new trailer.  Thus sparking the glamping bug in me.  We ended up doing six camping trips all together, even one in November for Cornucopia Wine Festival in Whistler. 

Summer flew by with trips to the lake, and one special, fun-filled trip to visit my sister and her family in Drayton Valley.  We had lots of laughs and silly times together, like going to the beach for a day, eating ice cream cones the size of our heads, watching Adventures in Babysitting (new and old versions), and of course my sister and I staying up all night long chatting. 

In between trips I enjoyed my time at home.  This chapter is fondly titled Strength and Patience.  At the start of summer I became obsessed with American Ninja Warrior.  This strength and agility based obstacle course reality show inspired my to want to be stronger and more fit.  My idol from the show is Jessie Graff, who is incredibly strong.  My mantra for the summer was What would Jessie Graff Do?  This question helped me to stay focused on eating healthy and working out.  By the end of summer I had lost 15 pounds and felt invigorated.  However I injured my shoulder in early summer, and instead of letting it heal (which Jesse would have done) I pushed myself and it took over four  months to heal it, thus preventing me to reach my goal of defined arm muscles.  The hardest part of recovering was simply letting my body do just that.  It took many set backs for me to realize I needed to be patient with my body. Eventually I'll reach my goal: I now know it will just take time.  

September was the start a wonderful school year.  October boasted a thanksgiving camping trip with the neighbors, and November as mentioned earlier noted a trip to Whistler.  Rain happened for most of the Fall and so with December here a cold snap has stunned our neck of the woods with lots of snow. 

All in all it was a fabulous year with more adventures to come in 2017.