dreaming over the ocean

so, when i read stuff like this, about myself, it gives me the warm fuzzies. it is nice to know that people feel that I am solid enough of an individual that can write compliments like this about me (click on image to enlarge). 

so, i think i am going to plan on staying in vancouver/BC.  for today, that seems like it would be a solid plan.  and, i think that as of now, i am considering the following for education: MPH at Simon Fraser University, in International health and development. 2 year accelerated nursing program at UBC Bachelors of Nursing at Trinity Western perhaps nursing at langara.  but, who knows.   so, that lasted about 3 days.  then i found this direct-entry 3 year master's applied program in nursing at McGill, in Montreal.  It also has a option to focus on global health nursing.  *Ding!* i have always wanted to live in montreal, or go to mcgill. even since i was in high school. 

From day to day, my plans change. and, since i have no plans or ambition for my life anymore, here are some things i am considering, with no commitment to any of them: going to peru and ecuador, to hike in the andes, see machu picchu and perhaps the galapagos (if i can afford this part). hike up kilimanjaro. go on a bike trip somewhere, maybe ride Ragbrai, in iowa, in july. go to Liberia, visit my host family. Start in spain, and travel down through West Africa. travel across north africa. go to south africa on an multi-purpose advenutre, and hit up mozambique and visit my sponsored world vision child. do my MPH in international health and development at Simon Fraser (vancouver), or Tulane (New Orleans), or University of Capetown (south africa), or somewhere else. quit my job, sell my belongings, and leave town. Keep my job, make some money, and force myself to be settled for a while, while i discover western canada and vancouver some more. race in triathlons. maybe do a 1/2 marathon ...

"The only thing that makes life possible is the permanent, intolerable uncertainty, the joy of not knowing what comes next " - Ursula K Le Guin there are a couple of things that i love about commuting by bicycle.  some of them depends on the ride; such as watching the sun rise, or set.  or if you want to get a workout, or if you want to take a leisurely ride. or, if you listen to music, or choose to listen to what is going on around you.  but, at least one thing that happens every single time you go on a commute.  You have the time to feel the wind in you hair, and rushing past your body, as you take the time to prepare for the day, or take time to decompress from the day.  it is a time to think about your day (ahead, or behind), while your blood is flowing rich with oxygen and endorphins.  :) and, today, as always, i had a good think on my way home (which i rode leisurely, with great music in my ears)... this week has been a bit of a trip.  and, so often, i find it interesti...

so, today i got back on my bike for the daily commute, and back in the pool to enjoy some of the last of the quickly fading summer days.... it was so wonderful. all of last week, i did nothing. i figured that 2 olympic distance tri's in a span of 6 days was a challenge enough for my body. I didn't want to hurt it, so i gave it a rest. and, now after that week, i am restless. i am ready to get back into it. but, the unfortunate thing is that i don't know what to do . i am kinda at a loss. there are no more tri's until march. the rain is going to start soon. i am doing a 5km charity run in October, which i am trying to fundraise at least 150$ towards breast cancer (AKA: PLEASE DONATE!!!) and, i am also doing a 10km Turkey trot race on Thanksgiving. So, both of those should be fun, but they aren't going to really be a challenge. so, i don't really know what to do. i am going to try to start doing yoga again, at least once a week. i think i am going to sign up f...

A year and a half ago, my brother Leigh (who is 8 years older than me) turned up on my doorstep and stayed for 3 weeks.  I had not seen him for about 3 years, and since then, I have had not heard from him.  He was more than welcome to stay, and i wish he would do it more often. it was nice to have conversations with him, and hear his perspectives on life. i do wish that i knew where he was, and that i could see him more often in my life.  however, most of the conversations we had, I do not really remember.  But i do remember one thing that he said to me.   he told me that if i thought that my early 20's were going to be the point of life in which i learn. and change. and grow. the most, that i am wrong .  he told me to just get ready for my mid-late 20's, because in those few years, life will have a whole new learning curve, and that i will experience more change in my life than i can anticipate.   i have been 25 for just over 2 months.   and, in the spring, when i was approac...

so, as you can see in the previous post, i went to LA this past weekend.  I had never been to LA before, and the city turns out to be nothing special.  I'm not going to lie.  but, it was a great weekend, none the less. It was really nice to go down to the city,  and have my friend Josh show me around, with the brief time that i had.  I think he was paying back the favour from me showing him Vancouver, and racing in Squamish.  He even spoke of being able to show me a star.  so, I was in high anticipation.   The race was the predominate feature of the whole weekend, of course.  I was able to see Venice beach, the basketball courts where famous NBA players show up sometimes.  I walked down Rodeo Drive, and browsed in Schwenky stores.  we mosey-ed through expensive hotels in hopes to glimpse a star.  we walked down hollywood blvd, and looked at the stars in the sidewalk, and the handprints in cement.   The best part of sight-seeing in LA came on Monday morning, when we went to beverly ...

       So, this past weekend, i traveled down to Los Angeles for a "on a little bit of a whim" trip.  Originally, when thinking about the possibility of this trip, I was not sure if i wanted to race in the LA tri, because of racing on Labour day, the race entry fee, the organization of getting a bike to race with (b/c i wouldn't want to bring my own bike), etc.   but, i bit the bullet, and I thought "what better way is there to see a city, than to race through it?"  So, i went ahead and entered the LA Triathlon.  The race is a point to point, starting at Venice Beach, and ending in Downtown LA. The bike course heads up Venice blvd, eventually doing a bit on Sunset Blvd, and turning around to go back downtown.  I had organized to borrow a bike through Couchsurfing.com, which was amazing.  The bike, although significantly smaller than my own, was a Quintana Roo Tri bike, complete with carbon fork, stem, etc, and ultegra components.  so, needless to say, quite a st...

Sooooo..... Triathlon #2 done and done.  no photos this time though, sadly.  but, here is the report.  it might be short, cause i am tired tonight.  but, i may not have the time to write it this week, so, better something, than nothing right? so, here are my results.   13/36 in women aged 20-29. 25/110 in overall women. 127/288 overall, men and women.   Final time:  2:47.09 Swim time: 24:24 (split 1:38/100m) Bike time: 1:22:52 (27.4km/hr) Run time: 59:54 (6min/km... ughghghg)   let us compare that with squamish: final time 2:50.03; swim 26:42(1:47); 1:22:32 (26.9); 1:00:5 (6:05). so, not so bad.  shaved the most time off on the swim, which i thought i would have. i think maybe i can still get faster on the swim, and definitely on the run... hopefully on the bike?!!? so... Swim:  fantastic.  I have loved swimming this summer.  Water was cold, though.  so, i am glad that i got in early. I think it was about 16 degrees, so initially, it was very numbing to the face and hands.  I got in, f...