dreaming over the ocean

so, last night, as a team building weekend, (yes, as you might know, I am a huge proponent of team activities and team spirit. 'cause a team that likes each other pushes each other and works better together and that means it eventually goes faster together), the girls that I coach, and I, went north about 2 hours, and engaged in fun winter activities. it included a little bit of frigid sleeping and a little bit of frigid frolicking in the woods. here are some photos and a video! we slept in a youte. i think a youte is a mongolian round house. some of us were warm. others of us were freezing. i was happy that i was one of us who were warm. oh, you know. just found a lawn chair in the middle of the woods, in a little winter shelter someone had built. (can i have a warm drink and/or a beer?!!?) that's a little snow. did i mention how cold it was today?! it was cold. but, it was also perfect. group pic #1. bridge. group pic. #2. end of day. I LOVE THE SNOW!

This would've been at Dad Vail regatta, 2005. I am 3 from the left. I would've been the last day that i was a competitive rower. What beautiful people those ladies are. What a beautiful and sad day that was.

Today, i had such a great weekend. skiing yesterday was amazing, the first time in about 10 years, i think. And, it was beautiful and sunny. but, dang, i am so sore today. hello hip flexors! hello lat's. it feels so good to be a little sore today. and then, at the end of the day, I participated in a "raclette" with some friends of mine from school. it was delicious. and, all of this, and a bit of the sermon at church this morning, (apparently, t he pope has just encouraged roman catholic priests to start blogging. ) got me thinking. why do I blog. a lot of people have asked me that before, and I guess i blog because i find that it is a nice way to get out some of my thoughts. it's a bit like a journal, and it is a way for people to keep up with me, when we don't get the chance to see each other often... you see, since i live a slightly nomadic lifestyle (i have lived, since I was 16 in the following places: mill bay BC, for 3 years. Morgantown WV for 4...

I saw this this morning, after reading a bit of a blog. sometimes it is somewhat shocking. http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ had a nice time last night with a few friends who came over for dinner. apparently, the theme of the night was "spinach." it was nice and relaxed, and so casual. things like that make me happy. today, going out to enjoy the sunny day with a X-C ski, despite the fact that there has been no major snow in the last 2 weeks. i have not gone sking in *years* so, it should be lovely!

time for some old photos! ... i went to egypt and fed a camel a fig newton with my mouth? ... when i worked at summer camp, and did ridiculous things on a daily basis? ... i Hiked the west coast trail with my best guy friend, Zach, and we hitched all the way there and back? i lived in morgantown, and regularly got to hang out with some of the the best people in the world (Zach, Kirst, Kev, Me... with dreads!) we went swimming at blue hole, just after sophmore year? cause if you don't remember... i do :)

went running this morning. it was amazing. until i slipped on a slippery slope (say that 10 times fast!). and, no pain in the ankle directly after. but, the pain has grown. quick taking of NSAIDS today. Clinic (hopefully) asap. have a tensor band on to stop the inflammation. not doing major foot pounding in next 4 days. at least. ice. rest. elevation. that is the menu for the weekend. ugh. so frustrating. p.s. i have an addendum to make to this, that I was thinking about while swimming. I remember the days that I was not afraid to get injured. because i had a wonderful group of athletic trainers to be (and a few professionals!) at my general disposal. oh the days of being a student athlete at a division 1 school. now, being injured is a lot more difficult. 'cause it costs money to go get professionals to help fix you. and, despite the fact that I pay for insurance that would help cover it, the up front cost is generally hard to afford. argh. --------------------...

so, today, I ran into one of my classmates at the athletic centre, when I was coming to do my swim. I mentioned that I had done my strength, then grabbed some lunch and was coming back to do my swim workout. She said something to the effect of "dang... i can't believe that you do twice a day." i felt that i wouldn't actually mention that it was my third of the day. sometimes, it is just how scheduling works. you just fit it in when you can. you make it a priority. today, it looked like this: forgot to turn alarm on. run at 8am. go to school have class. quick functional training at 11:30 eat small lunch. swim at 1:15. going away gathering, class at 5pm. clearly, that is not *too* insane. besides... the way i look at it is when you have a workout that can be back to back with another (such as fuctional training+swim), it only counts as one ;) --------- I am not fat. So, I know that this statement is very true. but, sometimes, when it comes down to it is that as ...

so, you may wonder why I have not taken the time to more fully comment on what my reactions are on the Haiti earthquake... and, I suppose as I sit here this morning, it is because the words have not been able to come to me in the first few days. i remember when a friend of mine told me about it. and thinking "wow really? i can't believe it." just being in a state of ignorant disbelief. that first day that we heard about it, i didn't really feel. it just was... these things happen, i guess. there have been a lot of things that have been going on this week with people who are close to me here. major things, and times that needed to be dedicated to other people who needed a coffee. a lunch. a listen. but then. it wasn't until the next day that i started to feel. and it was when i was sitting alone at home, and turned on the national. and as I watched peter mansbridge outline the destruction, it became much more real. to see places that you have seen. walk...

we go up and down like a boat on a wave. we go round like a car on a busy motorway. always in motion, never the same. somedays you're happy, other days i'm sad. some days i think about, what we could've had. live for the moment, never the past. we go up and down... --------------------- so, it thought that I would also give a little blurb about what my day is going to look like today. woke up, shortly before 6:30 (yay! before my alarm, which was set for 6:37. i *love* waking up before my alarm goes off!) ate banana with almond butter. drank glass of water. went for 45 minute morning run on the "mountain." came home. ate breakfast: 2 eggs poached in marinara sauce, small bowl of natural yogurt with handful of frozen berries and cinnamon, 2 cups of french press coffee. came back, to get ready for the day. now, for those of you who don't really know my schedule, i spend a lot of time away from my house. sometimes i leave at 7am, and don't return until 8p...

the earthquake in haiti makes me tear up. a good friend of mine from school has to stop the program, and go back to the states. that is definitely two crappy things of this week.

sometimes, i have a hard time coming up with a title for these posts. and, really, tonight is one of those nights. So, this past weekend just flew by. It was mostly just filled with people . and, spending time with people... some that I know pretty well, and others that i don't really know at all. Friday evening was filled with catching up with a suprizing amount of people on the computer. it was a little ridiculous. I am not a huge "computer instant message" chatter; but, there was one point when i had at least 4 facebook chats going on. it kinda felt like I was in high school again. Then, saturday started off with a brunch with the girls on the rowing team. I love that we plan things like that, because, with team sports, so much is about team unity and cohesion. And, events that are not focused around your sport, only can lead to grow that cohesion. and, that automatically then translates into better practices. better racing. and better attitudes. i then ...

this is what i have been thinking the past few days since I have arrived back in this city. there is *loads* of snow here. the street cleaners have been a bit of a gong show, and the sidewalks... well... let's just say that they aren't completely clean. pretty much, my biggest pet peeve about snow is when it hovers a couple degrees below freezing, so the snow wants to melt, and then creates this very slick little layer of slushy brown stuff which is a mixture of everything that people have been walking through, snow, salt, water, and ice. anyway. not very nice. especially for this girl who doesn't have a great pair of winter boots. that is due to the fact that the boots that i have had for the last 5 years are now making my ankle sore. and. it. is. not. even. my. "bad" ankle. go figure. at any rate, running in the snow (especially uphill) is challenging. but, it is beautiful. and it is crisp. and you see skiers. and, i like that. also how it feels ...

so, I am staring Montreal again in the face. After a wonderful two week holiday here in Mississauga, I am headed back tomorrow morning. It has been a great, and relaxing couple of weeks. it has gone exceptionally fast, considering that there has been a whole lot of nothing planned. but, pretty much the best part of the whole thing was catching up with my family and getting to know them better. *Awesome* It is funny, I sit here, and I am really thinking about what I can write right now. maybe about how christmas is really good at making my muscles slowly fade away. or how i find it hilarious that sometimes "we" are so committed to what we do that i love the fact that riding a bike on a indoor trainer in a garage while watching it snow outside is my idea of a great new year's day afternoon. or how on runs, i seem to have very intense thoughts and dreams and conversations with god. or how i wish i am going to start a 3 day veggie cleanse on monday. more so for a psychol...