dreaming over the ocean

Giving kindergarten students immunizations Speaking French at work Kayaking at cape Maclear Eating baobab fruit Sorting bottle caps with Malawian kids Being inspired by teammates at Calgary 70.3 Jamjar food sponsorship Dave watt's magic fingers Boardgames in tofino Selling my rowing shell Chambar anniversary dinner Pic's of Nicole's baby girl The water hose while climbing up the hill in penticton GranFondo Watching my dog trying to lift her feet off of the hot concrete in penticton The generosity of stu and Marianne Salmon buying in Richmond Floor neighbours Community coming together to help an injured dog Meeting nurses in Malawi "Marmalade! Marmalade" I forgot marmalade! Sasamat canada day swim followed by berry picking with Celine Watching Sean rock the triple crown on a hybrid Tash and Antony's tree trimming 2nd line parade in NOLA Whole food discounts with Donna Dancing with Ed at...

Every once and a while, something happens that gets me really stoked up for the coming season.  That recently happened.  But first, let me back up a bit... This coming season is going to be hard & challenging, and I expect it to push my limits.  Not only my limits, but the limits of everyone around me as well:  we often forget about all the people “on the periphery” who help support people’s dreams.  They are the ones that allow crazies like me (someone who holds a full time job, and too many volunteer positions) to succeed. Recently I received a great notification that I had been chosen as part of the Betty Designs 2015 team! So far, what I like is that as a “silent feminist” I get to be on a virtual team of strong, inspirational women, who are able to come together, network, and encourage each other.  It’s like a free group of new friends! I truly believe that the way women encourage each other is exceptionally empowering.  I also...

Sean and I are currently on the ferry, making our way back home after a weekend on Vancouver island. Nice to get away from the regular bump and grind, and good to get a quick visit with the Birch side of the family.  We were taking the little trip to hopefully inspire young minds. That's the hope, anyway. A lesser known fact about my young life is that I am a private school graduate;  not only a private school, but a boarding school. My parents sacrificed a lot to send me away to a place that I would wake up to the ocean air every day, wear knee high socks and a tartan skirt, and be reprimanded for sneaking a pet hedgehog into my room to live in the closet. I'm not going to lie... I honestly think that if I did not go to Brentwood , I would not be the person I am today.  I would not have gone to WVU, because I would not have rowed. I may not have seen the world, because I would have stayed living in Edmonton. I also would not have had the house parent, coaches, friends, ...

  I am about to do a shameless plug, for a GREAT cause.  Two years ago, I joined my uncle (and two cousins) on a day during his ride from Victoria to Thunder Bay to raise money for YMCA Strongkids Campaign.  here we are eating doughnut's at Tim Hortons.   Here we are, working the doughnuts off. My uncle don is our family's athletic inspiration.  He did Ironman Canada in the 80's, and has been racing triathlon ever since.  He generally enters, sometimes doesn't run (as his knees are a bit worn out now...), and had fun the whole way.  He goes to the YMCA at least 2x a day, and Tim Hortons at least once.  He is a lawyer in Mississauga, ON.  His 3 kids have done triathlons, I do triathlon, my neice used to go out and visit him every summer, and he made her do triathlons, and he has inspired my cousin Rob (the younger fellow in these photos) to do Ironman Canada this year. And he believes in the fight against childhood obesity. ...

Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow. Where do I start?  Well, maybe by saying that I do not want to not post about the 2 nd and 3 rd days of hiking mt mulanje.  They may not be as fresh in my head when I write about them, but, I am about to explode with the past couple days. Last night, I came home, and I could not stop smiling.  In the morning, I had said it outloud: this week, I have hiked a mountain , helped deliver close to 10 babies, done school work (which also included some not-so-great news about the ethics approval from University of Malawi about my project… but, at least it is something which provides at least some direction.) and have gotten to meet the archbishop of Canterbury . What the!??!? 

two days a week, I spend my day at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, here in Blantyre.  QECH is the largest referral hospital in Malawi, with approximently 1100 beds, spread out over a massive land area.  It is interesting, because, apparently, when they were designing this place, it must of thought it would be unwise to go "up" in building, so they just went a single story... so, it is perhaps the most sprawling hospital that I have ever been in. Have I ever mentioned how much I am a big fan of public health care?  Think what you might, but I think that health is a human right~  not something that you should have to pay for.  and, that is why it thrills me that I get to be doing my  clinical rotation in a public hospital in Malawi.  I was even a patient there, during my week of explosive diarreah.  and, I when i was brought there, I was asked "Are you scared?"  um... no? they do have qualified doctors and nurses, right? (yes) they ...

So, it has been a long week, and I know that I was SUPER tired last night. And, I also realized that I have to make sure that I have good sleeping patterns in order to make it through the week to weeks. but, this week, late nights came because I had two conversations with the boy i like which lasted 3-4 hours. parts of those conversations were times where we talked about nothing. and in those times, we get somewhat distracted by the internet, and will send links, photos, etc. back and forth to each other. And, you know, many people spend time doing nothing together: you know the times.. where both people are sitting at a table, and reading the newspaper? together, doing nothing, but, being together. And, since the boy I like and I cannot physically be together, we procrastinate on the internet. we look at blogs about bikes. we find interesting hilarious ridiculous things on etsy. we do nothing. because that is what people do. however, as you may have also guessed, we ta...

so, my classmates decided to stay up late and study. I decided to sleep. I would rather be rested, and do poorly, than be tired and do poorly ;) it just makes dealing with the stress *that* much easier. I just had a reminder while i was getting dressed about what I am doing here, and how I am meant to be doing what I am doing. and, two quotes that i have posted by two inspiring pictures of female triathletes came into my head. Because my God is a big God, I will think big with confidence, knowing that MY THOUGHTS CAN NEVER BE BIGGER THAN MY GOD. God did not call me to a life of failure, but to a life of SUCCESS. this being so, I CANNOT FAIL as long as I do his will, allowing him to work in me and through me, motivating my very thought. i like to think that god has got.my.back. on this. so, i have a new outlook than i did last night. it is a wonder what a sleep and a workout can do. :) will post after the exam.

yesterday, I had my end of term review with my clinical instructor at school. And, it is amazing, because despite the fact that I have enjoyed clinical, I am r.e.a.l.l.y h.a.p.p.y. to be done with geriatrics. If you read a few days ago, you know that some of my experiences have been less than ideal. we learnt about what our placements for Ped's and Post-Natal will be next semester. And, let's say that "nothing is set in stone," but, with the declaration that this area is going to be the clinic that I am working in absolutely thrills me. i was able to ask the clinical coordinator after class: "so. well. a TB clinic. does that mean.... well, that it will involve a lot of immigrants and people in lower socio-economic groups....? since, well, you know, that is where TB exists?" [thinking....please say yes!] and, her response was, "yes. of course. you like that, eh? I thought you might." (and she said that the placements were random. ha ha...

and, in vancouver that means a few things: first, the cherry blossoms come out. and, cherry blossoms are pretty much the best natural thing in vancouver in the spring. I was running the other day, with a little breeze, and it was beautiful to have pink pedals falling around me, with a beautiful smell to add too it. it also means that it is NHL playoff season . which, if you don't know, is a bandwagon to hop onto when you are a canadian. I am currently watching game 3 of the canucks vs st louis blues. (blues just scored this second, making it a 2-2 game... dang. this is an exciting game. i wish that i had more than a fuzzy television to watch it on) The other night, i was watching game 2, with a co-worker friend of mine (at her friend's place). we rode our bikes back after the game, and it was very much a "i am a college freshman" moment. christine's bike is a crappy old mountain bike, it was warm, lateish at night, she is wearing a ~15 year old hockey jersey...

I watched this video this morning, and it gave me chills... (i got it off of Simon Whitfield's blog...) Enjoy. a applicable quote from Chariots of fire: "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure."