Back To Camp I Go

Well it is that wonderful time of year again, school is right around the corner and training camp is in full swing. Yes I have finished school, and for the first time in four years I was not headed to training camp. The last month I have been torn up about that, found it odd I was not preparing to get back into a school routine with a schedule filled with soccer. Playing for my university team has become a way of life for me, and the people involved have become my family.

About a week ago I talked about a decision I had to make, I had finally received a call I was waiting for. The head coach was looking for me to step up and help him out. The offer was an honour; it was something I have so badly wanted to do. I knew it would benefit me as a coach, and it would benefit me personally as it was a great experience and this team is something that makes me happy. After dedicating four years of my life to playing for this team, this was the perfect parting gift, an invitation to return.

The only problem was that I took the year off to work, and coaching this team left me with limited time to do that. After a week of no sleep, and advice from everyone who seemed to have very strong and very differing opinions I reached an agreement with work and soccer to allow me to do a bit of each. So this week I have been insanely busy working full time, coaching my soccer babies, and having training camp start. However I would not have it any other way. I am back with my family, back doing what I love, and enjoying every minute.

So here is to another training camp, here is to another season, to all of the ups, all of the downs. To all of the wins, and to all of the losses, and of course here is to all of the memories that will be made!

Hammer VS Nail – Be Strong

It was the day after my mother’s birthday, and the day before mine. I had the kind of year where I did not really go after any goals, did not really make anything happen. I felt like I was a whole lot of talk, and absolutely no action. It was about time I made a change, time to start fresh, and make a statement about what this next year was going to bring me. I called up a friend, made an appointment, and told everyone I was headed to the mall to find a birthday outfit.

Instead of heading to the mall I had another plan, I was in fact headed to my friend’s tattoo shop. I was finally getting a tattoo I had spent many years talking about. I had him tattoo “Be Strong” on my left wrist. The amount of people who ask what it says, and scoff at the fact I had Be Strong tattooed on me is amusing. Most likely people think it is some kind of cheesy or “empowering” reminder to myself, and in a way it is. It reminds me of someone I love, and reminds me everyday who I should be striving to be.

Many many years ago a close family friend (someone whom I considered to be part of my family) and soccer coach got into a tragic car accident and did not survive. He was the kind of person more people should be like; he was an inspiration to me, and to all of the players on my team. After we lost him we changed our team cheer and motto to Be Strong (his last name was Strong, so it was a fitting reminder to us that he was watching over us as we took the field.) We did everything we could to keep his memory and his enthusiastic way of life alive as we adjusted to our lives without him.

If I can inspire one player on the team I coach as much as he inspired me I will count it as a win. He left me with a passion for the beautiful game, and a passion for life. He was the first person I was really close to I ever lost, and it shook me to my core. I was lucky enough to have 17 other close friends who understood my loss, as well as my family. A number of the girls got this tattoo years ago, and I kept saying I was going to, however I did have a list of excuses a mile long as to why I had not yet done it. In life there comes a time where you need to decide if you are going to be the hammer or the nail. Are you going to do the job, or are you just going to let things/life happen to you. This year I am taking some time off of school, as I just finished my first degree, and I need to refocus and decide what I want to spend my life doing. This year I am going to stop talking about the things I am going to do, the trips I am going to go on, the life I am going to live and I am just going to go out and do it.

I feel like doing this started my year off on the right foot, and every time I look down and see my tattoo I smile. I think of how far my life has come, what I have accomplished, who I am, who I want to be. And of course I think of him, the one who forever changed the course of my life.

Royal Wedding Round-Up

Whether you are a pop culture fiend, a history buff, a royal watcher, or just happened upon the wedding this morning on television with the roughly 2 billion other viewers then I am sure you must have been wowed in some capacity. From Harry telling his brother “wait until you see her” as Kate was walking down the aisle towards a new life, and entering into a new world as Catherine. As Kate and Will swapped vows, smiles, and loving looks it was hard to not be moved. This event was laced with tradition, yet in a way they made it feel modern. It was a major event, yet it some how felt personal, it felt intimate in a sense.

Their day kept many traditions that are near and dear to the royal family, however they also incorporated many changes, they made this very special day very much their own. They arrived in cars, and left in carriages, they are having a dinner and dance party; they had a best man as opposed to a supporter. The maid of honour wore all white, and the bride was the first to head down the aisle.

Then there is the attire, the names/roles they were taking on, the guest list, of course THE KISS (or in this case two kisses), the most beautiful dress in the world (I could write a whole post just on the dress – props to Sarah Burton) and every moment in-between and every moment for ever after.

I cannot lie, I love weddings, I live to go to them, and this wedding was a showstopper. Every detail from the trees in Westminster Abbey to the time line of events, to the seating plan, to the hymns that were sung, to the procedures, to the practices, it all seemed to meticulous. All of those things impressed me, however I thought the most impressive aspect of the day was how well Kate aka Catherine, handled the day, she was so poised, she was the correct amount of professional, and prefect amount of relatable.

William grew up with this limelight; he has known no other world where as his beautiful new bride lived a privileged life, but one in which she had many freedoms. When she decided to marry William she has chosen a life under the microscope, and it does not matter how much you think you understand, or how you try to prepare there is no one anyone other than the royals could understand the magnitude of being a royal. As she stepped on the balcony and said “Oh wow” it seemed like a moment of realization, it seemed like a moment that was magnificent, and I am sure in the days months and years to come she will embrace the magnitude of not only this moment, but also the magnitude of the life she has chosen and the great transition she will be facing.

As her and William are so young and seemed to have captured the attention of the world they have potential to do some good for a number of organizations and people, just as Williams mother Diana did. As well I believe these two young (and beautiful) faces have a rare opportunity to breath some life into this family, breath some life into the British Monarchy.

I know people watched as it was promised to be a spectacle, and it seemed to be THE event of the decade, not many wanted to miss the chance to see history in the making. I started tuning in because I have always has an extreme fascination with the royal family, because I am a lover of history, I am someone who enjoys pop culture, and as I mentioned in my last post about the wedding I think we all felt an entitlement to his happiness after watching William lose his mother so tragically. I must admit beyond all of the hype, beyond all of patriotism there was one undeniable ray of light shining through. That ray of light would be love, there have been many royal marriages filled with controversy, however this just seemed different. The way they looked at each other the way they smiled and giggled at each other throughout the ceremony. It is an event like this that really makes you wants to believe in happily ever after; it makes you want to believe that true love exists. An event like this give you hope.

She stepped into the carriage sat next to her groom looked into his eyes and spoke the very simple words “I am so happy” this made my heart smile. So although this day was for the two of them, it ended up being more than that which became apparent as you could hear the crowds outside Westminster Abbey erupt as they exchanged vows and became man and wife.

Here is to their fairy tale, and here is to believing that fairy tales still exist.

Family Day – My Therapy

Today, or I guess technically yesterday, was Easter. I must say I had a FANTASTIC day. My parents spoiled my sister and I, which is silly of them and not needed, although very much appreciated. After we broke into our baskets, saw the loot, and even snuck a few pieces of candy, we sat down to enjoy one of the best meals I have had this year. This alone would have been more than enough for me. However my lovely and amazing sister decided to hangout with us the rest of the day.

This day was the most beautiful weather we have had yet this year, it was close to twenty degrees, the sun was shining all day, I was beginning to forget what the sun was like. I don’t think anyone could have a bad day in whether like that.

My sister and I started our afternoon by listening to my favourite Jay-Z album, and trying out the un-decorated Penny Can for the first time. We discovered that we are not too great, however we are also not too bad. It was hilarious, and we had a blast with it, I can see it becoming my addiction this summer.

I then proceeded to pester my entire family about what they all wanted for their birthday, as birthday season in our household is fast approaching and I have an obsession with finding everyone the PERFECT gift. When I finally got bored of making lists, my sister and I moved on to watching a few episodes of Ally McBeal. I have officially gotten her hooked now as well. Furthermore watching it this afternoon with her made me want to start watching it from the beginning again. I might start it again when I find some spare time.

We ended our night off with a few hands of cribbage; Dad and I did not end up victorious. As usual we got out butts kicked; we ended up getting skunked!! I am not happy about this, and I am looking forward to redeeming myself in a re-match someday soon.

All in all today was a day I really needed. It was simple, it was carefree, it was full of laughs, and just what the doctor ordered for all of us. We all seemed to be going full tilt lately, we all seemed to be stressed, and I don’t remember the last time we had that much fun together in a while. Those are the days I really look forward to, I love my family, and I don’t know where I would be without them. It is nice to spend time with them and not have to worry about anything else, or anyone else. Everyday I spend with them I feel lucky, they make me a better person, the keep me honest, they keep me humble, and most importantly they keep me sane.

Oprah always preaches about being your best self, by doing what makes you happy, by being with people who make you better, by striving to be better, by living honestly, and most importantly by maintaining a positive outlook. I think it is days like today, far beyond other days, I am the best version of myself.

Today I was happy, I was comfortable, I may have been a goofball, but I felt re-energized. I felt ready to take on the world, I felt re-motivated. After a deflating week, I felt like I was myself again. I instantly had that drive and motivation for success again that I seemed to be lacking as of late. I talked in a recent post about the fact I seemed to be letting life happen, today I readied myself to change that. Today I started looking forward to tomorrow, and the many tomorrows I will face.  School is almost done, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am most certain it is not a train, and I am looking forward to my future. I put more pressure on myself than anyone else does, of that I can be sure, and at times it is a huge asset to my successes, however can occasionally make things more challenging. Lately I feel I have been a little too hard on myself, and my family over the last week or so, unknowingly pulled me out of a rut I seem to have been stuck in for quite sometime.

Days like today seem to be my therapy.

Lent is OVER

I survived all 40 days, or shall I say 46 days, of Lent. I was the only one in my family this year who lasted the duration of Lent. I certainly cannot credit that to my will power, as I believe I do not have any at all. I am competitive, which could be an understatement, and I credit that to my success. You tell me I cannot do something I will prove you wrong.

Last year I gave up my one true addiction… McDonalds. I was eating it two or three times a week, and I was eating over 2000 calories of food each visit. It was the one thing I really did not think I could give up. Many in my life did not think I could survive without it either, which is what made me at least attempt it.

I was lucky enough to have one of my closest friends support me, she really got in my corner, in fact she gave up McDonalds as well. We both accomplished the mission, 46 days without McDonalds. I must admit the first couple of weeks were the most difficult, my body was craving the junk, but once I got passed those first few weeks I felt great. I had more energy than I could remember having in recent history.

I felt accomplished having survived that last year, and in fact I was so proud I did not run out and grab McDonalds the day Lent ended, or the week, or even the month. It took a while, I eventually had some, and I will say I have had it very few times since.

This year I thought I would tackle another challenge in my life, celebrity gossip. It was such a TIME MONSTER for me. I knew most of what I was reading was untrue, however I spent a lot of spare time surfing the web, reading rumors, speculation and lies.

I would be lying if I said I did not miss reading it, or if there were days I was temped to cheat, however I was in the same boat as last time; no one saw success in my future. No one thought I could do this. I unfollowed a whole lot of people on twitter, and deleted many sites off of my favorites. This task I found more difficult than giving up McDonald’s, yet I found it more rewarding. It helped me improve my time management, and really eliminated a lot of procrastinating around exam time (which will hopefully lead to better grades, yet to be determined.)

With all the time I gained I changed up my regular routines a bit, I did not just give up the gossip, I gave up my old way of life. I made more of an effort to meet up with old friends, to catch up with them, made more of an effort to study, and I even started a blog. There were so many different things I found to fill my time, and after the first week I found I was making all kinds of improvements to my life. I was enjoying myself a lot more, and it really opened my eyes up to some of the time monsters I did not choose to give up. I know how silly it sounds, but I really did start to see things in my life a little bit different.

I still have not gone to read any gossip, might do a little catching up before bed, however in the last 46 days I am not sure I missed much at all.

Which area of my life am I going to seek to improve next year, I have yet to determine that as of now, so stay tuned!!

Let The Summer Fun Begin

I have not even been out of school for a week and I am all out of whack, I hate not having a routine. I am sleeping at crazy hours; I am flying by the seat of my pants, and going with the flow. Although that was enjoyable for a few days, I am now finding it frustrating.

I have not started my summer work schedule yet, which is going to be my full time schedule come September. I am pretty nervous about that, however it will get me back into a routine, which I am desperately in need of. I must add there is another perk; it will afford me the opportunity to, hopefully, buy a car (keep your fingers crossed.)

I had a few days off this week, just long enough to catch the flu/a cold. Which made this week a little bit less fun. That was not even what I thought to be the worst part of my week. My DVR broke, it was not taping my shows, it was taping random shows, and it wasn’t playing my shows back properly. I will tell you right now, I was losing it, and I thought my world was ending. Anyone who knows me knows I love my TV, however I never watch shows when they are on, I tape them and watch them when I have spare time. I was sick on the couch, and the only thing I wanted to do was to catch up on TV.

To me this event was a bummer, and then I realized how silly that seemed. Growing up I never watched much TV; I never played many video games. I was on my bike tearing through the neighborhood, kicking around on local soccer fields, coloring the streets with chalk, playing hide and go seek, building forts and even slingshots. The only thing I had to worry about in those days was cuts and scrapes, and making sure I was home in time for dinner.

I remember the days when you would walk to a friend’s house, and knock on their door to see if they were home, or if they wanted to come out and play. Nowadays that doesn’t happen, there is a constant stream of text messages and phones calls just to figure out who is free to hangout. Takes half the day to plan an outing, we waste all of this time “communicating” when we could just knock on the door and find out, when we could be out enjoying the time we have.

I was never someone who relied a lot on technology, and in the last few years there has been this huge shift in perspective. My phone is always on, I usually have a computer near by, I have a DVR, all of the channels one could dream of, I have an e-reader, and iPod, and all of this other junk. When did my life become about all of these possessions instead of being about a quick game of kick the can, or reading a comic book, or even just hanging out on the back deck.

This summer I need to get back to the things that really matter, trips for ice cream, beer on the deck, adventures to the lake, long days on the soccer field, roundtrips, and all around summer fun.

Time Management

The workload the last three weeks has been stressful, however I shocked myself with how well I managed my time. I knew I was going to be busy, it was to be expected with my course load, and with the amount I had going on. It was like a call to action for the inner planner and time manager in me.

In prior years during exam crunch my time management skills have not been impeccable, and I certainly had a thing or two to learn. I knew what I was going to be up against this year, more specifically this week. As this week got closer and closer I really didn’t think I was going to be able to handle it gracefully, or get any sleep for that matter. Let me say this once, as I do not say it often, I was wrong. It only took me seven exam periods to learn how to properly manage this hectic time of year.

I made the most comprehensive plan I have ever made; I basically made a plan about my plan. I had productivity goals for the weeks leading up to this week. I survived long enough to make it to this week, now I have daily and hourly productivity goals in place. They were basically guidelines, not easy ones to meet; however I must admit thus far I have met every single one. It was difficult, but I really focused on my plan, I really focused on my work, and I had success. It has been a great feeling, and very satisfying to achieve this level of organization, goal setting, and productivity.

I know the week is far from over, and I still have a huge list of things to do; however if I stay motivated, and if I stay on track I should survive the remainder of my university degree. Although this was not a skill taught to me in a course, it is something I can take away from my university experience. Not everything I learned the last four years has been learned in a classroom. Here is to having a million more opportunities to learn, and here is to surviving the rest of my week so I can enjoy the first step to the rest of my life.

Quote – Failing

This quote is one I used to have posted on the walls of my room; it would be the first thing I saw upon waking up. They used to be words I lived by. Somehow, someway at some point on my journey to right now I let these words get away from me. Last night after a long day, I got home and they were posted in a friends Facebook status. Reading the words really took me back, reminded me what they used to mean to me. Some days I am far too hard on myself, and I think I need to start getting back to the place I remember. The place where I took a hard day and turned it into a good one, where I took a failure and turned it into a teachable moment, where anything bad that happened was going to lead me to something bigger and better. I think as we grow up, as we start to face the pressures of the world, we forget that sometimes a mistake or a misstep can be something positive in the end. We put too much pressure on ourselves to be these unflawed, completely errorless perfect humans, which is so far fetched and ridiculous as I can tell you that not one exists in the entire world. So maybe it is time to start embracing your trips, your falls, and your slipups, you cannot undo what has been done, you cannot go back in time and win the big game or make the big shot, but you can work harder to win the next one or get the next shot in.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

– Michael Jordan

What Is Your Happiness?

Happiness is a funny word; it has one definition, but billions of meanings. Every person views happiness different and every person finds happiness in different places. One of my friends threw me off about a two months ago when they asked me if I was truly happy. My first response was to ask them if they were mocking me, as Oprah had that very day done a show on happiness, and everyone knows my love for Oprah. However they in fact had no intent to pick on me about that when they asked. Therefore I took no time at all to answer, no thought involved at all. I said that of course I was happy. I could not understand why I would not be, I have a great life, I have great friends, things could not be going more right, and lately I have been uncharacteristically optimistic. However the one thing I did not realize at the time was this friend was not really asking about my happiness because they were genuinely interested in my state of being, I believe this person was concerned about their own happiness. Which is why when I think back about the second part of our conversation, I am embarrassed. I must have sounded so pretentious, and so very idiotic.

After I declared my undying happiness, and optimism for the future my friend decided to throw me a curveball and ask me the one question I had no idea how to answer. The one thing they wanted to know was

Not A Teenager Anymore

I have not been a teenager for over a year now, but last week it was a reality that hit me quite hard for the very first time. For everyone who knows me well, they know that I am a goofball, and super competitive. Therefore when I was coaching soccer practice and was short a team me and the other coach decided to join in. It did not take long at all until I was doing diving headers, and fighting tooth and nail for the ball.

When I woke up Thursday morning I was feeling less than fantastic and for the first time in my life I was