every five years..

something amazing happens. of course, i just realized this now as i was thinking.. this was the best year ever. and the last time i thought that very thing was back in 2008, 5 years ago. and five years before that. all the way back to 1988 when i was three years old, my baby brother was born. so i suppose that's when it all began.

i didn't have many expectations for 2o13, but i was hopeful that it'd be a lot better than 2o12. and it was. my luck had certainly changed. last year so many things had gone wrong, i felt like i was in my own personal hell. it was the 'end of the world' indeed to me, the world that i had created for myself was crumbling. once i had finally stopped resisting and accepted all that had happened it got easier.

 in mid february, i found out about shareholders. it's a huge annual event held in arkansas that hosts people from all over the world for a mind blowing week of lessons, activities and interactions. one had to be voted by their store to go, and then audition to the district. i won the store level vote. i felt loved.

a few weeks later into march, i was surprised to find out that i had won, and was to be sent to represent our district at the international shareholders meeting! that means i was one of 150 canadians to attend, of the 90,000 canadians that work for our company. what an honour! the day after i found out, i was in for another surprise that was truly quite unexpected.

the year previous i had lost my home, my garden, my partner and a lot of friends. but i had gained one special friend from all of it, the dude on the couch. once everyone had found somewhere to be as the community house died off, this fellow was left without a place to go. i took him with me. a year later we were still living together as roommates. late march he had to travel out of town for a week to visit family. it was a long, cold lonely week.. when he had gotten home, the very day after i'd found out i won the vote, i found out that i'd won his heart as well. we had missed each other so much while he was gone we wondered why we weren't together. and so, it began. the last day of winter.

a few weeks later i decided to do something i never thought i'd do, write my beginners. i passed with flying colours, and this hippy walked out with a license to drive. and somewhere around that same time i obtained a passport to travel, and a clean pass into the states. it was only april and already my life was changing for the better.

in may we got our own place. i was hesitant at first to make the move, i wasn't sure about the neighbourhood or the fact of living in a basement.. but i was excited learn that we would have free use of an enormous yard to do and grow whatever we please, and a fire pit to enjoy. did i mention there isn't any neighbours? so it worked out.. just when i thought there'd be a year without a garden we found someplace to grow.

and we did.. we grew as much as we could plant on such sort notice. we have a surplus of tomatoes to make sauce with all winter, and we gorged all summer on freshly grown eggplants and herbs. the berries got off to a good start, and the sunflowers made plenty of tasty fresh seeds for the fall. oh and one more thing..

the day after we moved in, i cut off my dreads. this time, by choice. for years i didn't feel comfortable with the idea of not having them, over ten years i spent moslty in dreadlock. two sets, five years each. i felt i might as well go with the flow of changes, and i wanted to shed some unnecessary weight off my shoulders. also in preparation for traveling to the southern states in early june.

it would be my first time flying since i was eleven. and that time was awful traumatic.. it embedded a deep fear of flight in me that took a lot of nerve to get over. i had sworn to never fly which i knew would limit me on travel, but i had to for this journey. i'm glad i did, four planes later [two each way] i can finally stomach soaring through the air at insane speeds and altitudes to get places faraway quickly.

 had i not gone, i would have missed out on the surprise elton john concert.. truly a once in a lifetime thing. i'd never have the money or the bother to attempt to get tickets to a show like that, and here i got to see him for free. something i will truly never forget.

before all of this, i had decided that i'd like to visit nova scotia as it had been far too long since i'd been. and now that i had a new someone to bring with me, it was an extra special journey. i got to introduce matt to my old friends, and to some of my favourite places i've been. and we got to experience a few new places together like peggy's cove, and a huge inner city permaculture food farm. we got to see the pitch black skies and watch the stars and the milky way, and glide peacefully in a canoe on the lake. a little taste of what life will be like after retirement.. hopefully sooner. anyhoo..

i'm glad that we mostly relaxed for that journey. somewhere along the line i had signed up for a trip just about as action packed as the last one, and it was nice to take a breather in between. friends of mine had been trying for a long time to convince me to shoot their wedding. after saying i wouldn't a few times [i don't do weddings] they finally won me over.. with a journey to the dominican. and i couldn't be more grateful as it was an amazing experience all around.

i made a bunch of new friends that week, photographed a beautiful wedding, and had a chance to go geocaching in the sand. not to mention a few other once in a lifetime type things including swimming with dolphins, sharks and stingrays, riding a dune buggy into the jungle.. and staying at an all inclusive resort enjoying a swim up bar with all the banana mamas and pina coladas i could ever drink.

really, i still have a hard time believing it all happened, let alone in the past year.. my head is still swimming as each experience is catching up with me. i have so much to be grateful for.. some great challenges have been balanced with some great opportunities and experiences. i have no idea where my luck came from this year, but i won't complain. thirteen has always held a special place with me, perhaps that is a part of it.

peace out 2o13, thanks for everything. i think i'll need a year off to recuperate.. and garden too.

living the dream..

for real.. woah. this place blew me away each day with another breathtaking scene or three.. no camera skills necessary to get a postcard perfect shot. i have come to the realization that attempting to write about things chronologically is likely why i stop writing, eff it. one of those days, we went on a catamaran for a tour of the beaches [and to swim with sharks and stingrays of course] but anyway, i couldn't get enough of the view from the top of that boat. i felt like i was on top of the world..

..and the beaches were gorgeous, white sands and blue skies.. amazing. i'm still having a hard time adjusting back to the fact that one needs many layers before exiting the house in the morning, the memory of the island heat keeps me warm [momentarily]. i definitely hope to spend more days in places like these.

seeing white herons [egrets] everywhere was a plus, such beautiful birds. my first experience with one was one of the first days on the island, i could see it hiding in the wetland reserve that's right in the middle of the resort. it was maybe ten feet away from me, barely visible, watching me walk the path to the beach. beautiful birds, it seemed as though there was always one around. definitely added to the dreamy feel of the scenery. what a world.

fly away once more..

i never thought i'd travel to a place like this, but i also never thought i'd travel to the southern states or willingly get on an airplane, and all of the above have happened this year. even as the plane approached the island and we could see the coastline and the jungle and the mountains it was still hard to believe. like traveling to another world.. even the clouds looked different, beautiful.. i couldn't get enough of the view from the little window.

when you arrive at the airport, you step out of the plane right into the open air and it hits you in the face.. the humidity is intense and the heat was almost overwhelming, until i was suddenly distracted by the fact that the airport looks like nothing more than a village of palm leaf huts and a strip of asphalt in the middle of the jungle. there isn't much for walls, and you can smoke tobacco and crack open a cold beer just about anywhere.

the heat didn't much matter after a little while. everyone quickly accepted that a constant layer of sweat comes with the territory. the first thing i am taken by is the vegetation.. i was that weirdo walking around checking out all the plants, touching the leaves, sniffing the flowers.. it took a couple days to get used to the fact that the plants we buy for indoors and greenhouses are their garden plants and shrubs here on the island.

it was so refreshing to walk around and check out all the gardens. coconuts, bananas, passionfruit.. so many different amazing things growing right on the resort! and the wildlife was interesting too. instead of squirrels and flies there are big fuzzy spiders and lizards everywhere. the maintenance staff squishes them like bugs! we were much happier to befriend them than to swat them with a sandal. they're so cute!

i have hundreds and hundreds of photos to sort through, everything was so vibrant and beautiful it was hard not to snap it all up. my mind is still buzzing with how amazing the journey was and we've already been home for a week, every time i sit down to sort through my files and pick a few more to upload, i feel as though i'm back there closer to the sun.

i'm far too exhausted now to write anymore, i have neglected my blogger account since a week before the trip. i suppose i just wanted to stop in and get the ball rolling, 2013 was such an incredible year, i should have tons to write about throughout the winter to keep me warm.