I Miss You Nana

On Friday, I received a letter in the mail from the Cancer Society with information about cancer screening. Being that Cancer is a major disease in my family, I will definitely be going. I just recently lost my nana to Cancer on December 28^th, 2015. She had cancer in 5 different places in her body. She originally got sick in February 2014, and the doctor had told her it was just a cold. She had that cold for another 2 months before going back to the doctor to find out why. The doctors were slow in the processes to make appointments for specialists and get the results back to my Nana. By that time, she had Cancer in her lungs and in her spine. She did two or three rounds of chemo and ended up weighing 80 pounds by the end. My nana did her best to be there for Christmas, which she did and passed three days later. She was so frail and sad. On Christmas day, all of her grandchildren sat around her hospital bed and opened our presents and helped her open hers. I think that was one of the happiest days of her life. She had her whole family together again for one last time and that really meant a lot to her.

The lesson is that you cannot rely on others when it comes to the safety and preservation of your own body. It is better to be proactive rather than reactive. I would definitely advise anyone to get cancer screenings done. I know I will be.  

The world is in the palm of your hand

The Top 24 Places to Travel:

1.     Istanbul, Turkey

2.     Rome, Italy

3.     London, England

4.     Beijing, China

5.     Prague, Czech Republic

6.     Marrakech, Morocco

7.     Paris, France

8.     Hanoi, Vietnam

9.      Siem Reap, Cambodia

10.  Shanghai, China

11.  Berlin, Germany

12.  Florence, Italy

13.  Buenos Aires, Argentina

14.  Barcelona, Spain

15.  Saint Petersburg, Russia

16.  Dubai, United Arab Emirates

17.  Chicago, Illinois

18.  Cape Town, South Africa

19.  Bangkok, Thailand

20.  Budapest, Hungary

21.  Sydney, Australia

22.  Lisbon, Portugal

23.  Chiang Mai, Thailand

24.  San Francisco, California

Reasons why People Love to Travel

1. To challenge yourself

2. To enjoy new experiences

3. To find yourself

4. To learn a new language

5. To experience new cultures

6. To party or just to have fun

7. To see new things

8. To eat new food

I would love to travel, to see new things and enjoy new experiences. My Favorite part about travelling is the scenery, the people and the culture. I love the carefree and simplicity of life in another country: the freedom to Rome and experience things on your own schedule. I love walking around a corner and finding a view that takes my breathe away. Now is the time to travel, while I am not tied up in too many responsibilities, commitments or promises…while were still young. When you get older, life seems to just sort of happen to you. Your youth is a time of total empowerment. You get to do what you want. But as you mature and gain new responsibilities, you have to be very intentional about making sure you don’t lose sight of what’s important. Therefore, now is the time to travel. The present is the time.

The Tragedy In Being A Leafs Fan

Every year I cheer optimistically for the blue and white. I’m not the biggest Leaf fan in the world and yet every August, before the start of every season, I drink the Kool-Aid. This year they were touted to be a top ten team, maybe even a contender! Today us fans are faced with the truth that the Leafs are, in fact, a top ten team, only in the running for the first overall draft pick. Leafs fans like myself are cursed. The season is an emotional roller coaster. Sometimes the players are likable and we need to watch them win like we need air to breathe. Sometimes the players don’t talk to the media and they are called “monsters” (although I’d prefer not to talk about entitlements in journalism here). Sometimes they beat the New York Rangers with seven goals to their four, and three weeks later lose to the Nashville Predators with two goals to their nine. Nine goals against! Last year the Toronto Maple Leafs were placed first in the Eastern Conference heading into February when the critically acclaimed “18 wheeler” fell off the cliff. They were reduced to a middling team, and then a bad team, and then to a team that was close to a lottery draft pick without actually having any stakes in the draft lottery. The worst position possible to finish in. The “highly touted” Leafs have fallen so far this year that we now have to hope they lose every game, even to the dreaded Montreal Canadians, with the hope that they improve their chances of winning one of the best prospects of all time with the first pick in the draft. And that is the Leafs fan curse: things are so bad that we have to hope they lose every game in order to have a future that we can passionately cheer for.

Number 9

I have played soccer since I was 3 years old.

I started playing from 3 years old to 5 years old when I lived in Boston.

Then when my family moved back to Oakville, I continued to play house league soccer age 6-9. I played in two leagues during this time. I played for a Burlington house league team at the same time as playing house league in Oakville. While playing in Burlington, I also participated in a developmental program in once a week during the summers.

Unfortunately there was a lot of politics in the Oakville soccer league, which lead me to quitting the league and trying out for Rep in Dixie, Mississauga.

My best friend’s dad decided to start up a Rep soccer team in Dixie, and recruited tones of players from Mississauga, Burlington and Oakville to come and play for him.

The coach signed us up for a boys league in order to toughen us up. We would also play in leagues with teams that were one or two years older than us to develop our skills and challenge ourselves.  Practices were held 3-4 times a week plus 1 or 2 games. We would practice for 3 or 4 hours at a time on weekends, running lengths of the field over and over again. Each practice would start with 12 laps of the track. This hard work and dedication eventually lead us to being the first team in the league. At age 14, we were introduced to the OYSL, which was a league of the top 10 teams in Ontario. This year also happened to be my last year playing for Dixie. The coach’s tactics were all about screaming and yelling at a bunch of 14 year old girls and I couldn’t handle that anymore.

The following year I moved the Brampton. Brampton won the Ontario Summers Games when I was 16 years old, beating Dixie (my old team) in the finals. Brampton then moved to be the number 1 team in Ontario, always battling with Dixie for the number 1 spot. I played for Brampton until the age of 18 before going off to university.

Attending school in the USA on a scholarship was never my thing. I am very much a homebody. I was offered a chance to play at Dalhousie in Halifax and turned it down due to the distance. Soccer will always be my go-to sport and has always been a huge part of my life. I made some of the best friends playing soccer and had the best experiences of my life on the field.

Growing up

I am excited to be finished school and start working in the advertising and marketing industry, however I am nervous at the same time.

For a long time now I have been so excited to grow up and buy a house and find a job and start making money.

I am tired of living at home and sharing common space with my parents. I am excited to move out and be on my own.

Since December, I have been trying to network and search for a job, not realizing how hard it is to get my foot in the door.

I’ve always been excited to grow up, but in the last few weeks I’ve been somewhat nervous to take on so many responsibilities. It’s almost like I’m nervous to fail. I’ve lived with a bunch of roommates before in an apartment at university but buying a house isn’t the same. My parents were always there to support me with whatever I needed at university. This time, I will be on my own. There’s a lot of pressure and stress that comes with growing up. I guess I will never truly be ready. My only choice is to just jump and hope that I land on my own two feet.

I know my parents will still do their best to support me and help me out.

But first things first, I need to get a job so that I’m able to support myself financially.

Dear Peanut

The first grandchild of my family will be born on April 16^th 2015 and I couldn’t be more excited; especially because he or she will be my niece or nephew.

This little peanut is so spoiled and he/she hasn’t even entered the world yet.

As the aunt, I decided to host my sister’s baby shower in March. The theme is Winnie the Pooh and all kinds of family and friends will be coming to celebrate.

When my sister told me that she was pregnant, I cried tears of happiness. I am quite surprised that she was able to keep it from me.

My sister and brother-in-law are going to be great parents and I am so ready to meet this little peanut (I call it peanut because they haven’t found out the gender).

It is very difficult to shop for the baby when you don’t know the gender. Therefore I stick with Navy blue, brown, beige and white.

My mom and I really want the baby to be a girl, but my sister doesn’t care which gender will arrive!

My dad is all ready to play tea party and dress up if it’s a little girl.

I’ll be heading up to Guelph, where they live to help my sister out a few days after the baby is born with my mom, because my brother-in-law unfortunately has to go back to work.

Can’t wait to meet you Peanut, and give you all the loving that you deserve!

High School Friends

High school was definitely the best four years of my life. I made so many great friends and did so many fun things. I was very involved with my high school and still even keep in contact with some of my teachers.

I was on the school volleyball team for all four years, as well as the soccer team for all four years. I went to all kinds of sporting events, such as Friday Night Lights to watch our football team play. I went to all the school dances with my friends, field trips, pep rallies etc. I loved being a part of my school. But more than that, my friends are what made the incredible experience. We all went to parties together, we would travel to Wasaga beach together, wonderland, cottages etc.

I had the closest group of friends and we did almost everything together. I always knew I could depend on them no matter what and I wouldn’t have traded anything for them.

Now that we have all moved on and are busy with our lives, it is sometimes hard to keep up with each other. But I know if I ever needed something, they would be there in a flash.

I can still remember laughing hysterically together, until my stomach was hurting and my heart was pounding out of my chest. It was never a dull moment with these girls.

From left to Right in the picture

Lana, Jenny, Alex, Lauren, Becky, Mira, Katrina