my life is...

my life is messy.

it's not perfect.

my life is full of hopes & dreams.

there are some accomplishments,

but also disappointments.

there are afternoons spent on the couch

with a novel or reruns of saturday night live

when i tell myself i should be doing something more productive.

in my life,

there are doubts & uncertainties.

but there are also wonderful landmarks & supports

like amazing friends,

loving members of my direct & extended family,

and an incredible husband who shows me he loves me

in a million different ways

and always knows how to make me laugh.

my life is full of mood swings...

sometimes i feel ecstatic

and the next moment i'm devastated or enraged

(usually depending on how long it's been since my last meal).

my life is still shaping itself

and what it will look like

both in the days and years that are to come,

and that's scary.

in my head,

i have an ideal life.

a life full of adventures,

of dreams fulfilled,

of beauty & wonderment,

of moments always put to their best use.

of engrossing hobbies that fill every inch of my free time,

of challenges surmounted and rewards that are rich.

every day,

i do my best

to live this life.

so far, it's not perfect...

(and it probably never will be)

but i'm getting there bit by bit.

and for now,

i try to enjoy every imperfect moment

of my messy, confusing, crazy right-now life

because if i didn't,

i wouldn't really be living...

would i?

my balcony smells amazing

although i don't have any cute plant pots
like this set from mikko laakkonen,
today i decided i'd had enough of dried herbs

and flavor-less cooking...

on my way home i picked up some potted

cilantro

parsley

rosemary

basil

thyme

and they are perched delightfully

outside on my balcony

ready to supply

delicious flavours to all my dinners!

the first thing i did

was make a delightful

tomato, havarti & basil sandwich.

yum!

image of PlantLight found via {here}

(busy) earth day

{earth from space, from here}

today is shaping up to be a busy day,

so i will leave you with this picture

and this challenge:

today, spend some time enjoying our world.

look at the trees, inhale the fresh air,

feel the warmth of the sunshine.

be happy that we have such a wonderful planet to call home.

happy earth day! 

ps, don't forget to enter

this week's giveaway! 

a little common courtesy

i like to think that one of my best traits is my polite, friendly manner.

i feel that i am very good at helping people
feel comfortable in awkward situations

and that i have a very pleasant way of dealing with not so pleasant situations.
and i enjoy figuring out solutions and helping people to my fullest ability
when they ask me for assistance.

of course, if through your actions you become someone who i don't feel

deserves my polite kindness,

i can be pretty cantankerous, sarcastic, and unhelpful as well...

but usually i'm just plain nice.

well, i think i'm nice.

but lately i've had a few experiences with some people

who just seem to have horrible manners

and no instinct towards politeness or pleasantness at all.

and after an incident today,

i thought i'd share it and a few others with you.

1. 
there was the woman who emailed me today

to let me know that my extended health benefits have finally kicked in

(which is actually inaccurate, i'm still unable to sign into the online database)

and when i emailed back with a query about

the prescription that i had to fill yesterday

(and was wondering whether it would be covered

since my coverage only kicked in today

but was supposed to start on december 1st)

she emailed back

COVERAGE IS EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 01, 2009.

just like that...

all capitals,

no greeting,

no "in response to your inquiry..."

i felt like she was yelling at me.

this was actually the first instance where all caps

actually gave me the impression of yelling!

and it was not nice.

2.

our bus system allows people to get on the back doors of the bus

if you already have a pass or a transfer.

there are sometimes problems with this because

pushy vancouverites don't feel like waiting for everyone to get off the bus

before they start cramming themselves on.

but in my case, i waited patiently at the front of a long line of passengers

waiting to board through the back door

for the stream of exiting passengers to end

before i stepped up into the bus.

then a slow-moving woman came up and stood right in front of me

in her belated attempt to exit the bus

and proceeded to yell at me for thirty seconds about how impatient i was being.

except she hadn't even gotten up out of her seat
until i made a move to get on the bus.

so i looked at her with a mixture of disbelief and faintly masked humor

until she stopped yelling.

then i stepped down off the bus and said

"there you go"

and allowed her to get off.

3.

walking along the street with dante one afternoon,

i was shocked to hear a man yell at a jay-walking woman

who was obviously a stranger to him,

"great! see you when you get out of the hospital!"

as if her jay-walking had personally offended him

and he felt it was his duty to correct her behaviour.

i'm glad he hadn't yelled it at me

because i would probably have been so shocked

that my concentration would have been shot

and i would have gotten hit by a car.

...

i don't really see the point

in being rude

when you could just be nice

and make someone's day better

instead of worse.

unless they really deserve it.

hopefully you agree :)

image from here

my lost love for yoga

i'm not sure if i remember my first yoga class.

i think it may have been at the esquimalt rec center

in victoria

where i had a 2-month membership with my friend G

the summer before i moved to vancouver.

or it could have been at the drop in classes at gold's gym

(where i paid way too much for a membership that i didn't use nearly enough)
but regardless of exactly where or when i started,

the truth is that i love yoga.

yoga makes me feel so peaceful inside.

it makes me feel in touch

with my body

and my mind.

after a good yoga session,
i feel strong and healthy...

physically and emotionally.

yoga gives me confidence,

makes me stand up straighter,

and helps me to live in the moment

and enjoy every bit of life.

but this year, in the midst of

planning a wedding,

moving three times,

getting depressed about not being able to find a job,

then finding a job but working such strange hours

that i didn't feel i could establish any sort of fitness routine,

i lost yoga.

the unfortunate part is that during all these stressful things

is when i should have been doing the most yoga.

but what's done is done,

and now i'm so happy

because i just signed up for a twice a week yoga class

starting in january
through the wellness program at work.

i can't wait to start!

i'm definitely not at this stage (yet),
but one of the reasons i love yoga is because it's not about

being the best

or most stretchiest

or learning the craziest poses...

it's about being you

and being the best you that you can be.

that's something i definitely want to accomplish.

 
images from here & here & here & here & here

a walk in the park

recently we took a walk along the seawall and through stanley park.
the green spaces in vancouver are some of the best in north america!
if you ever come visit, definitely check out this world famous park.

vancouver is so beautiful and unique,

because you can walk from urban center, to beachy ocean, to dark green forest,

all in one afternoon.

 the day was rainy/sunny/windy/rainy

so we had many glorious skies.

when i see the sun peek through

heavy storm & rain clouds,

i always imagine that this is what

heaven

must look like.

 this is the start of the seawall,

a 10km (6.6mi) stretch of trail

that runs between the ocean

and the forest

at the west end of downtown vancouver.

in stanley park
there is a plethora of wildlife...

my dad once told us

when we were little

that if we could catch one of the many

canadian geese

that hung out in the park across the street

from our house,

we would eat it for dinner.

we chased them,

but didn't try too hard

because we wouldn't know what to do if we actually caught one.

as soon as we entered the forest,

we were greeted by about half a dozen raccoons

some of whom came quite close to us

and made me very nervous.

they are cute though...

a family had brought bread to feed the birds.

i think the birds liked it.

this is the lagoon in the middle of the forest,
which dante made sure we saw
before we left
(even though i was worried we were lost,
he was confident we'd find it)