There's no place like home.

This post is long overdue, but as I suggested yesterday, life was sort of busy this week and my posts suffered as a result. Better late then never I always say.

Last weekend, my friends and I ventured to my hometown for a little fall fun! (Sadly for Amanda and I, our fun was limited to 3 hours as homework consumed our lives. Same story, different day) Going home this time of year is always perfect. The streets are covered in leaves that rustle under your feet. The potato fields are turned over and a nice contrast to the fall colours in the hills. The air is crisp and smells different then the city air I've come accustomed to over the last 5 years. I love my home.

(Isn't it just a beautiful landscape!)

My friends and I made our way to a local farm market that has a huge corn maze, fun farm and pig races! Things that really shout COUNTRY living, and I love it! 

 Saying hi to this cute little guy! (Who happened to get stuck in the fencing)

Good thing Amanda was there to help him out!

 Here we are making our way through the intense maze. 

Our awesome corn maze team! 

After our a-maze-ing adventure (yes, that just happened), we went on a hayride and watched an intense pig race featuring Kevin Bacon (my personal favourite!), Lindsay Loham, and Shania Swine -- love pig puns! 

Kevin Bacon was the clear winner! 

And just as the pig races ended, the skies opened up and it began to rain. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon at home. It's kind of funny how I had never done any of these things before (minus the corn maze) and I only live a matter of minutes away from the farm. I'm glad I got to share these experiences with my wonderful university friends. Thanks for a great day, ladies! 

There truly is no place like home. 

Reflection.

As of 1:30pm this afternoon, I am completely done my first term of my BEd. *sigh*

It's an understatement to say that this week was difficult. In fact, in a matter of 2 months, I have completed more classes and more course work then I ever did in one semester of my undergrad degree. Nevertheless, the experiences and lessons I have learned over the last 2 months have made me a better person and more confident in myself as I embark on my first adventure as a teacher.

As I sit here and reflect on the last two months, I think back to the week before I started this BEd programme and how nervous and anxious I was to begin. In fact, I found myself a couple of times dreading the thought of having to go back to school. However, in only a matter of days after starting, I began to realize that I was truly committing myself to something I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I have met some fantastic people who share the same philosophies and outlooks on life as I do. They encourage me to follow my dreams and to reach my goals, and I couldn't have gotten through these last 2 months without them and my always supportive family.

One of our PD days in the programme had us viewing this video below. It's by a poet named Taylor Mali who is a vocal advocate for teachers and the work that they do. This is probably one of the most inspirational and uplifting videos I have ever seen. Take a peak!

And now, I embark on the next leg of this adventure: actual teaching! Bring on those eighth graders :)

Feeling Good.

This week's theme for blog posts are short little blurbs to keep you all hooked. My apologies for not posting more frequently - this week is insane with final projects and last days of classes. I swear, this weekend will be Melissa overload for you all!

Today ended on a good note. I had a fellow classmate approach me about my internship, where her daughter happens to be one of my students. The classmate told me that her daughter came home after my first day as her "cooperating" teacher and said something along the lines of this to her mother:

"Mom! One of your classmates is my new teacher. She's really nice, and made everything make sense and explained things so clearly. And she's not scary!"

I could do nothing but smile :)

I think I'm gonna like this being a teacher business!

Breath.

I may have picked a terrible time to start a blog.

Tomorrow begins my final week of classes before starting my internship as a teacher. So, the workload is overwhelming and sometimes it feels like something is going to be forgotten or something won't get done in time.

It's times like these where I need to remind myself that life keeps chugging along and everything always gets done.

My friendly reminder for the night:

Wish me luck.

Dear Melissa.

I came home from school yesterday to a friendly letter waiting for me from my Great Uncle David who lives in Vancouver. He's a pretty special guy, and I had the pleasure of getting to know him for the first time this spring during my Grandad's illness. It was so ironic that the letter was sitting pretty on the table when I came home as I had thought about Uncle David yesterday and wondered when I would be receiving a response letter from him. I walked in the door and yelled out "YES! I had a feeling I would have mail today!" :)
This letter was a little bit different then our past exchanges of written word and email. This letter was emotional, it made me rethink where my life is, and it inspired me to pick up my socks and be the best Melissa I can be. I wanted to share some of the quotes that impacted me the most when reading this letter, in hopes that it will evoke something from within you:

- "I might have wished that I could have done more, or done things a bit differently, but usually I can say: "I did the best I could."
- "Death is so much a apart of life. We are living and dying at the same time."
- "I'm much more determined to get the most out of life [and] to not waste my time."

Though this mail brought out more emotions in me then I have experienced in a while, I carry it close to my heart. It is one of the most special pieces of writing I have ever received. Words can not express my sincere gratitude for this letter. All I can say is thank you, and send my love and hugs through a letter to him in return.

Someday

For as long as I can remember, I've always dreamt of taking a trip to Italy - Venice in particular. I just know from hearing other's experiences and doing research that the city of Venice would fit my persona and lifestyle so well.

I have a poster hanging in my room of the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy (like that pictured above). I use it as motivation and a reminder to live each day like there is no other. You only have one life to live, so live it the best way that you can.

I remember about two year agos, my friend Katelin and I came up with this brilliant idea to save up our dollars and take a Euro trip. We would hit up London, England for Wimbledon: go to Somerset, England for Glastonbury; Venice, Italy to fulfill all my dreams; and maybe just for kicks travel to Greece for the architecture and beautiful scenery. The moral of the story is that we wanted to experience as much as we could and live life to the fullest. Well, you can probably gather where this is going…the trip never happened. Actually, when I think back, I don't recall it being brought up more then 3 or 4 times. I often sit and wonder what would have happened and how my life would be different if we had taken our outlandish suggestions a bit more seriously… (no regrets!)

My dreams and ambitions to travel to Italy still remain. In fact, as I sit and type this, I would love to pack a bag and set off on an adventure of a lifetime. I often hear of friends and acquaintances travelling and seeing what the world has to offer. Why can't I be one of those people?

So here I am, declaring to you that in the next 5 years I will live my dreams and travel through Europe. I will become one of those people who can just pack up and go, living day to day. I'm young, not tied down, and after I'm done school I have no serious education or job commitments. Just those darn ol' student loans - ugh.

**For those of you reading this, remind me that I posted this to the world wide web for all to see - then maybe I'll take these large goals and ambitions a little bit more seriously.

Hello, my name is...

So, before I begin - shout out to my good friend and roommate Amanda for finally convincing me to start a blog. I hear her talking about her blog joyfully almost everyday, and it was at the supper table tonight that she got me hooked. Dearest Amanda, I can't guarantee that I will keep this up as frequently as you would suggest and I can't guarantee that I'll make it past a week, but it's worth a shot, right?



Welcome! This is my blog. I haven't really convinced myself yet that I'm the "blog writing" type, but I am going to try my hardest to keep this thing up! I tried once before - for exactly two weeks…long enough to express my love for the Olympics and rant and rave about each day's events. Then I abandoned the poor ol' blog. She didn't even see it coming!

For my first post, I wanted to spend a little time introducing my readers to me (even though I know most of you are probably some of my closest friends and may know most of what there is to know about me). But thanks for reading! Love you :)

10 Fun Facts about Me, Melissa!

1. I'm training to become a teacher. My first day in the classroom is tomorrow. I'm terrified, yet overwhelmed with excitement! Here begins a new chapter of my life.

2. I have never broken a bone. Not once. Never. (knock on wood).

3. Along with never breaking a bone, I've never had the chicken pox. Taught kids swimming lessons who broke out a couple of days later, and didn't catch them. I think i'm immune.

4. I have never died my hair. I love my hair colour, and people tell me all the time they are jealous. So, strawberry blonde I shall stay :)

5. I got my very first tattoo this summer with my best friend, Sara, by my side. (future blogpost?)

6. I love to cook. Everything about it. The way my hands smell afterwards, chopping, mincing, sauteing, etc. I always save chopping an onion to the last because it's my favorite thing to chop.

7. Speaking of loving to cook, the Food Network is my secret obsession! Everytime I go home, I spend my evenings watching hours of good foody TV!

8. One of my favourite movies to watch is My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I think I've watched it about 15 times, and I love it every single time!

9. I was always Ginger Spice, Sailor Venus and Blossom.

10. I will get to Italy! Someday! Sooner rather than later, please.

That's a little bit about me. Tell me a bit about you?