2011 in review - part one

Clearly, school took over my life and I was unable to continue my journal entries. So much has happened in the last 5 month that I want to talk about, but I'll leave it until next week. For now, I'm going to start with my review of 2011. The first, being part of the yearly journal I do. I'm not posting it all, but this is what I was able to pull from it that I wanted to post.

Marriage

The wedding finally happened this year, after many years of planning. It was successful, and unforgettable. Although the concept of marriage can be defined easily by most, it’s quite nice to make our own set of rules in our relationship. According to most, we should have been settling down and popping out a baby by now. I’m glad that we laid out a strong foundation for our marriage over the last few years, and have no plans to let anyone else influence it, and cause us to deviate from what we truly want. We’re both happy, and things couldn’t be better. This year has strengthened my love for him even  more. I am so lucky to have him in my life.

Friendship

I learned many lessons this year, and had a lot of unique experiences. The most important one was learning how valuable friendship is. People take it for granted, and I sure did. It’s easy to do. I’ve learned that you need to work at friendships, just like relationships. People who are there for you no matter what, through the bad times and the good are the ones to hold onto. They call you when they know you’re upset, to make sure you’re okay and make you laugh. My friends, the ones who did this and helped me this year will have my never ending gratitude. You know who you are, and you should know what you mean to me.  If you don’t – I love you. I’ll never be able to tell you how much you mean to me, and how grateful I am for having you in my life.

On the same note of friendship, this year became a huge milestone in my friendship with someone who I’ve known for over ten years. This was the year I got to meet Bram for the first time.

It was an experience that neither of us will ever forget. It was, in the words of Bram “surreal”. I’ll never forget that awkward few moments at the airport when I hid behind a tall pillar waiting for him to emerge. It was a crazy, awesome moment that makes me laugh every time I remember it. The photo above was taken less than 5 minutes after meeting.  Many believed it was crazy we had never met before June, but we just never had the chance to.  Our friendship is quite unexplainable, and we’re both quite content with that.  I really got to understand the value of my friendship with him this year, and appreciate it more than I’ll ever be able to explain to him.  I was ecstatic that he attended, and was involved in one of the most important events I’ll ever have. The week he was in Toronto was one of the best of my life, and I don’t think either of us will forget it or the memories we made during it.  

So thank you Bram, for everything you’ve done for me, and for putting up with my overdramatic, ridiculous, never ending talking butt all these years! Thank you being one of my greatest friends.

New Experiences

2011 brought a long awaited adventure – I finally visited Bram in Europe. It was a spur of the moment decision that came in June, and within days I was booked on a trip for two weeks with the fabulous Jane.  We anticipated it all summer, and when we finally got there we weren’t let down. The two weeks flew by, but we had the time of our lives. We met great new people, ate tons of delicious food and had tons of new experiences. I learned more on that trip, that I had in the last year and I couldn’t believe how opened my eyes became to things. I think I also became closer with Jane, and I love her to pieces for not only coming with me, but for being someone who listens to my garbage and puts up with it more than anyone else. I love you darling.

The Future

I’m hoping in 2012 to mostly have new experiences, and to continue to grow into a future educator. The knowledge gained this year about being one, has helped me see things in a new light, and I can’t wait to put a lot of them into practice during my teaching experiences this year. I also  cannot wait to visit Ireland in May with Deric, and hopefully visit Belgium again as well.  I'll also be spending the holidays with my family and friends, and as always look forward to that. I hope 2012 will be a great year.

Coming up tomorrow: 2011 review with photos

Leaving on a Jet plane

Well here I am, three days away from flying to Europe. Both Jane and I are beyond excited to get out and do something and get away from all the crazy stuff going on.

I have butterflies! I'm not really sure why. I think I'm just excited. I need to be around friends.

Don't get me wrong, I love every moment I get to spend with Deric, but with everything that has gone on since the wedding, it'll be nice to hang out with the boys & Jane. I'm also excited to meet a billion new people!

We don't really have a lot planned out. It's kinda driving myself and Jane nuts as we're both clearly planners. We have a list of stuff we want to see, but no days selected for when we'll do them. oh well. We'll work it out when we get there I guess. Ort is on vacation this week in southern France. I'm jealous. I'm glad he was able to get away though.

I'm all packed, well mostly. Just minor things left to add in (makeup, straightener ect..). I'm glad I got it out of the way so I don't need to rush and try and get it done. Friday afternoon I need to go pick up my Euros from the bank, and then Saturday in the late morning Deric and I are going for lunch. I need to be at the airport by 1:30 though so that sucks.

A huge hurricane is making it's way up the east coast right now. It's suppose to hit the Boston area on Saturday afternoon, so hopefully my flight doesn't get delayed or anything. It looks though, like flights from Chicago to Belgium go through Ontario so it's a bit higher up.

So I guess my next post will be when I get back. Tons to tell I'm sure, so keep an eye out for that! Until then, fb for photos, as well as twitter.

Goodbye America! See you in a few weeks!

A little bit of distance in friendship

I've always questioned what friendship means as I've experienced so many different relationships with my friends. Mostly negative. Too many who lie, and back stab you for their own vicious reasons. I felt that I finally had a great group around me, but during the last two months my friendships have been tested over and over, and have not survived. During this time, I've evaluated what it really means to have a friend, and what one should hope to get from a friendship. Support? Understanding? Love? A shoulder to cry on?

Over ten years ago , I was shown a video. It was when viral videos were first out, and Napster was the best way to get music.

That video can be seen here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1h2RSSMRcU&list=UU61Uk7WTswew

So after that video went viral, and everyone loved it, I decided to join their website forums and praise them for it. June and I use to watch it over and over and just die laughing. So finally, I contacted one of the guys in the video - OrT. It was quite hilarious that he replied, and for some reason a friendship just grew from there.

Ten years later, we had remained what I consider very good and close friends, and finally, we met for the first time in Toronto when he flew all the way from Belgium to attend my wedding in June 2011.

It was such a fantastic (and too short!) of an experience, but one that neither of us will forget. I won't ever lie and say that meeting him wasn't one of the most awkward moments of our friendship - because it was. But within a short time, it was like we were sitting at home and talking on Skype like we had done so many times before.

Before he came to Toronto, I wasn't really sure what our friendship meant to him. It's so hard to judge someone until you meet them in person. I knew that his friendship meant tons to me, and more than I could ever explain to anyone. He had helped me get through so many difficult times in my life, and just talking to me sometimes made it better. He always knows how to get someone to laugh.

But after Toronto, I know that it means a lot. I don't think anyone would just fly half way across the world to be there for someone on one of the most important days in their life, unless it didn't.

Was he supportive? You bet. He did everything he could the two days before the wedding to help me. Understanding? Yup. I acted so crazy and so stressed out those two days. Love? I absolutely felt loved by this man. The kind words he spoke at the wedding, and having him stand up there with Deric and I during our vows showed me it. A shoulder to cry on? He did this too. His last night in Toronto he let me do that. He said the right words to make me feel better about the situation, and of course had to add the humor into it. It was just the thing I needed to feel better.

So I guess what I mostly thought about over the last two months, was that if Bram could do all of things for me after meeting me a mere few days before, then why couldn't my other friends? Did I not deserve it from them? I never did anything to think that I didn't.

Those things he did for me during that one week, that first week we had met in person, showed me that you never need to be around someone to be their friend. You don't need to be in person to show someone that you care. To understand what they are feeling. To support them in what they're going through. To love them as a friend, and to be a shoulder to cry on.

I hope one day that the friendships I've lost over the last two months can be repaired, but I'm not in the drivers seat for that. I'm sitting the back seat waiting, and seeing what will become of them. I do know one thing for sure - that I will spend no more tears on something I have no control over, and that I do have friends who love and care for me.

For now though, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to thank Bram enough for his friendship. I couldn't at the wedding, and I can't now. It means so much to me, and I'll never stop appreciating it. I love him, and I can't wait to have a glass of wine in a few weeks and put everything I've been going through behind me.