WE MEAT AGAIN :)

So I've been back home for a total of 10 days now. I'm not really sure how one judges if they're settling in well to a new place, making the necessary changes/adjustments with relative ease. That said, there are definitely things that capture my attention in the adapting phase.....every now and again something will happen to further make me aware of my departure from Toronto.

Take for instance....today I was at Tim Horton's. That wasn't the different part cause you know I visited many a Tim's out east :) It was seeing some antlers sticking out of a truck parked in the parking lot. Some proud fellow come back from a recent hunt with their prize carcass strewn in the back of the vehicle. I wished I had a camera so I could pictorially display this site. Not to gross out the visual among us but to contrast the differences in culture between the city & small town BC. I think the only carcass laying in anyone's vehicle in Toronto is the 1/2 eaten remains of a Big Mac - or is there even meat in that?!

MEMORIES OF THE SOUTH

Tsk, tsk - I'm back in BC now and the update about my NC trip that I meant to post sooner is only now just materializing....hmmmm. Still though - I wanted to share some of my experiences and pics from what was a GREAT vacation.

I loved everything about the south. It was funny cause everything that was remotely different from Toronto, or Canada - I would promptly proclaim it's because we're in the south! :) Some of it I believe was at least in part true - like having grits for breakfast. Just today I delved into my rationed bit of grits I had brought back :)

Here are my top 10 favourite memories from my NC trip are:

10. Wine tasting @ the Biltmore Winery
9. Tasting for multiple "1st times" - the key lime dip for the pretzels
8. The extremely gruelling & intense hike up the Devil's Courthouse & watching the sunset (see attached pics)
7. Morningstar & the Mexican restaurant after with an infusion of Colonel Sanders :)
6. Cookies w/Andes chocolate, cookies w/white chocolate, cookies w/Heath bar in the mix, cookies w/marachino cherries on top......
5. Going to town!
4. Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper
3. "Lloyd" - the friendly cricket of the sink
2. Tanning & more importantly - Swimming in November
1. My 3 amigos - w/o them the other things on this list would've been very bland.....

My 1st post and I'm happy to be writing from the good ol' southern hills of North Carolina. I left Toronto Oct 28th on my way to Charlotte. On the way I had a stopover in New York - that in itself was an adventure for this mostly inexperienced traveller....(hoping that changes)....

I decided I needed as much time as possible in New York - no, not to explore the city - but rather so I wouldn't stress in finding my gate to board the next plane. However those fears were completely unfounded as I was shuttled directly to my gate and for most of the 2 hours I sat there reading and wondering why I thought it would be so scary.

I suppose that is common for those that choose the safe road. You get to your destination - be it literal or proverbial - but you could've had an adventure along the way, been there quicker or just tried something new. Why am I saying "you"?! Let's make it more personal - it's about me anyway :)

Very often I am inspired by the speeches of "going for it", "just take a risk", "step out of the mold"....in what way though am I taking that inspiration and making it more apart of my life?

There has been things I have stepped up to this year. Some challenges & fears I've faced - and oddly enough, underneath some of them were little pieces of desire for the very thing I feared. Desire I guess to not hold back, to not let the conception of who I think I am, entirely define me. I get pretty set in some ways and it's easy to just think, "that's me".........but is it really?

Not long from now and I will be moving across the country - away from the familiarities of the last 7 1/2 years - be it places, but for me mostly people....friends. Sometimes I think about what's ahead and get unnerved by the "not knowing". But who of us knows - even when we think we do at times? I want to be able to look back on this (& for everything) and say I "went for it", "took a risk", "stepped out of the mold".

So what exactly will that look like, or rather what will I look like? Who will I become (am already becoming)? I can't wait to find out......