It’s quite fitting that I’m turning over a new leaf right now, considering that fall is upon us! I love seeing the leaves changing colour, taking in all the beautiful colours on my walk to and from school and work, and wherever else I venture to here in Oakville. The past two years, I’ve missed the colours of fall because of my volunteering overseas, just catching the onset of fall, as the tips of the leaves become a fierce colour of red or orange, so it’s nice to experience the whole season of autumn. Not that I haven’t enjoyed the warm weather of Africa, a welcome escape from the onset of winter!

It’s been a while since I last wrote. I know I always say that, but honestly, I’ve been struggling with writing for a while which has led me to neglect this blog. I’ve been feeling frustrated and unsure with how to approach this blog now. I think before, I wasn’t truly writing for me. I mean, I was, but I think some aspects of my blog became about pleasing people or writing for other people, if that makes sense. I don’t know if it has to do with other projects I’ve been involved with where I’ve had that mentality and I have no idea who on earth reads this apart from the friends and fam who I’ve shown this to.

Writing is something I’ve found solace in, as some people know. Just give me a pen and paper and I’m set! Sometimes I find it’s easier to express myself through words, through writing things down on paper than saying them outloud. So to feel like I’m struggling with it can be tricky. I’ll probably only be writing once a week, maybe twice. There’s lots I want to write and I think I’m in a place now where I can take this blog and change things up a bit.

Another reason I haven’t written for so long is because life has taken a hold of me and sent me in a whirlwind, like leaves swirling around! School’s been keeping me busy, but I’m absolutely loving my program. Just knowing that it’s another major stepping stone in my life that’s helping to better define what exactly I want to do is exciting, so I’ve been focused on soaking up as much knowledge as I can. The profs are experts in what they do and it’s great to have access to valuable resources that I’ll definitely be using in the future. And of course, my classmates, most of whom I’ve gotten to know pretty well seeing as all 35 of us see each other every day! Not to mention the fact that we get to work with real clients for two of our major projects, one of which will be bringing me back to good old Hamiton for a fun night of music, all for a great cause. I’m also getting to be all creative and artsy in my Design & Tech class where we’ve been working on designing personal logos. Challenging but fun 🙂 I’ll have to post mine on here sometime.

And who would’ve ever thought I’d be a barista?! Working at Artisano has proved to be a challenge at times, it took me a while to grasp some things, but I finally feel like I’ve gotten a better handle on everything. This is my first experience in food service and customer service is so, so important, as I’ve quickly learned. But the people I work with are awesome and we’ve got pretty delicious, fresh and healthy food! Not to mention some tempting sweet goods. So if you’re in the area and ever want a cappucino or latte, I can whip one up for you in no time 😉

I’ve also made some pretty awesome friends, both at school and here in Oakville, and there may or may not be a special guy in my life now, one who is lovely, so kind and sweet and fun to be around. So I’m feeling happy about that right now 🙂

The phrase “turning over a new leaf” applies to a number of aspects of my life. Some things have changed, I’ve had to let go of certain things, like people and my own expectations. I’ve grown into and always thought of myself as adventurous, in the sense that I want to get out there, see the world, meet people and try new things and be open because anything can happen. It’s that magical spark that I lost over the past few months and something which has only recently been reignited. My first few weeks here were a bit stressful and overwhelming, not just because of school, but other things as well. It’s happened to be before, has happened when I go anywhere new and it’s only natural for it to. This time though, I seriously felt like I was at an all time low, lost and unsure of what I was doing. After a good talk with my mom (moms are seriously THE BEST!) and stepping back and totally readjusting my attitude, I came back full force, ready to take on whatever life was going to throw at me.

So there’ve been changes happening in my life, some small, some big, but changes that seem so fitting right now. The timing for all this couldn’t have been more perfect though. And here I’ll end, stay tuned for more!

xoxo