2012 in Review (Long overdue, I know)

2012 has been a year of self-discovery and new beginnings.

Physical challenges (Insanity, Spartan Race) have pushed me to my limit and shown me that I'm much stronger than I thought.  Sometimes sheer will is all that stands between you and success.
I've finally finishing school and working full-time has forced me to reevaluate my time management skills (not to mention my financial management skills!) and learn to balance work and a social life.

So what have I been up to?

I celebrated my quarter century in July with as many close friends as I could gather in the midst of a busy summer. I've definitely had my "quarter-life crisis" moments, but nothing too long-lasting that I can't subdue...for now.

Surrounded by my favourites

In mid-August, I flew to Calgary for a youth conference and stayed with family for a week. I hadn't visited Alberta since I turned 18, so it was lovely to meet some oh-so-adorable new cousins, catch up with old friends, and make new ones. And while I didn't get to snowboard in Banff, I did visit the mountains for some scenic pictures and short hikes. Hopefully, it won't be 7 years before I finally knock the Rockies off my to-board list.

True North strong and free..

My mom's side of the family in Calgary

The end of August culminated in the celebration of another BBH wedding, my dear friends, Jon and Flo. Lively crowd, great band, and of course, what better venue to meet lovely new people? Can't wait til the next BBH wedding! I have no doubt that 2013 (and 2014!) will be full of joyous gatherings ;)

The first night we met.
Photo cred: Derrick Francis Wong

We had to make a pyramid to make the bride and groom kiss
Photo cred: Kuba Photography

BBH crew at the BuTran wedding
Photo cred: Kuba Photography

The long-awaited proposal..Congrats, Viet & Robin!

And of course, to wrap up summer and the end of the beach volleyball season, I finally got the tattoo that I've been itching to get since I was 18. While I had wanted it for my 25th birthday, I had to wait until I was out of the sun for the season to get it. Quick and relatively painless, considering I got it on my rib cage. I'm tempted to get another one, but perhaps I'll wait another 7 years just to make sure I reaaaallly want it ;)

Honestly, it didn't really hurt, but the back of my rib was sensitive

This Too Shall Pass

In November, I flew down to Texas to celebrate my first American Thanksgiving. What a blast! I spent the first five days in Austin and Houston, and the latter 5 days in Dallas. K was a wonderful host and kept me plenty fed...I'm pretty sure I ate at least 5-6 times a day while I was in Austin/Houston. Oh, America, I heart your food trucks. I got to make up for my lack of university partying by bar hopping in Austin. What a crazy college town! When I was in Dallas, H & A took me to the gun range and I go to shoot an uzi! This wasn't on my original bucket list...but it should have been!

My very first philly cheese steak! ermagod SO good

Captain Tom's. I always stop by when I'm in Houston 

My first Vietnamese-American Thanksgiving!

Corn. In. A. Cup.
Corn + cheese + spices + butter + sour cream + hot sauce = $1.50 heaven

In America, I get to shoot an uzi.

It's no secret that I love to eat. And while I stray away from watching television too much, the one channel that I'll always watch is the Food Network. Whether it's a Friday night in or just something to run in the background while I cook myself, there is always something interesting to watch on the Food Network. It got to the point that all the episodes were starting to seem like repeats because I left the channel on so often. Then came Master Chef. While it's not a Food Network show per se (Good job, Fox), it had all the fixings of a good foodie reality show. Master Chef opened up the doors to weekly discussions between M and I about the challenges and contestants, with one contestant in particular, Christine Ha, who became our own fan favourite. You see, Christine is legally blind and yet here she was, cooking up a storm on Master Chef, impressing judges, and surprising skeptics. And, of course, the fact that she was Vietnamese was a proud bonus too. I recognized a lot of her dishes and could imagine my own kitchen here at home bustling with the energy and vibrant smells of the traditional Vietnamese dishes she made. But it wasn't just her underdog status that made me want to root for her -- it was her story:

"My mother was my cooking inspiration. She was a wonderful cook. When I was fourteen, before I'd had any interest in cooking, she passed away. She left no recipes. After I moved away for college, I had to learn to cook for myself.[...] I've since spent many hours in the kitchen using my childhood memories trying to recreate my mother's dishes."

This hit home pretty hard for me, and her words have lingered long past the ending of the show. I've never had much of a presence in the kitchen, and up until the last year, I had difficulty cooking rice with a rice cooker. (Okay, that might be a bit of an exageration, but you get my point.) I've always been fond of pasta dishes and the occasional shepherd's pie, and maybe even corn and crab soup if I was feeling particularly adventurous. I also make a full Thanksgiving and Christmas feast each year with S, so I'm not completely hopeless. But in terms of venturing into the domain of Vietnamese cooking...well, there's not much to be said there. I can eat nearly everything on a Vietnamese menu (also worth noting that it's the only Vietnamese I can read fluently) but when I move out, my new home will be sorely lacking in traditional asian cooking. So, with that in mind, I've made a conscious effort over the last couple of months to spend more time in the kitchen with my mother. I could never forgive myself if I didn't learn how to recreate (or at least write down) some of her recipes. I've always helped here and there with food prep, but never really paid attention to the actual cooking portion -- How long do I simmer this before I add this? How much fish sauce do I add? What can I use as a substitute if I don't have a this ingredient?

As a result, I've been writing everything down, almost obsessively, and in finite detail so that I won't forget a step when I try to recreate it. And chances are, it'll probably take a few tries until I perfect it myself, but at least I'll have it written down somewhere. Mom has since taught me how to make my absolutely favourite prawn dish, as well as her staple fish sauce seasoning and a few other dishes as well. Next up: pho, bun rieu and canh chua. I hope to be able to cook these dishes by the end of the year!

As an aside (actually, M lost a bet and I participated just for the fun of it), M and I attempted to 'see' through Christine's eyes by embarking on a blind baking challenge of our own...

We may have made too many peanut butter cookies...

I have no doubt that 2013 is going to be spectacular. If 2012 was the year of self-discovery and new beginnings, 2013 will be a year of transition and growth with a side of adventure. My first full year of working full-time with no schooling. This means saving, saving, saving! And also...traveling, traveling, traveling. I've got lots of places I *want* to travel to this year (Dominican, Turks & Caicos, Rome + Greece, Miami...and the list continues to grow..) but I know I have to put some priority on paying back my school debts.

Upcomings: Glass blowing! All-girls snowboarding workshop! Swedish House Mafia! Tough Mudder!

I promise my next update won't take so long =P

For what it’s worth: it’s never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start all over again.
-- F. Scott Fitzgerald

I Heart Summer

I have been meaning to write this post for a while. So much has been going on in the last couple of months that I really haven't made time to blog. I do miss it. And more often than not, if I don't write an entry as soon as I've done something, I probably never will. Or I'll end up months later, on a Friday night, sitting at my computer typing up a post. Like, say, tonight. But hey, it's been a busy summer, so I'll take whatever down time I can get.

Squeezing a water-filled glove to help with the circulation

On May 17th, I was finally able to donate blood (my hemoglobin levels were 134 this time!). The procedure was easy and took about an hour from start to finish -- normally it's shorter, but as it was my first time, they kept me back a little longer for observation post-donation. The snacks were yummy, I had good company, and I walked away super happy that I finally got to donate blood. If you can, give it a try. It's in you to give. 

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” 
― Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

I've reached the 56-day mark so I'll make an appointment again soon when my weight goes up. Speaking of weight...

I started Insanity  on April 16th. It's supposed to be 4 weeks training 1 week of recovery (I did 2 wks), then 4 weeks Max training. So I basically did 5-6 days of workouts for 2.5 months. Let me tell you, before April, I. Did. Not. Work. Out. I have been blessed with an awesome metabolism thus far, but I wanted to do Insanity to build up some cardio before Spartan Race. I've never been the type to stick to a dedicated workout plan, but I was determined to see Insanity through until the end, even after my workout partner quit in the first month. The first 2 weeks and the last 2 weeks were the hardest; the first 2 because I was hurting majorly and I struggled with sticking to a daily workout schedule. The last 2 weeks were hard because I was so close to race day and the videos were becoming really tedious. I'd be lying if I said I didn't slack a bit in the last 2-3 weeks.

I am happy with the results, though. I'm sure I could have gotten better results if I actually watched what I ate, but I've never been one to stick to a diet or watch what I eat. I eat what I want to eat, when I want to. Even if that means eating instant noodles at 2 a.m. That being said, I did try to limit eating out, incorporate more veggies into my diet, cut out white rice almost entirely. Here are some before and after pictures. I don't know if I'm ready for P90X yet, but my plan is to do Insanity again, or work exclusively on abs..(I've had "get a 6-pack" on my new year's resolution list since I was in high school).

"Don't be upset with the results you didn't get from the work you didn't do."

Pre-race. Still clean.

Spartans! Aroo!

 I also did Spartan Race in Toronto this year! I don't think I'll do it again next year, as I found it was more running than obstacles (as was Warrior Dash last year), but it was still muddy and fun. Poorly disorganized though, and we spent more time lining up to get our bags back than we did running the race. Oh well. And next time, I'll remember to actually train myself to run...Insanity was soooo not enough, hahaha. Watch the epic Spartan Race Toronto promo here. 

On June 12, I met up with an old friend, W, and he surprised me by taking me to Xtreme Couture for a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class. Now, BJJ was never on my bucket list, but I had chosen "Compete, play, destroy" as our activity for the evening and I must admit that W chose quite appropriately. I'll admit that I was a bit hesitant at first. It was definitely out of my comfort zone. While the open mat class didn't offer much instruction, especially for beginners like us, I still had a fun time pushing W around and pretending like I would actually have a chance in a one-on-one situation, haha. The next morning, I woke up sore, but totally pumped. For the next few days, I spent a considerable amout of time researching MMA gyms and muay thai classes. But alas, as time went on, my fears and insecurities crept up on me and I lost whatever confidence I had garnered from being thrown into an open BJJ class. Looking at my bucket list, I realize that most of the items, with the exception of one or two (i.e. joining a paintball team) aren't really out of my comfort zone. They are all things I would be willing to do on my own. But sometimes you need that extra little push to realize what you're missing out on, and what you're really capable of. Thanks, W -- if it weren't for you, I never would have even dreamed of jumping into a BJJ class. New addition to my bucket list: Take a BJJ/Sanshou/Muay Thai class.

Not-so-little sis and I

 And a small plug for KT Tape. It. Is. Amazing. A tad expensive, considering how much I go through it (I always take it off after a day of beach volleyball because it gets so sandy and dirty), but it is single-handedly the only reason I've been able to pick up a volleyball this summer at all. Nearly every weekend since Victoria Day, I've gone to Woodbine beach to play beach volleyball. I used to hate volleyball, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've played it in the last five years, if only because I couldn't bump the ball without my wrists ballooning, or have aches in my wrists from hitting/volleying/serving the ball (though my skills, or lack thereof are another story entirely). But ever since I've started using KT Tape on my wrists, I've had no pain. I do have to get neutral colours for when I'm at work though, as bright pink doesn't exactly look very professional in the courtroom =P But I'm hoping that with constant use, it will help ease my carpal tunnel symptoms. Shopper's Drug Mart should be selling them, but I haven't had any luck so far. If you can find it in Canada, let me know!

Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's when you've had everything to do, and you've done it.
Margaret Thatcher

Stepping Stones

After all those failed tests, I finally passed my 140wpm Q&A, 140 Lit and 160 Jury, which was enough for me to get my diploma in court reporting from my school. It's not enough to get a national certification, but it's enough for me to start work at the firm associated with my school. In the last two weeks, I've started working as a court reporter (albeit not realtime) in Toronto. Within a matter of days, of passing my test, I purchased my professional software, professional back-up recording devices, and my long-awaited professional stenograph machine. Though I've still got a long way to go to get to 225 words a minute, this is been a milestone that has been a long time coming. At least now I'm finally working and getting the experience I've been wanting so desperately. I haven't really celebrated yet, as I don't feel like I rightfully deserve to party until I reach 225, but I am proud of myself. So I've modified my bucket list entry a bit -- I've completed court reporting school. Next up: Realtime Court Reporter (225 wpm). Big dreams, baby steps!

I've been so busy lately -- producing transcripts is a lot harder than I thought! But it's nice to be busy again. It's nice to get a paycheque again. It's realllly nice to say "I'm finally working" hahaha. I'd be lying if I said that I have no doubts or that I don't get discouraged -- I do, absolutely. But I'm determined to see this through. I owe it to myself.

I'm hoping to pay off all my debt by the end of the year -- my parents are helping me with the capital I need to start as a freelancer. Between software and equipment, that's over 10 grand! *grimaces* So next year, I can start saving up for my own place...

Oh, and I've registered to try to donate blood again in two days. The last time I tried, my iron count was borderline low. Hopefully I can donate this time!

And as for my Project 365 ...I have been taking pictures every day (except for maybe missing 3 days since January)...I just haven't gotten around to uploading them. Sigh.

I also started doing Insanity! I'm in the middle of week 5 of 9. I'm due to finish just before Spartan Race in June! Six-pack, here I comeeee...or four-pack..or two. Although I distinctly remember that for as long as I can remember, "get a six-pack" was on my New Year's resolutions list, haha. I'll post before and after pictures when I'm done week 9 on June 17th.

Life has been good. I feel like everything is falling into place. I feel like I've sacrificed the last couple of months to get to where I am now. I have no regrets. Between the late nights studying, staying in because I quit work and have no money (ugh)...I finally feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

It's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about.  What's hard is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about.
-Shauna Niequist, Bittersweet

Big Things

May has been exciting and full of big steps.

I want to write all about it but I have deadlines to meet so the update post will have to wait.

Life is changing and evolving so rapidly. I'm so excited!  ..and terrified. But excited!

High Park Cherry Blossoms...success!

Despite the clouds and drizzling weather, I was finally able to make it out to see the High Park cherry blossoms this year! We took the TTC down to High Park and spent the afternoon wandering the park. There were a lot of people around the cherry blossoms, but if you went past that and continued through the park, the crowds gradually thinned out and we were able to have a nice picnic lunch. We also managed to feed some squirrels some peanuts that some visitors had left behind.

It was nice to discover a part of Toronto I had never been to before. Definitely serves as a reminder that you don't have to look very far to find extraordinary things.

“Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.”
 -Alice M. Swaim 

Facing Failure

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
- Colin Powell

When I wrote up my bucket list, one of my goals was to graduate from court reporting school. I wrote the list a little over a year ago. I was scheduled to graduate in December 2011. It is now April 2012. People are constantly asking me when I'll be done school. I'm 3 tests away from graduating with a diploma in court reporting, but it's not quite that simple. You see, I'm done all the academics, but I need to reach certain typing speeds (on my stenograph/court reporting machine) before I can fully graduate. At a minimum, I need to pass one test each in Testimony, Literary and Jury at 140 words per minute (wpm), and one test from any category at 160 wpm. My 3 remaining tests I need to pass: Testimony and Literary at 140, and Jury at 160.

I quit my job in January so that I could focus on speedbuilding. I'm allowed to write two tests a week: one on Wednesday, on on Sunday. "Failing a test" means I wasn't able to attain the required 95% mark to pass. There are no penalties for failing. That being said, I haven't passed a test since February. It's been so frustrating, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but not being able to reach it. I know I'm close but every time I fail a test, it's so damn disheartening.

I had a plan. I was to write (and pass!) my Literary today, my Jury on Sunday, and since it's a special testing week next week where I'm allowed to write up to four tests, I was going to write (and pass!) my most challenging category, Testimony. And that'd be it. I'd be done. But since I didn't pass my Literary today, I'll attempt to pass my 160 Jury this Sunday, but now my four tests next week will have to be split up between Testimony and Literary. Less room for error.

So, it's not over yet. I can still reach my personal goal of passing all three tests by the end of next week. I'm fully capable of writing in the 160s-180s. It's just that when I sit down and take a test, I tend to get anxious and panic which usually results in dropped words and sloppy writing. A fellow classmate told me it's just a mental game. I know it's true. I also know it's entirely possible for me to pass my tests in the upcoming week. I won't lie; if I'm unable to meet my goals by next week, I'll be disappointed. I've been pretty bummed lately because I feel like I'm in a rut. I'm in between jobs (so I have no source of income), I'm in major debt from college and university, and I haven't been able to graduate from my program. For me, these last 3 tests mean everything to me. After I pass, my new firm will hire me as a court reporter. I'll be making money again, I can continue to build speed, and I'll be able to pay off my debt. So much is riding on these tests. I need to get past this.

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.
- Bill Cosby

We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn't. Success often lies just the other side of failure.
- Leo F. Buscaglia 

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.
- Johnny Cash

Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.
- Denis Waitley

Cherry Blossoms, attempt 2

We've been lucky with unseasonably warm weather lately, and as a result, the cherry blossoms in High Park have begun to blossom early! (Last year, they were late, and conflicted with my trip to New York City, so I was unable to go.) I'm determined to tick this off my bucket list this time; it's been a while.... >.<"

They are at about 50-65% in certain sections, less in others, with many predicting next weekend to be peak bloom. So make a trip out -- try to take the TTC, as parking is sure to be terrible -- and enjoy our own local cherry blossoms.

Posted on the High Park Nature Centre's Facebook page today: