Happy New year everybody! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a great holiday. I have been off school since December 20 and I don't have to go back until the 7th. It's been a nice long relaxing break for me. I had a great Christmas. My Uncle brought my grandparents on Boxing day. My uncle left a couple days ago but my grandparents are still here. It's always nice to spend quality time with them.
I've gotten some wonderful presents this year. My mom got me a George Foreman Grill. It's a mini grill that you can use inside to cook things like hamburgers. I used one in Cook Training for an independent cooking project and it worked really well. I'm excited to use it again and get some more practise. I have to start thinking of how I'm going to do things when I move out and practise things like cooking. Its great I have tools that can help me do that.
It's a little hard for me to go Christmas shopping in the winter, because my wheelchair doesn't work so well in the snow. Sometimes I get a little frustrated that I can't just go out and buy presents for my familylike everybody else can. Lately I've been making my Christmas presents which is always fun. This year I wrote a story about my family. I wrote about each member and what they mean to me. I bound it together with string so it looked like a book. My family does so much for me so it was nice for me to tell them just how much I love them.
Anyway, a new year has begun! It's 2013 already! Wow! Time sure flies by. 2012 was a fantastic year for me. I've done lots of cool things like participating in the Rick Hansen Relay. I'm very lucky. It seems like every year, there is always another adventure in store for me. This year will be very exciting. I turn eighteen in a couple of days, graduate from high school in June, and begin a whole new chapter will start in my life. I'm very nervous, but very excited for the unknown. I'm still planning to take an extra year of school to plan for the future. That makes me feel a bit better.There are a lot of exciting things that lie just around the corner. I'm excited to begin my new adventures. Today, I'm going to write down eight New years resolutions for 2013. I know I did this last year, but I think it's good to keep looking back and reflecting on the past year and how I've grown, and think about what ways I would like to grow in the next year. So, here are eight of my New years resolutions that will help me get further and further to my destination.
1. Independence- I think this year, a big focus will be on learning to do more things independently, and to get ready for my future. I feel like I've made some good strides recently with doing Work Experience with school and going down town by myself in the summer. I think this year, I'm going to take some more big steps. I am going to start an independent cooking project in Cook Training this semester at school where I will make some meals by myself to see what kind of things I'll be able to cook. I love to cook and sometimes I feel like I'm almost at the point where I would be able to make certain things without sanyones supervision. These independent studies will be big learning curves for me . I will get to see what things will be easy for me to make, and what things I'll need special tools for. It will be a fun experiment. Another big thing that my occupational therapist is talking to me about is spending a night in a apartment that accessible, by myself. This is huge! It's awesome. I'll get to figure out exactly what I will need assistance with and what I can do by myself. I won't have anyone helping me. I'll get to figure out everything on my own. It'll be an eye opener I think, but I'm excited to try it out. I'm getting there. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there,
2. School- I am still really interested in going to either University of Victoria or University of Calgary. I love Victoria. It's beautiful there and there's no snow, so it will be easier for me to wheel around, but I have family in Calgary and it would be nice to be close to them. I have some decisions to make, but in the mean time, I talked to one of my teachers at school and she told me what courses I needed to get into both U of Vic and U of C. Some of those courses aren't offered at my school, so I will have to take them by correspondence, through the Internet. I think it will feel different than doing a course in a classroom, but I'm excited to try it ou. I'm doing courses that I really enjoy, which is nice. I look forward to starting them. I'm getting closer and closer to my university goal, and that feels great!
3. Helping others- I have always been one for helping others. Throughout my life, people have given me a lot. Sometimes I feel guilty when I think about how much I receive, and how much I need to give back. I want to do something big for someone one day, but everyone's has to start somewhere, and it's always good to start small and get bigger and bigger. I feel like I have been given the chance to help people when I worked at the Valley Echo. Writing my diverseability column and knowing that I helped them get their story out there feels really good. I love being able to help the kids at the little school I work at now. Myself, along with the people in my Community Living Group are talking about a grant that teens can apply for to help out their community. I'm thinking of using applying for money to organize an event in which I would speak about Diverseability Awarness. It's just an idea. We just talked about it today. If we do go through with it, I will let everyone in Invermere know. Anyway I can help anybody I think is great, and I'm willing to do anything asked of me to get involved.
4. Skiing- Yeah! The Special O Ski season starts soon. I am excited. I think this year will be a great ski year for me. I want to keep working on skiing with two outriders, using both hands. I think it would be awesome if I got to ski independently one day. Our Special O Ski Program gets bigger and bigger every year, witch is wonderful! More and more people are getting to feel the freedom of sit skiing. Also, in Fernie, Grace's sit ski program will be starting up. I'm really proud of her and excited that all her hard worked payed off. Grace invited me to come to Fernie to be with her on the opening day with her. I'm excited for that as well. It's going to be an awesome winter. I'm getting ready to get out there and shread that powder hard!
5. Rowing- I told you about my new sport that I started this summer, rowing. I really enjoyed it and am eager to try it again this summer. It's a very relaxing sports, and I learned a lot. It's a little confusing, so I might have to re learn a few things. ha ha. My mom thinks if I keep at it, I could go to the Paralympics and compete. I don't know about that, but I'll keep trying. You have keep trying things if you want a good outcome. You never know what might be in store.
6. Writing- This year has also been a big writing year for me, with writing in my blog, and working for the paper, and being in a writing class. I think, whatever career I choose to do after university, writing will always be a part of my life. I'm always going to have to keep practising. My writing class and my work at the paper have helped me become a stronger writer. Another big thing that helps is reading. I've heard if you're a good reader, it will help you become a good writer, so I really need to work on reading more as well. Writing is very important to me. I found my voice through writing. I can get my opinions out easier. I definitely want to keep writing. I love doing it, and hope to continue the hobby for years to come.
7. Try new things- Something else that I always up for is trying new things.. I love to challenge myself to do things that I never thought I could do. It gets even better when I do things in front of people that don't think I can do them. Then I can be like "Ha ha. Suckers." I enjoy showing people what I'm made of. I've tried lots of things in my life, but I need to try a lot more. The next few years ahead will present a lot of barriers and new things to try. I never stop learning. New adventures always await
8. Be Happy- Every New years, I always say that one of my resolutions is to get happier. I want to smile more, and laugh more, and make more cheeky little comments. I love to make other people happy, and I think the best way to do that is to be happy yourself. I have to learn to relax, smile, and have a good time. Life has so much to offer, so we should be happy for what we have as often as we can, and, like my mom says, "Nobody likes to be grumpy, so they may as well be happy. Life is good. Don't sweat the little stuff. Don't worry, be happy!"
So, there are my eight New years resolutions. I hope I fufill some of them. I am really looking forward to this year and the wild ride ahead of me. I wish you all the best for 2013. Let's make it our best year yet!
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