Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight.

With one week until the Christmas holidays it is only expected for one to become excited. The past few years, although they were the happiest years of my life, I found that I was a bit of a Grinch. It bothered me how big Christmas was. I disliked the fact that it was all anybody talked about and that you simply could not escape it. Everywhere you turned there were either big red ribbons, seasons greetings, or trees decorated with colourful lights. If anybody were to say anything about the holidays I just rolled my eyes at them. I am hoping this year will be different. Surprisingly, there are many things I enjoy about the holidays. For an example, I absolutely can’t contain myself when I walk into Starbucks for the first time once they have decorated for Christmas. I love that the menu changes and that the cups turn red. I love the bundled up couples who are trying to get warm after their walks downtown. I love the festival of lights along the water front of my hometown. I love the excuse for baking obscene amounts of cookies that the holiday provides for me. I love the smiles I get when I give them away. I love spending time thinking of the perfect gifts for my friends and loved ones. I love seeing there faces when they open whatever it is. I love the moment on Christmas morning when my mom finally goes to open my card and everyone says “get the tissues!” I love the way my house smells like cinnamon apples. I love the way people are more kind around the holiday season, more giving, and more forgiving. I love the way the holidays gives me a way to reach out to those I’ve lost, and long for. Most importantly I love spending time with my family, and the fact that we do everything the same, year after year. Every year we have the exact same breakfast and the exact same dinner, together. This year I will not be a Grinch. I will not wish for something I did not receive. I will not mourn for those who are no longer with me, and wish to spend the holidays with. I will think of all the things that I love about the holidays, that I never thought I did. 

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year. 

What Was Lost

What do you do at a time when you are suppose to find yourself, you do the complete opposite? You’ve lost yourself. You look in the mirror and realize you don’t recognize the person looking back at you anymore. Your dreams have changed. Your values have changed. Almost everything that made up who you are, you realize suddenly isn’t there anymore. How did this happen? And how do you go back?

When you move away from home and go away to college you are suppose to find yourself. You are suppose to mature, and everything is meant to fall into place. What happens to those who move away from home and everything falls to pieces? You have this dream, a dream of making a difference in the world, and suddenly you back down because you no longer think you have what it takes. Is it because you lost the person who believed in you, the one that made you want to be a better person? Or is it because you simply changed your mind? Was that dream ever really apart of who you were, or were you that person because of somebody else?

What really makes us who we are? What defines us? Is it what we dream or is it who makes us dream it? Do we ever really know who we are, or are we constantly searching? Can we ever find what was lost?                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The windows breathing in the light, The rooms a collection of our lives, This is a place where I don't feel alone, This is a place I call my home...

They say that you can’t go home again. My first couple of weekends that I went home from college I fully agreed with that. So much had changed since I left and I could hardly bare it. All of the familiar sights and sounds broke my heart. They were reminders of all that I had lost. Everything that was familiar just reminded me of all that would never be the same again. It didn’t feel like home. When I pulled into the driveway for the first time I felt relief that my house looked exactly the same. But when I walked through the front door I knew that something was missing. I walked into my home and realized that I was alone. I waited for a few moments to be greeted at the door by my long time feline companion but he never came. Without him the energy wasn’t at all the same. The first time I walked into my room I felt as if I was floating. Something didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like it was my room. The vibe was completely different. Home was nothing like home sweet home. 

My next couple of visits were just like the first, unwelcoming and disturbing. Finally a few months had passed and I went home once more. As I pulled off of the highway and drove down all of the familiar streets, a started to feel excited. Was I home at last? My wounds had healed just enough for me to appreciate everything that was once so familiar to me. I was finally able to enjoy mine and my mothers favourite Sunday morning spot. I was able to enjoy the familiar walk up the street to Starbucks with my father, where we used to spend every morning drinking our coffees and eating our yogurt parfaits in the window. And at last I was able to appreciate my own bed. Peacefully I laid there, not longing for lost love, except for my cat of course. I now disagree with the statement that you can never go home again. Although it is extremely difficult going from no discipline to almost constant nagging from your parents, but I feel that no matter what happens your home will always be your home and that once the dust settles, you can always go back. 

GREY'S ANATOMY

So today in class we were working on persuasive writing were we not? I thought I would try some out on you guys! And I am deciding to write about Grey's Anatomy... because 1) I L O V E it! 2) It's on in ONE hour! 3) All of the reasons that I am about to list below! Enjoy! And then watch some Grey'sssssss! 

 I am not a huge fan of watching television but I am madly in love with Grey’s Anatomy. I actually own every season on dvd and have downloaded every song ever played on the show. Grey’s is currently on its fifth season. I recommend that you start watching it from the very beginning. Grey’s Anatomy is not like most medical dramas that are currently on the air.  Grey’s has a balance of both comedy and drama. Each episode of Grey’s you will find yourself laughing, and crying. Grey’s has the ability to take you away and move you in ways that you never thought a television show ever could. I can guarantee that you will fall in love with every main character, especially Mc Steamy, and that the relationships that they have with each other will continually grab at your heartstrings; Especially the relationship between Meredith Grey, the narrator of the show, and Dr. McDreamy. Speaking of dreamy, if you are not pulled in by the plot, which is highly unlikely, you will most certainly be pulled in by the cast. The cast is filled with drop dead gorgeous, award winning actors including Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo, Erik Dane, Sandra Oh and T.R. Knight. The list goes on and on. If that's not enough the music alone is enough to keep you in your seat. This award winning show is about the relationships between doctors and patients and will capture your heart with its script, talent, music, and breath taking moments. I myself once stayed in my seat while I watched two full seasons. I still couldn't get enough. No, I am not proud of this, but it's the truth and yes it is lame! Grey's takes you away. I needed an escape. Grey's Anatomy will distract you from your own life and you will focus on the interesting lives of the dreamy and steamy doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital. I can also guarantee that you will actually learn something about medicine and not kill your brain by watching the show! So tune in every Thursday night at 9 pm to ABC. I know I will! 

Transition From Home To Residence

They say that the years you spend at college are the greatest years of your life. Are they really? We move away from our homes, our families, friends, high school sweethearts; we move away from all that is familiar to us. How are we expected to adjust when everything changes? We arrive at college, not a soul we know in sight, some of us heart broken and terrified of failure. We are thrown into a pool feet first without even testing the water, and there is no turning back. I never once thought that moving away from home would be difficult for me because I have always been very independent. Although, I have had a few set backs and have found the transition from home to residence quite challenging. When I left Burlington at the end of summer, my whole world was flipped upside down. Even though I am still spinning, my stomach is beginning to settle. I may still be afraid to fail, but I have already let myself fall. I have fallen in love with my room mates. This may make me sound weak, but I feel that they are the ones that have kept me going. I have them to thank for making it through this transition. It has been a very bumpy road so far but I believe that they are the answer. All over campus you will come across ‘ways to survive residence!’ They all say the same things: sleep, eat right, don’t drink too much, study, etc. All of these things are helpful, but they are not going to get you out of bed each morning. They aren’t going to hold you when you can’t lift yourself off of the floor. So much has changed in my life since I arrived here and I feel that I wouldn’t be holding up as well as I am now if I didn’t have such great room mates. I believe that friendship and support are key elements of making it through the transition from home to residence. I would like to thank my room mates for making me smile, when I never thought I would.