2014 - A Year in Review

Don't worry, this post won't be one of those long, drawn out ramblings - reminiscing on the events of the past year in detail.  Honestly that's because I really only have so much room in my brain and I have forgotten much of the past year.

What I do remember (or have chosen to retain) is that 2014 was a fairly successful year.  I may not have achieved many hard lined goals, but then again I didn't really set any for myself HA.  I suppose my main focus was to stay alive and functioning in a career that tests my very limits and makes me reach into the far corners of my mind to stay afloat and energized.  I feel like I have definitely done that over the past year and learned a lot about myself in the process.

2014 started off with a bang.  Literally.  Driving off the James Bay Highway on a dark and snowy night on the return after Christmas, the year began with stress but also a hint of adventure.  Teaching alongside my mother for a few months in the North showed me that I have some work to do on myself, and while this is no reflection on my mother's abilities, I needed, and still need to work on patience.  Watching my mother teach gave me a real sense of pride, a feeling that has become more and more prevalent as she has taken great strides this year to further her education and train for a new career.  I hope I can harness that kind of perseverance and determination in 2015!!

My beloved Grandfather died in 2014.  A constant male figure in my life, he was the backbone to our very small family.  My Grandad was a kind, generous and reliable man.  Someone I could look up to, joke around with and listen to for hours (he loved a captive audience ha). He left a legacy among my friends and family that makes me proud to have been his granddaughter!

In 2014 I had a lot of car troubles.  A LOT.  These experiences have taught me to expect and plan for the worst and try and be as prepared for anything as possible.  These experiences have also taught me to keep calm, call my mother and be grateful for the incredible generosity and helpfulness of both family and complete strangers!  While there seems to be so much evil in the world, there are still good people willing to help out complete strangers.  I hope to be able to return the favor some day.

In 2014 I started a new grade with new teaching partners.  This has been one of the craziest, most fun, most exhausting and most challenging things I have done this past year and while I have let it take president over all other parts of my life, I am having a blast.  I really couldn't have asked for a more amazing group of people to work with and I really feel like we are a team!! I love my coworkers, I consider them my friends and family and they make the whole experience of living in the north something really special.

I want 2015 to be a year of change.  I have a lot I want to accomplish this year and I am going to have to be very disciplined and focused.  I don't really like setting public goals per say because I am notorious for giving up.  I will however, outline some vague goals for the new year and see how it goes.

I would like to strike a better balance between personal life and work life.  While at this point in my career I am still finding my way, refining my practice and building my skills - all of which require a lot of time and energy, I find I leave little time for personal endeavours.  I want to work hard but also reserve time for me.  That applies to social life and personal health! I would also like to pick up a hobby.  There is nothing like being asked "What do you do for fun?" and not have much to answer with.  Apparently "sleep" is not a hobby.  Coulda fooled me.

So that's one.

While I am still in a considerable amount of debt (car and OSAP), I would like to start saving for things such as car repairs and  holidays.  My car repairs seem to come at the worst times and I need to have an emergency cushion that isn't a credit card.  Debt is one of the main reasons I moved to the north and to continue to get into it for things like tires and repairs seems detrimental to success.  So I want to save a little every week and see where that gets me! I haven't been on a legit holiday in quite a few years and I would like to see more of the world before I am old and haggard so saving for a trip of some kind has become important to me.  When you work for months straight with 2 hours of sunlight, dreaming of something exotic and faraway can have the most surprising and motivating effect!

While I still want to slow the roll for work, I also want to finish up some professional qualifications for teaching.  Knowing what I am up against with my crazy class this year I knew it would be impossible to take a course and finish with any degree of success so I think I will wait until the summer to tackle that.  Next year I will hopefully be teaching Grade 1 again if I am lucky and then will have a little breathing room and time to do some more professional development.

Anyways, I would love to list all the little things I have accomplished in 2014 but you would seriously think there was something wrong with me.  So I will just say this: 2014 it has been a slice and I am really looking forward to all the excitement and changes that will take place in 2015!!