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charllieeldridge · 4 years

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Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows

And just like that, 2019 is a wrap. It seems like every time I sit down to write these reflections posts, I can’t believe just how fast the year went. As I’m writing this article, I have my furry friend (Spare Dog) at my feet, my furry Nick next to me (he needs to shave!), and I’m looking out to the sea and mountains beyond.

This past year was filled with adventurous travel to new and repeat countries, highs and lows on the business and personal front, love and laughter on the relationship side and lots of fun here in Grenada. So much has happened, that I had to consult my iPhone photostream to remember all of the amazing things we got up to!

Images of mountains, colonial towns, ancient sites, and tropical islands dominate the feed. It’s been a pretty great year. Every 12 months has a feeling, a vibe, or some sort of big event that stands out. For 2019, I’m dubbing it “A Year of Highs and Lows”. And you’ll see why after reading — the year was amazing, and then seemed to plummet at the end.

Here’s a recap of the year, and what we have planned moving forward into 2020.

Travelling around the Galapagos was a highlight of our year!

I’ve been doing these roundup posts for quite a few years! Here are the ones from previous years if you’re interested:

2012: A Very Memorable Year

2013: A Year of Firsts

2014: Started and Ended With Mexico

2015: A Year of Spontaneity

2016: A Year of Big Decisions

2017: A Roller Coaster Year

2018: A Year of Achievements

Celebrating our 12 year anniversary!

Achieving Goals Set For 2019

At the end of each yearly roundup article, we set some goals that we want to achieve in the coming new year. This is what we wanted to achieve in 2019:

Being more active (going hiking more and joining yoga again).

Exploring more of Grenada

Continue to create and provide useful information on our website

Help out (volunteer work, donations, environmental causes)

I’m happy to report that we accomplished those goals!

Being More Active

This year, we got back into “hashing” here in Grenada, and while we didn’t join the hikes every weekend, we did do quite a few. I’ve also joined yoga and attend classes two times a week, most weeks. And, we now do much more walking then we used to, plus some at-home workouts as well.

Nick and I both did a couple of detoxes this year, one with natural pills, and one simply with smoothies and fasting. We actually just finished up a two-week booze detox and smoothie diet which is what we previously did when we were feeling a little heavy.

We thought it was a good idea to slim down and dry out before the holiday season! Nick lost 10 pounds, and I lost 8. In case you missed last year’s post: “We Got Fat – Dealing With Blogger Bod“.

When we’re living somewhere, we find it hard to be active. When we’re travelling, it’s much easier as we’re always out walking around new cities, hiking to new sites, or just wandering aimlessly. Since we’re not getting any younger, we’re putting health and wellness at the forefront of our goals.

Hiking is our favourite way to stay active

Exploring More of Grenada

Even though we’ve spent 5 years in Grenada (on and off), it always amazes me that there are still new places to discover. This year we explored a couple of new hikes and walking trails, offtrack beaches and some great new restaurants that have popped up.

On top of just finding new places to walk and eat, we found ourselves attending numerous events — wine festival, Carnival, music festival, and chocolate festival. Plus, we explored the sea by sailboat on numerous occasions, did some deep-sea fishing, and Nick checked out the underwater world on scuba.

We also celebrated 3 birthdays with staycations here on the island. One on a cacao farm, in a treehouse cabin, surrounded by nature. Our four-legged friend also joined in on that bday weekend! My 35th birthday was celebrated with live music, beach bar drinks, and lazy pool days at one of the hotels here, plus a private sunset sail. Nick’s 35th was recently spent enjoying a dinner party, followed by a night at a boutique seafront hotel in a cute bungalow.

Yep, I’d say we did Grenada justice this year.

Sailing into 35!

Continuing to Provide Useful Content on Our Website

As with every year, we are always creating new articles, videos and posts on our social media channels to hopefully inspire and assist others when it comes to making money on the road, and travelling the world.

In 2019, we published 157 articles on Goats On The Road, filmed and edited 20 YouTube videos and posted on social media 237 times!

This year, we also kicked it up a notch and created a digital course to help bloggers progress from hobby bloggers to a profitable business. And by we, I mean Nick.

Nick planned, filmed, and created the SEO Made Simple online course — spending hours to ensure it was detailed, professional and most importantly, actionable. Each of the 300 students who have purchased the course are also in Nick’s VIP Facebook group where he shares his wisdom and advanced methods for SEO. It’s been very rewarding for both of us to see the students’ progression!

Because Nick created that course, we were invited to be a part of the Paradise Pack in 2019. For the past 3 years, we have promoted the pack (because it’s filled with awesome products), but this year we were invited to have our course in the bundle of online resources.

We were ecstatic!

Chatting with Travis and Jason from the Paradise Pack was a lot of fun

We did an hour-long live chat online with the creators of the pack (Travis and Jason), with over 3,000 people watching at a time! We then did an hour+ podcast with Jason, where we spoke about our lives as digital nomads and travellers. Chatting with online colleagues is always a lot of fun, and we love this style of interview.

Special!

If you’re interested in learning some of our SEO secrets, but aren’t sure if you want to purchase the SEO Made Simple course, we’re offering a free 1-hour session, here.

Helping Out

Finally, our last goal for 2019 was to help out more. In 2018, we were able to do quite a few things in Grenada, but this year we wanted to do more, both at home and away — there’s always more that can be done.

As with last year, we sponsored an eight-year-old girl from the orphanage so that she could attend a four-week summer camp here on the island. Her weeks were filled with arts and crafts, history and culture, sports and activities, plus a couple of outings to the beach to learn about marine life and the environment. I hope that this summer camp continues for these children as it’s a great initiative.

We also assisted an artist in his “Beautify Grenada” project where he sources out blank walls around the island and looks to brighten up the community by painting unique images on them. “Our” wall that was painted is one that we drive by every day. It’s is in front of a preschool and is now home to colourful turtles, balloons, trees, children, and of course, goats! I hope this talented artist continues his pursuit of beautifying the island.

Plastic is a problem worldwide. Our eco-blogging, travelling friends from The Dharma Trails put together a “Green Up Grenada” project to bring awareness to the plastic issues and to clean up the beaches (and underwater).

Nick heading out on a dive to cleanup the underwater world

We participated in the clean up of La Sagesse Beach (323 pounds of garbage was collected), and the scuba diving clean up at Grand Anse Beach where 150 pounds of garbage was pulled from the sea. This was a great campaign and hopefully it raised more awareness about the unnecessary use of plastic here on the island.

Utilizing Our Home as a “Base”

A month after ringing in the New Year in Grenada, it was time for us to pack away the household items we had accumulated over the past year, load up our backpacks and hit the road. Every February, the owners of the house we rent return to spend 5 or so weeks here. This means we have to vacate — which is OK as we go travelling again!

We had been pretty much stagnant for most of 2018, and not really utilizing our home as a base, which was the whole point of settling here — we planned to stay, and then travel, and repeat. Instead, we felt a pull (is it actually called a “pull” if we don’t go anywhere?!) to stay put.

This year, we were ready to properly make use of our base. Live, travel, repeat. It was time to get back out into the world. And, we actually ended up doing quite a bit of travelling this year — 5 months to be exact.

Eating bbq chicken in the sea with Spare Dog, after hiking – a great day!

Travelling for almost half of the year and staying still for the rest seems to be the perfect balance for us. It allows us to have exciting adventures, sample new foods, and learn about new cultures, but also gives us enough downtime to rest, work and catch up with friends.

I don’t want to jinx it, but after travelling for 10 years, and blogging for 7 of those years, could it be possible that we’ve finally found a work-life balance that suits our lifestyle?!

Having explored Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Colombia in 2017, we knew we loved the continent of South America. So, when considering where to go in February, we took a look at the map and decided on Ecuador and Peru for our next adventure…and what an adventure it was.

We were offline for this entire trip and had a great time backpacking around these two countries. You can read about our thoughts and highlights of this trip in our roundup article here.

The hiking around Otavalo was amazing!

Read Our Ecuador Articles Here:

12 Things To Do in Quito, Ecuador

Mindo: the Complete Travel Guide

Otavalo: The Ultimate Guide for Travellers

Hiking the Quilotoa Loop: A How-to Guide

Galapagos Islands Travel: A Guide To Travelling Independently

Press Trip Partnerships

Going on press trips/FAM trips isn’t our main blogging income model, but when we’re invited somewhere that resonates with our travel style and interests, we happily accept the offer.

This year, we were invited on 6 press trips and had an incredible time exploring new destinations — all of which were a great fit. Sure, we had been to these countries in the past, but the provinces, cities, and islands that we visited were new to us.

Nova Scotia

Even though we’re Canadian, we’ve seen very little of our home country. So when the Nova Scotia tourism board invited us to experience what the little province has to offer, we jumped at the opportunity to see the east!

Jagged coastline, hiking routes, fishing villages, fresh seafood and welcoming locals — this is Nova Scotia. We picked up our rental car and had an incredible time road tripping around the province for 3 weeks, while experiencing all the fun things to do in Halifax, and beyond.

With so many places to visit and adventures to have, we would definitely return and explore more of the culture, cuisine and nature.

Read more about our experience in Nova Scotia on the blog, here.

Beautiful nature in Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island

Indonesia

This island nation is one of the countries we visited on our first backpacking trip in 2009. We then returned to live in Canggu, Bali for a couple of months, and Nick went on a scuba diving trip with the Indonesia Tourism Board.

This time around, we were invited by Lotus Hotels, to experience their dive resorts and share our findings with you.

We travelled to 4 different destinations over the course of 15 days — Gangga Island in North Sulawesi, Birie Island in Raja Ampat, Candidasa on Bali Island and the island of Gili Trawangan. Even though we were on a trip that was planned for us, visiting these destinations (some of which are quite offtrack) was an incredible experience.

Sunsets on Gangga Island were amazing

The majority of the trip was centred around the epic scuba diving and snorkelling that Indonesia is known for, which was perfect for Nick! The accommodations were lush, the natural beauty was out of this world (especially in Raja Ampat!), and we enjoyed visiting villages, dining on fabulous food and interacting with the welcoming residents of each island.

The beauty above and below the sea, the friendly people, the tasty cuisine and the overall vibe are the reasons we find ourselves returning to Indonesia. There’s just something magical about this country, and we’re always happy to come back.

Drone’s eye view of the FAM islands in Raja Ampat

In between Indonesia and Japan, we hopped over to the Philippines for our friend’s wedding. We enjoyed some downtime with friends, a lovely wedding ceremony, and some exploration of Siquijor Island by scooter!

Japan

Just a few days after being invited to Indonesia, we received an offer to travel to Japan and check out some of the more offtrack prefectures (which are similar to provinces/states). In 2017 we visited Tokyo, Takayama and Kyoto and enjoyed the culture shock, cuisine and people of Japan.

This time around, we were going to experience more of the natural beauty, plus an offtrack city and learn about the culture of soaking in a sento (public bath).

Four different tourism boards and associations invited us to visit their destinations, which were all places we hadn’t been to yet — Akita and Aomori in the Tohoku Region, Okayama City, Nakatsugawa City and the Tokyo Sento Association.

Hiking the Nakasendo Trail in Nakatsugawa, Japan

We lined it up so we could visit all destinations during just one trip to Japan. There were a couple of free days during our 16-day trip, including some time in Tokyo to hang out with our friend Jason from the UK who we met while backpacking around Central Asia in 2013!

This time around, we felt as though we learned much more about the intricate culture, and were able to dig a little deeper into the history, customs and cuisine. There’s much more of Japan to see and we can’t wait to return.

The Ups vs. The Downs

We arrived home on a high. We had just enjoyed an incredible couple of months travelling around Asia, we reconnected with some great friends on the road and our website was doing well in terms of partnerships, traffic to the site, and income.

We caught up with our friends (including Spare dog) when we got home, reflected on the trip and the year as a whole and were excited about the holiday season. More importantly, once we had finished our deliverables for the Indonesia and Japan campaigns, we had lots of plans for how we were going to improve our business — we were excited!

But, between the time we arrived back in Grenada from Asia (November 9th), to when this article was published (just over a month later) it feels like all of our amazing accomplishments, adventures and “ups” from the year have been snuffed out.

A beautiful sunset from our house

Goats On The Road was one of many websites that took a huge hit during the November Google algorithm update. What does that mean exactly? Well, Google changed the way it shows content to those who are searching.

So let’s say for example you were searching for “things to do in Thailand”, rather than having us show up as #1 or #2 because we’re a well-respected travel blog with long, informative content, we have now dropped down and you are being shown more “authoritative” sites (ie: big companies).

Why did this happen? We don’t know. Which is incredibly frustrating.

Our traffic has dropped and we’re scrambling trying to figure it out. Traffic affects our income and partnerships, and how many people will see our message, which is why it’s such a big deal. One thing is for sure, we will continue to create useful and informative articles for you and hopefully, Google will be happy with us once again!

This update pretty much affected sites across the board in the recipe and travel industries and while we still have a lot of traffic, it’s difficult to see it go down overnight and knowing there’s nothing we can do to fix it.

However, business and money are trivial in comparison to what happened 4 days ago.

From the time I was basically finished writing this article, to the time it was published, our friend Spare Dog passed away. This has been incredibly hard on us as even though we were his petsitters, we thought of him as our own, and spent so much time together.

Spare Dog will be loved and missed

Spare was the reason we came to Grenada in the first place back in 2014 and was the reason we kept on returning. He was the first (and only) dog I ever loved — no others will compare. This year has ended with sadness for us, but we’re trying to focus on the fantastic life he led, and all the adventures he enjoyed — he explored more of Grenada than anyone we know!

This little furry character made an impact on everyone he met and thought of himself as human, rather than animal. From waterfalls and private islands to offtrack trails and brewpubs, Spare went everywhere and everyone knew him.

Nick and I are grateful for the last 10 days we had together with Spare at our home, and that his parents returned from the UK in time to say goodbye to their sweet boy. We’ll miss Spare (Doodle) Dog dearly and Grenada won’t be the same without him.

haha, this photo is my favourite! Excited for an adventure, Spare?!

Moving Forward into 2020

I’ve been speaking with blogging colleagues and travel friends who all have their 2020 calendars filled with plans. Currently, for us, there are no plans — which I think is great! No work commitments planned, no flights booked, and nowhere we have to be.

We’re thinking of 2020 as a blank slate. It’s a fresh, pure year waiting for us to colour in the time slots as, and when, we want.

For me, 2020 means “vision” and “clarity”. And while everything looks a little bit blurry at the moment due to the stress of the past weeks, once we move into the new year I’m certain some definition will start to appear.

I have a feeling there are some epic changes on the horizon and we’re excited to see where we go, and what we end up doing!

Wishing you an amazing year ahead! (photo taken during Nick’s birthday surprise)

Since this is a travel and lifestyle blog, we’ve always been honest and upfront with you, with the hopes that you’ll appreciate the real people behind the words. Rather than being just a generic travel website, we think personality and personability are an important part of sharing and connecting with our readers.

As we head into 2020, Nick and I want to sincerely thank you for following our journey this past year, and we’re looking forward to sharing our upcoming adventures (whatever those may be!) with you in the new year.

We hope to inspire you to travel to some new destinations and maybe even find work doing what you love while on the road. We’d love to hear from you as well, so please comment down below, or send us a private email.

Wishing you health, joy, and love in the coming year.

Dariece & Nick (the Goats)

The post Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows appeared first on Goats On The Road.

Looking Back on 2019: A Year Of Highs and Lows published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

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fitnesshealthyoga-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published on https://fitnesshealthyoga.com/so-zen-right-now-the-fitnessista/

so zen right now - The Fitnessista

Hi friends! Happy Monday! A friendly reminder for today….

We’ve got this. 🙂

How was the weekend? I hope you had a fun and relaxing one! I had the most relaxing weekend that I’ve had in… a very long time. My friend Betsy flew in from San Diego and we spent the weekend hanging out, shopping, eating all the delicious things, and enjoying a magical spa day at Miraval.

Before she arrived Friday morning, I had to finish my CPR certification. I did an online and classroom combination since my certification had expired, and it was SO convenient to do most of it online. (Word to the world: don’t wait until the night before to do the full online component because it takes a few hours. At the same time, it was really helpful for me to have a refresher on all of this information. I’ve been CPR certified for 10 years now, and every time I have to re-certify, I’m SO glad I did it and so thankful for the information.)

Since the classroom component was only an hour long and I had to head directly to the airport to pick up Betsy, I took P to CPR with me. I figured you’re never too young to learn these valuable skills haha. (And yes, I called a couple of days before to make sure it would be ok, and they were totally cool with it.)

She watched me do chest compressions on the Brayden mannequin thing and even tried to a couple of rescue breaths. (The instructor got a kick out of it.) When I needed to practice roll bandaging, she was my model. She thoroughly enjoyed having her pretend wound bandaged up. After I demoed my skills and got my certification, we drove to the airport to swoop Betsy.

We were all ready for brunch, so of course I had to take her to Prep & Pastry.

MY OTHER VIDEOS

Kyle released new menus at Prep and Commoner & Co. this week and they’re both INSANE. He surprised us with a couple of fun things:

the cinnamon roll croissant

(this is seriously a dream come true… a cinnamon roll with flaky croissant layers)

and two of their new toasts. One had an egg, bacon and maple butter, and crispy brussels sprouts, and the other was smoked salmon with an herbed goat cheese.

For my actual meal, I rolled with the classic breakfast: scrambled eggs, housemade turkey sausage, potatoes, and gluten-free toast.

It was perfection.

When we finished brunch, we came back to the house to chill for a bit, and then decided to get some fresh air. I thought Sabino Canyon would be a fun *Tucson thing* to do, and since we had time to kill before we needed to pick Liv up from school, we decided to go for a little hike.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous – I think it was in the mid 60s and sunny – and we walked a couple of miles, enjoying the scenery,

and miss P ran almost the entire time.

She is suddenly really, intensely into running.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to take the dogs for a walk, and instead of riding her scooter (as she always does), she said,

“No mama, I want to run. Please put my sneakers on.”

I put on her sneakers, and she ran the entire time we were walking the dogs. I’m familiar with the distance since we’ve ran and walked it so many times, and her little newly 3-year-old legs ran .75 miles. She did the same thing at Sabino Canyon… started running, and hardly stopped. Maybe I have a mini Janae-esque speedster on my hands???

(She asked to wear her gymnastics outfit, too, and I was just like, “You do you” haha until I realized that she likely wanted to wear athletic clothes for her run? I don’t even know.)

After the hike, we picked up Livi from school, watched a movie at home, and then went to La Encantada for shopping and dinner.

My mom, stepdad, and nana met us there, and we had an awesome meal at Blanco. I almost always get the chicken tacos, but switched it up by ordering the chicken enchiladas. It was a WISE choice. If you’re in Tucson, definitely try the enchiladas! (And PS their rice is soooooo buttery and good.)

Madre took over for the girls – she watched them for the weekend! She’s the real MVP – while Betsy and I went shopping and then checked into our hotel at Loew’s Ventana Canyon.

This weekend was my bday gift, and all I really wanted was to hang out with Betsy and get some real sleep. I slept SO well both nights and it was amazing to have a weekend without a schedule or agenda. We knew we were doing a spa day at Miraval, but besides our treatments, we decided to go into it and just wing it depending on how we were feeling. It was so relaxing, and a much-needed refill on a cup that’s been feeling a little spent lately.

I have SO much to tell you about Miraval (and I’ll also compare it to Canyon Ranch) but it needs its own post, because otherwise this one will be TLDR. We spent the entire day at Miraval on Saturday (from about 8:30am until 7pm) and then went straight to Commoner & Co. for dinner and drinks.

This is random, but Kyle got me into bourbon cocktails. This one had vanilla and orange, and it was so smoky, slightly sweet, and delicious.

For my entree, I got the salmon from their new menu, which has kale chips and a mushroom risotto. It was perfect, as always. Even if I didn’t know Kyle (or be his kinda-twin), Commoner would still easily be my favorite dinner and date night spot in Tucson.

After we were totally full from a fantastic dinner, and refreshed from a full day at Miraval, we went back to the hotel for 9 1/2 GLORIOUS hours of sleep. When we woke up, my mom was already heading to the zoo with the girls, so we met Everly and Meg for crepes at the farmer’s market.

(This is the Breakfast 2.0 with no cheese on a gluten-free crepe. It has eggs, guacamole, green chilies, and salsa. Basically this is my ideal breakfast and I could eat it every single day.)

We walked around the market for a bit, and then it was time for Betsy to head home!

It was such an amazing weekend and the perfect ending to my week of bday celebrating. After I took the girls to swim, P crashed on the couch while Liv and I decorated for Christmas. It feels so festive around here, and I’m really excited for the next couple of months. <3

I’d love to hear about your weekend! Do you ever do getaways with your best friends? Where’s your favorite place to go? I still want to head back to Palm Springs one day- our girls’ trip there was a blast.

Have a happy Monday.

xoxo

Gina

PS. Guess what?!

This week, I am thrilled to celebrate Thanksgiving by offering daily deals on my brand new Fit Guide workouts — it’s my way of saying thanks to you for your love and support, and to help empower and inspire you to get and stay fit as we wrap up 2018!

Each of my Fit Guides includes 12 weeks of workouts, plus a workout calendar, a suggested meal plan and special bonuses. And if you aren’t sure which one is right for you, you can take a free, fun personality quiz to find out which Fit Guide I think is best for you:

Take the Fitness Personality Quiz here.

Now, here’s today’s daily deal:

Use the coupon HWWHALFOFF for 50% off my Home Workout Warrior Fit Guide! This is a perfect Guide for the holiday week because you can take it with you when you’re traveling, or use it to get a great workout in, even when your gym is closed or the kids are home on holiday break.

Please remember that this is ONLY available for 24 hours! This coupon is only valid on the Home Workout Warrior Fit Guide, and expires at 9amPT on Tuesday, November 20.

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happiness-in-oblivion · 6 years

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2017: A Reflection

Welcome!

Welcome to Rachel Pistachio’s new creation. Please leave a message and make sure to follow!

Okay, honestly? I’m really awkward when it comes to introductions and first impressions. So I guess, here it goes?

Fun Facts About Moi:

I like lists.

I am Greek-Mexican American.

I get called Rachel more than my actual name (Rebecca).

My last name is Cypriot Greek slang for Watermelon.

I’d like to think I am a combination of Audrey Hepburn and Selena Quintanilla (obviously the biggest delusion I have).

I can’t think of any other cool things about myself.

Phew, now that that's over…

Reflection

Man, I don’t even know how to begin this post. Currently, I am sitting on a worn-out faux white leather sofa in the dark. Well, not completely.

Proof that indeed I am not in complete darkness

I can’t really tell if wanting to write this post is a result of wonderful family cheer or the fact that 2017 has been worth reminiscing. Nevertheless, here we are.

Memories of 2017

1. had a great seventeenth bday

I celebrated seventeen years on this earth surrounded by people that make my life significantly better. There were also s’mores, frozen noses, good music, and delicious cake. (Peep Sage, a human being that makes my life pretty interesting)

**Also, please ignore my incredibly obvious farmer’s tan**

2. received my first B in high school (it was liberating btw)

Going through high school, especially the one I currently attend, involves competition amongst people you should really be calling your friends. Amidst my small class size and incredibly intelligent people, I always felt the pressure to make straight-A’s regardless of what I was or wasn’t learning. Attending that school has taught me all the wrong, toxic things.

Needless to say, junior year was probably the shittiest time of my life, but that is not why this made the list.

The second semester of my junior year involved sleep deprivation and a stupid amount of stress, and eventually I found myself passing out in my dual-credit Calculus II class during an exam. Pretty embarrassing to be honest. And yet, an extremely incredible experience that I dearly needed.

You see, although I did have an asshole math teacher, passing out in that class and getting a B gave me the reality check I needed. I needed to realize that good grades does not correlate to actual learning.

Also, news flash, I am an incredible human being whose value is actually not measured by straight-A’s when I have so many other things going for me. :)

3. flashmobbed w/ awesome gals

My summer began with the inception of the Flamenco Youth Fundraising Council. To put it in a nutshell, we are all a group of gals that wanted to watch incredible dancers, so we blessed the city of Albuquerque by flashmobbing the streets and ultimately making $4k in two weeks. The day this picture was taken, we were downtown and a man offered us coffee on the house. We were also mural hopping and being extremely fierce (definitely not cute, fierce).

4. attended the stanford hssc for the second time

I don’t even know how to begin this one. The eight weeks that this program offered me a home were the most amazing weeks of my entire summer (aside from the fact that it kind of was my entire summer).

Not only did I spend an invigoratingly independent time on campus, I stayed up late either finising my cs assignments, enjoying thought-provoking and hilarious conversation, or a combination of the two, and every bit was amazing.

Peep the incredible people I was blessed to meet and spend my summer with. Not only were they witty, smart, and everything you could ask for in a person, they were also really hawt.

5. had my first kiss

I guess you can say that the summer program might have offered a bit more than academics?

In all honesty though, this was definitely one to cross off the bucket list. Although I’d been previously presented with the offer, my little naive self continued to refuse, expecting an epic story.

Well, epic is a pretty good description. Let’s just say I was beginning to grow impatient listening on the sidelines as my friends recounted their first kisses in exciting whispers. I knew my time would come, but when?

I never thought my time would involve an amazing summer with a relatable person who actually made me secure and comfortable. All I can say is thank god I waited for my epic moment and not some cheap shot who I could have settled for.

Also, thank god for roommates who can’t make curfew and large campuses where you won’t become embarrassed by a stranger’s familiar face.

6. rediscovered my actual obsession w/ poetry

Coming back from a great summer brought immediate depression and senioritis as I had to step into the real world of Rebecca-in-Albuquerque-with-grandiose-expectations. And then, it happened.

I discovered Button Poetry on YouTube.

For those who haven’t heard of this channel, Button Poetry publishes videos of slam poetry from various authors. Well, I happen to come across Sarah Kay and her marvelous poetry on love and the reality of life. All I can say is, click the link below to be blessed with words that will sing the best melody to your ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHHzHu289Ws

7. performed at tedx

The Youth Fundraising Council had been given the incredible opportunity to step on the TEDxABQ stage and fill it with passion and art. Plus, we were given VIP passes, so you already know that we spent all day getting our hair and makeup done, along with pocketing all the expensive snacks and pretending we were indeed professional like all the other middle-aged accomplished humans we shared the stage with.

**Shoutout to our founder Caro (pictured in sunglasses) for literally being my type of human**

8. became an apprentice for the professional company

Since I began dancing flamenco at the age of five, my friends and I had this amazing hope and dream that we would one day be sharing the stage with our teachers and mentors. Well, this semester, I was given the opportunity to partake in the company’s rehearsals with guest artists and surrounded by motivated and incredibly hardworking people every day. With the 20 hours a week I danced this semester, I have to say it was all worth it.

Let’s just say I learned a lot more than dance technique. I learned how to be extremely confident in myself and my abilities. I learned to be my harshest critic, and my best teacher.

Although I may not end up in the actual company, this lifelong dream of mine is the best news to receive during my final year in Albuquerque.

9. danced with actual legends

Okay, just seeing this picture gives me chills. When I tell you that the people I shared the stage with that night are legends, I truly mean it. I mean I’ve been watching Tacha (third from left) and Loreto (fourth from left) on YouTube for a really long time, and suddenly I am studying and performing with them. It was amazing, and without this picture, I wouldn’t believe the words I am currently typing.

10. danced at my last greek fest

Newsflash: For me, being multicultural means having the craziest clubs and hobbies. Aside from dancing flamenco for thirteen years, I have also been Greek dancing with some of the peeps depicted above.

Although I am the only senior girl in the group, these guys have toughed it out with me all twelve years, occasionally cussing each other and others out in Greek (eimaste malakes).

11. spent thanksgiving w/ the greatest peeps

Now back to the Mexican side of the family.

The arrival of Thanksgiving week also brought the arrival of my mom’s family in a white van coming from South Texas. For the entire week, our house went from hardwood floors to air mattresses. Meals varied from tamales to meat to (surprise!!) turkey.

We also may or may not have blasted music from Grupo Celedón’s track, which was the family band my grandfather had started that consisted of my mom and her siblings traveling the country to make ends meet by playing awesome original music. Enjoy the shameless plug below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnHJb2qmtZM (my mother is not in this recording; she’d dipped to UT Austin by then)

12. got accepted into actual college

To be honest, this is probably the one that brings me the most relief. I, Rebecca Watermelon, have been accepted to two universities. I believe that does mean that I will be, ahem, going to college.

I am so excited. The opportunity to leave New Mexico (the land of enchantment) for the independence and fresh start I felt at the summer program is so cool. However, I now have no motivation to complete any other college applications, or, for that matter, complete my senior year of high school.

13. performed in my last recital

Dancing has always been a part of my life, and every December brings the Recital Navideño, in which all the students and dancers from the National Institute of Flamenco share a weekend of what we’ve been working on.

Well, this December is officially the last recital that I will ever partake in, and it was extremely sad but also a bit liberating. It is a quite literal marker that marks the end of an (epic) era, but also the start of a great beginning. Plus, who’s to say I will stop dancing? ;)

14. held my grandfather’s hand for the first time in two years

This is huge for me. About four years ago, my grandfather had a stroke. As a wee little eighth grader, I felt incredibly hopeless and frustrated that I couldn’t do anything. And then when I came to visit him for the first time, I realized the true extent of it. My grandfather, a man who was considered an accordion legend in The Valley, could no longer move the right side of his body.

And yet, I still had one thing. I could hold his hand.

Although he could not speak to me, he could look me in the eyes and hold my hand. This small act to many has instilled a sense of hope and love that I did not completely appreciate before the horrible moment.

Being that I was gone every break either studying or traveling somewhere else, coming here this Christmas made me realize that I hadn’t held his hand in two years. And when I did, I felt grounded. I feel grateful. After all, holding hands is such a loving form of communication.

15. realized my life motto(s)

Last but not least. Since starting this post, it has been about half a day of procrastination, watching Friends, and being quite a couch potato. It is currently two in the a.m. on Christmas Day, and I am reminiscing on the beautiful year that was (and still is) 2017. I see now that this year has allowed me to grow into myself, and learn the best lessons before embarking on the next chapter that is college. This semester involved two phrases that I constantly repeated to myself as I tried not to actually panic about the future:

Whatever happens, happens

Find happiness in oblivion

I’ve found that these simple words have truly calmed me, and therefore I am dedicating this blog to being ok with not knowing the future, and being happy with the fact that all I know is that I know nothing.

Thank you for reading this incredibly long story that is my life. Here’s to many more reflections and memories. :)

#college #blog #reflection #2017 #memories #newbeginnings

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girlwithsword · 7 years

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so i haven’t journaled in 2 weeks because i am a #mess and a lot of stuff has happened so i think broad summaries are more in order

basic themes: the summer, school, the next week, the house, ken, friends, family, my health

the summer: we had the group sicha for mosh madatz applicants and i had my interview with ari for the gilboa position, galil applications just came out

i don’t think i’m going to get mosh or gilboa - not ‘cause i’m not qualified, i am, but there just seems to be a lot of people more suited for that tafkid at those machanot than myself

galil is still open and idk as much what the landscape is like so it’s still a possibility, but idk what i’m going to to if i don’t get madatz madricha. i have been actively trying to separate what i want from the summer from the tafkid and i can’t do it.

Hannah and Sarah have made a proposal for a kvutzah messima based on leading nachshonimot and I’m down with that, but Hannah think that i could just go to Galil and be with their bogrimot and do that and maybe i could but a) that still wouldn;t give me the tzevet experience i’m looking for b) i wouldnt have the time or freedom to build a tochnit and c) i do NOT want to be the person coming in to the summer, especially as an outsider, demanding to be with certain kids! That person sucks!

I’ve talked to Hannah and to Bekah about it and im trying to talk to the mads but if i don’t get madatz madricha it’s really hard to justify going to a new machaneh to be on tzevet ragil to myself and my mother, not when there is SO MUCH theatre over the summer

anyway we just had a kvutzah call about it - Hannah, Jess and Toviah are applying for MBI! Sara and Ari are thinking about gesher! but sara still only wants to come for one session? arron fine is applying for madatz at miriam and maybe gilboa but idk?

i do have an idea, that maybe if i don’t get madatz, i stay in the city, work in theatre over the summer and spend my free time facilitating the kvutzah. like everyone gets so busy and hyper focused over kayitz and i could be an eye in the sky, keeping everyone updated, helping people with resource gathering and editing peulot - i could still be involved while not missing a summer of opportunities

school: so things are a lot more overwhelming than i want them to be

‘cause i had a bad week at the end of january i feel behind and i still haven;t totally caught up and it’s coming to mid-semester and that’s gonna catch up with me

monologue study is a lot more work than i expected - just doing all the xfript work is taking much longer than i planned for - i /just/ finished making the Lists yesterday and I’ve been working on that for WEEKS. Luckily, we don’t actually have class this week so all that stuff is due after the break - unluckily, i can’t really do work over the break and that shit needs to get done - more on that later

however, my actual piece is looking really good and some of the warm ups and breathing exercises have helped so much! two classes ago we did these breath exercises and then went around and each said a central line from our pieces and i have never been so in the moment and real and in my breath than right then and now i have had a taste and want that always

we’ll be starting shakespeare after the break and i want to try something new, I love my Beatrice, but there is something to be said for repertoire building. Rosanna suggested looking into Rosalind pieces from As You Like It and that’s promising. I might... try a Juliet? Like, idk if that’s worthwhile im just... not a Juiet, im never gonna be the ingenue, why try? but having something sweeter is definitely a goal, idk i looked at Rosalind pieces and i think there is something that catches my eye

scene study has a similar issue in that the written work is a lot more overwhelming and time consuming than i planned and that /is/ due next week so. however, rehearsals have been going AMAZING, we’re like 98% off book and have to focus on picking up the pace, sticking to tactics and not playing attitudes and getting the blocking a little more fine tuned.

we had dress rehearsals tuesday and it was a WRECK. /no one/ was off book, a couple scenes were just /stopped/ midway through and everyone was off. then we went up, the only group who didn;t even once call for a line and who was actually on top of our shit. i admit, it felt kinda good to be the best. though, the bar was kinda low.

I’m being mean, a lot of people had good moments and most of the scenes that derailed derailed ‘cause ONE particular person clearly didn;t have their shit together and it threw everyone off.

Brandon and i rehearsed today and got pacing a little more down and he’s gonna come over sunday and do a final rehearsal before tuesday’s presentation!!

my elective has been a lot less interesting than i was hoping for, the classes are kinda boring but at least it’s pretty easy. HOWEVER, we did a field trip to city hall yesterday and THAT was fascinating! we got to sit in on the city council sessions as they were deciding the budget and it was! so! cool! that’s the room where it fucking happens. and like, we should all be more on top of local politics ‘cause that’s where the day to day shit gets figured out. i did a whole snapchat rant about it it’s good

fevergraph isn’t technically school but it’s been going really well - i got to get some emotional stuff out through the journeys and i’ve gotten my heart rate up a few times, last class is next week and i think i’m gonna look into maybe some voice lessons for the next half of the semester?

anyway: sunday i need to get all my fucking scene work done, monday i should record all my notes for my TOR midterm ‘cause tuesday im running around a lot and i need to study for that. monologue stuff will have to wait - that’ll be wednesday/thursday, cause thursday afternoon... i’m getting on a plane to israel

so, that’s happening. i kinda was just.., thinking about it.. and then jazz said that if i went she would go with me.. and then my parents said they’d give me 300 for the trip as a bday present.. and then i booked tickets. we’re still figuring out exact details in terms of where we’re staying when but i’ve e-mailed mona and paul and talia and the mads about it and we’re figuring it out

so, yeah... that’s happening. we’re gonna chill and see people and go read on the beach and i’m going to where nothing but dressed the whole time and i’m so fucking excited.

in the meantime, this week i have to get all this fucking work done, my birthday is this weekend!! (there’s gonna be cupcakes and whiskey and an entire afternoon of theatre!!!!) and we need to shove in ten thousand roommate interviews in there sometime

‘cause YEAH, updates on Murnau House: we still haven;t found a new person for the Room That Cannot Be Filled which is Annoying and the previous occupant has not been as ontop of finding a replacement as he said he would so Sam is leading the search, bless her

aaaand our fridge broke last week, again, and we lost a BUNCH of food, but due to my skills of being a polite and efficient BITCH thanks to my mum, we got a new one pretty quickly and that’s going fine.

the ken: we had a tubshvat carnival two weeks ago, some bogrimot came and volunteered, it went fine, but i wasnt as invested as i should’ve been - however, i did see Iris there!! whcih was nice, she’s gonna be chinuch at shomiria this summer and she did the habo/hashi birthright! very cool

then, sem. so, we had a tzevet of 7 for 40 kids, two of whom lefton the saturday night. aaron and yehuda of all people were on mitbach and the post mbiers were a big help. the schedule pretty much went out the window becuase we didn’t even get in till after midnight in friday due to the storm.

i did however get an entire busload of kids off the bus, to a rest stop and back on to the bus in FIFTEEN MINUTES ‘cause i’m amazing, we went to camp and the kids had fun even tho it was very Emotional for me, and we re focused on The Krinkle Project for messima, and even tho we didn;t do the vaad stuff i hoped for, i think we can move forward if i get my shit together enough. we also did kvutzah peulot that, even if they didn’t go /so/ great, i think brought important ideas and next steps into a lot of the kids minds about how to be stronger as a kvtzot

there was gonna be a katkateam this weekend but ido and i are both on vaccations so that’s been cancelled. there;s a purim party on the 5th that might launch our participation in Krinkle if we get that together. Mifgash with Tavor in March, spring sem in May, maybe one final event for messima and then... we’re done. at least. I am. I’m done. And I should be expecting a cheque from Shaul any day now.

friends: sima is interning on a CTV show and getting updates on the PM’s schedule in her work e-mail, and graduating soon

julia is kind’ve her usual mess but also starting to turn a profit in selling her embroideries on etsy, but idk if she has like a plan of any kind? and that worries me to a degree

mikki’s cosplay stuff is BOOMING and she’s back with Lou but... she’s still being kinda self destructive and i’m worried about her??

josh just finished a show and i haven;t talked to him in a while....

anna grace and natty are putting on a show that natty wrote!

i don’t ... have that many friends??

family: same pretty much. Alex is migrating in a month, they’re moving a little closer to me than i like but what can you do.

Batsheva was here, we had one of our Talks, i need to find a more permanent therapist to go deeper with once school is done. i should probably join a group... but that im where im at for as young as i am considering everything... im honestly on a pretty good track

my health: so, i doubt anyone is reading at this point so... the weekend after my fatigue flare up at the start of the month i had a suicidal episode. and i’ve only told my therapist

it was my first one in about a year, my worst one in two and over the dumbest thing since highschool .... just being overwhelmed by school work

like, two mays ago i had a really bad one ‘cause i couldn’t get myself to finish my Buddies piece, a year ago i had a much smaller one ‘cause of a HUGE fight with my dad and this was just... being overwhelmed.

and that’s what;s frustrating!! i guess it was frustration at my body and i hadnt eaten that well and i was a day away fro my period and all that added up to curled into a ball trying desperately not to reach for a handful of my ciprilex and melatonin for most of that saturday??? which just like wtf

OTHER THAN THAT, my physical strength has actually been on an upswing since the start of the month and im feeling a lot more active. i have a cold this week but that’s just it being february and my immune system being shitty. thank god for cold 911

okay, it’s far too late. i gotta shower and sleep and this took about 10x longer than i planned for

it’s gonna be a hell of a week, and i have no idea when i can do this again, but wish me luck!

#my life today

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