Celebrate the Small Things - July 26 (3 week back log)

Yikes, folks! I haven't written a blog post since July 5th when I Celebrate[d] the Small Things with VikLit and the other blog hoppers over at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. That means I have three weeks of celebrations to catch up on, but I'll try to keep them brief.

On July 6, the last day at my sister's in Leduc, Alberta, she and I, and a friend of hers did the Colour Run in Edmonton. I did it for fun and to raise a few more funds for the Student Refugee Program. It's an ongoing effort of mine, so if I can twist your rubber arm...click HERE!

I thought I would be celebrating handing in the final version to the committee on Friday, July 12. I was wrong. My advisor had other plans for me the likes of a third extensive edit. Those edits along with packing for my trip on July 13 are the reasons I didn't post that week. I can celebrate, however, the completion and handing in of my third massive edit!

Friday, July 12 was also my last day of work before heading out on two weeks of holidays! Now that is really something to celebrate!

Sometime in that week between July 6 and 12, we welcomed Memphis into our home. He's an adopted 5-year old Chihuahua from a local animal rescue organisation in our city.

The whole next week, July 13 to 19, was just one massive celebration. Farmer Joe, who I have now taken to calling Cowboy Tex since we moved from the farm into the city, and I started out on a massive 3500km road trip from Brandon, Manitoba where we live, to Fredericton, New Brunswick where I will be starting my Master of Arts in English this fall. I even enjoyed the driving. The main points of smaller celebrations within this major celebration are:
-Spending two nights and a full day in Montreal with my beautifully brilliant friend, Haley.

-Spending three nights and two full days in Fredericton familiarising myself with the university and the city.

-Getting a tour of the campus (especially the library) and meeting my grad school advisor.

Other celebrations that occurred from July 13-19 include:
-finding out that I got into the mature student residence for the fall and connecting with my roommate to start planning our living arrangements.
-finding a UNB Mom t-shirt at the campus book store to bring home for my Mom.
-being offered (and, of course, accepting) a position as a Regional Coordinator for WUSC starting in September. This volunteer position comes along with two trips to Ottawa, Ontario! I am really excited about taking on this leadership role with an organisation that means so much to me.

We started the trip home from Fredericton on July 20. The biggest celebration on the return trip, short of actually getting home, snuggling with my dogs, and sleeping in my own bed, was staying in Kingston, Ontario with another brilliant friend of mine. After 5 days staying places without air conditioning when the temperatures were 35 degrees Celsius above, Yvonne had central air and provided me with my first excuse to have a hot shower. It was heaven.

All of that brings me to one more celebration for this week, July 20-26. On Wednesday, I met with my thesis advisor again and despite a few, ok a lot, more edits, she did say that this time (the fourth time) she didn't need to see the entire document again, only a few short pieces! That, my friends, is celebration worthy indeed!

Cheers, everyone! Now, to try and catch up on visits and comments! See you and your blog soon!

Celebrate The Small Things - June 14 & Photo-a-Day - 14: texture

It's Friday, the end of the work week and the start of the weekend, those things alone are cause to celebrate! I do have a few more things to add to VikLit's Celebrate The Small Things blog hop. It's really quite lovely to make a point, every week, of reflecting on the reasons, no matter how small, that give me cause to celebrate.

This week I'm celebrating the receipt of two more donations to the WUSC Student Refugee Program after re-launching my fundraising website. In connection to my fundraising efforts, I ran/walked 5km 4 times this week. I'm up to solidly jogging 2.5km which is somewhat disheartening considering I used to be able to run 17km with little issue, BUT, we're celebrating, right?! so I'll focus on the fact that I am slowly rebuilding my endurance.

I'm celebrating my contest win and associated feature blog post over on M.J. Joachim's Writing Tips.

I'm celebrating the honour of representing WUSC at the Manitoba Council of International Cooperation Annual General Meeting. In direct connection with that, I am celebrating that I am part of a generation of youth that is dedicated to making this world a better place. The youth panel included young men and women who have done volunteer work and/or research in Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Nicaragua (to name a few). Perhaps the most empowering statement that I took with me is the following: "The youth in developing nations know what they need; they just need to be asked." Brilliant!

Finally, I am celebrating the fact that I am sitting and writing this blog in the comfort of my Mom's living room. I got to eat her scrumptious chilli for dinner tonight and tomorrow I'll be spending time with some of my family at a cousin's wedding. I really needed this "break from reality" so I intend to cherish it!

Now for today's June: Photo-A-Day prompt:

The stitching on a dress that I purchased in Botswana - so delicate, so soft, so comfortable. 

Celebrate The Small Things - May 24

This is my second time posting as part of this blog hop hosted over at Scribblings of an Aspiring Author. This week's is a lot less exciting than last week's.

This week has been a bit rough on me physically, mentally, emotionally, you name it and if it was mine, it went through the ringer this week. I developed a cold last weekend that started in my throat and has since moved to my sinuses. I've been dragging my butt from work to home and back all week. The leave of absence I requested from work so that I could count on being employed after spending the next two years as a broke graduate student, was declined. Now, I'm sure to be Brandy Robertson, MA and working at Starbucks. It's not only the lack of a secure job that this rejection causes, it is also going to make it quite difficult for me to get the student line-of-credit that I need if I am going to eat something other than Mr. Noodle for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next two years. On top of that, I received two scholarship rejection letters as well, another potential $10,000 down the toilet.

You know when you're just so high on life (like I was last week) that it seems like nothing can knock you down and then a bulldozer blazes in followed by a wrecking ball and your world comes crumbling down? Ya, it was a rough week.

So today, I am celebrating the strength to accept the things that I cannot strange, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I can't change any of these things, but life is still pretty darn great! I graduate next Friday (guess what I'll be posting about?) after seven long years of working part time towards my Honours BA. As I walk across the stage they'll say, "Brandy Robertson, With Great Distinction, and the recipient of the Silver Medal in English." I'll undoubtedly have to shake the hand of the person that denied my leave of absence request and accept the mandatory words of congratulations that she has to give me. Heck, maybe I'll even say, "Thank you." All I know for sure is that I will hold my head high, find my Mom and Baba in the crowd, smile as the tears of joy run down my Mom's face, try to keep my own tears at bay, and think to myself, "YOU DID IT!"