Thoughts with BPM.

BPM was such a remarkable experience for me. There is such a close-knit sense of community that follows this festival, and everyone seems to be there for the music. When I heard about the shooting that happened last night, I was beyond disbelief. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? At truly one of the most loving festivals where everyone gets along? I remember waiting for a while as my bags were searched before entering *most* venues but I imagine security will get a lot tighter. Truly saddened for the 5 who lost their lives, as well as the 15 injured, and so thankful friends who went are okay.
Things like this should not be happening. It is so scary to think that these happy times can change so quickly. Blue Parrot holds such good memories for me, and now for others - the memories are so tragic.

Beyond devastated, I hope everyone affected by this finds their peace. Love to the BPM community.

29.

Still a baddie doe.

OH HEY.

I'm 29. Where did that come from?
How did we get here?
My birthday always comes with the "excitement" of the new year, because it's.. at the beginning of the new year. The feelings are always fumbly. I've never really liked New Year's. It's expensive, it's usually shitty, and the ball gowns and champagne are usually filled with too much money spent and cheap ambiance smelling of low grade alcohol that is somehow selling for $12 a glass. I also usually lose something.. and occasionally cry.

Anyway. That part is *somewhat* over, and now we're here, at January 4th. I'd like to join the hate wagon for 2016, and that is generally where I usually find myself - "Man, this year sucked". We all do that, don't we? We try to shit on the last year in hopes that it will feed our energy for the next one. HELL YA THIS IS GONNA BE MY YEAR. Ha. My thoughts are bouncing. I feel like I still don't have my shit together. So, in order to cover up what could be detrimental to my feel good at 29 birthday party (sitting on my couch sifting through rap music), here are a bunch of things I'm thankful for:

• Changed the blog layout. WE DID IT.
• New York - twice. Attended a warehouse party in Brooklyn which changed my life. Made new connections and immersed myself in old ones. 
• Toronto - forever my second home. Islands, walks, beaches, shops, AND ALL OF THE NAPS.
• Victoria - first time! A ton of hiking, a ton of forests, and visiting my grandma's home - ugh. She had all these amazing toys from her childhood that I could appreciate better as an adult. She had pictures of family I hadn't seen or maybe forgotten. What a way to paint memories. 
• Mexico - more hikes and forests! Kayaking, food, music, and family.
• Beat my blog posts from 2015! By one entry!
• I fully paid off my driver's licence. Hell ya.
• I went to counselling. It was helpful.
• I rowed in the dragon boat competition with such a fun group, and we placed well! We improved over and over again and it was brilliant.
• I completed Mud Hero! A marathon with obstacle courses that was ridiculously fun. I took two girls with me and we kicked ass.
• Threw a masquerade fundraiser with a team of phenom people. We worked hard for a few months and were able to pull in a bunch of performers and it was a great success.
• Held a successful project of random acts kindness, where we were able to distribute 3,500+ gifts to random strangers.

So.. good things did happen. I don't like resolutions because they terrify me. The thought of failing myself is too big to handle. I'd *like* to find motivation to blog more. I'd *like* to take more photos, take more videos. I'd *like* to attend a music festival. I'd *like* to take a hike with my boyfriend. I'd *like* to improve my home and organize my chaos into something more manageable. 

Those things would be nice. Last year to say I'm in my twenties. First year to really do shit.

Let's get thankful.