#ThrowbackThursday

This past week I have taken quite the drive down memory lane and I absolutely love it.

The 'magic of nostalgia' is how you can’t quite put your finger on the exact photograph, song, taste or smell that does it, but it’s where you can close your ends and it’s like you’re back in the exact moment with those exact same feelings of quickened heart-beat excitement, looking ridiculous smiles, and pure untainted joy.

Nostalgia this past week came in the form of Warped Tour. Although my wonderful husband and I didn’t attend the Toronto date, the idea of going sparked an epic week of relishing in the sweet memories of ‘the glory days’.

When my wonderful husband and I read the lineup of the then upcoming Toronto date of Warped Tour we met each other with immediate thoughts of how incredible the line up was—so many old school bands we used to LOVE! I’m talking Anberlin, Cute is What We Aim For, Bayside, Finch, Yellowcard, The Maine and, for JP, mostly just Terror. This sparked memories of previous Warped Tour years, seeing artists like Cute Is What We Aim For and Anberlin, and I wanted to be back in those moments, at those shows, experiencing the almost now untouchable simple joys that came from seeing your favourite artist at a show with hundreds of other people just like you—perhaps a little bit awkward of a teenager, dehydrated and hungry, hot and sweaty, all while having the best day of your life because they are playing and you are singing along and life couldn’t get better.

From the moment we decided we would entertain the idea of attending all I wanted to do was chat about my past experiences. I went to work and to my enjoyment, one of my co-workers hopped on board with reminiscing about Warped Tours of the past with me. I can remember the very first year I went to warped tour with three amazing friends and my dad. For the record, my dad is awesome. He sat in the air-conditioned parents day-care tent and had the highly coveted position of the ‘merch keeper’. Every girl whose closet was made up purely of band t-shirts of artists she had seen live needs a merch keeper—especially at an event as big as Warped Tour in 2005.

Classic Myspace over-photoshopped picture. <3

My awesome friends and I separated ways while at Warped Tour to take in the many bands we liked—all our tastes were a little different and we would enjoy meeting up at random sets to be all “Hey!!!!!” and do a nice little check-in. Getting to see so many amazing bands, meet so many of those bands randomly at merch booths, and especially hear of new artists was an incredible experience unparalleled to any other. My favourites to see my very first warped experience who left an impact bigger than you can imagine were Thrice, Billy Idol (oh yea), Saosin, My Chemical Romance, Roses are Red, Underøath…—oh my, this list could go on and on. At that point in my life, and for a solid chunk of the years to come, Bleed The Dream was my favourite band. Conveniently, they were a smaller band which made it was easy to hang out with them at their booth, get pictures, buy merch directly from them and just hang out. It was a known fact to my friends that if you wanted to find me, just stop by the bTd merch booth. 

**I truly feel honoured to have had such an amazing ‘favourite band’. Almost like brothers, these dudes were awesome. I could reminisce for hours about their kindness, talent, willingness to just chat and hangout, and how they always put their fans first (as a fan, I would know).  I don’t think I can even count on my hands the amount of times I had seen them live, even flying to Toronto to meet a friend from Myspace so we could see Bleed The Dream play live together—something we had always thought would be awesome since our initial bonding moments on Myspace due to our massive crushes on the bass player and devotion to their music.**

Paramore. You know it's old-- hello Flip Phone!

The following two Warped experiences, while still awesome, could never compare to that first year. Unfortunate events (flat tires, dying cars) were unable to steal joy from the day, knowing your way around after being an experienced Warped attendee made the experience more chill, and, as should be the focus, seeing the artists I was committed to was always amazing. The following experience had seeing Paramore live at the top of my ‘epic list’. As the lone Paramore fan in a sea of friends at home who didn’t care, it was simply astounding. It was only after the epic experience I had friends finally listen to Paramore and kick themselves for not taking advantage of their extraordinary set at Warped. The last year I attended was incredible for a handful of reasons—artists and their crew were now friendly faces I looked forward to connecting with where the transition from fan to friend occurred. Top of my artist list though was hands down Story of the Year as well as Anberlin’s acoustic set.

It’s quite amazing how hearing a simple song or two can take you back for a week of quiet moments allowing the excitement of days passed to be relived while scrolling through photographs, and day dreams about the past. I’ve always referred to my time being heavily involved and influenced by the music scene as ‘the glory days’ as they allowed and encouraged me to fearlessly be myself, shaped me into the person I wanted to become, grew my creativity, stripped away some of my shyness, opened up doors to meeting amazing people (some who are still in my life today) and, best of all, have led me to moments like today—where I can look back with no regrets as I relive in my memories of the days I would never change.

I want to encourage you to take a trip down memory lane of one of your favourite past-times and allow the excitement, happiness and care-free memories infiltrate your day and share with those your favourite moments from your days past. Who knows, you may strike up an amazing conversation and bond over similarities of ‘the glory days’.

 *Note - Since writing this I've been addicted to a Songza playlist called “Alt Pop Wine O’clock”. This playlist is littered with artists like Paramore, The Maine, Cute Is What We Aim For, Something Corporate as well as some newer artists. I can't help but smile and feel heart-happy when listening to music I used to live for.

Live Different-- Eat a Cupcake

Cupcakes-- they are just the best.

Seriously, they are deliciousness just for you in a cute wrapper, sky high frosting, and decorated to be the cutest edible thing you've laid your eyes on. Part of the cuteness obviously comes from their size—they are just handheld and adorable. Can you imagine how much I would be gushing over mini cupcakes?!!? Let’s not get started on that one!

If you follow my blog, or have ever had even a single conversation with me, you know that my wonderful husband and I absolutely love, support, and are involved with the organization Live Different. Based out of our now home Hamilton, Ontario, Live Different is a youth empowerment organization who strives to teach the upcoming generation that life is about people, not stuff. They teach those in high school they can make a difference, they should strive to show kindness, and they truly can be the change they wish to see in the world.

Live Different has a program called the Live DifferentAcademy. The Live Different Academy is a program designed for students during their gap year (the year between finishing high school and starting their post secondary education). Most of the students who take part in the Academy have either seen the Live Different Motivational presentations at their high school, have participated in a Hero Holiday, or have been looking for a fun, educational, and life changing opportunity to take part in before they head back to school for the new few years of their lives.

The Live Different Academy has the students follow a Social Justice curriculum while spending half of their year ‘on the road’ performing the motivational presentations to high school students, and the other half of the year living in Mexico at Live Different’s base where they will build houses in the community they live, work alongside local individuals and participate in ‘the shack’ where they will live like most of the world lives—on less than $2 a day. Needless to say, the Live Different Academy is a program unlike any other an individual can take part in.

The individuals taking part in the program are exceptional students who have overcome their own adversity in life and willingly take the opportunity to share their struggles and new-found positive attitude on living life with their peers during the high school presentations. These students are brave, honest, and truly will change the world.

Live Different asked me to bake something delicious for their Academy graduation event and I took the opportunity to combine my love for Live Different and cupcakes into one. For their event I baked up over a hundred cupcakes in a few fun flavors. Those who attended the event enjoyed the following from-scratch creations:

Vanilla Funfetti cupcake with Coconut Lime Frosting

Classic Chocolate cupcake with Nutella Cloud Frosting

Fresh Strawberry cupcake with Fresh Strawberry Buttercream
Each cupcake was topped with a hand-painted fondant heart showcasing the Live Different heart logo.

Both the graduates and the other individuals in attendance enjoyed the cupcakes and I was so honored to be able to contribute to this momentous occasion in a way that also shares with them both my passion for baking and the appreciation I have for them as individuals who are committed to a living a life focusing on others before themselves.

Cupcake tower at grad.

*Special thanks to Meagan Tuttu-Peters for some of the lovely shots! Check out her blog!
*Note: This was the final year of the program with both living in Mexico and going 'on the road' as part of one program. Starting this fall, individuals will have the opportunity to apply for each portion separately--depending which part suits their skills, learning goals and future plans. 

Keep Choosing Joy

“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act how you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind” – Anonymous

I read that quote for the first time in, I believe, January or February. It is the perfect introduction that sets you off on a journey of changing your mind set in the book 'Power Thoughts' by Joyce Meyer.  I had listened to messages and read book where they touched on the topic, and I also have had my own thoughts on the topic challenged and changed as I have grown and learned; the idea that we choose our thoughts, and those thoughts can change our life, is a pretty huge thing to wrap your head around.

In my journey so far, I have found I tend to focus on ‘Love’ as an overall theme for everything I do. While it perhaps doesn’t always come across that way (yay for learning and growing!), it is the way I strive to act and conduct myself. I am aware that sometimes tough love is required, and loving people doesn’t always mean giving them answers they want to hear, but love is an incredible thing and truly needs to be expressed as the sole motive behind every single thing we do or say.

While choosing love can sometimes be difficult, choosing joy can sometimes be harder. I am the classic case of ‘I’m tired and hungry which means I’m grumpy and I don’t want to be around people or do anything and I just want to nap and play with a kitten and eat sweets and watch something cheesy’. Anyone else share these same oh-so lovely character traits? Choosing joy means, in the midst of whatever is happening, you are choosing to be positive—looking on the bright side of things when every thing and perhaps every one around you is encouraging the more negative side to take centre stage.

Kittens and cupcakes-- instant joy.

Why do we do this? Why do we allow negativity at the forefront of our minds? I think it’s probably because it’s easy. It’s a lot easier to be down in the dumps when your paycheque isn’t as big as you want it to be, when you can’t afford the new clothes, new house, or vacation you want. When you can’t see friends as often as you would like, when there’s no one physically around when you want someone there, when your dreams aren’t becoming reality. A lesson which needs to be learned is being negative about these things isn’t going to make them any better. Being negative isn’t going to improve the situation—it’s going to do the opposite. You are going to focus so much on the negative that any situation or circumstance that is less than ideal in your life is going to go from the size of a rain drop to the size of a tidal wave.

I’m not devaluing the importance of feeling emotions, or saying when the worst things happen you have to pretend to be happy and like nothing bothers you. I’m actually kind of saying the opposite….

While bad things happen and situations may not be what you hoped, there are always so many reasons to choose joy. When I’m feeling down in the dumps (and don’t have any kittens or candy around) I start to make a mental list of things I am thankful for. Sometimes this list starts as simple as acknowledging the every day things I take for granted which sustain life as I know it:

‘I am thankful my body works in amazing ways I don’t even understand.

I am thankful I have hands that allow me to create things.

I am thankful I have legs and feet that work so I can bike and run.

I am thankful I have food in the fridge and a roof over my head.

I am thankful I have clothing to wear that I got to pick out because I liked it.

I am thankful I breathe.

I am thankful I have a bed.

I am thankful for safety and protection.’

As soon as I start focusing on the things I am thankful for, I automatically start to feel a jump in my heart that spreads through my veins and leaves a smile on my face. I can’t help but be blown away by the sheer magnitude of greatness of the daily things I take for granted. This gratefulness almost always turns into joy. If I am not feeling joyful yet, I continue my thankful list:

‘I am thankful for friends who I can reach out when I need them.

I am thankful for a husband who encourages me, challenges me and supports me.

I am thankful for Love.

I am thankful for God who loves me and has more thoughts toward me they outnumber the grains of sand!

I am thankful for my workplace.

I am thankful for passions.

I am thankful for joy.’

I am thankful for joy.

I become so in awe of the fact I can choose to be happy in the midst of life, I can do a few things:

1. I can acknowledge how remaining negative and dwelling on things does nothing to improve the situation but actually makes it worse. Had I continued to be negative, the littlest things would have seemed catastrophic and I would have left no room for joy to begin to grow again.
2. I can assess the situations with a clearer headspace. I am no longer feeding the negativity. I am focusing on joy and being positive. This achieves a lovely balance for productive problem solving.
3. I can be positive. In the midst of what is happening around me, I know that being positive is good for my mental, physical and spiritual health. I will make better choices in all areas of life, I will surround myself with positive influences, I will continue on a path of positivity.

I used to be confused when people would talk about choosing joy. It seemed to me people were devaluing the things we, as human beings, feel and experience. It seemed so fake—like when we are having the worst day we are supposed to just smile and say cheesy things like “Everything happens for a reason!” (not true!) or “It’s in God’s hands!” (yes, God takes care of situations but we need to actively pursue the life His word tells us we should strive to live!).  This, to me, is crazy. If I feel bad, I feel bad. But the bottom line is I don’t want to feel that way so I’m going to change it—from the inside, not just the face I’m putting to the outside. Too many approaches, like those previously mentioned, also remove from us our ability and responsibility to change how we feel and think to ensure we live a happier life—they leave us thinking we need to learn to live in the midst of negativity. The truth is, we need to learn to leave negativity behind and focus on positivity.

Power Thoughts by Joyce Meyer was an awesome book that challenged you every single week with a new power thought. From things like ‘I love people and I enjoy helping them’ to ‘I am difficult to offend’, ‘I live in the present and enjoy each moment’, to ‘I put God first in my life’. There are 12 power thoughts and I plan to put them all on my wall to remind me that life doesn’t have to be spent wondering how in the world you can make things right, be happy, and overcome the negativity in your life. You can actively choose how you think to ensure you are continually choosing joy in the midst of what comes your way in life.

Images in body of blog courtesy of Pinterest

Dreams Come True!: Thailand

“Dreams come true!”

Ask anyone I am surrounded by on a daily basis; I say the above statement quite frequently in regards to the silliest, simplest things.

Example: At work a co-worker will leave chicken for me to use on pizzas. She’ll say something like “Aelea, I left you chicken for pizzas!” and I’ll respond with “Dreams come true!”

Another Example: At work a co-worker will have taken out the compost already and my response will be “Dreams come true!”

I don’t know when I started saying it, I really don’t know why I say it so often, but a good part of me guesses it’s due to the whole ‘choosing positivity in every situation’ thing I try to do. Anytime something good happens I respond with “dreams come true!” It’s like giving an extra shot of enthusiasm to the little things that help make life awesome.

When I think back to the two experiences I’ve had in Thailand, I often think the perfect description to attach to the feelings and adventures is “dreams come true!”. Oh yes, that sounds cheesy, and it might be a little lame, but as I often mention, it’s the little things that make a difference—and it’s the smallest of dreams coming true half way around the world with special people that can make all the difference.

The first time I was in Thailand, on our final day at the Children’s home we had an epic goodbye party. Now, I know I shouldn’t compare the goodbye party from 2012 to the goodbye party in 2014 but we all know I do. The goodbye party in 2012, being my first, will always hold special significance in my heart. It was the day we said goodbye to these adorable little humans that changed our hearts forever in the way they so selflessly and unconditionally loved us foreigners. We came to help them, and they all helped us in more ways then we could possibly imagine and describe. It’s the special moments shared throughout the week which see their climax at the goodbye party. You play games, you laugh, you eat till you’re stuffed, you dodge bugs, you hug, people cry (I’m generally an exception), and you tell the kids you now cherish you hope to see them again one day.

The children’s home generally has quite the party planned—the meal is special, the games are special, everything about it is out of the ordinary for the daily lives of the kids. Two of the final activities involve saying goodbye in an organized manner so you have a chance to say goodbye to everyone, and one of the other activities are sending off lanterns into the sky!

Ahh the lantern scene in Tanged. Thanks Google image search.

I had always wanted to send off a giant lantern into the sky. Seeing it in movies like Tangled (what would we do without Disney to give us these romantic ideas of whimsy?) created in me a desire to live this magical experience. It was a dream of mine to release a lantern and this dream I held on to in my heart, never spoken out loud, became a reality on the night of the goodbye party. With the little girls I had gotten to know, we released a lantern into the sky before saying our final good byes. While this dream may seem small, it’s often the littlest things that carry the most meaning; the smallest moments creating the brightest memories. This unspoken dream of mine filled my heart with an indescribable feeling of joy, love and overwhelming enchantment—to this day I can close my eyes and I feel I am back in the moment. Releasing the lantern, looking up to the sky and feeling those same emotions grow in my chest.

This year at the goodbye party another unspoken dream came true on the very same night—the goodbye party. This may sound lame, and I’m OK with that, but I have this love for floral crowns. Yes, yes, I know, I know, what?!?! Am I seriously going to write about wearing flowers on my head? You know what, I am. Remember, the littlest experiences can hold the most significance—especially when shared with a little girl who has held a place in your heart since the first time you met her two years ago.

Thanks, Pinterest. We all knew you could never fail me in a search for
Floral crowns!

So, floral crowns. Have you seen them gracing magazine covers and bridal inspiration shoots over the past couple of years? They are an embodiment of regal grace, fairy-like magic, and the perfect rustic adornment. Floral crowns have a way of taking any model and turning her into a woodland creature you can’t help but be captivated by. Seriously, a floral crown does that and can do that to anyone. I admit, I wasn’t always sold on the idea, but as time went on I began to love it. It’s simple and beautiful.

A part of me has always wanted to wear a floral crown. And while I have always wanted to do so, there really aren’t many opportunities kicking around for your average lady to do so. However, since this had always been an unspoken dream, it was OK I hadn’t yet found an opportunity to do so. I would wait. Opportunities will always present themselves… and let’s be honest, it would be kind of weird to be actively looking for opportunities to wear one.

At the goodbye party I was hanging out with the special little girl I bonded with the most the first time I was in Thailand. Since we weren’t in the same ‘animal’ group, we didn’t spend too much time together during the trip. This, however, didn’t stop us from connecting whenever we had the chance. These connecting moments came in the form of showing me her artwork, tapping her on the shoulder and exchanging smiles and waves when we would cross paths, being partners in games when you could choose who you were with, and, of course, spending as much time together during the goodbye party that we could.

Photo booth style!

We did as much together as we could; she taught me a rock catching game, we watched the fashion show and performances together, took an array of photo booth style photographs… it reminded me of the first year I met her. It was so fun to see her personality grow and see her stronger characteristics come out in full force. She’s a leader, a mother-like figure, and always takes care of me as much as she can. She’s also athletic and silly and enjoys showing off too. She’s awesome. While hanging out during the evening she got her hands on some lovely flowers which had been strung together. One of the girls who lives at the home was wearing one of the same as a floral crown *swoon* with a gold dress for the fashion show. Oranut, in all her tomboy sportiness came over to me with the flowers and placed it on my head as a floral crown to wear for the remainder of the evening.

How did she know my little unspoken dream of wanting to wear a floral crown? She didn’t. All she knew was what she felt to do in the moment and acted upon it—a simple act of love that changed my world.

Back at the hotel after the goodbye party.
Floral crown still on my head.

We too often think dreams have to be these elaborate visions with grandiose plots and even bigger final achievements. Dreaming big is so very important to get you to where you want to be in life, but little dreams able to be fulfilled by the simplest acts are the ones that make day-to-day living worth experiencing. Perhaps you’ve dreamed of dying your hair some fun colour, or owning a pet, making an epic Jamie Oliver-esque meal, getting a tattoo, making it through a tough time in your life, or learning how to knit. No dream is too small, and no dream should be devalued. If your only dreams will take years to accomplish, what will make today special?

‘Dreams come true’ every single day, you just need the little dreams, the simple ones, to be part of your dreamscape. When dreams come true, no matter the size, the feeling can be indescribable except to yourself and the person who acted upon their instinct and can see you experience the joy the moment has brought.

A video of us floating away the paper lanterns at this years goodbye party!

Greenhouses & Elephants: Thailand

One of the best parts of Hero Holiday trips with Live Different is the ‘building project’. This project will vary depending what trip you happen to be attending. In Mexico and Dominican Republic you will build a house for a family, in Haiti you help build a school. The building project in tThailand is a little different. Our volunteers only travel once a year to the children's home which also receives sustainable funding from other organizations. This makes a ‘year after year’ project a little more difficult. So, this year, we built a greenhouse.

A greenhouse, you ask? Your first thought is probably ‘cool’. Then you really think about it and question why, in a place so hot year round, we would build a greenhouse. Well, this particular greenhouse is almost the opposite of what we are used to in Canada. Our Canadian greenhouses are designed to keep heat in, allow in sunlight, etc. The greenhouse we built in Thailand was thoughtfully composed to keep the sun out. Keeping the sun out means the plants have an opportunity to grow without being burnt by the hot rays of sunshine.

A few things make this particular project amazing:

Putting up the netting for the greenhouse!

1. As volunteers, we were able to see the previous attempts the home took to grow vegetables in the space where the greenhouse was going to be built. It was obvious this was a need—a need that was only discovered after their basic needs were met. This home has dormitory spaces for the children, a library and meditation area, washroom facilities, common areas and a massive basketball/random sport court. Once the basic needs were met, the home was able to dream about ways to make themselves sustainable and also turn a profit from markets. Enter, the greenhouse.
2. This project required everyone. Teamwork is always the best—especially when working on such a beneficial project. The older boys helped dig holes and mix cement, the younger kids jumped in on the bucket line to transfer said cement to said holes to hold the posts in place, the older girls helped stitch the netting/fabric for the top of the greenhouse—there was a job for everyone who wanted one! Even the really young kids helped plant some seeds so they could begin to sprout! It was only with this teamwork the goal was accomplished.
3. On the last day the home throws an awesome Goodbye Party! As part of the farewell they extended an invitation for us to return next year and eat the vegetables they will be growing!

It’s amazing how a big vision, paired with driven teamwork, can create something so outstanding!

That same concept is true where we had the surreal opportunity to ride elephants! Anantara is a super fancy hotel that also has an elephant and Mahout rescue program. Commonly elephants are kept as street-begging elephants, are abused and are not kept properly to sustain their long lives. Anantara rescues not only the elephant, but the mahout as well. An elephants Mahout is their owner, the individual who has trained them and has done life with them. This person is valuable to the survival of the elephant. Since elephants live so long, the mahout is often with the elephant from the beginning! Rescuing both the Mahout and elephant means the elephant is safe and properly cared for and the mahout and their family receives a wage, shelter, and education! Anantara even rents the elephants from the Mahouts for the use at the hotel! It’s such an amazing model that does incredible things to both protect the elephants and the owners families.

Riding elephants is quite the experience! The elephant I rode is named Lana. She is 28 years old and was a hungry lady! Let me tell you, the last thing I wanted was a 'hangry' elephant so we let her eat! When learning to ride an elephant you are taught how to mount, commands to move the elephant forward, backwards, left, right and how to stop. You learn to dismount and then mount again another way.

Lana and I chilling in the water.... before I became
completely drenched!

After our Elephant 101 crash course it was our turn to mount the elephants! It was a little scary at first—I mean, these are elephants! They are massive animals— It is kind of intimidating. However, you get up, do a little test course having your elephant go around pylons, start and stop, and then we were on our way! We rode the elephants around the amazing property and even had a little water time with them which resulted in a lot of laughter, awesome pictures and some extremely soaked volunteers—myself included.

I took this opportunity to chat with the Mahout who owns Lana. He was a lovely gentleman of 35 years old who has owned Lana for over 15 years. He is from Thailand and, while a few other sentiments were exchanged about how he enjoys being at Anantara, he didn’t know enough English to understand the other questions I was asking. It was wonderful to know that our fun was contributing to the sustainability of such an amazing program.

The team of volunteers and their elephants!

It is through experiencing moments, like seeing a greenhouse take shape and riding elephants, we are tangibly shown the good that can come from expanding on potential which exists only once needs are met. To often, after a need is met, the deliverers leave expecting those who have received to easily grow without any further attention. Love, guidance, and encouragement are all needed to continue growth and to reach levels of potential which could have previously been unfathomable.