Quite a bit happened in 2011. It was quite an eye opening year for me. I learned a lot about myself, a lot about others, and so much more... I should warn you though.. this will probably turn out to be quite the long read. I figured I'd just give the brief, quick overview about what I did. But what if one day I look back on this.. I'm sure I'd like to read everything and be like "oh yeah, I remember that!". So if you're not ready for a long read, come back later... or at least take it in stages and remember where you left off.
The first part of the year wasn't very entertaining or much to write about. I had surgery on my ankle December 22, 2010. I tore my ligaments as well as chipped off a bunch of my bone. So despite being in surgery a couple days before Christmas, and spending Christmas/New Years laying on a couch in pain despite taking powerful painkillers, I did my best to focus on the long term. That the pain and inability to move would be temporary, and that one day I'll be back to my normal self.
Honestly, I don't remember when I started to walk using crutches, when I weened off my crutches and started to just wear my boot, and then when I was able to get rid of my boot. I'm going to say April was when I was finally boot free. I didn't have a cast, they just put me in one of those plastic boots that I could take off. Note to self : You can't sleep well wearing a giant boot that has velcro and snags on your sheets. I was taking sleeping pills and even then I was only managing a couple hours of sleep a night. I remember waking up, hoping/using crutches to get to the living room, and then laying down on the loveseat with my foot elevated. Rinse and repeat for at least a month. It sucked. I was sick of movies, I was sick of video games, I was sick of TV.
Physio was physio, the girl I had was nice and didn't work me to the point where I was screaming obscenities the whole hour. I made sure I did my "homework" and strength trained my ankle doing the necessary workouts. Yeah, it was difficult and it hurt at times, but you just have to press through it I guess. Though my ankle still bothers me from time to time, I'm not too sure if it's normal or not. It's getting better, so perhaps it's just a continuous strength train and one day it will get back to the way it was.
Where are we at? Well.. I don't know. I believe my physio ended in July/August, but I really don't remember. Kinda sad that I don't remember that. Dad and I did our usual trip to Japan, a bit later than usual, in June. A short trip, basically a meet and greet and were looking to see what our customers would be wanting in terms of quantity and quality for the upcoming year. Typical stuff. Still love Tokyo though. I've been there 4 or 5 times now and it never ceases to amaze me. I think Dad still can't believe how that city is. Considering what Japan went through during the war and how much they rebuilt. Even dad stated that when he first started doing the business and coming over, it was nothing like it is now. And that is over a period of like.. 25 years. Tokyo really is a concrete jungle. But it's awe-inspiring at every turn. The people are amongst the friendliest I've ever met. I feel 100% safe walking through the streets at 2am.. I don't even feel safe walking through some streets in Vancouver at 2pm! The food there is delicious (well... some of it), the city and the history is remarkable, and the lifestyle is so different. I really don't think I can ever get sick of that Country.
Went to New York (Which would be the last visit for me.) and then went on a cruise down to the Caribbean. Another short trip, week and a half I think? Met dad in Toronto and flew to Dusseldorf to meet up with my relatives. We had a stop over in Copenhagen. That was my first time there. Due to our flight being delayed leaving Toronto, we missed our connection so we spent around 5 hours in the lounge at Copenhagen airport. I wished that we could have gone out to see some of the city and to say I was actually "there" and not just sitting in an airport lounge. But we were exhausted and didn't want to deal with security and customs etc. Lucky for us, they had a nice lounge with some pretty decent food and drinks. Plus they had a "quiet room" which, if you know my dad, didn't stay quiet for too long. Once he got on that lounge chair the snoring began. Thank god for Bose QC15 headphones... I didn't even notice him snoring till I looked around and noticed no one else in the room. Plus I guess the fact that someone came and closed the door made me realize it. Once I took those headphones off.. My god! That man can snore. Thank goodness I'm not like that. Let's hope I won't be that bad! Got onto our flight to Dusseldorf and arrived like 6 hours later than originally planned.
There were two main reasons for us going to Germany... well...three I suppose. The first is that my grandma's brother has been sick and it's been getting worse, in and out of the hospital all the time. So we wanted to go and see him and pay our respects so to say (though as of right now, 6 months later he's still kicking.. not literally since he's bound to a bed for the rest of his life, but you know what I mean.) Second reason is that my dad's godson was getting married and we were invited to attend that. Third reason is that both dad and I enjoy flying and needed more miles so that we could retain our "Elite" benefits with Air Canada.
So, we got to Dusseldorf and stayed with our relatives in their house in a small little city called Sendenhorst. Our whole trip to Germany would only be a week (Which in a way I'm glad since I had to share a room with Mr. Snores alot). We spent a lot of time seeing the family and catching up (I have a lot of family over there, and hadn't seen most of them since 2006 when Dav and I backpacked through Europe for 6 weeks). Man, those kids grow up fast. I saw some of them and didn't even recognize them, I thought they were just family friends! Was nice to hang out with family and spend time with them. I don't see them nearly as often as I'd like, so any time spent with them is always much appreciated. We went to the wedding, which was held just north of Frankfurt, and spent the night there. Was a good wedding, tons of photos were taken which I still have to go through (Procrastination!). Dad and I spent a day in Muenster, walking through the city. For the most part it was a pretty low key trip but had a great time. Flew back to Vancouver via Toronto and hit the grindstone at work.
This summer was the first time I went down to the states by myself. Was both nerve wracking and exciting. I wound up going down there 3 or 4 times on my own this year. Just proof that dad is trusting me more with work and letting me learn the ropes as to how things get done. I'd be surprised if he didn't want me to take care of it this summer again. I don't mind it, just the drive down there is boring. 7-8 hour drive down, and the last couple hours are on a long, straight road with nothing but flat ground.. If you're going to fall asleep while driving, that's the road you do it on!
I met up with one of our customers who flew in from Tokyo and was showing him around for a few days. I was freaking out about it the entire time I drove down there thinking what I was going to talk to him about and what if there's that awkward silence. But in the end it was nothing to worry about and it all went off without a hitch. He knew it was my first time down there on my own so I think he went easy on me and wasn't expecting too much. But I still like to tell myself I did a hell of a job!
Summer basically consisted of just that. Working and heading down to the states every other week. I have no issues with heading down to the states for business, the pay is good, it's more enjoyable than sitting in an office. Only thing is that by the time I get home Friday night, I'm too exhausted from all the driving that I hardly get to see my friends. But it comes with the job, I'm use to it and they're understanding. We try to find a happy medium.
September 22, 2011 may turn out to be one of the most important dates in my life. After 8 years of being friends with Lindsey, but never having met her, she flew into Vancouver. You have no idea everything that was going through my head at the time. I was nervous. Not because I was worried that it wouldn't go well, I knew it would, but mostly because she's meant more to me than most other people in my life for the previous 8 years and despite never having met her, she quickly turned into my best friend and meant so much to me. Standing at baggage claim seeing she landed... seeing everyone come out except her.. I was like "did she change her mind?? Was she too nervous?? Is she just standing on the other side of the doors killing time knowing I"m probably going crazy?? (she probably was but will never admit it!). She finally walked through those doors, and I can't even really describe all the feelings/emotions that I was feeling. The first time I ever gave her a hug.. yeah.. I'll remember that for the rest of my life.
I do believe I wrote a blog post on her trip here, so no point in my really going into tons of detail as to what we did. Aquarium, Stanley park, Japadog, Mall, Canucks game, Granville Island, Eggs Benny, Robson Street.. Was all memorable.
The way she made me feel that weekend, the great times we had, the smiles we shared.. I loved it. And it gave me a look into how relationships can be (granted, we weren't dating at that time, but just how everything was that weekend and the feelings I felt.. I got the jist of it). The relationship I was in with my now ex wasn't great. It hadn't been great for a long time. Everyone saw that, my friends, family, even myself. I honestly don't know what made me stay in it for as long as I did. I guess I was just scared of the "unknown" and also scared of what would happen to her (ex) once things were finished. I was in the state of mind that I was always caring what other people thought rather than putting myself first. I wasn't myself, I hadn't been myself for a long time and it showed. I was being controlled, being told when I could/couldn't go out.. Who I could/couldn't be friends with. I hated it, but I didn't man up and do something about it. I'm not saying that Lindsey is the reason I ended things, but she definitely helped to show me that things would be ok and that everything happens for a reason. I remember a pep talk I had with her while we were laying in bed Sunday morning... I opened up to her as to why I was worried about ending things and the fact that she had been in a similar situation as the one I was in, made me realize that I'm not the only one who went through it. And that if she was able to work through it and be ok, then I could to. I don't think she realized how inspirational, or I guess "helpful" is a better word, that one, short, quick talk was.
You know.. I think I remember almost every single detail from her trip out here.. :P
I haven't looked back since.
I broke up with her, and continued on with my life. Lindsey and I were growing closer, and I was heading out to Calgary before I knew it. I was there Oct 20-23, 2011. A short weekend trip, but it allowed me to see Calgary, and get to spend more time with Lindsey. Besides, it would only be a couple weeks before I was back over there for 9 days for her birthday. I suppose that I should mention that on Oct. 24, I received a facebook notification stating that I'm in a relationship with Lindsey... Yup, facebook makes everything official these days! But in all seriousness, I had asked her over the weekend as to whether she would want to see where things would lead us, and to be my girlfriend. Granted, it was shortly after I had broken up with my previous girlfriend, and we were both worried as to how it would impact our friendship, she didn't have a definite response for me right then and there. But needless to say, it all worked out. :)
I feel like I've written blog posts on all the times I've met her.. and rather than repeating myself, and saving us all from a long blog read, if you want to know more about that trip, look a few posts back! I got to meet her family (which I was nervous about). You have no idea the amount of pressure that I felt when I met them. I knew they weren't fond about their daughter being involved in a long distance relationship (again) so I knew off the bat that I'd have an uphill climb, so to say. I can safely say now, that I feel comfortable that her family likes me and approves of me to be dating their daughter. That takes a huge weight off my shoulders and a big sigh of relief. Now I just have to make sure I keep up with it and keep proving to them that I'm serious about this and will do what has to be done to make things work!
Another quick trip over to Japan Dec. 10. This was for 6 days (though we landed Monday night, and left Friday..so was really only 3 full days of meetings). Ate, and survived, Fugu (Travis : 1, Home Simpson : 0). Ate something else which I'm not going to mention since.. ew. Flew back over to Calgary for a week to take the aptitude test with the Calgary fire dept. Went to Banff, spent time with Linds. (Read blog post).
Came home the night before Christmas (eve). Made our rounds on the 24th, went to the great aunt/uncles place for an hour or so. Then to my moms parents with my uncle/aunt/cousins. Then came back home and had my dad's mom come out with us. Opened all our Christmas gifts that night (Money/Games/Mattress Topper/Chocolate). Christmas day we had everyone over for a lunch of Turkey and other deliciousness. Spent the week working, then picked up Lindsey on the Friday from Abbotsford. Saturday, we had brunch with my family and moms parents, then headed downtown then to North Van to Longsdale Quay. Then back downtown and walked 5km around (Accidentally bringing her through Hasting/Pidgeon Park), and got a Japadog. Headed back home, decided that we were too tired to really go "partying" so just went out for dinner with my parents to an all you can eat Japanese restaurant (I think she's still sick of Japanese food), then watched hockey and celebrated the New Years with her and my parents. It was low key and quiet... but I was loving every second of it. I got to bring in the new years by kissing my absolutely gorgeous girlfriend!
Sunday we went with Matt to Stanley Park and then the Aquarium before having my Aunt/Uncle over for dinner (as well as Davin/Erin/Matt). Then I kicked them all our so Linds and I could spend a bit of time together before driving her to the airport.
That about sums up my 2011. Not really in a nutshell since I believe nutshells are suppose to be quite a bit shorter... but oh well.
Now to proof read this..
2012 has still been a good year so far. I'm happy with the direction my life is going. Everyone has their health (sorta), I'm on my way to get into the Fire Dept, but also learning more about the family business... and I'm with a girl that proves to me on a daily basis that anything is possible, just as long as you have the courage to pursue it.
I love my life.
