How to Exercise in the Morning (And Like It)

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Jessica

Every so often, it will be 4:30 am on a Friday morning and I will be sitting in my car in the driveway debating on whether or not my spin class will miss me if I don’t show up.

Actually, it is most Friday mornings.

Because I fit training and fitness instruction around a full time job, I am often given the times that no other sane human would decide to be up, in exercise clothing and sans coffee. Somehow, life has thrown a schedule to me where sleeping in is 5:45 am on a week day and 6:30 am on a weekend. [My mother likes to cheerfully remind me that I will adapt perfectly to having an infant someday.]

I haven’t always loved mornings. And some days I still don’t. But I have found some clever little tricks to fool my body into thinking it is thrilled to be up in morning darkness until I get a surge of endorphins to carry me through the rest of the day.

1. Try to get to bed at a decent hour.

2. When that inevitably fails, make sure everything is 100% ready to go for the next morning before you go to bed. I have been known to sleep in my sports bra and padded shorts so I can literally roll out of bed, grab my clip ons and drive to the gym. If I am running a trail or two, I have the shoes by my bed and my garmin laid out so I can hit the road 5 minutes after waking if I want.

3. Invest in a coffee maker with a timer so you can wake up to the smell of fresh coffee. Coffee is one of the best legal ways to dope in sports and I take full advantage.

4. Have someone or something that holds you accountable.What keeps me going when I just want to stay at home and conveniently “forget” that I was supposed to be teaching a 6 am class is something that happened this winter:

It was weather like this:

Except add snow and ice, so not really like this but just as wretched

Roads and schools were closed. I had been in a car accident 2 weeks earlier and totalled my car. I inched to the gym, passing vehicles going 30 km an hour and arrived half way through the time my class should have started. I taught what I could and afterwards, a woman in the back came up to me and said, “I was awake listening to the storm last night and was wondering if I should come this morning or not. But then I remembered it was you teaching and I KNEW you would be there.”

So now I am plagued with the paranoia that they think a lot higher of me than they should considering I think about bailing on them almost every Friday.

But having a friend meet you (if you can find one as crazy as you are) or having a group waiting to be instructed is a safety net to make sure it HAPPENS.

5. Bribe yourself. Before you write me off, it is a sad reality that I can be convinced to get out of bed before a rooster just because there is Starbucks waiting for me at the end of my workout. Some call that a problem, I call it success.

But seriously. The real question is WHY should you exercise that early in the morning? Well, if you aren’t a morning person and have tons of time – don’t.

I am speaking to the many people who are here who I know are busy and if you are following a training plan for a marathon or have some goals you want to tackle head on, sometimes a morning workout is the best time of day as there is rarely a soul to bother you and it is amazingly quiet. (I sound quite introverted for an extrovert). But it is the one time of the day I claim as MINE. I don’t need to worry about answering my phone or email because everyone else is asleep.

Another benefit is you are up, moving, full of endorphins and then your workout is over for the day. Life can happen. You are more likely to be consistent with it if you have a routine going where no one can bother you.

A final word: Big breakfasts. Because you can.

If none of this has made any difference, watch this and feel epic about morning workouts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SuPLxQD4akQ

Have a fabulous weekend. May it be full of endorphins.

Michael Fisk Memorial Arrhythmia Run

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Jessica

When I was very young, my mom’s brother passed away from an unknown heart condition in his early thirties on a Valentine’s Day evening.

Every February 14, my mom will buy a bouquet of flowers for James, call her mother and our family will spend a few moments talking about this man that I will never remember. Growing up, hearing a death at thirty something seemed to me like he had lived a nice full life, but now that my age is steadily creeping upward (let me have this moment of lament – I have a birthday next week), dying in your early thirties has registered as the tragedy that it was. I see the affect that it has had on his family and how Valentines Day will always be bittersweet.

So heart conditions are heredity in my family. I run to keep mine healthy and strong, but genetics are genetics. So when I found out that my friends were orchestrating the Michael Fisk Memorial Arrhythmia Run, I was completely on board.

A bit of background:

Michael Fisk was raised in Roseville, Ontario. He graduated from Southwood Secondary School, was a trained Physiotherapist and a qualified Biology Teacher. He was a ski instructor for over 20 years at Chicopee Ski Resort and was also a Field Manager at Flag Raiders Paintball. Mike was happily married to his high school sweetheart with 2 young, adorable sons. Mike has touched many lives in the Waterloo Region and he is sadly missed by everyone who knew him.

A fatal, sudden arrhythmia took Mike. He had no pre-diagnosed heart conditions, and no indication that anything was of concern. He was healthy, active and living his life to the fullest. He was 35. It was a total shock to everyone.

Sound familiar?

Proceeds of the run go toThe Canadian SADS Foundation, a registered Canadian charity, that is dedicated to supporting families affected by inherited cardiac rhythm disorders. SADS refers to a variety of cardiac disorders which are often genetic and can be responsible for sudden death in young, seemingly healthy people.

Join me on the trails on August 25 for a 5 KM run to raise awareness for healthy hearts and to remember Michael. It will be a beautiful run at the Chicopee Ski Resort with a BBQ and a day pass to the resort with access to beach volleyball, disc golf,hiking and biking trails and tennis.

A way through

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jessica

It was early last Saturday morning and I breezed downstairs to head out for the day. I walked through the kitchen on the way to pour myself a cup of coffee and saw my youngest sister sitting alone at the table, picking at cold egg whites and a couple of blueberries and calling it a meal.

I lost it.

I looked at her and said as emphatically as I could ” You are stronger than this!” and stormed off to work.

We talked back and forth later and I tried my best to let her know that it wasn’t her that I am angry at. It is her eating disorder. Her stupid, selfish, life taking eating disorder.

The one that makes my words catch in my throat when I see her in a tank top or towel, headed to the shower when I realize how incredibly small it has made her. So small I want to cry but instead I look at another member of my family and manage some sad laughter.

The one that allows her to think she can regularly eat portions that do not even support basic body processes and be ok.

The one that has robbed her of so many years.

The one that has made me realize that as long as it is here, I will most likely outlive my baby sister.

THAT is why I am angry. I think another reason I reacted is the sheer helplessness of dealing with anorexia. Everyone always has an answer: Have you tried this? Some relative tried this and it WORKED. The problem is that after a decade, we have tried everything and done everything we can. I think a decade ago we thought that by this point it would all be over. And I think at this point we have realized it never really ends. And sometimes, there is a deep guilt in being happy. Because I don’t know what it feels like to wake up everyday and not feel anything other than the horror of needing to face your greatest fear at least three times that day. I think it is the same guilt that many people feel when a loved one is hurt and they aren’t: Why not me instead?

So in answer to my insensitive comment about Jolene being stronger – she is. She is one of the strongest people I know. But an eating disorder is just so equally strong and she fights it every day. Everyone gets tired every now and then. Even the people who are in the sidelines with her.

And as we come to terms with the fact that Ed is here to stay and that we need to find a way THROUGH instead of a way OUT, I feel so very blessed to call Jolene my sister.

No matter where life takes us – to me you are perfect.

Have a wonderful long weekend.

Making fish taste like candy

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Jessica

When it comes to all natural supplements, I have been a marketers dream.

Tell me it will decrease inflammation, increase antioxidants, lubricate my joints or clear my skin and it is down the hatch. I have suffered through kelp mixed with water, oregano oil under my tongue until it burned, and drinking a series of disgusting concoctions for the sake of my health. I start every new supplement with the greatest of intentions, but considering they often don’t taste anything close to candy, not even stale candy, I abandon them before a month is through.

There is at least one supplement that has stood the test of time for me. I have literally been taking fish oil willingly for years. I listen to my naturopath and rotate oils through my simple omega 3-6-9′s with vegan oils, to salmon oil to cod liver oil. There is only one problem: I believe in the go big or go home mentality when it comes to supplements. If I am going to take fish oil, it is going to be in oil form. So it is not surprising that I occasionally take a hiatus because a number of mornings slip by when I don’t WANT to shovel a tablespoon of oil down my throat. Which then turns into a couple weeks.

You get the picture.

So last week, I was at my favourite local health food store with some coworkers because the store was celebrating their 4th birthday and were giving away free gluten-free cake. Obviously the words “free” and “cake” were what prompted me to interrupt everyone’s work day and haul them across the city. There were a host of vendors sampling products and I was taking a shot of sunflower seed milk here and kombucha there when I came across a woman in the far corner. She handed me an electrolyte shot and I took it with indifference – you taste one, you have tasted them all.

Suddenly, she pulled out fish oil that she promised would taste like candy. She had my attention and high scepticism. I took a shot.
Holy cow batman, it ACTUALLY TASTES LIKE CANDY! I picked up a bottle and discussed the awesomeness in a bottle that would soon be mine. And before I left, I sheepishly asked her for another shot of the stuff.

Before you think I am clinically insane, let’s recap.

WHY TAKE FISH OIL? To my understanding, the average north american diet gives you high doses of omega 6 and very low omega 3. To prevent heart disease and reduce inflammation, you want your omega 3 and 6 to be balanced. Taking fish oil helps with this because there is a high dosage of omega 3s.

What Fish Oil did I buy?

Barleans Organic Oil in Mango Peach flavour. It is a cod liver and salmon oil sweet smoothie dream.

… Why? (x 2)

Packed with essential Omega-3s, Omega Swirl was created to nutritionally support:
• Heart Health
• Cholesterol Levels Already Within a Healthy Range
• Joint Mobility and Bone Density
• Energy and Endurance
• Skin, Hair and Nail Health
• Mental Health, Wellness and Acuity
• Blood Glucose Levels Already Within a Healthy Range
• Sexual and Hormonal Health

And now, taking my fish oil will be a morning high light. For those days when this rings true:

Do any of you take fish oil? If so, what kind?

100 Miles of Wild Recap

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Jessica

A big thank you to all of you were so patient as I pressed a giant reset button and took a few weeks off of blogging to go on the Trek and get organized when I returned. This past Friday night, I spent that majority of the evening unpacking, organizing and going over the financial details of the trip. Can I just say that driving all the way to North Dakota and back cost me a mere $330 in my Prius? LOVE my car!

I have gotten a lot of people asking me about my trip. How it came about? How the experience was? How I am feeling? I have a lot of caring people in my life and I figured this is the best way to bring everyone up to speed.

How it came to happen:
A couple Wednesdays ago, I was sitting in my regular spot in Starbucks, sipping a latte and trying to hammer out my column for A\J: The Green Athlete. The latest one can be seen here.

I was short on time and I was scrambling to find an organization that connected athletes and environmentalism. I forget exactly how it happened, but I landed on Adventure Science out of the blue and read their information on 100 Miles of Wild Trek in North Dakota this spring. I began furiously typing up my piece, getting more and more excited about the organization.

I thought it was an American company, but I felt a compulsion to email the founder, Simon Donato, and said I wanted to get involved somehow. I was thinking helping with the website, content, copy or promotion, but within 10 minutes, he had emailed me back and said that one of his athletes was hit by a car and potentially could not participate in the trek and would I be interested?

The days before leaving were a blur of requesting time off from bosses, cancelling appointments and a surgery, borrowing gear from friends, getting travel insurance, buying gear from Adventure Guide and figuring out how to tell my mother who had left the country for a short trip and had no idea that I would up and leave for a 100 mile trek while she was gone. (She has known me for over 23 years, I cannot understand why she would be surprised anymore).

My favourite conversation was with my A\J boss before I left. I called him to ask permission to go:

“So, it is going to the badlands of North Dakota and running 100 miles and it would be my vacation time and I will get everything done that I need to when I get back and (Insert other run-on, desperate pleading sentences here)”

He was silent for a moment. “Jessica. I knew you were an unusual human being when I hired you, but I can never get used to the requests you keep throwing my way. But GO!”

So I went. I had a brief conversation with my father as I headed to the border so he could tell my mom and break it gently. He gleefully crowed “THIS is the reason I held you over the banister by your ankles and swung you around when you were young – so you wouldn’t be afraid of anything!” (Do not jump to thoughts of child abuse. We loved it and always asked for more.)

Anyways. So the drive was a LOT longer than I thought. I taught a spin class before heading out and was on the road by 8 am on the last Friday of April. I had loaded up my iPod with new music and an audioversion of Wild by Cheryl Strayed, but the roads blurred into each other and I was almost hallucinating when I reach Minnesota for the evening to stay with one of the trek leader’s houses.

I saw distances like this on my GPS.

Drive 760 km, then turn left

Soon, I was in the barren world of cactuses, oil trucks and country music. I heard advertisements for liquor stores that were leveraging cattle branding parties as a reason to come in and buy booze.

I arrived on the Saturday to the tiny town of Grassy Butte where I abandoned my car, picked up my huge back pack and headed to the base camp with the leader of the trek, Richard.

From there, I met the team and was briefed on what we were to expect for the week.

We were to head out into the badlands and would cover territory that people have never walked on and probably will never walk on again. We were to stop every 2-3 hours for “science” as they called it. We entered an analysis of the surrounding vegetation and wildlife into a book and took film and video footage to back it up.

Why? Because they are planning on putting in 30 – 50,000 new oil wells in the badlands over the next 5 years. Our team’s goal was to go into the badlands as a completely neutral group of scientists and ultra runners, go to the wildest and most remote bits of the badlands and report back. The research will be taken to the University of North Dakota and the information will be presented to the citizens to help them make informed decisions when it comes down to the decisions surrounding the oil pads. Also, many years ago, it was the Badlands that inspired Theodore Roosevelt to develop the National Parks System and it was our job to see if the Badlands were as life changing now as they were back then.

I can tell you they are. I spent 7 days immersed in them, outside every day. Some days it was so cold that we woke up with frost on our tent and other days I came back with a sunburnt nose. We saw every form of wild life and woke up to sights like this:

Photo cred: Andrew Reinhard

I had experienced a lot of sad and discouraging things in 2013 – a break up, financial set backs, surgery, fear for Jolene. And even though the Badlands didn’t take any of that away, it was a reset button. I met some of the most incredible people who either love science or ultra running and in many cases both. I was able to learn so much from the people around me. I learned how to orienteer from a US Army Ranger and discovered native flints in the creek bed with a geologist. The badlands broke me open and then filled me again.

Getting away from the sappiness, an average day out there would begin with this.

We would put on our running clothes for the day (or in my case, almost every piece of clothing I brought to stay warm) and head to the eating area for Stoked Oats. (Buy them).

By around 7 am, we were ready to hit the Badlands with our maps, detectors and garmins. I was either on team Speed Deer or Mountain Kitty and we covered 20-30 miles with 3000-4500 ft of altitude each day. We would hike, climb and run through rolling buttes, grass lands, cattle feeding pastures and creek beds reporting on the wild life, landscape and oil pads, arriving at the last point at around 5-6:30 pm each night.

Modelling some petrified wood

Taken on the last day. They told us to take fun pictures but after running through miles and miles of cattle grazing, this was as creative as we could get.

We were picked up and taken to base camp, which moved about 3 times throughout the course of the Trek. From there, we would “shower” (baby wipes), change into every article of clothing we had and gather around the fire to eat dinner and discuss our day, which was recorded or filmed to provide additional data.

By 10 – 11 pm each night, we would fall exhausted into our tents and the day would start all over again.

Our Team was the following:

[Photos from the 100 Miles of Wild Blog]

Simon Donato: Geologist, Elite Adventure Racer, Founder of Stoked Oats, Host of the tv show Boundless. (Watch the trailer here) Ultrarunner.

Richard Rothus: Archaeologist, Historian, and Owner of Trefoil Cultural and Environmental and was in charge of Basecamp and Logistics.

Andrew Reinhard: Director of Publications for the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), Archaeologist. He headed up the control group which walked the trails of the Badlands.

Tim Puetz: Biomedical Research, National Institutes of Health, Army Ranger. Ultrarunner.

Keith Szlater: Technical Service and Basecamp and Logistics coordinator.

Tyler Leblanc: Our paramedic and member of the control team.

Jane Davis: Community Health Educator and Ultrarunner.

and, um. Me.

Needless to say, it was a wonderful experience to get to know all of these amazing and accomplished people over the course of a week. Another cool thing about the trek is that we carried the Explorer Club Flag.

The Explorers Club is an international multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, of which Theodore Roosevelt was an honorary member. The flag represents the impressive history of courage and accomplishment, and has been carried by members to the Moon, the depths of the ocean, and around the globe. I am excited to be able to join the club having been on an approved expedition with the flag.

I will be going on more adventures with this team as I am now an ultrarunner for Adventure Science. I was given a huge boost of confidence by some of the ultra runners who told me they didn’t slow down for me. It instilled a desire in me to train harder, race more frequently and in more international races and the belief that I am good enough to do it.

It was sad to say goodbye to everyone on the team, but last Saturday, I dropped Jane off at the airport and began the long trek home. I stayed in Chicago for the night, ate deep dish pizza for the first time in my life (overrated) and slept for a solid 12 hours.

I arrived home on Sunday night and hit the ground running Monday morning.

Needless to say, with 48 hours of driving, I had a lot of time to think, some of which relates to the blog. Keep your eyes peeled for some new changes. Laces and Lattes will be around for a long time, but it will continue to change because I keep changing. Thank you all for being along for the run!

For more reading on the trek, check out:

Adventure Science Facebook Page

Article in the Dickonson Press

Article in the Bismarck Tribune

100 Miles of Wild Press Conference

100 Miles of Wild

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Jessica

This is dedication.

I found out less than 24 hours ago that I will be doing a 100 mile trek next week. By the time this post will be published, I will be headed to North Dakota in my trusty Prius C.

What am I doing? Going here.

Doing this:

100 Miles of Wild

It was sprung on me and I had to make a split second decision. I chose to leave safety behind, cancel my surgery for the weekend and grab everything I could and head on perhaps the greatest adventure yet.

See you next week! I will be updating social media if I can.

Facebook

Twitter

Au revoir!

What better way than bacon? (Alternatively titled: Getting out of debt.)

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Jessica

Happy Wednesday!!
I am writing this post a bit behind schedule today. But that is ok. I am taking a cue from spring.

This is not supposed to be happening.

So this morning I rose before dawn (I like making early mornings sound epic), and fired up the frying pan. It was my dad’s 50th birthday and I wanted to celebrate his life and that fact that he and my mother are leaving the country today for a trip. What better way than bacon? Answer: none.

After slaving away and seeing them off, I headed to my local gym to teach my 6 am Pilates class and drop an important cheque in the bank.

Ladies and gentleman, THIS is what I am loving today: I am officially student debt free.

I know it is not necessarily socially acceptable to talk money, but I feel like most students are in my situation.

You know, graduating with a a degree, a head full of knowledge and a bank account full of OSAP.

That was me in August.

I had run up a hefty student line of credit from living in England and owed OSAP a large amount. It does bear to be emphasized that I will never in a million years regret moving to England, it just set me back a wee bit.

Here is what I did to get out of debt as quickly as humanly possible.

1. Took a look at the amount of money I owed. - I had spent a lot of time ignoring the amount and hoping it would go away. Last fall, I sat down and tallied up the final amount. I spent a few days in stunned silence, but it was important to know where I was starting out from.

2. Track your spending habits: I called it budgeting, but it was more or less just tracking what I bought. I saved all my receipts and bought an awesome book to track it all in. (The irony of this does not escape me). What I did was not budgeting because I hate when someone tells me how to spend my money, even if that person is me. I tried to redefine what was necessary and buy accordingly. (Starbucks made the list of necessities..)

3. Created a few challenges for myself: I created a goal of when I thought was reasonable to be out of debt and worked hard towards it. Last September – January, I went on a clothing fast where I didn’t buy a single article of clothing for 4 months. I survived and I remained fully clothed. I now justify clothing expenses as blog expenses – Fashion Friday…right?..

4. Met with a financial advisor: I sat down with a professional who gave me the ins and outs of money management and helped me set up all the accounts that someone at my stage of life should have. The poor lady received many emails over the past number of months but I have been so grateful for the advice.

5. Worked approximately 60 hours a week. This is the crazy one. I treated debt like a marathon – it is a long haul – it sucks – you just need to keep moving. Someone recently asked me if this is sustainable longterm. NO! As of June, I am cutting my hours almost in half to have a summer, plan my sisters wedding, train for a marathon and have a social life again. I frequently worked 12 hour days, but my argument is that it was winter and I wouldn’t have done much anyways.

So there you have it. Is my way for everyone? Absolutely not. This is just what I did and as I said – I wanted to pay it off as fast as humanly possible. That being said – it is a huge relief to have the hard work behind me and to look forward to a summer with a bit more play.

How to Liven up an Exercise Class..

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Jessica

Happy Monday, one and all.

I am tiiiired. This weekend, I was in Burlington and Vaughan for continuing education in fitness instruction.

15 hours of working out later, I am certifed to teach Aqua, Bootcamp, Body Sculpt, Step, and Kickboxing.

Speaking of step, I was just thinking of modelling my classes after this:

Literally one of the funniest things.

While we are the topic on amazing things to do in exercise classes, I was thinking of crashing a spin class and doing something like this:

If you could crash an exercise class, which one would it be and what would you do?

Black is the new black

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Jessica

Good morning and WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND!!!

Today I want to talk about something I have found to be 100% true in fashion and can be relayed to all aspects of life…

Example: Writing my blog posts. I could be in a corner of my house on a couch writing down whatever comes to my head first. But no.

Every Tuesday, Thursday and some Sunday afternoons, you will find me around 3:05 pm looking something like this..

This blog is quite literally fuelled by dubstep and lattes. In case my entire tagline was lost on you. I am a literal person, almost to a fault.

So when I started buying my own clothes, I tried to go with the cheap, mall type bits and got exhausted with shopping almost constantly. This will not come as a shock to you, but I am not a trendy person. I do not enjoy sorting through the latest head wear, sheer baby tees, or jelly shoes and figure out how it will work with my personal style, because the reality is…it won’t.

I love classic, boring old non-colours. For me, black is the new black and it will probably always be that way. So instead of relying on the people who do it poorly, I have sought out some people that are doing it very very very well.

Here are some of my absolute staples that are professionally made and certifiably awesome. To make this list, each item must have stood the test of being worn within an inch of their lives and show minimal wear. In the “buy it once, have it forever” category.

My light grey, viscose REISS blazer.

My Fossil watch.

My black Christian Louboutins.

My Longchamp errand bag.

My Lululemon winter jacket.

#notme

My JBrand jeans.

There is a story behind these that must be told. [soon]

I understand that quality stuff is expensive. I bought most of these items on a student budget, but they stood the test of time and I will continue buying them in the next decade or so when they start to wear out.

Where on earth did this all come from? Well, I was reading this month’s Elle magazine and I came across a fantastic article by Amanda Fortini on beautiful clothing:

“What appeals to me about these clothes is their timelessness, their structure, their impeccable quality. Last winter I got so disproportionately bummed out when a pair of maize-color mittens unraveled after one wearing that I vowed I would never again buy anything else made with chintzy materials or blah design. On a practical level, it’s a waste of money and time. But I also think that after you reach a certain age, ephemeral clothing subtly reminds you of all the other impermanence in your life—the relationships that have ended, the places you’ve lived and had to leave. And such throwaway pieces are nearly always mass-produced. I want clothing that’s unique, even rare, clothing that looks like me, the outward expression of my distinctive tastes and triumphs and mistakes, acquired over years. “Life shapes the face you have at 30,” Coco Chanel once said. Shouldn’t life also shape your wardrobe?”

While we are on the topic of awesome things in the awesome pile of brand loyalty that will never be extinguished…

That is all.

Have a fabulous weekend. I am teaching a few classes, working a trade show and heading to Burlington and Vaughan to get some Fitness Instructor credits so I can teach some more awesome stuff like kick boxing and aqua fit and some boring but necessary stuff like step and body sculpt.

What is in your closet that will always be there?
Do you agree with Fortini?

The thing with feathers

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Jessica

This past week, I was standing in a line up at a local restaurant. I had slipped downtown with a coworker to grab some lunch and I was lamenting my spring thus far.

Unexpected payments. Unexpected career turns. A loss of a loved one. And a slew of other things, coupled with the reality that we received an epic ice storm that rendered us without power and with a rainy, grey sky. Life has felt a little bit off it’s axis in 2013. I mean, I started it with this…

And it has felt like I have been veering off the road into ditches every since. [Not to be dramatic or anything...]

He just looked at me and said after a while, “I think everyone has had a difficult April.”

Yes.

It is easy to wallow in the fact that you are early twenty something and still figuring out how to gracefully manoeuvre the “ditches” of the adult world and forget about everything and everyone else. Here’s the thing, two hours after I was busily complaining about my first world problems, the tragedy at the Boston Marathon occurred.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca

People lost their limbs, their sense of safety and even their lives. I have been saddened by the racist responses I have heard as well as well as heartened by the care that people from all over the world have shown. This is one of those many moments in life where the best thing is to not speculate, not provide commentary, but to just grieve with those who are grieving and to send every good thought and prayer possible over to those who are suffering.

And to realize that no matter the rough things that life throws our way, that things will turn around and that there are echoes of hope written through sadness.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca

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