Who knew that Disney Characters were so smart?

I've always liked this quote, and anytime I read it I can always see Belle dancing around on that hill of hers and mindlessly throwing the chicken food around. First of, Belle your wasting the food geez! Second this quote describes my situation perfectly! 

For the people that know me yes I am very much a home body, I'd rather be at home doing something than go out this is true. Now that you know this some of you may be wondering why on Earth then am I flying 8hrs from home and staying there for a year? Crazy pants right? Right, I have been called crazy for taking this job and have been told that I'll end up calling home the first day crying that I miss my family. Of course I'll miss my family but I'm almost twenty-two (103 days and counting) it's time for me to put on my big girl pants and say "Hey lets go explore while we still can."

And that's exactly what I will be doing. Yes I am scared of this adventure but I am also excited to go to a new country (yeah I know England isn't that much different than Canada in some ways but still new place) and to just be young and not worry about all the little things I have been since I graduated high school.

I do want so much more than they've got planned....and I'm going after it :)

Graduation Day!

Now I know this may not really relate to my big adventure but it does have some value.
Yesterday, June 8th, was my graduation. I graduated from the "Autism & Behavioural Sciences" Program from Lambton College and couldn't be happier. This program was an amazing experience and I have learned a lot from my teachers about this topic and also have learned a lot about my self, as cheesy as that sounds. I would just like to take a moment to thank some people :)

My Parents and Grandparents: For believing in me and helping me recognize my potential of the things that I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.
My Friends/Classmates: For supporting me and helping me through both terms with the good and the bad.
My Teachers: For teaching me in a way that I could relate and understand the material.
And above all everyone for supporting me throughout my post-secondary education, I could not have done it without you guys. So once again thank you from the bottom of my heart :)

Me looking "all pretty and s@#%" as my good friend Devin told me :)

So an update on my big adventure: I go to Toronto next Thursday, the 13th, to meet with the British High Commissions to get my finger prints taken and to had in all of my documentation and my passport to complete my VISA. I will have payed off my ticket by tomorrow as well.

Have a great day everyone!

Skyping, Ticket Time and VISA, Oh My!

Hello Everyone :)

As you can see I am down to 77 days now for how many days I have left and I thought I would update you on what has been going on. I have put a deposit my plane ticket :)  I will be landing in Gatwick Airport on Saturday August 17th at 8:50am (3:50am our time).

The other day I skyped with my family and got to meet all the girls this time plus the au pair that is staying with them now, Laura. I talked about her in one of my previous posts but I just want to mention, if I hadn't before, how helpful and kind she is. We added one another on Facebook and whenever I have a question that range from how it is in Uxbridge to how is she liking it there and she doesn't mind at all answering these, which I am grateful. So once again thank you Laura.

While we were skyping the girls mentioned that in about 2 weeks they are getting some new animals.......any guesses?   Clue #1: they are adorable Clue #2: they are fuzzy and sweet, did I say adorable?

Give up? Well they are getting 2 kittens :) So when I arrive the kittens will be a couple of months old and I am so excited about the kittens. Two of the things I need to leave behind when I go are my cats, Hank and Yogurt, and I know I may sound like a crazy cat lady but it'll be sad. Hank always sleeps at the end of my bed if he isn't being crazy around the house so it'll be weird not having him around.

ALSO to add onto this long post, sorry guys lots going on that I want to share, the girls asked if I was scared about anything to do with my trip and I told them the truth. I am scared about traveling by myself because I have never done it, I've always been with my family if I was at the airport or in a plane. And I must be really worried about it now because I had a nightmare last night about me not making my plane so I had to find another one and it was just really weird and stressful :P

Any who, I won't bore you anymore. Other than the skyping I have started the application for my VISA and other than figuring out my health insurance I will be all done paying for my trip :)

Thoughts...

Today as I was putting my iPod cover back on I noticed the inscription on my iPod that I had gotten many years ago when I first got my iPod. It reads, "Oh baby oh, oh the places you'll go", and this got me to thinking.

When I got that iPod I was just starting my first year of the Early Childhood Education program at Lambton. All I was thinking about was is my roommate going to be nice (which she is by the way, hey Krystal :)), are my classes going to be hard, how much homework will I have to do per week, will I have time to meet new people, will those people like me and so on! A lot of worrying anyways. 

If you had told me that in just three years time I would be flying over to England to be Mary Poppins to three funny and charming little girls I would say, "You gotta be kidding me! Me leave home? No way!" 

See a lot can happen in three years time. Over the course of those three years I have learned to be more independent, more confident (in some cases), less worried about what the future let alone the next day holds for me and who I am as a person. It took me three years to figure out that I could accomplish anything I wanted to when I put my mind to it and as soon as the idea of being an Au Pair came into my head last year I was going for it!

People keep telling me that this is going to be such an amazing experience for me and now, with thinking, I believe that it will too :)

Big Day Today :)

So how is everyone? Everything going okay? What's new with everyone?

Oh you want to know why today is a big day....well....it is now in the double digits of when I go away! That's right, only 99 days to go until I leave :)

I am getting so excited about going away, actually another piece of interesting news to follow this. I have met, through Facebook anyways, the au pair that is currently with the family until I arrive. She is from Canada like me and we're around the same age. We met one another through the SmartAuPairs group (all the au pairs that will be in the UK or are already there belong to this group so that we can meet up with one another) we both belong to on Facebook. And just seeing her pictures is making me even more excited to go over and go on little adventures :)

Only 99 days left guys! It's so close!!

Poem Time!

A different kind of post today, hope you enjoy it!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." - Robert Frost

Sound familiar? If so good, if not take a minute and search "The Road Not Taken" by Rober Frost and read it. It's okay I'll wait......

Read it? Good. Now you understand why I love this poem so much. Still confused? I'll explain. 

The general idea of this poem is to do things that you want to do and not let anyone's opinion stop you, that's what I get out of it when I read it anyways and I stand by it. This opportunity that I'm taking is my own choice, my own dream and I know that if I do not do this I will be taking the road most traveled on. 
This whole experience is new to me and it will be life changing. It will make all the difference and I'm excited for this new challenge and adventure, more so to see what life brings me on the road ahead.

Why this job?

There has been a lot of people asking why I wanted to become an au pair in the first place, what got my mind thinking that I would want to do this job. Truth is it is all because of this lady here....Mary Poppins.

Yes this may seem funny to some or weird to others that a movie character could help me choose my future career but if you know me any amount you know that I love my movies.

So no matter what you actually think of this new information, silly, weird or whatever adjective you can think of it is the truth and now here's why.

I remember first watching Mary Poppins when I was younger and fell in love with the dancing and the singing. I remember in Grade 4 when my Poppa taught the other 6 fourth graders in my class and I how to say "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" backwards...I now forget how to say it but for a good week I could. The whole aspect of Mary Poppins job, looking after the Banks kids, going on adventures and laughing all the time, I wanted all of these things in a future career. Mary Poppins has been a part of the majority of my life and it's really exciting to know see that I'll be the Canadian version of her :)

The joke around my family now is that I'll need to buy a magic bag to carry around with me and a parrot umbrella and I'm all set to go to England.