Excuse me? Wie bitte?

I have spent much of my life being the 'I would like to' girl. I rock at the 'I would like to', but I am a horrible disaster when it comes to the follow-through. I want to change that; I'm going to take that 'I would like to' girl and change her into the 'I will' girl. I will (see it's happening already) stop thinking how nice something would be to accomplish but instead set the goal, make a plan and achieve it. Ultimately, that's what I really want from this whole journey that I'm on. "I would like to hike the Chilkoot Trail" became "I will hike the Chilkoot Trail". I set a goal (with a few mini-goals ahead of it), I've made a plan, and I'm doing it. If we were German, I'd be changing from möchten to müssen.

Wow, look at me getting all bilingual with the German! Isn't that random? No, it's not. I used to speak German fairly fluently. I used to write entire papers in German. German people who I'd meet in Victoria (I worked in the tourist industry) used to think I was Swiss because of my accent and vocabulary. Used to. I went to write to a friend a few weeks back and after 20 minutes of struggling to complete the first paragraph, I gave up and wrote to them in English. Well, German, I'm here to tell you that "I would like to speak German again" has become "I will speak German again". I've set my goal, I've made a plan and (as of this past weekend) I'm doing it. For those of you near me, get ready for me to say things in English and then repeat them in German. This is my pre-emptive apology: I'm sorry. Es tut mir Leid.

I continue to set various goals related to health/fitness on top of these 'other' goals. My eatting could still be cleaner, but for the moment I'm choosing to concentrate on drinking more water and going to bed earlier. Water's a big one for me because I'd be lying if I said I drink more than three glasses a day. I know... BAD! My goal for the next two weeks is to drain my 750ml Camelbak at least twice each day. As for the sleep, I've gotten into the really bad habit of staying up until midnight when I have to wake up for 6:30. It hasn't totally done me in yet as I have days off for school and usually find myself still averaging out to eight hours a night per week, but sleeping until 10:00 on my days off is really annoying for someone who used to never sleep in past 8. Hopefully, I can do these two tiny things for two weeks (roughly the end of the month) and I can cross them off my goal list.

And finally, I want to wish everyone a Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Or, as my dad taught me to say it years ago, Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig! I've been listening to the Fureys (my dad's favourite band), Christy Moore (my favourite aunt's favourite singer), and Na Casaidigh (a completely Irish group from Co. Donegal) to get into the right frame of mind for the celebrations. I with you all a safe and happy day of pretending you're one of 'my people' ;-)

All of my Ireland pictures are on my family computer, so I am reduced to finding ones online. I tried to find something personal to me, so here you go. It was in this church that I used to light candles for my granddad who passed away when my dad was eight. That row of houses includes my Grannie's old house. I remember playing in the front yard and my Uncle Kevin running out of the house to shoo us all inside because a funeral procession was coming and it is disrespectful to watch it go out. It was an exciting day when we were finally deemed 'old enough' to be given money and walk into town on our own to buy our 99's. I could go on and on about it, but I will just say that the regular trips to Ireland as a child are so much a part of who I am today that I often just tell people I'm from there because it's easier than explaining the real story.

Is there anything Calvin doesn't know?

I feel like I've hit a wall with writing. Not just writing for this blog, but with all my writing. I have a million ideas in my head but everytime I sit at my laptop all that comes out is drivel and I end up erasing it. I have repeated this over and over again; Friday, Saturday, Monday and now tonight have all seen themselves fall victim to my delete button and bed time (Sunday fell victim to the hocky game, completely different issues altogether). In the case of this blog, I think I might be suffering from too many topics to talk about and a complete lack of where to start: I'm having hip problems and it feels like a tendon, I won an exercise journal, I'm loving the world of weightloss that I have found on Twitter and (by extenstion) the numerous blogs I now follow, my running partner is back, at the rate I'm going I'll be making an entire women's hockey team out of my coworkers, I've signed up to run (not walk as the last six years) the TC10K, I'm debating about actually joining a WeightWatchers to make my food choices more accountable, I'm reading a history of the Chilkoot at the moment and it makes me want to go right now, and the list goes on. Without some sort of path to follow, my thoughts and ideas on these topics all turn into some sort of jumbled mess which reads like, well, like a Japanese menu translated into Russian and then into English.

I also feel that as my life becomes more jumpled with an every-growing to-do list, writing becomes harder. I'm sure this is completely mental but then, isn't writing? So I'm bringing my back my giant lists and hopefully I'll be back on track with my writing soon.

Books: The Have's and the Have Not's

So far I have surpassed my goal of getting up a blog a week... let's hope the fitness goals are achieved so easily! Something (my sore groin muscle, perhaps) tells me they won't be but I'm giving it the good, old college try (except sober).

In my quest to inspire myself, I have taken to walking to a bookstore each day at lunch to peruse books related to my goal (hiking, hiking in BC, travelling in BC--need to know how to get to and from these places). I have bought one, as a 'present' to myself, Hiking Trails I to help with the planning of weekly hiking trips around town. There weren't very many hikes in the book which I didn't know about, but it's nice to have something remind me of some of the ones I've relegated to some dark, dusty corner of my memory. Sometimes I don't think we realise how lucky we are to live here when it comes to outdoor activities. I know there are places that have better year-round weather for outdoor activities (but who wants to live year-round in Phoenix?), but there aren't many places with so many great outdoor areas, with the great views which are usable pretty much all year-round... if you have a Gore-tex jacket (and let's be honest, we all do). If you're looking to get out more and see more of the local green spaces, I can tell you that this is an excellent book (as well, I enjoy this selection of books)

On today's walk, I ended up at the institution of Victoria's book history, Munro's. I love Munro's. I could spend hours in there (and would if I wasn't positive I'd end up with a lifetime ban) with its high ceiling and old book shelves. I bee lined to the back left corner (language and travel books, I'm in heaven) and felt a joy of excitement at finding Frommer's Best Hiking Trips in British Columbia. Having exhausted every website I had found about the Chilkoot (being the least published of my three upcoming hikes), surely this would have some tidbit of information I could store in a small corner of my memory to pull out to spur me on when I think I just can't make it over that last little hump on Mount Finlayson. Surely, it must! I eagerly pulled it open and scanned the contents. Nothing. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place, so I switched to the index. Nada. Now, I understand that the Chilkoot crosses international borders so perhaps they didn't feel it was justified as a 'best hiking trip in British Columbia', but shouldn't it have at least had a mention? It's older and has more historical significance than the West Coast Trail . Plus, on the BC side there's a couple of day trips, couldn't those have had a mention? I was never a Frommer's fan mostly because they're aimed a travel comfort level above mine so they weren't useful for me on my trips, but I didn't dislike them. I kind of do now.

Family support

I had a blog written and all ready to post when my internet connection went down, in the interim I had a family dinner and, bam, I have a whole new blog entry.

I didn't quite make my goal of hitting the gym twice this week, mostly thanks to my short term memory issues which left my sports bra at home on Friday. So close! On the upside, I knew that going into this breakfast was going to be an issue. See, I'm not a morning person which really doesn't gel well with the fact that I voluntarily start work at 7:30am (but I get off at 4:00pm, who wouldn't take that option?). I always have good intentions when it comes to getting a bite to eat before I head out the door but more often than not it ends up that I pick up some snack-type breakfast item when I stop for my coffee. Not the healthiest option for my midriff or my wallet. Knowing that this was going to be the hardest meal for me to keep on track with, I bought myself a bowl from the dollar store and then stocked my desk with some instant oatmeal options for those mornings I decide to hit the snooze button just one... more... time. Yeah planning! I have also successfully integrated making my own coffee/tea back into my morning routine giving me that much more time before I have to leave for work.

My mom and stepdad were away when I officially started this blog, but upon their return I directed their attention to it and the response has been very positive. I knew that my family would support me in anyway they could, they've supported every other crazy idea I've had (even if they didn't necessarily agree with it), but I had the added bonus of my stepdad wanting to join me on the Juan de Fuca next year and the Chilkoot as well. I had a few people in mind of possible partners on these endeavors, some I've talked to about it, some who've yet to learn what I plan to rope them into (none of whom know about this blog yet), but I don't know anyone with as much hiking experience as my stepdad so he would definitely be a welcome addition to any of the expeditions. My mom supported me in her way by taping a picture of me to my stepdad's Chilkoot photo collage. It's the little things like that which make me smile and spur me on to make this a reality.

The family dinner was because all my stepsiblings and their assorted offspring were in town. I enjoy getting to see them as it doesn't happen very often. They never really lived with us when I was young and the holiday times when they'd come over, I'd usually be at my own dad's. Being a good six years younger than the youngest of them, by the time I was cool enough to hang out with (read=they could take me somewhere other than a G rated movie) they were off living their own lives. I was chastised one day at work when I mentioned I had nieces and a nephew but then failed to name all five, so I love having the opportunity to get to know both the stepsiblings and my nieces and nephew. During the course of the evening, my stepbrother (we'll call him JB) and I started to discuss my plan and he added to it. JB's been living in the Lower Mainland for a number of years now and has been wanting to hike Golden Ears Trail (feel free to hum a James Bond theme at this point, I've been doing that all afternoon/evening when I hear/say/read that name), a two day trek to the top of the north 'Ear'. By the end of the evening we had decided we were going to do it together next summer. (We also decided that my older brother would join us, but we've yet to actually tell him that.) The more backwoods hiking experience I can get under my belt, the more confidence I'll have when I look up the (now missing) Golden Staircase to the Chilkoot Pass and think "oh crap, what have I gotten myself into?"

I realise that three years from now, although close in the general scheme of life, is quite aways off. I might not make it to the Chilkoot Trail, and not for lack of want, desire or drive, but because sometimes life leans forward from its backseat and quietly whispers 'no' into your ear and there may be nothing you can do about it when that happens. The Chilkoot is a route marker that I have stuck in my life map, a physical goal I can share with everyone I meet. "I am going to do this." Ultimately, this isn't just about climbing the Pass, it's about moving closer to being the person I want to be for the rest of my life. And at some point--in three years if life lets me keep my plans--that will be a person who has hiked the Chilkoot Trail.

Why the Chilkoot?

So, I looked at my stepdad's photos and that made me want to climb a 3500 foot high Pass... well, not quite. A little history on my decision:

I've always loved history, and after a family trip to the Yukon, it was just natural that I became interested in the Klondike days. I read lots of first person accounts, dressed as a 'Klondike girl' for Hallowe'en, chose the Yukon as the location for the fictional town we had to create in grade seven (and named it after the last name of my favourite actor at the time which I won't admit to except to say 'muh teef'), I had a romantic notion of moving to the Yukon and owning a dog sled team, and I began my life long love with Robert Service's poetry (we had a bonus assignment in grade five to memorize The Cremation of Sam McGee and I was the only person who did it). My love of that region and that time in history just added to this desire to do the Chilkoot Trail.

My decision to get into shape occurred after I returned from living in Africa in 2007. I wanted to return to Tanzania and be fit enough to climb Mount Meru, the mountain I had looked at every day. I wanted to summit and watch the sun rise over Kilimanjaro but there was no way that was going to happen in my current condition. It was all fine and dandy to say 'I want to be in shape for when...' but with plans to return to school and a plane ticket which costs almost the same as a semester at UVic, this probably won't be a feasible goal for at least five years (unless someone reading this wants to contribute to the 'Send Andrea Back to Africa' fund) and I needed a goal with a feasible completion date.

I sat in bed about a week ago, reading The Best of Robert Service (you may notice he pops up a lot in this blog), I remembered the Chilkoot Trail and a decision was made. I played around with a few ideas as to time lines for completing this goal before deciding on this one: I will do the Juan de Fuca Trail in 2010, I will do the West Coast Trail in 2011 and then (imagine some fanfare) the Chilkoot Trail in 2012. And there you have it, my feasible completion date!

Cheers!

Under Construction a.k.a. My First Blog

So, I just wanted to get something up because trying to figure out what looks best with no actual blog to play around with is proving to be a little difficult. My goal is to have a new blog up at least once a week (it seems like a good Sunday afternoon activity), but we'll see how well I stick to that.

I created this blog as a result of my decision to do the Chilkoot Trail in 2012. The Chilkoot Pass (more commonly known as the Golden Stair Case) was the quickest and cheapest route to the Yukon during the Klondike. My stepfather did the Trail when I was about 8 or 9 and created a photo collage of the trip which hung above our stairs. I looked at those pictures every time I went down the stairs and always thought 'some day...'. Twenty years later, I realised that to make that happen I needed to set a date and make a plan. Despite that being the reason for this blog, I reserve the right to rant about anything I want when the mood strikes me.

In addition to the weekly blogging (again, wish me luck on that), once a month I will do an update on the getting fit/weight loss. Understandably, I don't really want to get into specific numbers on a public site (even on a private site, no one needs to know my exact weight) so instead I will pick a final goal range (I don't believe in having an exact number as I'm more concerned with reaching a healthy weight, so I'll figure out a healthy minimum and maximum weight) and will use percentages to show how close I am to my goal. For example, if my goal is to lose 20lbs total, and I've lost 10lbs, I'll let you know that I reached 50% completion. So, as of today, I've reached 0% completion.

I hope you enjoy the blog(s)!