Shots! Shots! Shots! - not that kind of shot :P

All I can say is OUCH!! So, that's it folks - I am officially ready to travel to Thailand! I got two shots in my arms and two oral types of shots for my trip for a whopping $285!  I guess it is better to have them then to not, the last thing I need is to come home with some random foreign disease!  I bought myself a mosquito net and some "Ben's bug Spray" to make sure that I am as safe as possible with all of these malaria carrying mosquitos hanging around me. 


The closer I get to leaving the more anxious I get about travelling. I am excited about the opportunity to sit by myself and watch a sunset while enjoying an ice cold beer.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that one of my best friends from elementary school, Alyssa, might be able to come with me for a couple of weeks.  This will not only make me feel a little less anxious but also make my Dad feel 100 times better - he freaks out when I walk a block in a half by myself in North Vancouver!!!  I wouldnt have anyone or anything else though! I think it will be good for me to have to finally look out and protect myself.  There will not be anyone there to make sure that everthing goes smoothly I have to do this myself!  When I graduated from High School this poem/story was read and I feel like it is kind of relevant in my life more now than ever!  This is just a tid bit but it is true - and makes me cry, surprise surprise!!!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the girl who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!



Love you all,

C. xo

If life gives you lemons - Make lemonade!



The last couple of days have been nothing but difficult! All I seem to do is cry and cry which my counselor assures me is a good thing.  She says that you cannot control how you are feeling and that feeling is NEVER WRONG!  I guess it is really difficult for me to imagine myself taking a trip which I know is going to be a trip of a lifetime without the person that I thought I would be taking it with.  However, I know that this is God's plan for me - I guess I will just have wait and see what comes of this... but waiting is the hard part.  However, if I dont look at it as waiting but as living then I am just continuing on living my life.

A sign that this trip is meant to be is when I went down to the Thai Consulate this afternoon to drop off my Visa application for multiple tourist entries into Thailand (usually $70) I got for free!   They say your life is like a wheel (Well I actually think shakespeare used this metaphor in his plays all the time - Thank you TRU) and my wheel was definitely at the bottom a couple of months ago and now I can feel it turning back round.  I guess when you are at the bottom you learn to be grateful for all of the people and things in your life you took for granted.  More than anything I have learned that there are so many amazing and wonderful people in my life!  My family and friends who have constantly been there for me in this difficult time and ALWAYS. But, this time instead of feeling sad that I will be away - all of you can be excited for me that I will be in a place of peace and traquility.  A place where personal growth will happen.

2011 "The year of Chantelle"

~2011 The Year Of Chantelle ~

I guess there is no better way to start off the year of Chantelle then an amazing personal journey to Thailand.  My friend from university, Tup, invited me to join him in Thailand for an amazing adventure that will hopefully be life changing, but how could it not be that?  At Christmas, Santa Claus gave our family an important message: "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"  So, that is exactly what I am going to do - take this opportunity to grow and learn to love all there is about me.  This is not exactly the type of journey I was anticipating taking at this point in my life, but I am so grateful that I have an opportunity now to go on this journey and to experience such a great new adventure. Who knows what will come from this, but I am hoping that I will be able to gain some perspective on my life and see what I really want! 


Earlier this month I was talking with Tup about how when I am there I will have to make some dinners or something when I am there, and he just kept saying " just wait until you get there Chantelle" so I asked him why (I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous) and he said that his family has cooks.  He told me that I would not have to worry about anything so, I am not!  My new adventure will be filled with travelling around Thailand!  Fishing trips with Tup and Adam, the beaches with Tup's friend and a trip to Cambodia with Tup and Adam.  Who knows where else I will go, but I guess you will just have to stay tunned to hear all of my stories! 


Love you all,
C.