Woes of a Canadian Floridian

It has been a LONG time since I've updated. And it has been an especially rocky couple weeks.

A few of you may have heard rumors about me recently, so here's the deal: I am currently at my parents' in Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada, and will be for the next while. I had a little drama at the border a couple weeks ago and was refused entry to the US. I know that sounds ridiculous to most of you, cuz well, it is. The border patrol decided that I had spent too much time in the US in the past year, and not enough time in Canada so they wouldn't let me across. It was so shocking cuz I've never had any problems before. It was frustrating and humiliating:( But thanks to great family and good ol' Westjet, I made it home to my parents in one piece just a couple days later.

So that leaves me a little lost as far as my next steps. With my limited options in the US, I had already been looking to move back to Canada around February. This was a much more sudden and forced move, which is why I've had such a hard time with it. Now that I've calmed down a bit and at least have a little stability, I think this might have been God's way of kicking me into gear and forcing me to make some decisions now, instead of just playing all my time away in Orlando. I see now that I was just postponing the inevitable. But it's still sad and I really miss florida. I'm freezing!

So anyway, all that being said, my original goals have not changed much, except that now I have some deadlines to work towards and more concrete plans. The tentative game plan I finally came up with is: stay here and work for my dad for a month. Its better money and free rent, plus its always good to do some work for the man who keeps you afloat. Then I will spend most of december in Orlando, playing with my family and saying goodbye to my friends. I should be fine to go back down to visit. After that things get a little sketchy, but I'm gonna try to go work at Disneyland Paris for a few months to brush up on my french, visit with friends from my mission, and maybe even travel some more. Then I'll come home to regroup before making the move to Vancouver or Calgary maybe. I will get a job at a hotel, or the airport, or for the Olympics, where i can use my french and make some decent money. I still have a hard time getting my brain around settling in Canada after spending most of the past 8 years in the US, however I know all things happen for a purpose and that somehow this will all make sense someday. I still feel a little lost cuz the place where I am happiest is just not an option for me. I'm trying to convince myself that this is where I need to be. Don't get me wrong, Canada is an awesome country with so many great things. But even free healthcare, better paying jobs, economic stability, and political sanity can't change the fact that I feel at home south of the border. And besides that, it's so dang cold! I'm trying to stay positive and just take one day at a time. At least now I have some goals to work towards.

I'm sure much of that will change along the way, it always does. But i'll still be making the most of the moment and working towards my next adventure:) Who knows where life will take me...? So there you have it. With virtually zero social life here, I'll be online fairly often, and should have more time to update this sucker, plus lots of thinking time to wax philisophical.