I'm letting go...

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd post something before I go to bed...getting to bed a little earlier tonight! Not only have I been getting to bed earlier but I've been waking up earlier too! Trying to get myself back into the school routine! I have about a week and a half before I go back to school, I'm just trying to prepare myself! I had a bit of a tough year last year, it was almost too stressful for me. I felt as though I had a giant weight on my shoulders that would not go away no matter what I did. I don't want that happening this year, but you know what I realized? I had no relief from the stress because I was trying to do something about it. Instead of giving it over to God and letting him take care of it, I was trying to be super woman and do it myself! You know what that does? It puts even more stress on yourself! Sometimes I think I can take on the world and do everything myself, I can deal with the stress and the pain all by myself! Then what's God there for? All last year he was just waiting for me to give it over to Him, to take my hands off the wheel and say, "you drive". But I don't want to give Him full control, I'll  give Him control over some stuff, but not everything! Why do I do this? Because I want MY life to go exactly as I plan, because I think I know best! But in reality, God is the one that made me, so shouldn't He know what's best for me, His own creation? God has this perfect plan for me, He had it all planned out, but you see, I come in and because I think I know best or I let my emotions get in the way, I stray off that plan, that path. And what ends up happening? I get to walk the long way around, the hard, rocky, bumpy long way around. I didn't have to choose that way, God was showing me the right way, but I let MYSELF get in the way. I have no one to blame but myself. So instead of trying to be super woman this year, which CLEARLY didn't work out, I'm going to ask God, "what do you want me to do this year?" or, "God, I'm stressed about this, could you help me?". I'm not always going to do everything right, but at least by doing it that way, I know I'm off to a pretty good start! So I encourage you to ask God what HE wants to happen in your life. As the song says, you just gotta throw your hands up in the air and say, "JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL"! Trust me, in the long run, things will go better that way! You never know what will happen!      

Moonlight blogger...

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that you can watch the Paralympics live and archived on Youtube by typing paralympicsporttv into the search box! I encourage you to watch it! It will definitely inspire you!

Anyway, school is starting and with it comes a lot of new things and new adventures! New teacher, new grade and new courses! I'm quite excited for this school year! I am taking Biology, Math, French, Christian Studies, English, Social Studies, Graduation Planning, Foods and my favorite, Writing Fiction! The Writing Fiction course will be critiqued by an actual author! I'm not really used to writing fiction but I'm hoping it will push me out of my comfort zone and make me a better writer by the end of it. I am the least excited about French but I need it to get into University, so I will deal with it! I'm quite happy that I am just taking Biology because, to tell you the truth, I stink at Chemistry and Physics! I love Biology and am pretty good at it, not to toot my own horn! But whenever it involves math, my brain has a little "freak out" and shuts down...I am most definitely more right brained than left! Which is why I am so excited to take English this year! I always love the section where I get to pick my own novel to study! This English class has a new excited twist...I get to pick my own Shakespeare novel! If there is an "easier" Shakespeare novel....I'll pick that one! Any suggestions!?

I get to return to my beloved Vancouver this October as well! I have to get a new seating system for my  wheelchair which is always a "joy"! Here's a basic run down of the process: Go to "Sunnyhill" (the hospital I see my OT in) and wait for my OT to appear. Get assessed by a guy I don't even know for the back of my seating system. This entails being poked and moved around and looked at, still all by a guy that I just met. Get out of my seat and into another seat to make the moldes for the back. Get back into my seat. Go to the "Ability Store" in New Westminster to have the bottom of the seat made. Poked and moved again. The old bottom of the seat is replaced with a new bottom and......done! It's not all fun and games, actually it's quite exhausting and it definitely tries my patience! Nevertheless it must be done! So there's a glimpse into that wonderful experience! Glad it's me and not you, eh!?

So anyway, I am just sitting at the table, looking at the moon, and thinking to myself, what a wonderful world....Goodnight!        
        

Dream a Little Dream...

I am sitting here on a beautiful September afternoon, gazing out the window, and thinking about possibilities. To me, anything is possible, and I believe that even more so after watching bits and pieces of the Paralympics. Now I find myself thinking, "if they can do that, why can't I do it too"? Archery, soccer, fencing, the activities that I thought were impossible, don't seem so out of reach, watching them.

My favorite quote and something that I live by came from Audrey Hepburn, which states, "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says I'm possible". And another comes from C. S. Lewis, "We are what we believe we are". In fact, I have a lot of favorite quotes which I try to live by. Most of them come from Dr. Seuss, I know that sounds weird but there are a lot that should not be overlooked! Quotes like: "Why fit in when you were born to stand out" or "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened", "Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So... Get on your way!" and "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose". They all speak the same common message, that I am me and I shouldn't want to change, and that nothing is impossible if you give it your best shot. Now imagine what would happen if everyone had this attitude!

If positivity replaced negativity, if I can replaced I can't and if possible replaced impossible this world would be happier all together! Now I realize I'm being slightly "feather headed", but just remember, happiness is contagious, so if you start it eventually, there will be an epidemic! So I challenge you to live by this quote, "No excuses, no limits"! Give it a try!    
        

No Coverage...

Hi everyone! I know it's been a while. I've been having an amazing summer but a busy summer. I just returned from Camp Winfield last week which was a blast as usual! I have a link at the bottom of a video of pictures I put together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LFG-kSj3qI

Before going to camp I finalized the paperwork for my society which means that I am the president of FIRE! We are having our first society meeting next week! We've got big plans and will hopefully have the sit ski program running by January. This adds to the responsibilities as I am going to run the program when it starts. This entails making phone calls, planning schedules and making sure every sit skier has an instructor, as well as finding a place to store the sit ski's and a place where everyone can meet, gear up and then get to the chair lift. Starting a sit ski program from scratch is not an easy task! I must now conduct myself in a business like manner because...I have now entered the world of business!!! I'm just hoping I'll be able to do it all and keep up with school at the same time while maintaining my ever dwindling sanity!!!

In other news, I went to the dentist the other day and...a tooth pulling and braces are in my future... Although I'm not too happy about the tooth pulling part, my only consolation is the fact that I am getting plastic, invisible braces instead of the metal ones. No metal mouth for me...I like plastic... So in September I am getting X-rays and molds done of my teeth. This whole process will take an hour and a half...an hour and a half in the dentists? YIKES!

Just as a side note, I am still desperately trying to get rid of my acne as the "amazing" Proactiv ended up burning my face, in so much that I could peel strips of dead skin off my face and I looked like I had leprosy for about a week! Now that my face is generally normal again I am now trying this stuff called "Skincerity". Not sure how I feel about it yet, but I've only been using it for about four days... It smells really nice but the only thing I don't like about it is that it's sort of a clear mask, so every time I put it on it kind of freezes my face, and if I stretch my face in any way it peels off! Because of this I have to talk through my teeth when I have it on! It's funny too because in the morning I look like I have leprosy again because it starts to come off in the night! I am also taking Evening Primrose Oil which is supposed to help with acne as well. I have named them my "godzilla pills" because they're huge and are hard to swallow! Oh the struggles us teens must endure to look "normal"... If you have any suggestions of anything else I could try let me know!

Anyway there's an update on my crazy life, but the main purpose of this blog was to talk about something that has quite upset me. I was looking on the CTV website to see what channel the Paralympics would be on, and was shocked to find that CTV wasn't covering the Paralympics! CTV did a huge thing on the Olympics but as soon as the Paralympics come, it's like no one cares! Not only should the Paralympics receive just as much coverage as the Olympics, in my opinion the Paralympics should be before the Olympics. After the Olympics are done there isn't as much energy and excitement left in the crowds for the Paralympics, everything starts to calm down. No matter what way you look at it, the Paralympics are not made out to be as big as the Olympics, which is not right! We need to be recognizing the fact that each Paralympian overcame their disability and worked extremely hard to do it. That's what our government needs to see, and if they would just realize how incredible this is, then maybe the Paralympics would be a bigger event. Each athletes story is different, but one thing links them together, the drive and belief that they CAN beat the odds, that they CAN do the impossible. In a world that says they can't, they are. Isn't that amazing? I admire and look up to every single athlete, and so should everyone else. Their journey isn't easy, but it's not how you start the race, it's how you finish it. So I encourage all of you to try and watch the Paralympics and to recognize how amazing it really is. I hope it encourages you to be fearless, because if they can do that, then you can do anything! No excuses, no limits!            
       

Wheelchair Accessibility in Fernie, by an Expert!

Hi guys! This is an article I wrote that I'm sending to the local paper! Let me know what you think!  

Hello! My name is Grace, and I was diagnosed with a condition called Arthrogryposis at birth, which simply means that I cannot use my limbs as well as the average person, so therefore I must use an electric wheelchair to get myself out and about. I have lived in Fernie my whole life, and let me just say this, I have a lot of challenges in my life, and a lot of them cannot be helped, but accessibility in this town is one thing that I know can be changed and should be changed. I am a busy 16-year-old that has work to go to, places to go to and people to see, and most of the time it can be very difficult for me to do what I have to do. Things like finding a parking space, getting into a store, getting around the store and using the washroom, which might seem easy to the average person, are extremely hard for people like myself who have difficulties getting from place to place. The average person doesn't know how difficult these tasks can be, until they are put in a situation in which they must experience them face-to-face. For me, the most important thing is to be treated equal, like every other person, and when the store, parking stall, or washroom is accessible, it makes me feel less like an alien and more like a regular human being, which is why accessibility is extremely important to me. It's the thing that separates me from being just like everyone else, to being “disabled”, the person that is unable to do something because they’re “special”. If Fernie decided to make the change, to make things easier for the people that don't have it so easy, then equality might actually be in our grasp. If the person that parked in the handicapped stall, who said they were just going in for a quick second, made the right decision and parked somewhere else, even if it meant walking a little bit farther, if one store owner decided to make a ramp outside their door or put an elevator in their store, if one person is willing to make the change then who knows what can be accomplished. So let me ask you something, when life gives you lemons, should you always make lemonade? In other words, should we be content with everything we have, or should we stand up for what we think is right? Where would the world be today if we didn't have fighters and people to stand up for what they believe in? I am just a little person (quite literally), and my opinion might not mean much, but how do we know what we're capable of, or not capable of, how do we know what we can do, and what we can't do, to make a change, unless we try? This is something that I have to ask myself every single day, and now I'm asking you, and I'll end with this, how do you know what you can do, unless you try?

Hello Spring, Welcome Back!

Spring is in the air! FINALLY!!! Although I was quite sad to say goodbye to sit skiing, I had an amazing last ski in Panorama with Kate. The weather was perfect, sunny and extremely warm! I hardly needed my jacket! We had a pizza party afterwards to draw the season to a close! I must confess I had “withdrawals” the whole week after, just looking at my sit ski when I went down stairs (where my sit ski’s live as book shelves and blanket holders at the moment) made me cry! I know, pathetic! But I’m over that now… Especially when I went out for my first bike ride of the season (although it’s more like mom rides her bike and I chase her trying to keep up)!

Fernie isn’t much to look at this time of the year, it’s just covered in gravel! Once the city cleans everything up and the trees start to bloom, Fernie shall be restored! The city uses the gravel from the roads to redo the paths around town, so I’m excited for them to come collect it! They re-did almost all the paths around Fernie last year, only a few more to go! That makes it so much easier for me to get out!

This summer I will be volunteering at a day camp for young disabled children again, so I use the paths to get to work! I have to walk there, it takes about a half an hour but the walk is beautiful, so I don’t mind!

I did my yearly ritual of watching “Pride and Prejudice” the other night, what can I say, I’m like the rest of the teenage girl population who has a crush on Mr. Darcy! With that said though, I can only stand to watch it once a year because it’s so long!

I also applied to Camp Winfield (a week long camp for disabled teens) again this year! Filling out the application forms is a grueling process, but I survived! Camp Winfield is like my vacation from the world, as I am not allowed any electronic devices, and mom’s vacation away from me! So we both benefit! I thought about not going this year, as it is difficult for me to adjust to having a complete stranger help me in the bathroom and such, but I guess I’m just stuck to Camp Winfield!

Anyway, there’s a look into my life lately, I hope you readers are getting nice weather as well! I would also like to say that if you would like to write me to ask questions or to talk, please don’t hesitate to email me at: bethefire@hotmail.ca! Bye bye all! 

An Amazing Spring Break, and Frustrating Accessibility Issues!

Hello everyone! Back from spring break, ready for the rest of the school year!  I had an amazing and very busy spring break! I started it off with a week of sit skiing in Kimberley for the Canadian Association of Disabled Skiers skiing festival! Unfortunately the weather didn’t really hold up, so I ended up skiing three times! When I did go out I had an amazing time! I had the two most amazing instructors who showed me a wonderful time! Especially when they put up with my carsickness, which I suffered from a couple of times! I even got to see one of my instructors from last year, who retired, so unfortunately I didn't get to ski with him this year... But that made my day to be able to see him! On Sunday I went to Panorama to ski with my best friend Katie, and ended up skiing with an instructor I haven’t seen since last year! I had an amazing time, and even went off a couple of small jumps! Definitely made my heart go pitter pat! All and all I had such a great time with great people that I will never forget! My second week was spent in Saskatoon with my auntie, who is unfortunately in the hospital. I had an amazing time with her, she has a great attitude despite her circumstances and we had a lot of fun laughing and joking! I haven’t seen her in five years, so it was great to see her! I also had a great time with my mom’s friend, who we stayed with. She took us to this amazing bookstore that had a cute café inside of it. That was my dream place! I love places like that! The café has the most amazing carrot cake I have ever tasted! I love carrot cake!!! But Saskatoon is not a very wheelchair accessible place! Vancouver is the most wheelchair accessible place I have been to, and that is because they had a mayor who is disabled and in a wheelchair! I think that unless someone has experienced what I have to put up with, they don’t ever fully understand the importance of the things that make my life so much easier! For example, I don’t like how we have a sign on the side of our van that asks people not to park beside us so I can get out of the car, and people don’t even look, and park beside us anyway! And even if we do park in the handicapped zone, they are never big enough for me to unload, and people park beside us there too! It is very rare that we find a handicapped parking space that has a striped zone beside it for ramps. In my opinion, they should have at least one of those in every public place! It makes my life so much easier! And I should know! The other thing that is very hard for me is when bathroom stalls aren’t big enough! I have to park like a car just to get in the bathroom, and then there is no room for my mom to come in. This happens with every public bathroom we use! Sometimes I can’t get into a bathroom because they are too small, so I have to wait until we can find one that’s bigger! Let me ask you, is that right!? There are lots of disabled people who might have to use the bathroom! So again, for people like myself, who have wheelchairs and need full assistance in the bathroom, it would be really nice if every public place would have a BIG accessible bathroom! These are two things we have to consider every time I go outside! And nobody really considers these things! I only had one business in town come to me and ask me what they could do to make things more accessible, and I said a big bathroom, a raised toilet, and lots of space inside the store. Every person who has a business should be going to someone disabled and asking them what they could do to make their store more accessible. Man would that make things nicer. And how hard is it to ask? Not hard at all!

Anyway, sorry for rambling! My spring break was amazing; I met amazing people and had an amazing time with old friends and family! I call that, a great holiday!