Simplify

 It is 2014! I just cannot believe the time that is flying by, before I know it my little man will be moving out and I will be wondering where in the world all those years went. Time to slow down.

I am sure everyone out there is busy making lists, New Year's resolutions, Goals, things to do, places to go, people to visit; and normally I would jump right in, but this year I am going to do something a little different. I am going to try to simply my life. I have felt so tired lately, and I have had more than my share of colds since winter graced us with his snowy presence. And I am beginning to realize that a wholesome life doesn't necessarily need to be filled to the brim with stuff, and commitments, and trips, and so on. So my one and only goal/resolution/plan this year is to simplify. I am not even going to put a specific requirement as to how, or when or with what I am going to simplify; I am just going to do it. I will, however, share my progress with you. And if you have decided to simplify any part of your life I'd love to hear all about it! Feel free to leave a comment below and tell me how, when, what! Or if you made a traditional resolution list, I'd be happy to hear about that too!

Here's to a happy, loving, simple 2014!
xox

Published Author

Source

So, if you have been following along with this blog for sometime, you might remember that a year ago I visited St. Catherines (here, and here) to present research at the Canadian Congress on Leisure Research, and a year before that I presented at the Northeastern Recreation Research Symposium (here) in Bolton Landing, NY.

At each of these conferences I presented half of my 4th year research of Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland. I looked at the creation of the National Park and if and how it affected the lives of the local community members. I loved the research, and writing the paper, and after each presentation was told that my research was Master's (post-graduate) quality.

The full paper was submitted for review to Leisure/Loisir, which is a Canadian Academic Journal. We received some feedback and a few requests for some changes and currently my research supervisor is working to make some changes.

But the exciting part? A shorter paper was required for the NERR conference I presented at in 2010 and it has finally been published. If you are at all interested in the research, or to see what I am talking about click here and then click "view or print this publication". Like I said, this is a mini version of the paper, only 7 pages. So this is the quick and dirty way to get the gist of what I researched and presented :) The other conference also required a paper, but it was mainly just an abstract, so even shorter, you can find that publication here, and my abstract is on page 161.

So I'm pretty excited, this is a big step. I'd love to work as a professor one day, and having something published as an undergrad is a great step in the right direction. Now publishing can be a very long and tedious process, so I don't expect to hear about the full paper for some time, but when I do I will be sure to share!

I hope you're having a great Friday, it's the beginning of my weekend and it started early as I couldn't get back to sleep after about 4am. Practice for Pip I suppose :)

Oh, and remember to enter the JoyInspiration Giveaway. You only have a couple days left!

xox