This past year has been full of adventures and pushing my own boundaries. Paddling new rivers with bigger water than what I typically find comfortable and pushing myself to learn new things in places that I find myself to be comfortable.  This applies not only to paddling but to my everyday life.

This past year has been full of adventures and with many of those adventures, I found myself pushing many of my own boundaries as well.

You can not expect to grow if you are not willing to push your boundaries and change.

My adventures this year took me to new countries, new parts of the country that I live in and saw me chasing down some of the things that scare me most in life.

In kayaking, I began paddling some Class III rivers, in Southern Alberta and British Columbia.  Which was amazing and easily one of my favorite parts of this year.  One of the best ways to ground myself and to see new outdoor spaces, is in my opinion, in the seat of my kayak on a river surrounded by wilderness.

I took my Mom on her first ever off the continent, resort vacation. Where she proved to me, that despite the silliness of my fear of fish nibbling my toes, she also couldn’t bring herself to willingly put her own feet in a tank full of fish to exfoliate her feet…. The fear is real people!

I got a big beautiful new tattoo, that is in memory of my Grandma. I couldn’t be happier with the art that Jenelle Wolfe (Instagram @rogue.arts), from Human Kanvas Calgary, came up with. I love my Mermaid and am so much happier to have her on my arm than the silly kanji tattoo that she now covers.

Mr. E and I went to Costa Rica and saw some amazing places, did some awesome things, and met some very cool people. We will be back soon! I will post more on this separately.

Last but not least, this one was a big fear for me to get over. One of my good friends convinced me to share some kayaking stories with her, in front of a large-ish group of strangers while using a microphone. I’m not sure which makes me more nervous, talking in front of people or using the microphone to talk in front of people. A special thank you to my friend for pushing me to get out of my box and share some of our awesome adventure stories.

I wish all of you a very Happy New Year and may 2018 hold more adventures, excitement, love and, growth for us all.

All images are © 2017 Amanda Gibson Photography.