Bittersweetness ....

Unfortunately for me my 'freshman' season of coaching has come to a disappointing end. After the girls on the team made huge strides in the second half of the season, we came up short of a playoff spot. We would have loved to redo some of our tough loses from the first semester because we are such a different team now, but that is the hind-sight of sport.
This time of year means so many things for the athletes, deciding how to move forward with their lives, on and off the basketball court, is not an easy thing to do regardless of the outcomes. Some of them graduate, some will not be back next year, and some have to figure how they are going to get better so they can extent their season longer next year. Looking back on it now, whatever they ultimately decide one of the best thing about sport is that it forests us to look at ourselves in different lights; our character, our passion, our goals, our faith, and trust in the process of growing up is challenged everyday. For me I didn't see this personal growth until after I was done playing and its pretty interesting to look at - some of the mistakes are hard to think about and the successes can still make you so happy with just the thought of them. Now it's really cool I learned how to reflect on it, but it also makes you realize you are never done .... get excited about the small stuff but keep the dreams big :).
So what better way to ponder life than on a beach with an umbrella drink in hand?
I'm off to Cancun with some fam-jam for 'reading' week!!!!
Keep you posted :).
"We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves."ML
Mich

Straight No Chaser

If you like Glee and you like a variety of music you will like this group. If you haven't heard of them check out there numerous you-tube videos and/or website.
Below was probably my favorite 'song' from their set list that I just saw them perform in Winnipeg!! None of the videos do actual justice to the performance they put on, so if you get a chance to take in a show I highly recommend :).



"Spread the love, Spread the sound, Spread the Sound" SNC
Mich

Happy Love Day ...

Living on my own in a house were I often remember being being busy with 5 university students has it's ups and downs - it's nice to not feel bad about not doing the dishes some nights but it's also tough coming home to an empty house when all you want to is avoid homework for a little while longer by catching up with roommates. So when I got home last night, I got one of the best valentine's day presents ever, a hand made card from my cousin Carolynn, which absolutely made my day. It made me smile ear to ear and the empty house not so dark - which may have in turn lead to me dancing to some tunes around the house (to avoid homework) but that is a topic for another post haha.
We all have moments of self-doubt, disappointment and discouragement but part of growing up is learning how to get your self out of it. Having people remind you are loved and mean something to them is one of the best gifts anyone can give you. So as much as valentine's day is about cupids and chocolates, I like to think of it as love day haha (corny I know, but hey simple is true). So although the day has pasted, take some time to show love or remind people of why they matter, it is a great thing to do :).
Someone once reminded me that whenever you feel lonely remember that at least 5 people have thought about you today whether you know it or not - everyone has the power to spark a light in someone else life, so don't forget!
So thank-you Carolynn your card couldn't have come at a better time and I'm passing the love around :).

"Someone taught you how to love, and probably didn’t know it - pass it on."EM
Mich

Perspective from down the hall...

Well it's been an eventful month to say the least.

School: Hit me hard, but with my first mid-term down there is now enough pressure for me to start working more diligently at it (only work well under pressure apparently haha). I lighten my course slightly so I could ease my way back into it and I have to be in school for two more years minimum so why overload if I don't have to …
Basketball: Coaching is such a complex art. Between balancing your own life around it and trying to help 14 athletes balance theirs, while remembering that there is a sport buried under all of it - is a pretty daunting task. I'm so fortunate to be given the opportunity for this learning experience so I'm just trying to take it all in and go with it. Some days I feel like I'm 'amateur hour' and others I feel completely confident in what I'm doing. I'm slowing beginning to see the similarities between trying to communicate to co-workers in a different language about a project detail and explaining to first year point guards end-out plays haha….
With that said having the combination of the two extremes - engineering and basketball - works so well for me. One keeps me refreshed for the other … so again I'm pretty lucky.
Other than that, I'm starting to get catch up with friends and family - trying not to tell the same stories or say "well in serbia …" too much. It's been fun sharing my stories and being able to reflect about all the stuff I got to go through and learn while I was away - perspective is an awesome thing to have in the back pocket!
Sorry for just a boring update post but that's it for now … my goal to post more isn't really coming into effect, think I just have to get re-inspired (or just stop caring that I have nothing interesting to post about… I mean when your Mom is your biggest reader everything is game! … right?haha).


“The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” NP

Talk soon, Mich

Return of the Grind ...

Wow … Janurary 2011. Still sounds weird and I don't think my feelings about the year that was 2010 have quite settled … I think 5 year chunks are more my style of 'new-years resolutions' haha.

Christmas time was a great two week period for our family! For the first time in a VERY long time our immediate family was in the same country for longer than 3 days and we had a blast just having a full house again (my mom forgot about how much toilet paper 12 people can use up in one week haha). We were definitely busy, but in a good way. Sean and Suzanne came with Cassie and Emma all the way from Florida, so we took the opportunity to get some traditional Canadian Holiday traditions it! Toboganning was defiantly the highlight for me :). Tyler and Grace came from Ireland, after snow delays they made sure everyone was ready for a 'relaxing' break - warm drinks the head liner!
The Serbian crew came home to some much needed Canadian comforts, aka Canadian beef steaks for Dad and 'nornal' cooking ingredients for Mom haha. Everyone made a trek out to Ottawa to visit the family there. Again we took advantage of the fact that we were all in the same country for once and just caught up and enjoyed the company - great food as usual :). Than we had an all-family New Years, with the Manitobans making there way out to us. Great food and drinks, again! I also had the opportunity to catch up with a few friends and see what everyone was up to. Including a night out in Ancaster, which felt like an unplanned high-school reunion … very interesting haha.


But before I have even had time to consider all that has happened and/or changed in the last 3 weeks, I'm back to the weekly grind of feeling like time is flying and just wanting to get through the next 7 days - but I'm sure this is life for must people :).
A quick update on me …
My time is Serbia came to a decision making end - school or work/'ball'. Knowing that the basketball situation wasn't the best for me I had to take the opportunity to get some school done. So I'm back in Canada, at school in Winnipeg. Happy about it? Well I'm excited to continue to work on my degree and get more school behind me, but this full course load thing is a foreign concept to me (I know lazy athletes eh haha…) so it's going to be a challenging semester - but a rewarding one.
I also find myself unable to give up my passion of basketball at a high level, so I'm helping with the University program. This has been a much harder transition that I could imagine, but I knew that it was going to be apart of coming back to a program that I had invested so much of my time in. I'm really excited to be back with the girls again and be around them everyday, bring some energy to the team and obviously improving my coaching skills.

Although I am back to 'old-stomping' grounds, I feel like my experience changed me. Some need energy, uncomfortable experiences and fresh perspective, I hope will help me shape a 'new-stomping' ground. Not that the old one was bad, but for me life is dynamic and I don't want to settle into a pattern of 'normalcy'. Life is too short and I want to enjoy it :).

So for now I'm challenging myself with school, learning the challenges and demands of coaching, continuing to train and be active, development my professional out look on work and enjoy the evolution of friendships with friends and family.

I'm so grateful for all the friends and family that gave me the unconditional support and guidance as I 'transitioned with travel' and went on questionable adventures haha … another great reminder of all the incredible people that I'm lucky enough to know.
Although it may be late, I wish everyone a happy and satisfying 2011!



"Gratitude is an art of painting adversity into a lovely picture with memories of the heart" JS

Mich

December 6th, 2010

This seems like a good time to reflect on a semester (yes my life still revolves around a school time table, because I have unfinished business there) that has come and gone and is almost at its end.
I can officially say "I lived in Belgrade, Serbia", the feeling of being a tourist officially wore off towards the beginning of November and my daily routines and life around me was getting to a point of normalcy. My Serbian has improved (don't bother pointing out the fact that I had no were to go but up in that department, I feel accomplished with my 5 words haha), my ability to fulling explain myself with exactly 3 hand gestures is excellent and my craftiness to find out if someone speaks english is at it's creative peak! And the ultimate sign I have lived here, I feel confident that if someone wanted to come visit I could 'show you around' - just give me a 2 week heads up and I will ask the right people haha.
But in all seriousness, this experience has been everything I didn't expect but everything I wanted out of it - it was fun, exciting, frustrating, challenging, eye-opening and different. At the moment I'm in the process of trying to figure out what the new year will look like.
From a work perspective, it has been exactly what a co-op is suppose to be about - getting work experience, understanding how the field actually works, and figuring out how you want to fit in with all of it. It has been challenging socially and mentally, with a lot of situations to take lessons away from - with some rewarding times mixed in. It has also made me miss the little luxuries that school provides and gives me some much needed reassurance of why I'm in school in the first place. We just started on a major project, which has been very interesting to see the process from the start. It is a year long project, with the bulk of our companies work beginning done towards the end, so a summer job maybe ahead of me yet …
As for basketball (yep you heard right) I have been training with a team (Partizans) here for a month, which again has been a unique experience, but in true Serbian style I have no idea what to make of it just yet. Playing basketball in Europe was always one of the things I wanted to prove to myself I could do, but I was a little naive about the whole thing (which wasn't all bad). I have been training with the younger team, so the team consisting of the players that get called up if need be, and they have been a really great good group of girls to get to know. At times I feel really old and other times I'm the clueless foreigner that messes up a drill because I have no idea what is going on, either way it has been great to get back into a gym! The biggest challenge is trying to jump the gap from this team to the first team - the practices and intensity are significantly different and the expectations are a lot higher (so when you just start to think you literally understand the expectations, you get thrown a curve ball that makes you question it all haha). Never the less I'm getting lots out of it and it is giving me invaluable experiences and perspectives of the game I thought I knew. On top of all that, whether you believe it or not, sport is sport no matter where you are in the world - there is politics, people that don't understand where you're coming from and factors that athletes can't control that effect their athletic experience. So with all these things consider, I'm just enjoying the moment and the opportunities I have been given, not worrying about the things I can't control and just getting the most out of the experience.
Finally there is school to think about, I bet the phrase "Just get it over with" rings a bell for a lot of people - well I'm at that point now. Working has highlighted the fact even further, that although it is great to do well in school, getting your degree is what matters, because in the working world formulas and theories only get you so far, the real learning begins when all this fails and you have to leave your schooling behind to figure out what the real solution should be.
I'm excited to return to Canada and get to see all the people I have missed so much … not to mention the fresh air and snow! But for now I get to enjoy what is ever felt of this experience and reflect on all the stuff I have gotten to do and all the funny stories I get to share (and re-share).

I hope everyone is enjoying the exciting build to the holiday season :).

"Be grateful for luck. Pay the thunder no mind - listen to the birds." EB
Talk soon, Mich

November 11th, 2010

It's like looking into a glass square of the past but from the other side. This side is more magnifide, fresh and relevant but in a completely different way. Being in a country were the effects of war are all too fresh, remembrance day takes on a different meaning. Instead of the feeling of wanting to remember all that has come before us there is a feeling of relief it has passed. Again I have no idea how to relate to any of this but being at a totally new vantage point is definitely providing new ways to look at things. I have been writing off and on when ever I feel like putting some of these view points to paper. A couple of weeks ago my internet surfing lead to this website that I found, very refreshing for someone who doesn't fully understand what today's wars are all about. Of course the photography is very intriguing but I liked the fact the it just focuses on the soliders and gives you something the media doesn't always display.
Anyways if you have some time check it out: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
And I thought I would share my writing from that day, seems fitting ....

Oct.26th/2010
It's weird to think that we are living in a time of war. We hear about it all the time in history books yet it never really dawns on us that there is a war going on around the world. Unless you are affected by it. Family, friends, communities are reminded everyday that brave men and women are trying to provoke some kind of peace in the world. And for those of us not directly affected this thought is often far away. I'm sure there are people like myself, who on top of not being reminded of this everyday, we also have no idea how to make out the whole situation to begin with. We have one country saying this and the another saying the opposite, yet they are on the same side, and you have the media focusing on small negatives that seem to give doubt to everything you thought you knew. Your questions about right and wrong are never answered and all of a sudden you find yourself giving up because it's all too confusing. And these are my thoughts about it after being reminded of it for 2 minutes, can you imagine living it everyday - it would be exhausting.
At the end of the day though, we all play a part. Some are at the core, others on the outside - but we all have a role. I know I have no direct impact on anything going on in that 'unknown world' but a part of me hopes that if I take the time to think about those doing good, for even 2 minutes, than they get 2 minutes of strength, support, love, motivation or compassionate, so they can keep doing what they are doing.


"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." JFK
Mich

The Rest of October ...

October has come and gone and again I find myself behind with updates …
I'm definitely missing the beautiful Canadian fall, from the fresh weather, endless colours, and yummy holidays - but I'm finding my unique European equivalents (other than 'american' football - real 'football' just doesn't cut it).
The major highlights from the past month include a trip to Novi Sad, Serbia's second largest city. It is definitely my favourite city in the country, just had a real vibe to it. People were very friendly, they had pride in their city and the scenery was great. Again this was a city destroyed by the NATO bombings in 1999, but it has rebuilt itself quite nicely. The best parts being the giant fortress, which technically makes up half the city, and a beautiful church in their town square. The weather was great so I got some good pictures.









The other highlight was taking a trip to see my brother Tyler in Dublin. It was a last minute decision but everything seemed to fit so I couldn't pass it up - much to the fact that Ty is insanely busy with school (come on what's a couple of days in med school anyways …). It was a really good travel experience - taking the bus from the airport, figuring things out on the go and just enjoying the new environment instead of forced sight seeing. Not to mention I was absolutely ecstatic to hear english again. Unfortunately my Dad was suppose to meet us there as well but he had problems with visa so Mom, Ty, and I had some fun without him. We spent two days in Limerick where Ty goes to school. We saw lots of churches, did a couple of museums, lots of walking, and good food.




















Than we headed to Dublin for three days. The Guinness brewery tour, Trinity College, and the restaurants were probably my favorite parts, but I enjoyed everything. Definitely need to go back to finish off the sights in Dublin and see more of the Island. I got some good picture on this trip too (I had to put the camera away at one point because Ty got a little irritated with the amount I was taking - he had a point haha).
















Other than that work is keeping me busy and I'm finally making some head way with basketball stuff so we will see how November goes. Talk to you soon.

"Where you are going is more important than how fast we get there." UN
Mich