Christmas!

I've been trying all day, to think of something either clever & funny or noble & introspective to write on here to "celebrate" the arrival of Christmas.

I can't think of anything that falls under either category.

So...

Merry Christmas!!

I have to say that I am so glad that it's finally here. I was sure that the stress of December would never end. And actually, I don't think it has.

BUT, there has been a break in the chaos of normal life: a holiday, celebrating the birth of an amazing King; a rest, in which I get to spend time with my family and my friends.

So far I've spent a good amount of time reading books and sitting beside a fire, sipping hot coffee. I also brought home a girl I met in one of my classes. Her family lives on the east coast, and it was really nice to share Christmas with someone who doesn't have the chance to be with family this year. I've also spent some time visiting my Grandpa, who had heart surgery last week, and is recovering in hospital.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas has been resting with my family, and choosing to relax. It's wonderful. I hope yours is too...

Merry Christmas!

decisions

As I've been sitting at my desk, studying (or trying to), I've been thinking alot about the decisions I've been making. Not the little decisions like "what will I wear today?", or "will I have coffee or tea?"

I've been thinking alot about the bigger decisions, like how I spend my time, and who I hang out with. And I've been wondering if I'm going to regret these decicions in the future, or if I will be glad that I decided the way that I did.

I've been thinking a lot about the same choices that I made last year at this time, and the year before that at this time: really glad that I chose to get to know the people I know, and that I'm in the spot that I'm at. But when I look back at this year, will I have chosen well? Or will I cringe and regret that I didn't do this... or talk to this person... or get to know....

Do the people I'm with encourage me to be closer to God? Are the relationships I'm building with others long-lasting? Do I know people that need God, who I can be a light in a dark work to? Am I spending my time well? or am I wasting it on things that don't matter?

In the end, I've been told, the only thing that matters is relationship: relationship with God, and relationships with others. Only two things are eternal: God, and people.

what am I spending my time on? and who am I spending it with?

ieee... long time eh?

I discovered (or realized) yesterday, that it's been an (embarrassingly) long time since I've written anything on here.

Um... sorry.

I guess my existence can be summed up in one word.

BUSY.

Busy with school, busy with friends, busy with church, busy, busy, busy.

not bad busy, though. It's been good. (except for some of the school stuff. that's not always good. but whatever. The point remains.)

I also realized that I am behind on wedding announcements, and SO, without further adieu,

Congratulations to Colleen & Barrett, who are getting married in June. And also to Jeff & Kristy, who got engaged last weekend, and are getting married in the summer. I'm super excited for all of you guys.

Life... what can I say about life? The school term is coming to a close. In fact, I had an oral final in my French class this morning. We lit the first candle of advent at church this weekend, and it made me realize that Christmas is close. Closer than I think. Next week, I will start to write finals. And then there will be a week and a half before I have to have all my Christmas shopping done.
I hope that I don't lose sight of the most important part of Christmas. That might be what I miss the most about spending the pre-Christmas season overseas. Without the pressure of Santa and the persistent advertising of malls, it's easier to remember that Christmas is Jesus.

When I taught kindergarten, we had an advent calender. But instead of counting down to Christmas (equating with Santa and presents and stuff) we counted down to Jesus' birthday. And then we had a big birthday party for him on the last day of class: complete with a big cake, and the song. Being unfamiliar with North American hype, the kids thought that Christmas was ENTIRELY about Jesus, and it was easier for me to be reminded of the same thing. (if you want, see the DEC2004 archives, because i wrote something about this when i was there)

Perhaps I need to count down to Jesus' birthday.

Anyone want cake?

LINERIDER

Go here:

www.linerider.com

It's a blast. This totally made my morning. I am completely amused, and want you to be also.

the best part of the LRT

a huge sign from the 1950s that says,

STYLEMASTER
manufacturers of quality slacks

i'm tempted to take a picture and post it. it's just so funny.

the woes of halloween

I moved.
Yup, I did. Well, we did. My brother and I.
We've never had to deal with halloween before, being from the "cuntry 'nd all", and then living in appartments. Hence, neither of us thought to buy candy on October 31.
ooooops. big mistake.

I was cooking in the kitchen when we heard our first cries of "Trick or Treat!" coming from the neighbours' houses.

So what did we do? Yup, we proceded to run around the house, shutting off all the lights, and hiding in the living room. (we're adults, really! I promise)
(it was suggested that we invite them in to our basement to find some "treats" there, but I decided that doing that would yield unfavorable results... .... the police come to mind...)

The whole thing was retarded. We had NOTHING in the house to give them (except granola bars and apples...), and so my brother and i tried to cook macaroni and eat and exist without any lights on, and without showing the little dressed up children that we were home.

Next year, even though Halloween is not my favorite event of the year, I'm going to buy some candy so that I don't have to hide behind the fireplace in the living room with the lights off. I'm going to buy enough so I can cook supper without running away and burning the cheese sauce on the stove. Then I'm going to run away and hide.
But at least I'll have eaten.

a bus poem

this is a poem that was part of the ETS Poetry in Motion project. I read it one day, and really liked it. Now, I'm sharing it.

"you try to hang on to the dream you were having
like trying to hold on to the flavor of chocolate on your tongue
your entire day will be softened by this memory
as you wear the edges smooth
going over it again and again"

~title and author unknown~

wanted

WANTED:

~ Pillsbury Dough-boy ~

on charges of international travel without a passport,

evading capture, impersonation and being found in unexpected places.

Also suspected of espionage.

~

Anyone knowing the wherabouts of this criminal is asked to contact the authorities.

A reward will be given for any tips leading to the capture

of this fugative.

~

Last seen wearing a white chef's hat, and impersonating

a good chef. (unfortunately, completely UNTRUE)

being thankful

So, this past weekend was Thanksgiving. I had a friend ask me how my weekend was, and I actually had to stop and think. The "acceptable" answer would have been "good". But then I got to thinking.

Thanksgiving was really wonderful! Mostly because I realized that I have so much to be thankful for. Putting aside the incredibly true cliche things like "family" and "good health", I am really glad to be in the spot that I am. As much as I loathe getting up in the dark to ride the bus to the University for 8am, I am really thankful that I am IN university, taking the things that I want to take. I'm thankful for my job, and for my boss (who really is great!). I'm amazed by the incredible people that God has put into my life in the last year, and for the things he's done through me and around me at church.

I look back to last year, and realize that I'm in a new, exciting place. God's taking me on new adventures that I didn't ever think would happen. He's blessed me in so many ways.

Thanksgiving was incredibly wonderful. I had a great time with my friends, and with my family. I hope yours was equally as eye-opening.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."
I Chronicles 16:34

evil leaf-thiefs in action

as I said.

evil villainous leaf-thiefs (or snatchers)

They're back:

it's the attack of the

EVIL VILLAINOUS LEAF THIEFS

(or snatchers, if you prefer)

All around this city, the leaves are turning beautiful colors, and falling to the ground, making delightfully crunchy noises when I step on them.

And my appartment complex rakes them up EVERY DAY!!

They're stealing my CRUNCHY-FUN!!

I just don't understand the idea behind raking the leaves every day. Each day, more leaves will fall, and each day, the guys in safety vests come around and rake them up. But doesn't that seem a little bit dumb?? I mean, there will come a day when there are no more leaves to fall. And on that day, they will rent a leaf-vaccuum anyway (I kid you not!) and suck the rest of them up. So what are they all doing out there every day???

Raking leaves each day is a perpetual activity. It's like washing your fork after each bite. Why not just wait until you're done the meal??

Part of autumn's charm is the awesome colored leaves (especially the red ones), the breath you can see, and the leaves you can hear when you walk. (I think it's the only time that something makes more sound when it's dead than when it's alive...)

I'm just glad that the university leaves the leaves around for a bit...
at least they aren't stealing my crunchy-fun...

what a great week!

If I could label the last week with one word, it would be :

people.

I was reflecting on the week as I was walking to the bus this morning, and I was once again thankful for the cool people I know, and the really awesome friends that I have.

Every now and then, I have a week where I get to spend lots of time with friends, and this week was one of those weeks. I spent time on the phone with long-distance friends, and time hanging out at their houses (sometimes doing strange stuff like playing hide and go seek in the dark, or watching internet videos, or just looking at summer pictures and drinking wine...), going bowling, or just eating dinner.

I guess the whole point of this rambling post is to say I'm thankful for all my friends. And you know who you are. I was blessed by you last week.
Thanks.

Phantom

only a few words:

The Phantom of the Opera live is AMAZING. If you haven't seen it. Go.

You really should.

Best thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Wow.

storm

before i start, some of you may have noticed the large amount of wedding announcements in the last month (2 so far). I'd like to add another: Congratulations to Amanda and Dan on their upcoming December wedding. You are some of the few brave souls who decide on an engagement shorter than 6 months. Kudos, guys!

Another thing: if you haven't heard the new Passion cd (Everything Glorious) -- please go buy it. It's really good. I was very skeptical at first. It's pink. What is good that is pink? However, I have since matured from such views, and it's my new favorite CD, along with my newly aquired appreciation for Hillsong United, and David Crowder Band's BCollision. (Incidentally, if you like banjos, you should buy the aforementioned item.)

Wow. that was a long sentence. Sorry. Onward and upward.

Storm.

I've ben thinking a lot about storms lately. Perhaps this is because there has been one for the last two nights in a row. I can't figure out why I love storms, and yet, when I hear thunder, my heart RACES. It's not like I'm scared of it. I like it. (or do I?) I was driving home as the storm was coming in on Monday night, and I watched it light up the sky from a distance, knowing it was coming, but not here. Last night, I was sitting in my room reading when the thunder started -- a large rolling sound following the brilliant light.

The sound is amazing, and I smile every time I hear it. Somehow, I love these displays of God's power, however they still make my heart race. Maybe it's this: incredible power can destroy me. There's just something about that storm that seems similar to God: he's good and yet he's terrifying. I love him, and yet I fear him. I've been reading through the prophets. Oh yes, God is to be feared. All that love and justice and power and mercy and absolute perfection all rolled into one person.

In one of their songs, Jars of Clay has a lyric: do I want shelter from the rain, or the rain to wash me away?

For me, I love the storm. And maybe a little fear is good....

back at the u OR taking my own advice

So I'm back at school. It feels completely the same. Or is it different? I can't tell. I've learned a couple of things already:

• just because you CAN wear it, doesn't mean you should
• it is possible to have acquired a hangover by the first day of class
• a motorized couch on wheels is a viable option if you are too lazy to walk to class (parking may be a problem)
• that tattoo you got on the weekend, you know, the one of the eagle across your back, might be hard to hide from your mom
• busses are surprisingly busy at 7:36am

I've also learned that I should take my own advice. I wrote a post on Monday about spending time with God. (yes, three days ago. Count them: one-two-three) I believe I said something about the world crumbling but still being in the hand of the one who made it.... clearly, God is still teaching me this lesson. This week has been less than stellar for various reasons, and I woke up this morning mad at the world.

And then I read my post.

I should take my own advice.

time with the King

"The thing I know will give me the deepest joy
- namely to be alone and unhurried in the presence of God, aware of his presence, my heart open to worship him - is often the thing I least want to do."
~John R. W. Stott

There's this guy at church, who, whenever I talk with him, I walk away challenged, or encouraged. His passion for God is so contagious, so bold and so free that I can't help thanking God for him on my way out.

This past Sunday, he caught me at the door, and we were chatting before church started. In the course of conversation, he asked me how my week was.
"Oh, it was really good." I said.
Before I could elaborate, he asked, "So you spent time with the King then?"

So you spent time with the King then.

It was almost the condition for a good week. And as I went into church, thinking about that, I realized that even a really bad week can be good if you spend time with the King. When you do, priorities shift, minds clear, hearts settle, worries fall away and peace ensues. And the world, even though it crumbles, is in the hand of the one who made it.

His week was like that. His week was hard, but God used that to bring someone in his life to Christ. He was there, following God. Being a trembling, but obedient disciple. And the angels rejoiced. And he was rejoicing 3 days later. He spent time with the King, and though the world around him was swirling, and the flood waters were rising, he had his feet on something solid.

So you spent time with the King then?

Spend time with your King this week. Alone, and unhurried. Listening, and waiting, and yelling and screaming, and finding that he alone is the solidness under the rushing waters. He'll hold you up. And even though the world crumbles, the week will be good.

exciting things... (plus one)

I just bought a rain coat. and a popcorn maker. One of the best popcorn makers in the whole world. If you want, come to my place, and I'll make you some. Just to prove it.

and my coat... oh, how exciting. I finally have a fall coat. And it's waterproof. Yeehaww!!!

AND... My congratulations goes out to Sarah and P.Jot (known to most as Josh) on their engagement and upcoming wedding... I'm so excited for you guys!

some things of note...

It's been a very, very interesting couple of weeks in my life. Here are some of the things that I think are noteworthy enough to share:

• the Carribean parade on Jasper Ave. Um. Yeah. This was on the same street where they held a cattle drive 2 years ago. It seemed kinda "off". Or maybe it was entirely "off". It was absolutely hilarious. I think there is more thought that went into the floats in the Tofield parade.
• There was a moth in my room a couple of nights ago. Now, I'm not usually one to be afraid of bugs, however, this moth was larger than a toonie, and it FREAKED ME OUT! I spent 30 minutes on the phone with my parents (who were, by the way, laughing their heads off), trying to kill the thing with rolled up newspaper. The thing fell off the blind, and landed on my bed. I hit it on my bed, and it fluttered to the floor. I went to grab it with paper towel from under the radiator, and it flew under my bed. So I went to grab the vaccuum cleaner, and it disapeared. So then, I couldn't find it. (I found out later, that Eric killed it a few days later.) This was a very tramatic experience. I thought I was iron-woman. Clearly, I'm not.
• I spent an evening (and part of a night) watching meteors and stars beside a fire. For those of you who weren't aware, every year on August 12th, there is a meteor shower. (provided that it doesn't cloud over) Even though it did, it was still amazing to see the stars, and hang out with cool people.
• I led worship last weekend, and God was totally amazing - giving me words to say and songs to sing. Totally cool.
• There was also a sweet thunderstorm the other night. The thunder was incredibly loud, and the lightning was so amazing. I was enjoying it, and terrified of it at the same time. Funny how that works....

sticking to the map (or not)

On Sunday night, my dad handed me a map. It was nicely scanned, and the route that Lisa and I were to take was highlighted in orange.

I should always remember: stick to the map.

We made it fine, all the way to St. Walburg. But then, the highway we were supposed to take was under construction and turned into gravel. Lisa and I both decided that it COULDN'T POSSIBLY be right if it was gravel, SO, we turned around and took the next road. But that led to the middle of nowhere. So we turned around went back to the store. The lady there looked at us as if we were nuts, but at least we knew that we were on the right track.

Um... did I mention that there are only 2 roads OUT of St. Walburg?

Ok. So after that, we thought we were fine. We were still on the map. Still heading in the right direction. Until I decided to make a stop at Auntie Del's cabin. At this point, we veered off the map, in a deadly detour that took almost an hour.

There's this white arena with a map painted on the back of it in Loon that I remembered as the land mark to get to the cabin. EXCEPT, Lisa didn't remember it being there. She suggested that we keep going. (deadly advice) So we kept going. I still wasn't convinced, so we stopped at the Dairy Bar to ask someone. We asked a lady, but she had no idea, so we asked the next person: a native guy with a baby.

pretty safe eh? a resident of Loon, with a baby?

be ye not deceived!

He told us to go straight. When we saw a white arena, make a turn. But it would be really far. He pointed in the direction that we were traveling already.

This convinced me that it was a good idea. 20minutes later, I was not so convinced. The road turned into a smaller road, turned into a gravel road with many signs, but not the one we were looking for.

so we turned around.

Mr Native Man neglected to tell us that we needed to GO BACK INTO TOWN TO TURN AT THE ARENA. Leave out a vitally important piece of information, and we're lost for 45 minutes. Eventually we got there. I'm pretty sure that it took my aunt forever to decipher exactly what had happened to make us laugh so hard, but we arrived nonetheless.

As I said before: stick to the map.

yet another reason that my sister and I should never be left alone together with a map and some keys.

man.

a ring, among other things...

I'm deciding to add a post on my blog for two reasons: one, it's about time to update. and two: I'm trying to avoid the chick-flick that Eric's fiancee brought home that mom and lisa are watching downstairs.

did you catch that? Yes, that's right. Eric and Jen got engaged this weekend. We're all really excited!!! {insert grinning face here} The wedding is set for next July, but there are already wedding magazines floating around.....

That's just one of the really cool things that happened this week. The work part of the week this week was really long, but the other parts of my week were really fun.
I was reminded this week of what awesome friends I have and how much I enjoy hanging out with them. Coffee, "beach" volleyball games, chai lattes, and movies... (kudos once again go to duch for spending all day saturday shopping with me.... AHH!!!!)

There were also some interesting parts of my week: I had to take Lisa to get her wisdom teeth out on Monday. I was reminded of my own experience in Thailand, and was really really glad that it was not me climbing into that dental chair on Monday.

Ah yes. It was a busy week, but a good one. We're heading out for holidays tomorrow, and I am very excited to be spending some time relaxing, and reading, and doing more hanging out. yeeee-hawww.

enjoy your week! i'll see ya on the flip-side.

um.... we're in mundare....

So Lisa and I decided one night to drive back from College and Career on Highway 16. This was a great idea.
Or it would have been, if I had been paying attention.

About 30 minutes into the trip, Lisa looks at me and goes, "Um, isn't this taking a really long time??"

"nah, Lisa! It's just because you're not used to the landmarks."

"oh"

{insert driving noise here}

A few minutes after that, I look up and see a sign for Pederson Road, and I think to myself "man. I am so not observant. I've never seen that sign before."

{insert driving noise here}

We keep driving because I haven't seen the sign for our turn-off yet. Lisa keeps telling this animated story about how she disliked a certain pastor at BreakForth, and I am watching her arms failing, and laughing my head off.

After yet a few MORE minutes, I look to my left and see a HUGE LONG line up of cars at an auction place. Again, I think to myself, "man. I am so not observant. I've never seen that place before!"

{insert driving noise here}

All of a sudden, Lisa stops talking and says, "Um, should we be in Mundare?"

"huh?"

"Well, that sign says 1.5km to Mundare."

Yes, that's right folks. We made it all the way to Mundare. Super-duper.

We made it home... eventually. As I said. It WOULD HAVE BEEN a good idea, if I had been looking for my sign.

Lesson: PAY ATTENTION! (even if your sister is telling a good story!)

swangin'

This is one of the more humerous things that has happened to me in quite a while.

Here's the story: I was out at Luke's place a couple of weekends ago, and we decided to swing on the swings. This in itself is not odd. I love swings. I still love swings.

Now, all of the swings that I have been on in the past have had enclosed loops at the top, through which the chain passes so that you cannot swing "off" the set. This set, however, did not have this enclosed loop. It was a hook.

UNFORTUNATELY, I didn't know this.

That's right, boys and girls, I went higher... and higher.... and higher........ and came right off the hook.

Now one would think that this problem would be immediately obvious. However, it was not. My eyes were closed and I didn't actually notice that I was falling until I hit the ground. (I believe that this was a small blessing.) I had no time to prepare for this unintentional landing. Somewhere in this whole escapade, either I sat on my glasses, or they were stepped on. I'm not quite sure, but they were flat, and I was on the ground. And so was the swing.

As I look back, a couple of things are funny: first was the look of horror on Luke's face. second was the fact that I had NO IDEA that I was about to fall.

Aside from a few VERY BEAUTIFUL bruises, and bent glasses, I emerged from this event unscathed. I'm really glad that I fell to the side instead of straight down. It would have sucked if I'd've landed on my tailbone!

LESSON: check the swings before you swing, so as to avoid making a fool of yourself.... :)

enjoy y'all! Drink a cold one in this heat!
r

ways to catch an elephant

Here are a few of my favorite ways to catch an elephant that has escaped from the zoo: (courtesy of my students)

• dig a large hole for the elephant to fall in
• dig a large hole, with a tunnel that leads back to the zoo. when the elephant falls in the hole, you can walk him home.
• use a glad bag (like the ones on TV) to catch him
• minimize it, and carry it on your hand
• drug it
• "put someone on the elephant, and kick!"
• lay out a trail of food that leads to a truck, and when the elephant is in the truck, drive him back to the zoo
• maybe the elephant is a boy, and there is a girl elephant in the zoo, and he'll go back by himself
• call the police, and ask them to help you

My personal favorite is "minimize it, and carry it on your hand". what's yours?

Enjoy!

r

the heat and a new job

Hi all!

Sorry about the lapse of writing... I've been incredibly busy!
As some of you may already know, I got a job teaching summer school at a place called JEI (www.jeilearning.com) It's incredibly reminiscent of GES. Yes that's right. Classroom changes two days in... using rooms in other buildings because of a lack of space... photocopier trouble... language barriers with parents and the staff... and OH YEAH, that's right: Kids who don't speak English right along the ones that do.

I love it. (mostly)

It's been really busy. For those of you who teach or have taught: you remember the first few days of class --> revamping everything after each day. YUP, that's it.
Oh well. It's good. Today was better than yesterday was better than the first day of school. I am, however, definately ready for the weekend!!!

What else? I hate driving in the heat.

(random interjection: I just saw someone I knew from a previous life. WEIRD)

where was I?

Oh yeah. I hate driving in the heat, and I also hate traffic. And if you want to read something great, read Sarah's blog: http://sparrowanne.blogspot.com .

There. That's all I have to say. Have a great weekend!!!

Orange (or copper) and Blue

I'm posting this picture for 2 reasons:

1 - to fulfill the promise I made in the last post about taking a picture of my orange bracelet. Sorry, you can't see the writing on it. Orange on orange is hard to see. (suck it up)

2 - to prove that I was at Rexall place with Robbyn to watch game 7 of the Stanley cup final. It was awesome. And crazy. Even though they lost. Don't worry -- the hockey season will start again in two months, and we can all go through it again. I give the Oilers 100 points for even getting to the finals, for beating the flu, and for overcoming the loss of Rolie. (Robbyn wants me to write: "Rolie for Prime Minister")

(actually, I'm posting this picture for 3 reasons: I wanted to figure out how to do it, and this seemed like as good a time as any. HA)

Here's to you boys!! {clink of glass}

my orange bracelet

I talked about this at church last weekend, and as promised, I am posting it for those of you who didn't hear it.

MY ORANGE BRACELET

Some of you may have noticed that I wear an orange bracelet. Lots of people wear stretchy bracelets for causes they're raising money for, but I don't. My bracelet reminds me of other things. This one came from Thailand, and on one side it says "Long Live The King", and on the other side it says "We Love the King" in Thai. (unfortunately, I don't have a Thai keyboard, and I can't type it out for you. Maybe I'll take a picture of it, and post it here so you can see it.)

When I lived in Thailand, I learned a lot about God through the king. The Bible refers to God as King, and I never really understood all the references until I lived in a country that has a king. And they LOVE him. And they revere him. For instance, if I was in Thailand, and I came into the king's presence standing, the guards would probably shoot me. And I'm not even kidding. To be in his presence, one must be lower than him; usually sitting on the ground, waiing. The respect that they have for the king is unbelieveable.

Then I see pictures of the king in America, shaking hands with dignitaries, at eye level with everyone. And I think "If only you knew. If only you KNEW that if you were in his country, you'd be treading on dangerous ground." And I think it's sometimes the same with God.

In his country, Jesus is revered and worshipped. The angels bow down before him. And he comes here to live with us, and we treat him like a geenie in our pocket, or at best, like a friend. If only we KNEW! If only we knew. Here's the difference though, we can know. And this is what I've been convicted about lately: God has given us his word and his Holy Spirit so that we CAN know.

Hosea 6:3 says, "Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him!" and I want that to be the theme of my existence here. That I KNOW my Lord, and that he knows me. I want to live, PRESSING ON to know my God. Reading his word with new hunger every day. Praying with passion, and living with excitement. I want to know what it means to really worship God in spirit and in truth, and to let God's word change my life.

Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise." That can only happen if I actually READ the words of Christ, and let them ruminate in my heart. That's the way to know.

May that challenge you as it has challenged me.

look at the time...

my, my.
It's been an embarassingly long time since I've updated this blog. I'm sorry, to all of you who read this on a regular basis. I haven't had a whole lot to say in the last little bit.

the 5 things making me laugh

Here are the top 5 things that have made me laugh this weekend:

1. a "pimped-out" 1970's VW Bug. yeah. that's what I thought. What are tires that size doing on a car that small????
2. a 70 year old lady riding a bicycle with pig-tails, a pink basket, and pink streamers. (no explaination required)
3. Our AISH neighbour, who consistently climbs out his window and lays on the grass, with his stereo pumping, without a shirt. (incidently, he was also the one who was YELLING about the oilers at 11pm. that did not make me laugh.)
4. a bumper sticker on an older car: "0-60 in 11 minutes" (I want one of those!!)
5. Riley, telling me that his new sibling could be a "cowboy, or a cowboy-girl, or just a baby"

And there you have it, boys and girls... the best of.

have a great long weekend.

The Ice Cream Man

I have never lived in a city where the ice-cream man came around on a regular basis. (I am ignoring the fact that there were ice-cream "men" EVERYWHERE in Thailand.)

I'm talking about an ice cream guy who comes around every day at 2pm. Yes, that's right. There's an ice cream man who comes around with a little motorized 'thing' every day, playing 'Music Box Dancer'. The first time, I couldn't see him. However, today he drove right by the bus I was on.

And I was shocked. Then I laughed. And now I don't know what to do.

The ice cream guy was driving an unmarked cart, had long, scraggly hair, and was wearing a belt pack, cut-off shorts and a Molson Canadian Beer t-shirt. Dude, the guy looked SCARY.

and I'm wondering: WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD LET THEIR KIDS BUY ICE CREAM FROM HIM?? Being origninally from a town where there were no ice cream men, I'm just wondering if creepy guys with belt-packs are the norm for ice cream men. The irony was hilarious to me, and still is.

And so I ask: does everyone's ice-cream man look scary? or is it just mine??

15 Saturdays in a row

I've heard of a month of Sundays, but I never thought it was real.

Until now.

Almost.

The last 2 weeks have felt like a month of Saturdays. and Sundays. I've never had a stretch of time feel so painfully LONG!! The last two weeks have been one day after another after another of stuff; hard stuff. Heart stuff, and head stuff, church stuff and people stuff, job stuff, death stuff ... the list goes on and on and on.

I've sat here staring at this screen for ages and ages trying to figure out what to write; trying to figure out the words to say how the week was, how I feel like I've been on a roller coaster too many times in a row, how grief and death affect people.

I lost an aunt last week, to a battle with lung cancer. She never smoked, and that makes my mom mad. I think it's because cancer is so unfair. It gets people, even healthy people. People with lives, with families, with jobs and with grandkids. You cannot escape it -- death just happens, and cancer hits people when you least expect it. My aunt was 57, and diagnosed with cancer on January 24. This past Tuesday, we congregated for her funeral.

What do you say in response to that?

You can't. I can't. I don't think anyone can.

On Friday, my sister graduated from High school. It was beautiful. She was beautiful. My little sister looked like a princess with her gown and her sparkley hair. It was great to see her and her friends all dressed up, having fun and being grown up all at the same time. The weather was poor, but the day was great.

Like I said: I've been trying to find the words to write to explain this week, with it's ups and downs, and I can't. It's all I can to do trust God, knowing that he's got it all under control. And somehow, under his watchful eye, he'll turn this month of Saturdays into something beautiful.

But right now, this past month just seems like a wild ride.

<< untitled>>

I
am
so
tired.

This has been one of the most tiring weeks in a long time. It ranks up there among the top 5 of all time.

if you have nothing to do...

If you have nothing to do this afternoon, I HIGHLY recommend looking at the David Crowder Band website, and reading all of their quirky and hilarious new items.

I particularly recommend a few:
Christmas Bells!
Merry Christmas
Face to Face encounter

and anything else you decide to read.
You will not regret it.

http://www.davidcrowderband.com/news

The Rain

So, it's been raining here -- spitting yesterday, and drizzling on and off today. It's funny. Today the rain makes me happy. Usually, it makes me feel sleepy and sad, but today, I'm glad that it's raining. Everything smells good when it rains, and the rain reminds me of being in Laos, and being cold and wet and not being able to do anything. It reminds me of sitting in outdoor cafes, wearing ALL the clothes I brought, and eating good waffles and strong coffee with a good friend. The rain also reminds me of rainy season at GES, where rain spelt disaster for the classroom. Indoor recesses are really a very BAD idea. (this is contrary to what i believed when I was in elementary school!!) Anyway, today the rain is making me smile. The good part about it drizzling now, is that the grass is starting to grow. I was encouraged yesterday, when I looked down while walking home from the bus. The grass is poking up -- little green sprouts, reminding me that spring will come, and summer will follow. How exciting.

Buying a sweater

I thought I should enlighten all of you, and tell you a story. This is how I buy clothes.

My mom and dad bought me a UofA sweater for my birthday, which was really awesome. When I got it, Mom said to me, "Honey -- there are so many colors and styles of sweaters at the bookstore, I didn't know which one you would like. So I just bought one. If you want to take it back, do it, because I didn't know which one you'd like."

So, i thought to myself: i'll go look.

There's something stupid about going "looking" at hoodies at the UofA stores. That in itself is a problem: THERE IS NOT JUST ONE PLACE. yes, that's right: there's two. You can buy hoodies at the UofA bookstore, or at SUBtitles. They happen to be right across the hall from each other, which means you can't just compare sweaters. You must make MENTAL NOTES, and then walk across the hall. The second thing that's dumb is that there are about a MILLION different sweaters in a plethera of colors, shapes and styles.

Back to the story.

I decided I was going to go look. Wonderful. I looked at a bunch of clothes, and was immediately overwhelmed, and then decided to leave.

As I was walking around, I decided that I needed to have MORAL SUPPORT in order to go sweater shopping at the UofA. There really were just too many options. So i called up my friend, and she agreed to meet me before her classes on Friday and help me decide if I was going to exchange my sweater.

We met on Friday, and headed over to SUB to check out the sweaters. First we went into SUBtitles, but we didn't find anything that I liked MORE than what I already had. So then we went across the hall to the bookstore. After looking at almost all of them, we found one that I liked. So THEN the problem is finding a mirror. We wandered around the store for a bit, and finally found a mirror.

great.

so then my poor friend had to witness me putting one on and taking it off, and then putting the other one on and taking it off. (i'm pretty sure she thinks I did it a MILLION times. I maintain I only did it 3 times.) But I still couldn't decide. Here was my problem: the one I was looking at switching to was grey, and I can't wear a grey sweater with gray sweatpants. (incidentally, I only own gray sweatpants).

My friend was pretty much rolling on the ground by now in agony. Did i mention that she hadn't had coffee yet?? She's a little like my sister in that respect...

I thought I had decided to go with the gray one anyway, but then I realized. "HEY! I've got my cell phone! I'll call mom." So I did. And we talked about the sweater. Finally my mom persuaded me to buy the gray sweater, and return the blue one that she had bought.

OK. Fine. No problem. Except she bought the blue one at the OTHER store. I had to traipse all the way back to the other store across the hall, and persuade them to return my money, even though more than 7 days had elapsed. Then I had to pusuade them NOT to put it onto my credit card, but to give it to me in cash. THEN, i went back to the other store and bought the other sweater. (which I am wearing now, by the way.)

After that, my friend and I went for coffee.

The moral of the story: thank goodness for friends, who will put up my my crap while I'm shopping. ( for those of you who may have trouble getting your friends to be this awesome: you just have to promise coffee afterwards...)

The truth of it all

My English Prof asked an interesting question in class a couple of days ago..

"What is the difference between fact and truth?"

I may seem a little naive to you, but those two words seem rather synonymous to me. To prove my point, I even looked them up in both a dictionary and thesaurus. They're used interchangeably: one to define the other, and they're listed as synonyms. As more and more people responded to the question, I started jotting down some of their points:

- Facts are what actually happened, and truth is an interpretation of those facts.
- Truth is your perception of what happened.
- Facts are included in truth, but facts and truth are not the same.
- Truth is biased because it contains your opinion.

AND, my personal favorites:

- Truth is the way we interpret fact.
- We can't judge someone else's truth. What's true for them might not be true for me.

In all of this, there was one guy who raised his hand and argued the opposite. (hats off to you, Adam) Although I know that this is rapidly becoming a commonly held view, I wondered to myself if all those people actually realize what this belief can do. What a sad state of decline our society is in. I would ask what happened, but I kindof know already.

I'm not exactly sure what I wanted to say with this post, except spew my displeasure into cyberspace. It made me hurt. How sad God must be when he looks at us. He is truth -- the REAL truth, and we walk away from him. He calls us back to truth, and we say there's no such thing. We're just echos of Pilate, just before he agrees to have Jesus crucified:

John 18:37-40

Pilate replied, "You are a king then?"
"You say that I am a king, and you are right," Jesus said. "I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true."
"What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I'll release the King of the Jews."

But they shouted back, "No! Not this man, but Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a criminal.)


How much God must hurt when we turn our backs on him, and on his truth. Those “philosophers” in class think they know it all, but it’s only in knowing truth that we really begin to know anything at all….

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (Jn8:32)

Amazing Pictures

Hi all!!

I've heard some good things about my "Steven Mandel" story. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Here is something more for you to enjoy:

http://www.terragalleria.com/theravada

It's an absolutely amazing site of pictures from around the world. Of course, the ones I liked best were the ones were from Thailand and Cambodia and Laos (where I've been.) Check them out. You can click on the link there, or the link at the bottom of this post.

To those of you who prayed about worship last weekend at church: THANK YOU. God was amazing.

Showing up with Steven Mandel

Those of you who are from Edmonton, you don't need to be told that Steven Mandel is the mayor. To those of you who are not from around here:

Steven Mandel is the Mayor of Edmonton. He is Jewish.

He happened to be at the Jewish Synogogue that I attended on the last two Saturdays. I was doing a "research project" for my world religion class. The first time I went (see the Feb25 post), two thirds through the service, I looked to my left, and sitting at the end of the pew? Yes, none other than Steven Mandel. Now, usually, I'm not one to be all "agog" around those who are in politics, but it struck me as odd that he showed up with 20 minutes left. The Jewish service starts at 9, and ends at 12:30, and he was there around noon. (I should mention that he appeared long enough to recite the designated passage of scripture for the passing of a loved one.) I should also mention that after his designated assignment was complete, he left.

To make a short story VERY long, one my friend coined a phrase. It means "TO SHOW UP LATE". As of right now, add the phrase "SHOWING UP WITH STEVEN MANDEL" to your lexicon. It can be used in several contexts. For instance, if I was late for class, I could tell my mom that "my bus was late and I showed up with Steven Mandel". Or if I was planning to go to a party and was intending on being fashionably late, I would say that "I'm planning to show up with Steven Mandel".

Now that we have covered this, let's move on to the real story.

I went to the synagogue on Feb25 (as you have read). I learned a lot. But I didn't have enough to write my paper. I had to "interview" an 'informed member of the community.' I used my wonderful procrastination skills, and ended up having to get an extention on my paper because of this interview. ANWAY, through a series of frustrating events in which neither the secretary nor the rabbi phoned me back, I found myself showing up with Steven Mandel on Saturday morning. I went alone this time.

Because I had shown up with Steven Mandel, I asked a man who was standing at the door where I should sit. I explained that I was a university student, and that I was visiting, and I really wanted to talk to someone after the service. So he looks around, and says to me, "see that lady with the big hair, sitting in the back bench??" "yah" "go sit with her, and tell her you're new."

UH??!?!!? Ok. I'll just walk over to this strange lady, and interrupt her service, and announce the fact that I know nothing.

I did. I went over, and introduced myself, and blamed my rudeness on the man at the back. She smiled, and promptly began explaining EVERYTHING that was going on. She explained all of the pictures on the walls, and the readings. She explained all the gestures, the songs, the Hebrew and the Aramaic... everything. There was no question that she didn't answer. AND THEN, half way through, she asked me if I wanted to attend the Kosher meal afterwards. It was incredible. She helped me understand the things that I didn't understand when I sat through the first service.

This isn't the best part though. That little conversation didn't count as an "interview". The interview was supposed to give me a look at what it means to be a Jew, and how life is different for her than for me.
OK. on to the story.

The meal, also was fascinating. First of all, because I decided that I would find it difficult to eat kosher food 24-7. Secondly because I was introduced to this lady's friend. Between them both, they agreed to answer all my questions, and to sign my release form. They answered all the questions I asked about life and how their actions are shaped by the Torah (Old Testament). It was especially neat to see two ladies with two different perspectives on their religion. The even cooler part was that one of the ladies is a personal friend of my prof.

God was so cool on Saturday. There are two other girls who have been phoning the rabbi at this synagogue for over a month, trying to make an appointment for an interview, and trying to get their release forms signed. God arranged the whole thing for me. I was in awe.

I still am in awe. The way God made the details work out was incredible.

The part that really topped off my Saturday was the privilege to go to church and sing on the worship band, and have it miraculously work out. We were unable to have a practice during the week, so our first rehersal was an hour before the service. But God worked it out, and showed up in power. What a great finish to a suprising day.

I am standing in awe of him and his power.
Truly God is good to me.

The Muffin Fairy

By popular demand: The Story of the Muffin Fairy.

(which is, in fact, completely true. except for the fairies. but the story line is true. this all happened to me, and I'm not even kidding.)

Dear ma'am,

I recieved your acclaimed "muffin fairies" last week, and decided to put them to work right away. Unfortunately, it appears that my muffin fairies are both defective, and the apple muffin fairy did a crappy job of morphing my fruit into muffins.
Let me illustrate my point with a story: (a true story)

My apple muffin fairy came up with this really great idea that the soft apples should be made into apple cream cheese muffins. This was a great idea. So, the apples were cut up into tiny little pieces, and the muffin fairy realized that she had double the amount of apples that she needed. no worries. then the apple fairy put the butter in the microwave to melt it, just as the recipe said. So she pulled out a block of butter from the fridge and put it in the pyrex and melted it down. Unfortunately, when she went to pour the butter into the mixer, she neglected to LOOK at the amount of butter that was melted. It was 1/2, not 1/4. And then, the muffin fairy added the apples to the batter (almost all of the DOUBLE amount of apples), and mixed evrything together. Unfortunately, the silly apple muffin fairy forgot to buy another muffin tin. So the muffin fairy spent the next 2 1/2 hours making her 18 muffins in a muffin tin of 6 cups. She had to bake 3 tins of muffins so that they could all be done by the time she wanted to go to bed.
When the muffins were done, a few things became apparent. First, the muffin tin was new, and did not have a built up layer of grease to keep the muffins from sticking, and the mufffin fairy did not grease her muffin tin. Second, because of the extra ingredients, the muffins fell apart instantaneously without holding together in the slightest. SO, the muffin fairy ended up with a 3 tins of muffin pieces.
Stupid Apple Muffin Fairy. Fortunately for her, the muffins taste good, and that saved her from being thrown out into the frost for her poor job in the kitchen.

The Banana Muffin Fairy is also defective, as she HID MY BANANAS IN THE COAT CLOSET for 2 days before I found them. How am I supposed to eat my bananas when I can't even find them?? How are they supposed to be morphed later if they're missing??

My muffin fairies are defective. I would like to SEND THEM BACK for a full refund, or replacement fairies. I would also like to request a new dinner fairy, as mine seems to have run away from home.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,


an unhappy muffin fairy recipient

Olympics!

Huge Congratulations to all our Olympic medal winners -- my mom is proud of you. (and I'm not even kidding!) I'm pretty sure that the TV hasn't switched off CBC for 13 straight days. What am I going to watch when I'm back to 3 channels that play NOTHING?!?

Today I went to a Jewish synogogue (it's part of one of the courses I'm taking), and observed a service. It was very interesting. It was so right, and yet, so wrong. It made me feel so incredibly sad for them -- here they are waiting for God's Messiah, but he's already come. And at the same time, the Jews' refusal of Jesus has allowed ME to hear the gospel. It was so very, very interesting to see a full service: complete with the marching of the Torah, readings and recitations. I wonder how many of them wonder if they're missing something. The Rabbi today, gave a brief little "sermon" in English about the Jewish propensity to argue things out. He said that's traditional; it is the Jewish relationship with the text. They argue with it to figure out what it means. He opposed their method to the "Christian Fundamentalist" (that's what he called it) method of reading God's word, and accepting exactly what it said. He argued for interpretation. For instance: the change between the acceptance of slavery in Biblical times verses the current laws that absolutely forbid slavery within the Jewish community. Another thing that stuck out to me was the absolute "stuck-ness" on tradition -> this is the way it's been done, this is the way we'll do it now. I've been reading through the Old Testament lately -- just after God brings the Israelites into the wilderness, and I've decided that I don't really understand their "focus-ed-ness" on the laws, and their ignoring the books of prophecy where God declares, "I am sick of your sacrifices... I want you to know God; that's more important..." (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea -- see the link for the verses). I want to be like that. I don't want to be caught up in practices and formalities so much that I forget to actually know God.

"Give me singleness of heart, that I might fear your name!!" Psalm86:11

I pray the same for you.

Hey guys! It's Friday

Yes, that's right. It's Friday. And it's the beginning of Reading Week. What a glorious idea. I'd love to buy a beer for whoever thought of giving students a week of holidays in the middle of February. One of my Profs told me that Reading Week was started to stop student suicide after mid-terms. How morbid. I hope she's wrong. (if she's right, it might be better to leave me in my delusions....)

Yes, reading week. My plans? ... going to eat Thai food, get fat on DariyQueen, popcorn, and lots and lots of candy, and stay up late to watch movies. Sounds good eh? Don't you wish you were here where's it's -18 with a windchill of -26??? Sometimes I wonder why I live in this country. I just checked the weather for Thailand -- it's 12:02am there, at a balmy +27. Hm. That's not fair. You just have to be hermits to avoid freezing your toes off.

UM, anyway.... I really hope you have a good week, even if you aren't in the middle of a week of holidays.

ps:
(Kari and Colleen -- too bad about those termites and mosiquitoes. drink a beer at the Hard Rock for me...)

ANNOUNCEMENT

Hi.
I've been having trouble with the new background format. If you have trouble loading it on your computer, or it takes a long time, please let me know so that I can change it to something easier to view.
Thanks.

What I'm up to...

I've realized (through a series of emails) that not all of you know what's up my life. SO.... Here's an update.
I'm going to university, taking the 1st year of (hopefully) an education degree. I'm living with my brother, which is working out REALLY well, and I'm doing other random things like working and tutoring and hanging out with friends.
I miss Thailand a lot, and I miss my friends there a lot, but I'm really glad to be here. It really feels like this is where God wants me at the moment, so it's great to have peace in that.
University is going pretty good. I have a totally different perspective on education now that I've been the teacher. I'm in the middle of midterms right now, and things are a little hectic, but it will all even out.
I've also been tutoring and working (as if my life isn't busy enough), but I've got a GREAT job that God gave me. Here's a little annecdote about my job: I met this girl on the bus, and we started talking. I usually don't talk to people on the bus, but fo some reason, we started talking. Anyway, we started talking about where we'd been and what we'd been doing, and she asked me if I wanted a job working at a KUMON* center. (*see below) So, she phoned her boss, and then I phoned her boss, and the next day I had a job. It's WONDERFUL! I work with ESL kids who are having trouble with their English, and I work about 8 hours a week, so it's enough to keep me busy without killing me in the process.
I'm also involved at church, which has been a fabulous experience. I have see God work in the most amazing ways as I serve him there. God always finds a way to make everything work for his glory. It's been incredible. I've met TONS of really awesome new people and some AMAZING musicians. Every now and then I get to play with my mom or my brother, which is also really sweet.

That's what I've been up to. Thanks to everyone who's emailed me to update me on their lives... the rest of you: feel free!!

ratch

*If you've never travelled around the world and seen the signs, Kumon is a world-wide education franchise. It started in Japan, and has moved around the world. It's basically a center for kids who need help with math or reading. I teach the reading part. Visit the link if you're interested.

Inspiration

I've recently been inspired to continue blogging life... (thanks Sarah) Hopefully this will be semi-regular....

I'm having an interesting week -- wrestling with God and worship and the fact that I tend to ignore him a lot. There's a verse in psalms that says "as a pressure and stress bear down on my, I find joy in your commands.." It's somewhere in ps.118, and as I think about it, I'm not entirely sure that it's true in my life. BUT, I want it to be...

As this next week quickly advances, with all of the pressure and stress of midterms and papers, work and tutoring, I want to make sure that I'm taking time to find joy in God, and to bring everything before him.
After all, he is the one that has brought me to this place at this specific time with a plan for me.