Homecoming.

I finished my exam, packed my bags, and began the menotenous waiting time. My room looks so different, wreath gone, curtains closed, wardrobe empty. It's weird leaving home going home, which is home?

When finally I sat, uncomfortable in my window seat at the back of the plane, my heart started racing uncontrollably. I cozied myself up as much as possible, put in my headphones, and continued to wait. Wait as we wend through the safety procedures in french and english, though this time with line by line translation, rather than the whole story at once like they usually do. Wait as we taxied and then came to a stop, while a funny looking machine "de-iced us." Waited (and watched) as we took off, the sun had gone down, but the city was still relatively light, white and red and green and blue and yellow reflecting off the snow. The canal, ice. The fields, ice. Cold and beautiful - I feel myself trying to plant it in my memory, my brain obviously not yet accepting the fact that it'll be the same - if not icier - when I return. I laugh when the pilot stumbles as he reads the temperature in Vancouver, almost surprised as he reads 4, 4 above, not 4 below, which, for this week, would be just as unbelievable in Ottawa.

Soon the city faded away, and there was black. Black as if the world didn't exist outside the plane. As if the people, now trapped together in 38 rows of an unfathomable machine were all that was left. We settle into our new community, anxiously.

I listened to my audiobook, put on a movie, put on another movie. At one point I glanced out the window to a glorious myriad of lights, I gasp. Suddenly there was a world outside, evidence of life in what had been barren for the last several hours. I look at the map - Calgary. My heart races again. I remember the first time I flew to Calgary. I remember how short the flight is from here to Victoria. I feel my nose getting cold, and realize my face is pressed up against the window, like I maybe did when I was five and it was snowing. Maybe I did that at six, and seven, and twelve, and fifteen. I've definitely done it at 18 too, much to the amusement of my friends, who proclaim that they are from "the land of ice and snow." I stare until I my neck hurts from turning, trying to soak in the last glimpse of the city. I think about my cousins, Aunt, and Uncle. I think about the card that sat on my desk with a post it: write, and mail. I remember that there was actually some sort of life that I left behind as I glued myself to my desk and books for three weeks. I'm tired of sitting down.

Before I know it the pilot's announced there's just half an hour until we land. I look outside, and I can see some light above a mysterious sea of clouds. The clouds protect the city below, blanketing it and hiding it. Separating it from the misplaced life above. Oh if we were meant to fly. The clouds creep up my window, we sink into them, and the world is gone again, but only for a moment, soon there's soft lights dimly shining through the fog. And then there's more. And then I can sea the Christmas lights, the yards completely decorated, flashes and shapes in different colours. Two nights ago I was looking at the parliament buildings in Ottawa, the air crisp, the lights vibrant, and soft but giant shapes - snowflakes - turning the beautiful architecture into a painting as well. I'm overwhelmed.

I wonder what life is going to be outside of the fog. Have things changed too much since I've been away? Has growth created a blanket, will I be trapped separate from the ones I love at home? My anxiety melts away as I realize we're heading down, and the lights become bigger, and I can see the water, a doc - it's lights shining into the sky, and into the water.

I land, debord, and sit now, in the quiet airport, waiting for the last little bit of the journey to Victoria. To home.

There's love at home. There's home at home.

I know it.

stir stir crazy

Today's latest update? 1400 sit ups/crunches/ab exercises done. (thus to equal the number of stairs)

We also ripped our schedules off the wall tore them into tiny pieces and declared them unworthy of being recycled. But my BC-ness won, and they went in the recycling bin anyway.

I NEED OUT OF HERE!

Oh yeah, one exam done too...don't ask about it.

Stir Crazy?

So Taylor and I are doing our absolute best to study study study...but right now I'm taking a break from that to calm myself before my next exam which is in just over an hour. We pretty much haven't left the room for the last two weeks, which is a little alarming. (Though I did have an amazing time Christmas tree hunting in the snow with the Johnston's on Sunday. We found a 12.5 foot tree, tried lighting a grape on fire, and made very exciting gingerbread structures, see my facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140988&id=538346974&l=093094c460

Here's the stuff worth blogging about:

1. On Tuesday we were both really really tired, and for some reason decided to pretend to sleep while the cleaning lady came, so that she'd come back later. So we lay in our beds pretending to sleep, but she came in and cleaned anyway. The moment the door closed we shot out of bed and burst out laughing... obviously something's getting to our heads.

2. Wednesday we decided that instead of napping, we'd run the stairs to keep ourselves awake. The first time we did 10 flights, then 18, then 19, then 40, then 13. So yes, I ran up and down 1400 stairs yesterday , but I managed to stay up and study until 11. Yaaaayyy

3. Today our legs are dead, and so we've decided to try and get to an equal number of sit ups instead. So far, I'm at 290. Good thing I have lots of studying to do. (Though so far, all I've learned is that it's harder to do a sit up while laughing at how ridiculous we look, moving in time to strange Christmas carols that are playing on the radio.)

Please dont have anyone in a white coat waiting to take me to a padded room when I get back...I promise once my exams are over and my whole body feels like rubber I'll turn back to my normal self on the plane ride home!

Some pictures...

Here's a link to some pictures from the last few days: Santa Claus Parade and Snow.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=140409&id=538346974&l=f1cd510031

no time to write! Hope you enjoy the pictures at least.

This weekend has been a million times better than last weekend. A million!

Friday: I went shopping with my discipleship group, we spend a few hours in a Christian book room...it was wonderful! I bought a devotional book for next year, and a really great cd that was on sale. After a few more fun stops at Bulk Barn and Dollarama we headed back. About an hour later Amber and I had English together for the last time, definitely a bittersweet occasion! (The bitter had NOTHING to do with liking the class!) When English was done, it was time to get ready for the Ballet. Our Spaghetti was sooo yummy, and we enjoyed listening to music and getting ready together.

The Nutcracker was beyond amazing - everything was so much bigger and more extravagant than the last one I saw, plus we were right in the middle near the front, so we had a spectacular view. It was stunning! I wish I could have taken pictures!

After the Nutcracker Amber and I went to the end of the Campus for Christ Christmas party, and then walked back to rez. The only bad thing about the night, was walking waaaaay to far in heals!

And to make the night even more marvelous, when I opened my advent calendar at the end of the night I found a chocolate nutcracker!

(See more pictures on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=139230&id=538346974&l=4f7ed03eee ) PS- can someone who doesn't have facebook email me and tell me if these links actually work?

Saturday I had a nice slow day, listening to Christmas Carols and moving around my photos. This of course was in an effort to tidy up...now two walls are different and I have ornaments and an angel hanging in my window. Tres belle!

I was in the lounge eating my dinner when I noticed some strange lights in the sky - like search lights, scanning the sky for a plane (superman, batman, Santa?) Back and forth they went - it reminded me of when Charlie brown and Linus go looking for a Christmas tree, and there are the giant spot lights in the sky, showing them where the trees are. It turns out they were for the Santa Claus Parade, which I went to with a bunch of girls from the floor.

All the kids were there, bundled up and cheering for Santa. We let a dad and his two young boys take our spot on the road, so not only did we get the joy of seeing the parade, but we got to watch the little kids get all excited. (Though Becca, one of the girls I was with, was maybe just as excited as they were. No Santa Claus parades in Saskatchewan, apparently!) After two hours we were getting pretty cold, but we couldn't leave until Santa got there! The dad asked a fireman how much longer it would be. The fireman replied that Santa was float 70, and 69 was just going by. By this point, the parents were cheering more than the kids. Some were sleeping, snuggled up in strollers, others, mesmerized by the lights and focused on their giant stack of candy canes were content to just sit and wait. And then, in the distance we see a van. Soon Santa begins to take shape. An inflatable Santa. Everyone starts freaking out. The kids are screaming, the parents are angry, the students I'm with are in disbelief: did we stand in the cold for 2 hours for an INFLATABLE Santa?

Santa gets closer, and we can see that he's turned in a weird way, like an owl, his head is facing behind him. We realize that he looks like he's falling apart, his pants are hanging from strings, away from the main, inflatated body. THEN we see it. HO HO HO, written across the behind of this large, inflated Santa. His pants go up, and down, and up and down.

We waited two hours to be mooned by Santa. The kids start laughing - I think that photo developers in the Ottawa area will be seeing lots of kids buts with writing across them when the christmas photos come in this seasons. We cant control ourselves: frozen, and tired, we watch the obscene Santa drive by. A few minutes later, the real Santa comes down the road, basically at light speed trying to catch up to the rest of the floats. So there was a Santa - but not that would outdo the inflatable.

After the parade, some thawing, and some hot chocolate I did homework for a couple hours, and then had cookies and Milk with Veronica. With only the Christmas lights iluminating the room, and carols softly playing in the background, it felt like Christmas Eve. It was a weird realization when we began talking about how over Christmas, we wont see eachother for two weeks! We were still talking when Taylor came in with her friend. So much for going to bed early - it was 2 or 2:30 when I finally went to bed.

Oh yeah, my advent calendar had a Santa chocolate inside. That's two in a row that matched the day! Main lesson of the day? I HAVE to buy socks and boots this week.

Taylor left with her friend around 3 am, while I was happily sleeping. An hour and a half later, it happened.

The fire alarm goes off, and I admit, after my initial disorientation, the first thought that popped into my head was rather murderous. I pull some jeans and a sweater on overtop of my pj's, grab my jacket, keys, and phone, and head out. Two floors down there's smoke in the stairwell, it's foggy and smells like chemicals. Panic breaks as groggy students realize there actually is something on fire. We get outside, back into the cold. People gather around, phones on trying to find friends, calling parents. And we all stare at the lights as the fire trucks come in. Fifteen minutes later they move us into the University Centre. We sit, exhausted, waiting for news. We care for some drunk friends, for some having panic attacks. We wait for the updates from Michael who runs around looking for info. This is when the floor is really a family.

Turns out someone was being stupid, and maybe there was a small fire,d but a lot of the fumes and what looked like smoke was actually from the extinguisher which was aimed into the bentilation system as well as into the staircase. We get back in at 5:15, and go back to bed.

It was certainly hard to get up at 8, and stay awake on the bus to Orleans. It was REALLY hard to stay awake as I sat, with my eyes closed, listening to the soft, slow prayers. After Church I went out for lunch with Lane and some other youth from the church, before going back to Lane's to do some work.

After an afternoon of studying and listening to Christmas music we had an amazing dinner as always, and did some more work before Jim drove me home around 9. When we went out to the car, there was snow falling, and the road had been covered. It was quiet and beautiful.

Back in rez, I look out the window to discover that the canal is white - obviously there's enough ice that the snow could cover it too.

This morning, I woke up slow, and I'm listening to carols as I prepare for my day.

Lovely.

Long time no...

See, write, hear, speak...

So first off, sorry for not really posting anything for the last little while. Life has been busy, and I'm sure eventful, but everytime I've sat down to write this, it just hasn't come.

Second, I've posted pictures from the last month on facebook, in the albums "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" and "November, 2009." Because there's so many, and loading them onto my blog is rather frustrating, for now, that'll have to be good enough!

For those of you who dont use facebook, I think these links should take you to the photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=138792&id=538346974&l=c7a4575839

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=138796&id=538346974&l=7da7219237

As I hope you have guessed, one reason that I haven't been blogging, is because I've had so much school work to do! In the last two weeks, I've handed in 30 pages of writing and done 20 minutes of public speaking in my second and third languages. This for a total of 85% of marks, split over 5 courses. I have now achieved a rite of passage in University: I stayed up writing an essay until 6 am this week, and then went to bed for 3 hours before waking up to finish it. Not the best plan for me...but the essay was handed in on time.

In addition to school stuff, I've been getting ready for Christmas! As you'll see in the facebook photos, our room is rather decorated. Taylor and I now have a wreath, and a fireplace with a mantle on our door. We each have paper chains wiht one link for each day until we come home. There are snowflakes hanging from a network of fishing line attached to every possible screw near our cieling. As the wind blows through our open windows or through the door, the snowflakes move around the room. We've put up lights, and stickers on our windows. And we have two advent calendars each, so we spend some time together in the morning opening one, and we open the other when we just need some chocolate. We still have to hang our mini-stockings in which we've embroidered our names from our mantle, and also hang some other little decorations. And of course, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without candy canes and oranges, which we have in mass quantaties!

For some silly reason, mandarin oranges dont come in boxes here, and they aren't very nice looking yet. Luckily we can be boxes of clementines which taste almost the same for a very good price, but they fill in nicely for the oranges.

Last weekend Amber's friend was visiting from Waterloo, and so we hung out at Amber's place, made an amazing dinner, and then made sugar cookies from philsbury dough, and added bought cream cheese icing. At least the candy was real though! I am soooo craving real baked goods!

I can't believe it's December. The weather is getting cooler, and although there isn't snow on the ground yet, it has snowed a few times. December 1st I woke up to big flakes of snow falling past my window, and Taylor, Veronica, and I opened our advent calendars together in our pj's. It was such a beautiful morning! And, the chocolate inside was a snowman, how fitting! A couple days later, Veronica received a package in the mail from her mom and sister. It was all wrapped in festive papers, and full of food, candy, and Christmas memories: decorations, music, words. The thing about being away from home, is that our excitement for Christmas is probably on par with the five year old, who eagerly dreams of waking up Christmas morning. Who whole-heartedly believes that Santa's recieved the letter, and has made the toys, and will bring joy to all the children all around the world. Here I am eighteen, and Christmas is just as real, just as exciting. I think about the candles being lit at church. I love watching them slowly get closer and closer to the surrounding evergreens - to the life which encircles them. Coloured wax slowly drips down the side of the candle, and everything but the light is carefully peeled away. It's advent, and here I am, eighteen, sitting at my desk, stressing about coming exams, relieved that the major assignments are all handed in. In my preparation, it's time for all those little things to melt away. What else matters but the light? Waiting for Christ: hope for the nations; peace on earth; joy to the world; Love that knows no end. And waiting for home: hoping that with all that everyone's changed, we'll still be friends. Yearning for peace; the sound of waves crashing against the shore, the wind through the trees, the silence of a winter night under the stars. Joy - for real hugs and face-to-face. Hearing eachother's voices as they really are. Sharing gifts, and stories. And love - loving eachother, loving God.

What a wonderful life!

Today was my last history class. And the end, our professor gave a little farewell speech, and the lecture class, full with 200 people began to clap. I was overwhelmed. The relief in the room having finished the course, the clapping echoing through hall - like a really hard rainstorm hitting the roof, while you sit happy and warm inside. It was that kind of feeling - I was glad to be there, in disbelief at how fast the semester had gone by, and comfortable in my chair as we expressed our appreciation to a really great professor. All that remains is an exam, and, to quote the prof, it's not something to be scared about, we should be happy, because "exams are a celebration of your knowlege."

Starting Saturday, there'll be not much else in my life other than preparations for this oh-so-exciting party.

Tomorrow, though, the real celebration continues. Amber, Taylor, Veronica, and I are getting all dressed up to go to the Ballet! Which ballet you ask? Why the nutcracker! What else would we see in December? Taylor and Amber have never been before...I'm so excited to share this experience with them.

My first time (and only other time) seeing a ballet was such a wonderful day, and I hope that this will be similar for them! I remember getting all dressed up, and taking the bus to Grandma's. We had a delicious dinner sitting at the dining room table, and then off to the Royal theatre we went. The music transcended everything - filled me to the point where there could have been nothing else in the world. The sets were beautiful. And the dance - breathtaking.

Tomorrow's dinner wont be quite as fancy, just spaghetti and garlic bread, probably sitting on the floor in our room. And there'll be no bus ride, just a very chilly walk in our dresses and heals to the National Arts Centre. BUT, the part that really matters, that dance, I know will be astounding.

So there you are, an update.

I miss everyone sooo much. Little things keep reminding at home: I read a sign about a bethlehem walk, and thought about how we used to go to the little shop where Bob would offer "one for the price of two." I sit down for tea with my friends for tea and miss having Terri over for singing and conversation. I walk through a hallway and expect to see Emily or Hannah, Michelle, Sydney, Kaylie...the list goes on. We were talking about a didjeridoo last time I was at the Johnston's place after church. Probably dont need to mention who that reminded me of.

I miss getting ready for the Christmas concert at church, going to the choir party, and having Cranberry Loaf for breakfast with Dad. I miss begging to put up the tree, and watch movies, and do all those little traditions that I know I cling to more than anyone.

Home matters.

A lot.

Well, this weekend definitely did not turn out the way I wanted or needed it to. I'm not going to blog about all that though...it'll seem insignificant in a couple weeks. So, I'm just going to blog about the good, and ignore the bad and the ugly.

Here it goes:

I finally had eggs benedict on Friday, which I've been craving since August. Craving definitely satisfied - and so was my hunger for the next 24 hours. Taylor and Veronica and I went to Cora's, a very popular chain restaurant that serves mostly breakfast foods, on Friday afternoon to celebrate the end of a stressful Thursday. There was soooo much food and it was soooo good! After my afternoon English class Amber and I hung out together. We bought play-doh so because we were planning on playing Cranium after Campus for Christ, and the stuff it came with had gone dry. We definitley just ended up playing with the playdoh, and not playing the rest of the game.

The highlight of Friday night was finding out I know two people who will be singing in Starwars in Concert this month. They're expecting 18000 people to come watch it!

Yesterday I had a lazy afternoon, and then went out with Taylor to get some Christmas decorations. Now yes, I know that advent hasn't started, but since we're only going to be here for one more month, we decided it was time. We stopped in the market and had a beautiful wreath custom made for us, and then walked around the mall trying to get everything else we needed for 2 hours while carrying this rather large, very wonderful smelling wreath. My jacket now smells like forest, and our room is beginning to smell like Christmas. I promise to post some pictures after we get all of the decorations up.

This week's going to be busy, I have to prepare for a Spanish exam and write a politics paper both by Wednesday, then I have just less than a week to write an english paper for the end of term.

And to quote a very happy, careless past time,

That's all folks.

Butterflies

Oh colourful butterflies,

Are you really as happy and free

As you look when you fly

Across open fields

Under bright blue skies

Oblivious to the world

Beneath.?

Oh beautiful butterflies,

Are you really as enchanted and pure

As the little girl - who chases you

With her purple net, and stumbles

And laughs as her feet touch that grass -

Believes?

She won't desire you ten years down the road,

You know.

Oh delicate butterflies,

Are you really as heavenly as the world tells her,

When you seek the sweet nectar of the flower

On whose unsuspecting petals you perch,

Carefully Balanced.

Oh the irony you hold in your folded wings,

That in peace you begin your hunt

Exploiting the good and precious moments

Can't you just let her blossom?

Oh captivating butterflies

With what evil did you draw her attention,

The little girl whose tiny fingers gripped vibrant pens

Colouring within the lines,

In all her effort

Creating.

And by what twisted virtues did you cast your spell,

That she would seek you,

That you - and your sickening

Sinister plots - would consumer her

And lie dormant until

One day, when she hopes for Spring,

You flutter inside her

Awaking a new kind of

Unknown emotion.

It's a beautiful Day

The sun is shining and people are smiling - today is a brand new day.

I remember when I was little listening to dad's "crazy" music on Saturday mornings when I woke up, and had the biggest craving to do that again. So, along with the Aaron Shust worship song that's been stuck in my head this week, I bought some silly songs to wake up to. Ghost Riders in the sky, if I had a Million Dollars, Just you wait (Henry Higgins, from My Fair Lady)...the list goes on. I think I'm going to have to add some veggietales to the list soon. (Dad, what else did you play for us?)

My room mate has definitely given up on my sanity.

Friday night was the "Epic Project Party" at Campus for Christ. I learned about opportunities to go to North Africa, Panama, Paris, Scotland, or the Olympics: all for mission trips. I'm praying about the North Africa and Panama trips - I really do want to spend some time in Missions this Summer, and now I just have to find out where God wants me to go. After the project party it was games night in my dorm again. Hooray for Apples to Apples! Although I admit, we are getting to the point where some game variety might be nice.

This weekend Amber and I went shopping for Operation Christmas Child and ended up buying advent calendars. (but we got stuff for the shoebox too!) Of course we got back to my rez in time to find out that while we were out, both elevators broke down, so up the stairs we went!

Amber and Veronica both were visited by their mothers and siblings this weekend. Between that, and all the Christmas advertising and decorations that are up all over the place...I'm getting a tad bit home sick! The countdown has begun

Other than that, the weekend was mostly filled with work, and sleep. I finished writing my bulletin text - for those of you in the presbyterian church, if you happen to be at a church that uses the right type of bulletin covers on May 8, 2011, you'll see a bit of me! Finishing this came with the realization that (If you are my parents/grandparents/anyone that doesn't want to think about me growing up, don't read the next line) when it comes out, I'll be 20. Yeah...20. And that reminds me that of all the worries I have today, all the decisions I have to make, all of the things that make my heart ache: they are all small. They'll all be over with, they'll seem silly: the same as all the "crises" I remember from when I was 16. Now if only that would completely clear my mind. Here's what I'm thinking about...

Relationships, program of studies, health, where to live next year, missions projects, church.

God - I give these burdens unto you.

Lest we forget (Yesterday's post)

It would have been an amazing site, flying over downtown Ottawa this morning. Thousands of people flocked from all directions to the tomb of the unknown soldier, people of all ages and ethnicities, brought together by a need to remember, united by a bright red poppy with a deep black centre pinned over their hearts. I stop behind a man in uniform, slightly bent over to hold the hand of his young son, we wait for the light to change. The white man is illuminated, and we’re walking again. We cross into a park, nearing our destination. The son asks where everyone is going. “We’re going to show that we remember” says the dad.

A few minutes later I am a part of the crowd. I stand, craning my neck to try and catch a glimpse of the screen, hoping to see what’s going on. There are two officers standing infront of me, an elderly women just to me right, a family with two young daughters to my left, a blind man behind me. I remember being in brownies, sitting on a cold bleacher, right at the front of the crowd. Here, all I can see are the tops of parliament buildings, and our flag, gently blowing in the wind, the bright red contrasting with the crisp blue sky.

The big names arrive. They step out of black cars, and they shake the hands of veterans standing near by. First the Prime Minister, then the Governor General, than the Prince of Whales and Duchess of Cornwall. A man asks one of the officers in front of me why it wasn’t widely publicized that Charles was there. I can see raw emotion in the officer’s eyes as he replies “they are not the attraction to this event.”

We sing the national anthem: my voice quiets as I realize I can’t understand the words. I’ve heard the anthem in French, I’ve heard the anthem in English. But today I was a part of a nation singing the words, meaning the words, and in the synthesis of language we are tied together in a melody of passion; together we sing O Canada.

A shot fires and I jump. I expect the children around me to cry, but there’s a silence - not the absence of noise, but the absence of the present as heads bow, eyes close, tears fall, and we remember. In the distance, I can hear the church bells ringing downtown, announcing the time: 11:00. The elderly woman’s shoulders rise and fall as she cries. The mom softly explains what she can see to the blind man: the faces of veterans, the sea of poppies, the statues. She answers the call of the child in her arms, her voice is rich with love. Nous nous souviendrons.

There is prayer. There is a message. Planes fly over and for a split second, they darken the ground, separating us from the bright sun above is. It’s deafening, but then it’ over, and I’m left just to wonder what it must have been like, so many years ago.

A children’s choir sings while the wreathes are being laid. Their voices are some how angelic and haunting at the same time. And throughout, the gun keeps firing. I tremble. One little girl beside me just clings to her mom. The other’s hands are tightly clasped around her ears. She is distressed, her voice is desperate. Daddy, she begs, why are they doing that? Daddy it’s loud. Daddy please stop the guns! Stop them! Please daddy!. My heart breaks for the children whose daddies died trying to stop the guns.

As the ceremony ends, people begin disperse through the streets, like a frozen river breaking up, there is a madness as we break away from one another, as the madness of the world flows back into our lives. We run for busses, for lunch, for work, for class. I may be too young to really remember. but I am not too young to experience the emotion around me. And the thing that I think students often forget, is that war didn’t stop suddenly after the armistice was signed. War seems to be continual. There are soldiers just a few years older than I in Afghanistan right now, maybe even some that I know. I may be too young - but I remember.

I unpin my poppy, and hold it in my hands before I rush off to class. There’s something more than plastic here. I think about the faces I’ve seen, the pictures I’ve seen, the history I’ve studied. I think about Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Darfur. The world is still struggling.

I’m thankful for my freedom.

Faire traîner les choses

Maitenant, j'ai besoin d'ecrire un présentation française que je dois présenter demain, mais je ne veux pas! La présentation est le troisième que j'ai du fair au "La cuisine française." Il faut que les professeurs de français penser des sujets plus interessants!

So, instead of researching a minutes worth of information about cheese to add to an already very exciting french presentation about french food (in case you just decided to skip the french part without even looking for cognates), I thought I'd take some time to write about the amazing, but unproductive weekend that I just had!

On friday night, I had a great time an Campus for Christ, which was followed by some great conversation (and food) at the Draft, and then a great game of apples to apples, and three great conversations on skype!

On Saturday I did a tiny bit of work, and then went to the market with Veronica to buy vegetables and fruit, probably for the last time of the season. We had such a good time! I bought beans and squash, and onions, and spinach, and broccoli, and cauliflower, and honey-crisp apples (my new favourite). Then we were heading out for dinner when we saw a BEAUTIFUL sunset, and ran up to parliament hill to take pictures. When the sun went down we walked back through the market, and ended up going to the Keg for French Onion soup, which was oh-so-good.

Sunday I went to church, and went to a friend's place to get ready for our french presentation. Yes, it's the typical french food presentation: do some research, find some pictures, bake something for the class. Yippee. At least the thing we baked looks amazing, and tastes good too! After baking, I met Veronica at the grocery store to pick up a cake for Taylor, came back to the room and began decorating for a surprise party! She had gone home for her birthday, and came back at nine in time to find a room full of balloons, streamers, and friends. Oh yeah, and cheese cake.

So now, I have a room full of balloons, which in the morning we'll have to stuff into our wardrobes so that the cleaning lady can vacuum tomorrow, and I'm sitting at my desk procrastinating.

Life is grand!

PS, I'll post some pics tomorrow!

It's coming!

Taylor, Veronica, Amber and I walked to the NAC this morning to purchase tickets for the nutcracker, and as we walked, tiny flakes of snow were falling! Yesterday was my first glimpse of the sunrise, today was my first glimpse of snow...tomorrow? Despite the fact that I seem to be out of food again, I'm so happy! We are going to see the nutcracker on Dec. 4, and we have great seats, which we bought with our great student discount! (50% off!) I'm also hoping to see the Christmas Carol, and Handel's Messiah before coming home, depending on how far my entertainment budget can be stretched!

Early.

This morning, I watched the city wake up. I watched the sunrise, illuminiating the sky first with a vibrant orange, and then slowly fading through yellow and pink down to a cool, sunny blue. And I watched lights turn on, curtains open, lights turn off. I watched the canal, first in solemn tranquility reflecting just the trees that line it on either side, then slowly becoming alive as one, and then two, and then a hundred people began ralking, cycling, running; a metamporphasis right before my eyes. And the calming whoosh of the odd car was replaced by the constant, frantic acceleration of busses as they left the campus station. And then of course, the rush hour began. The rush which really means a slow and steady stream of cars barely moving in an attempt to get to the same place. What if each of those cars had four people in the instead of one? Would the heartbeat of the city change? Students join the Ottawa Morning Orchestra, I hear the doors open and close, the elevator’s chime as it announces its arrival, the hollow rhythm of footsteps rushing down the stairs. An the tempo picks up, the showers are on, drawers, wardrobes, cabinets opening and closing. Brushing of teeth, zipping of book bags. I watch as the campus becomes full of people heading this way and that. Each student, back pack on back, hands on the straps, foot forward, foot forward, food forward. Nobody stops to interact. I watch the cars slow down even more, stopping at the red light that I can’t see, but I always know what colour it is. I imagine expressionless faces, they’ve been caught by the web of monotony, seeing only the brake lights ahead of them, the speedometer, the clock. But I see the sun shining off the rooftops, and the trees on fire as the morning sun beams set vibrant leaves aglow. I see a city alive: each person is moving, thinking, planning, anticipating. I see the warm coffee in hand, the rosy nose and cheeks, smiling senior, who stops to capture a picture as the world rushes by. I see the music of the morning; I see a beautiful awakening; I see the world being changed.

If only everyone commuted from ten stories above the ground.

Last night I was trying to do research for my English term paper, and felt like I was going to pass out. My head was spinning, I was having difficulties reading, and I felt really weak. So I went to bed at 7:30, intending on just lying down for a bit, but I ended up just going to sleep.

This morning I woke up at 5:45, got up at 6:20, and was able to enjoy the sunrise, a nice cup of tea, and a quiet morning. It was so nice to wake up without listening to my alarm! Now I'm listening to music, doing homework, and thinking about how nice it would be to wake up early every morning.

Read the last post...then look at the pictures. One day I'll remember to post pictures first.

days gone by...

So as you've noticed, it's becoming rather difficult to keep my blog updated. I spent the last several days thinking to myself "I just updated it," but then last week all of a sudden ended, and this week all of a sudden began, and I realized "just" was over a week ago, and that perhaps I should take a few minutes to blog.

Autumn is now officially Fall, in my opinion. There are now way more leaves on the ground than on the trees, it's pitch black by 5:30, and the thermometer is slowly starting to drop. Last week the weather forecast was saying 5-9 for this week. now the high is 5, and the low is -5, and there's snow in the forecast, but it comes with rain, thankfully. On the up side, Sunday is supposed to be 13, but I'll believe that when I see it.

The end of last week (Friday) came with the end of my midterms, and I am so glad that they are finally overwith. This month's challenge? Three 10 page research papers, and a presentation in both French and Spanish. Life is grand!

Nothing gigantic happened last week, if I can recall correctly (Except the weekend, which I'll get to eventually). Taylor and I noticed two rather funny things out the window: the first, was watching someone in the building next to us roll and then smoke a joint. The second, just after hearing some loud screaming outside we looked out the window, in time to see two naked people walking around their room with the window wide open. I closed mine on both occasions. Also this week most of the leaves on the otherside of the canal fell overnight. Maybe I'll post some pictures if I get this finished soon enough!

Other random things I enjoyed this week? Receiving official emails in Frenglish. Not French followed by English, or vice-versa, but Frenglish. Oh, and discovering some amazing words by accident: first, gazump, which I noticed why trying to look up a different word in the english side of my spanish- english dictionary. It then lead to the discovery of other words when I looked it up in my English dictionary.

Gazump - originally meant to swindle, but now has to do with raising the price of a house after informally accepting a lower offer.

Galumph - to move in a clumsy, noisy, or ponderous matter

Garrulous -to be excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters.

Gambol - to run or jump about playfully.

One thing that was challenging this week was watching Taylor's friend from home having a bit of a breakdown. She came over and spent the night with us, we stayed up trying to comfort her most of the night, and her dad came to take her home in the morning. It was really hard seeing her so upset, and not being able to do anything about it. I can't imagine how Taylor must have felt. I think it'll be good for her friend to be at home - she'll be happier there. But I know it's going to be hard for Taylor not to have her here.

So now, since that's all of the things I wrote down to blog about for the week, I guess nothing else really happened? I did get some good marks back in English and Politics, (A-on a term paper, 85 on an exam) and I think I did reasonably well on my Spanish midterm, although I wont find out until tomorrow. And my note didn't include the weekend, but my blog will!

Saturday I spent the day listening to creepy music, creeping on my house via webcam when nobody was home in an attempt to surprise my mom for her birthday, and creating my halloween costume - to be the paper bag princess. Amber and I went trick-0r-treating at the Prime Minister's house, although he wasn't giving out candy when we got there, but at least we went. We also went to the governor general's house. The original plan had been to collect non-perishable food items afterwards, but it took way too long to get to the PM's house, and we were really cold by the time we got back to res. We ended up making cookies from bought dough in the toaster oven, and playing apples to apples. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I finally tried a beavertail, it was delicious!

And speaking of forgetting things, before I can explain Sunday I have to explain Tuesday, which I apparently didn't do before. I met up with Lane at a store called the Tea Party for "Tea and stories" and it quite literally was tea and stories. We had caramel-apple tea and listened to professional story tellers. I was expecting that it'd be them talking about there lives - but it was actually them telling story-book stories. I strongly suggest looking up the story "The wolf who cried boy" it was so funny! Anyway, why this was important is that Lane some how roped me into going to church with his family - which I usually do - but going to the pentecostal church his sister goes to, and watching her be rebaptized. (yeah, long story there too) This meant that I had to wake up on Sunday morning at 7:30 in order to be at their house in Orleans before 10, so that we could go to church. Then, after church and a gigantic lunch of french toast, sausages, and bacon, there was a party for all of the youth who had been baptized, and supposedly, their families. Because Lianne said Lane had to go, Lane said I had to go (so that he'd have some one to talk to, again) and off to the party we went. Now, this would have been somewhat awkward if all of the other youth's families had come, but only one or two other families had come, and they all knew eachother. So we were the only youth there who didn't fit in, and Lane's poor sister had to go her party with an entourage. She took it better than I would have!

After the party we did homework, went on a walk, and had dinner, which strangely enough wasn't 5 times larger than it needed to be! It was still delicious. Dinner was followed by Banana-grams (my new favourite game) and dessert. By the time I got home it was 10:30, and I pretty much went directly to bed.

Yesterday all I did was work, laundry, and some other little errands that I had planned. Nothing exciting!

And that leads to today, a day full of classes, and when I'm not in class, research, and when I'm not researching, updating my notes for Spanish. Fuuuunnn.

Just a thought...

I just wanted to point out how funny I think it is that I have "followers" and that slowly, the number is growing:)

It makes me feel loved, famous, and geeky.

Summary or Novel? (Illustrations!)

In these pics...

1-3 Squash at the market, Oct. 15

4-7 Canal by night

8 Looks like Amber has a secret? Actually, she just wanted a picture of bark.

9 Hot chocolate!

10-14 Just to clarify, the gate was unlocked, we just wanted some silly pictures...

15-17 Deadly Dessert!

18-19 Metric!

Summary or Novel? (Part 2)

Yesterday...(Oct 24)

I had a really great time with my discipleship group in the morning, and then made spaghetti sauce and went to English. The actual English class was not so fabulous, the prof spent most of the class talking about how badly we did on the midterms, and then we had a quiz which I'd forgotten about, and needless to say hadn't done the reading for. I was dreading recieving my midterm back at the end of the class, but my dread was for no reason: my mark was 93%!! I was so shocked, and so happy. It made my french class afterwards bearable! After French Amber and I had Spaghetti, and then went to a really great Campus for Christ meeting. As usual, the meeting was followed by a social. This time we went to a 50's diner called Zak's, instead of going to a pub. We walked there as a group, and I was walking with Amber and this guy named Chris, who was SO HILARIOUS. He was doing some sort of strange rapping thing with another guy's drum, and then speaking in all these strange voices. When we got there, Amber ended up at a different table, but Chris, and the guy with the drum were at mine. Turns out the guy with the drum is named Jacques Villeneuve, but he doesn't drive a race car, sorry dad. (Or maybe that makes you happy?)

The table I was at was very crazy. First, we were told that we had no choice but to try a deep fried mars bar, which Zak's is famous for. I didn't want a whole one, and neither did Chris, so our table decided that we should share one. Yes, the table decided, not us. So then some how there was a lot of switching places, first so that it would be physically possible for Chris and I to share this infamous desert, then because some how Chris and the person he was sitting beside ended up married, and then divorcing, and then hating each other in a sort of loving way...yeah, I dont get it either. Long story short, we had a great time. Amber and I met up again when we left the diner, and the group walked 25 minutes in the POURING rain - pouring like Esperanza or Edmonton in a thunder storm - to get to someone's house where the plan was to watch a movie. Other than discovering one of my pairs of boots are no longer waterproof, because the sole is coming off, the walk was pretty good. And we saw a skunk! (And then everyone laughed at me for being amazed and excited by this!) Amber and I stayed long enough for our hair to dry, and then headed back out for the 10 minute walk home. By the time I was home I was soaked again, man was I glad that I'd decided to bring my rain coat.

Today!

I learned that it is possible to cut a few pieces out of a frozen pizza and cook them quite successfully in the toaster oven. YAY! While it was cooking I was trying to dry my only bowl, which I use 2-3 times a day, and dropped it on the tile in the lounge. Needless to say, I no longer have a bowl. After cleaning up the mess, I put my pizza in a container and ran downstairs to meet the other girls in my discipleship group, because we were going to our leader's house for some social time. For those of you who were thinking of how nice it must be for me at this time of year to not be stressing about the craft fair and making chocolates, guess what we did? Make chocolates! Definitely not 25 dozen though, thankfully. Then we watched a movie and went shopping, where I bought a fall-winter coat, and the warmest mittens ever! Too bad they aren't waterproof, but the are very thick wool lined with thinsulate. My other similar mittens which aren't quite as warm kept me dry yesterday though, so I guess as long as I'm not having a snowball fight, these will be fine. I'm glad that this yucky week ended so well! Hopefully next weekend will end the same way, and how could it not - there'll be free candy!

Summary, or Novel?

So, as you may have noticed, I haven't exactly written anything for several days, and that would be because I've been madly studying in an attempt to at least pass my Politics midterm. No results yet, but at least it's over with. While I haven't been writing anything, quite a bit has been happening, and so I thought I'd take this moment, or more likely an hour, while my room mate is still sleeping, to write some of it out for you! And maaaaybe I'll post some pictures too.

October 17

Amber and I, both thinking we were finally recovered enough to at least walk, decided to meet up along the canal. We ended up walking through a bunch of streets, and taking a million pictures. We found a sketchy looking park, where we sat on the swings for a while, and went down the slide, and then we went to Second Cup to have some hot chocolate (I had white hot chocolate with whipped cream and vanilla powder on top) because we were pretty cold. After tons of laughter, being invited in to some 40 year old's place for drinks (of course, an invitation, and capturing sufficient evidence of our insanity, we decided to say goodnight and go our separate ways home. When I got back to rez it was full of parties, and I felt pretty convicted about the way I've been living life here. There's a lot of temptation to do things that I know aren't who I am, there's a lot of sin, and sometimes it's a really hard place to be a Christian! It really made me feel how precious God's presence in my life is, and how glad I am that I know who I am in him - and in His strength I can make it through the challenges that come my way.

October 18

I definitely didn't accomplish as much as I was hoping to accomplish on the 18th. Grocery shopping, tidying my room, and some other errands which I dont completely remember. Pastor Gordon phoned to say hi, as he was in town visiting his mom. It was nice to talk to him, but after hanging up the phone I was filled with a new wave of homesickness. I guess just the thought that someone from home is somewhere in this city set me off, and I really wanted to be able to see and hear and hug all of my family and friends. Speaking of sin and rez, the treat that Taylor and Veronica and I had to cheer ourselves up at the end of the day ranks pretty high up there. Chips-ahoy cookies, with a thick layer of Nutella (which I'm now obsessed with), and then a thick layer of canned whipping cream, and then some reeces pieces. Definitly more than my daily amount of calories in one serving, but considering how fake all of it was, it was sooooo good!

Oh yeah, sometime over Friday/Saturday nights I booked my flights home for Christmas! My last exam is on the 22nd, and I take the first possible flight out of Ottawa after the exam!

October 19

The deadly desert party on Friday night went a little late, considering my plan to wake up at 8:30 and take the bus to Grace Presbyterian in Orleans for church. I managed to get up, get ready, and run to the bus stop. On the way there I realized that I did not bring the directions that I'd written out a few days before, did not have change or tickets for the bus (it doesn't take bills, so I couldn't have even payed extra) and had left a few minutes late to catch the bus I needed. I remembered that on the directions I'd written out I would arrive at church 5 minutes early, but that certainly didn't give me enough extra time to miss a bus that runs every 30 minutes. I also remembered that although I'd been planning to phone Lianne and let her know I was coming, I'd forgotten. But, I was determined to at least get there and find the church. I asked 5 people and finally found someone with change for my 5, caught the next 95 bus to Orleans, got off and remembered I could either take the 120 or the 135 to get to the stop I needed, got on the 120 and told the bus driver where I needed to go - not only did I press the button at the right time, but just incase he also reminded me. Thats' the third time I've asked a bus driver for assistance in Orleans, and the first time he's given it to me correctly! I got off the bus, walked up the road, found the church, and went inside just in time to meet Lianne and Lane who were waiting to head into the sanctuary. On top of all of my errors getting there, I ended up being just 10 minutes late. Even though it's a bit of a commute, I think I might continue going to Grace, I felt really at home in there, even though it was my first time going! I had chili for lunch at the Johnston's place, and then came home despite their invitation to stay for dinner, as I needed to get some work done.

I ended up getting my laundry done, at least. But not much studying.

October 20

I woke up in the morning and decided to do my Bible study before class. Taylor was out, so I listened to some Christian music, and spend quite a bit of time in prayer, and then read my bible. I finished just in time to brush my teeth and walk with Becca to our Politics class (doom, destruction, and demise, as I not so fondly call it) After class I studied for several hours. When Veronica's room mate came by at 5:30 saying that she had two tickets to the Metric concert that night that she couldn't use, and if we couldn't take them, Veronica might have to go alone. My studying ended, and the mad rush to get ready began. I know that I should have been studying, but I had reached the point where I wasn't absorbing anything, I was just getting more and more frustrated. At 6:30 the three of us were ready to go, the only problem was that the tickets said the doors opened at 7:00, so we thought we were late. Of course I was wearing heels, and Taylor/Veronica were scared that we weren't going to get there. So we walked quickly to the mall, through the mall, ran down the esculator, and then outside, where we saw the bus approaching the stop on the other side of the street a block away. Veronica bolts off, and Taylor follows her - but I had the tickets, and didn't know which bus to take, so I had to follow too. Running down an uneven side walk in heels, and across the road to a bus was not exactly my dream form of transportation! I made it, without any face plants or broken ankles. It wasn't until after we had been on the bus for 5 minutes that Veronica suddenly exclaimed how bad of an idea it had been. But we were on the bus, and we were on our way to the concert - my first, actually, since Fedstock wasn't really a concert, and we didn't stay for the whole time.

It was SO good! To make the day even better, I checked the mailbox when we got back and had a giant parcel of homemade cookies! The group of us sat down having cookies and ice water, and playing with my spanish magnetic poetry. Here's my favourite sentence that we made:

La Galleta vive en la leche.

The cookie lives in the milk!

October 21-23

(In point form, since not that much happened, and I dont remember the order of any of it!)

- By fluke, I wrote about my family for my first spanish assignment. Turns out that we actually HAD to write about our family, but somehow I'd missed reading that line of directions. Finally a mark in University I was proud of, 100% Unfortunately, it doesn't count for much, maybe 5%.

- I had a little crash during English. I answered a question incorrectly, and then got a mark back that was lower than I'd expected for last week's quiz. I ended up crying for an hour. Not so much because of the low mark and wrong answer, but because I've been trying my best here, and never in my life has my best really not been good enough for me.

- The politics exam was significantly easier than I had expected, which is good, because I went in thinking there was no way I could even pass it, and came out thinking there was a small chance that I passed....I guess I'll find out in a week or so.

- Strange things kept happening, for instance, Taylor and I were talking about using our keyboards in French, while she was taking a break from typing up a lab report. Somehow, her keyboard put itself into french while we were talking about it, but her computer still thought it was in English, so we had a difficult time trying to put it back!

- I got my history midterm mark back. Have I written already that my history prof says "exams are a celebration of your knowledge?) . Maybe not so celebratory. My mark, which was a satisfactory mark for the new "must-get-used-to-low-grades-in-university" Jen, was still disappointing. (75)

That leads me to yesterday, and Lunch time, even though it is still very dark outside. I'm going to Angela's house today with the rest of my discipleship group from Campus for Christ - this time for a social. I'm looking forward to it, but since I have to leave in less than an hour, and I have lots of stories to tell from yesterday, the rest of this post will have to wait.