June 30th

1. The last post of this series of thirty!! can't believe I'm finally at the end (actually i still need 29 more i suppose)

2. had some weird dreams last night,. i was locked in a house that was about to lobw up and all the doorways were blocked with detonators or something. then i tore down the wall so i could get out. strange. so much more to the dream, but i do not want to write it all out!

3. we went to the calgary zoo today!! it's about my fourth time and i really enjoy it!

4. it was raining cotton like crazy while walking past the elephants.

5. the monkeys were really fun jumping back and forth and falling. it was a bit odd but fun to watch.

6. went to a creatures of the night exhibit and the bats were huge.

7. we were watching the hippos about a foot away eating and lindie goes, "oh, we just missed the feeding by fifteen minutes!" then she looked ahead and noticed they were eating already meaning in a way we were watching the feeding.

8. saw some people getting married

9. i got a bunch of pictures of sandy chasing a peacock cuz i wanted a picture of her petting it.

10. i had lots of stuff about the zoo that i could write stuff about, but now i can't remember.

11. my feet are really really dirty and gross. solid black actually.

12. went to pete's drive-in tonight and they have the best burgers!! yay for alberta beef!

13. just played some jenga but i kept ruining it by pulling out bad ones.

14. played chicken's foot and won twice. hoorah!

15. now we're going to go to a movie tonight.

16. lindie had to pick up a lifejacket for her parents dog today. i thought that was pretty funny.

17. now i'm sitting against a sharp corner that is digging into my back. ouch. too tired to move though!!

18. it's nice and warm outside and there was some freak hailstorm and raining,b ut it sure mad ehtings interesting. i hve now sad interesting way too many times in this post.

19. i dont' think i will ever do this format for my blogs again,b ecause by the end of the month it's brutal!!

20. mm.. i have cherries in my trunk and would like to eat them.

21. i am wearing my white hat right now and really like it.

22. my car is still relatively clean after the drive.. i was surprised. it's dirty but still has a nice shine.

23. now i'm trying to rack my brain for something i can write on here.

24. i'm wearing my jean capris that i found in my closet while loooking for thing sto pack.

25. i have a lot of mosquito bites and they're itchy.

26. today at the zoo we took more pictures of us with stupid signs than the animals.

27. sandy wanted to go to the dinosaur area which wasn't that exciting.. we thought maybe they'd be mechanical and exciting but no such luck!

28. i'm really enjoying my time in calgary, it's good times.

29. my arms are sore.

30. i'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 29th

1. Today was road trip Day!! whoo hoo!! i've never driven past hope on my own so it was nice to be able to drive a little bit farther.

2. We left bright and early with our first stop being starbucks of course just to pick up some beverages for the road. it was pretty fun.

3. There was lots of construction on the road which made a bunch of stops.

4. we took some pictures of some of the guys at the construction sites so that made things even more interesting.

5. was sad when there wer eten million signs saying that there was wildlife on the road and i didn't actually see any. made me a bit disappointed.

6. there was a cocky guy in a convertible that kept waving every time someone would pull over for him. later we saw him going the other way on the freeway though so it kind of made me wonder..

7. got a spedding ticket! oops... the guy clocked me, i was going 123 in a 90 zone, then he paced me and i was going 145... funny thing is i hadn't gone near that fast all day, but something had just happened that made me excited and therefore i was suddenly speeding.

8. when he came up to the window he goes "um, i pulled you over for speeding.." haha.. i thought it would be for another reason.

9. then when he came back to the window with the ticket, he goes, "so, this is a speeding ticket". right, i was curious as to what he would give me. i thought maybe a birthday gift?

10. he was a nice cop though,b ecause had he given me a ticket for the higher speed, it would have bumped it up to a 350 dollar fine and i woudl have had to come back for a court date. :)

11. the mountains were absolutely amazing and beautiful. what a display of the incredibly majesty and glory of God! There were some glaciers on a bunch of them as well which was quite nice.

12. sandy made me play the jack johnson cd ten million times and now i think i'm just about as sick of it as i could possibly be!! haha

13. stopped at wendy's for lunch and i saw a family with four kids going out for lunch to celebrate school being over. they were really cute and all prayed together before eating. it was just great to see their boldness in prayer in public and the example they were setting for their children.

14. i made it all the way to calgary on a little over one tank of gas!! yay mazda 6!

15. i was thankful for cruise conrol yesterday.. kieeps you going at a steady pace which is always nice.

16. got attacked by a grizzly bear at one stop. in golden. okay, so it was just a statue, but sitll it was kind of exciting. took some good pictures which i will perhaps post one day soon, if you're all lucky.

17. lucy (my gps system as i have named her) led us straight to lindie's house which was nice.

18. we decided to go to moxie's for dinner and lucy was telling us how to get there, but i guess she had some messed up directions and we ended up in the middle of a residential area.

19. since lucy led us astray we decided to go to chili's instead. had some southwestern eggrolls and they were pretty good, but the guy said they weren't spicy and they were, so i was a bit surprised at that.

20. sat, sandy' brother met us there and we went to starbucks afterwards to hang out.

21. starbucks here closes at ten! crazy, wish ours closed at ten!! well, when i was working there, now i dont' really mind if it was open later seeing that i'm just a customer now.

22. took a tour of sat's house. always interesting to see where people live.

23. went back to lindie's and she was there (always a plus since she wasn't the first time we arrived)

24. as soon as i was ready to go to bed, i was absolutely wired and couldn't stop talking.. haha.. i think sandy really enjoyed me at that point.

25. it was really cloudy here but still nice and warm. i liked it.

26. i would have updated this last night, but there was no internet signal.. so thank you all for your patience for the day.

27. can't believe i'm gone and i'm not working anymore.

28. i still get my starbucks discount everywhere which makes me excited!

29. wow, can't believe i made it to 29...

June 28th

1. My first day of not being employed-and what a glorious day it was!

2. Started the day off with a morning round of golf with my brother chad. it was one of my worst games but then again, i haven't golfed in three years!!

3. Trying to get my golf clubs together, i realized some are missing, including my golf bag, which makes me a bit sad...

4. Had some eggo waffles in the toaster this morning and the ones i made for my brother were burned. how sad that i can not even "cook" those properly, yet I can cook many other wonderful things!

5. Cleaned my fish tank today and took out some more gravel. I started with way too much initialy which created some of the health problems in the tank s well as some of the deaths.

6. I'm worried for my fish after tomorrow when I'm gone. Hope they're all alive upon my return.

7. Washed my car today too. I know it will get filthy on the drive to Calgary tomorrow, but I wanted to clean it for today! And boy did I enjoy the shimmery shinyness of it all!

8. When I was washing my car, the sprayer didn't fit on right and consequently sprayed me the whole time and then i was soaked. It was hot out though so I didn't mind too much!

9. left the house to run millions of errands.. i love running errands!

10. i went to visit theo at his work today and he played some of the pianos for me and they sounded amazing!! makes me think that perhaps i should start playing again.

11. sandy and i were going to go buy snacks for our road trip from costco. then we realized that it would be silly to buy anything that mass/bulk size for the two of us on a road trip. hahaha... so we went to walmart instead.

12. i started packing but to no avail. then i had to leave again!!

13. theo and i went to bard on the beach tonight: measure for measure. it was good, although beacuse of traffic we missed the first twenty minutes, so i wasn't totally sure in the beginning what was going on!

14. i still have to pack. i have a bunch of stuff sitting on my bed and no suitcase to put it in (they went missing...)

15. the stars were amazing tonight!! and dusk.. the mountains and the ocean silhouetted by the yellow glow mixed with blues after the sun was gone was beautiful!

16. i'm really hungry right now.. but it's silly to eat at midnight.

17. Funny how two people can talk about something but never quite talk about it. Frustrating actually when you just want to talk about it...

18. I have weird bumps on the top of my hand.

19. My shirt smells like coconut!

20. i wish my clothes would hop into the suitcase and pack themselves!!

21. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! i'm leaving in seven hours and i'm not ready. i would like to sleep too.. seeing that i have a long drive ahead of me!

22. they put up the new freeway signs for the mt. lehman exit today!! they look great! good to have a proper sign ahead of time now!

23. twice tonight i didn't merge right away for construction because i didn't see it. then last minute i switched lanes upon noticing the subtle flashing lights and cones in front of me. a bright and observant one i am.

24. in the next couple days, my apologies of the post is a day or two late.. it will come, but i dont' know what computer access will be like!

25. june is almost over. that's crazy. seems like it hasn't even started yet!! how time flies.

26. i feel as though i am filling the numbers aimlessly..

27. oh wait! that's what i truly am doing!

28. BYE everyone!! Tune in soon to hear happenings from the travels of vanessa!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!

I decided to look in my archives and check when I started this blog and I realized my blog was one year old yesterday! Wow.. Crazy to think that I started this a year ago!! Doesn't really seem like it. That means I've been home for a year! wow... Anyway, just thought I'd throw out the happy birthday/happy first year anniversary to my blog! Thanks to all my faithful blog readers over the past years (even though you never comment and i really am led to believe that not many read it...)

June 27th

1. The long awaited day has finally come: No more Starbucks!!!!

2. Funny because today was the day at starbucks a bunch of new stuff came out and all the staff were supposed to wear their summer shirts. Josh told me I wouldn't get one,b ecause I'm leaving.. when i got there in the morning, my manager was like, "well, josh is gone and as a going away gift, here's a shirt!" so i too got to don the bright yellow summer starbucks shirt.. and now i have yet another shirt to add to my plethera of t-shirts in my closet!

3. Des, a girl I have worked with many times and opened with often came through drive-thru before work to give me some flowers and a card!! it was so sweet! It made my day!

4. And sandy came by after her graveyard shift to have breakfast with me on my first break.

5. then, to make the day even better, one of my favorite drive-thru customers, martin came through and gave me one of his company hats!! it's a really nice hat and i was super excited!! this too made my day! so many things to make a day! crazy times.

6. work was chaotic today. people everywhere not seeming to know what they were doing. and stuff everywhere. not too organized. i was happy to be leaving!

7. feels like i still have to go to work tomorrow... but nope! freedom..

8. i need to start packign or getting ready for goign away someday.

9. since it was my last day at work and my last time wearing shoes, i decided to treat myself to a pedicure today. so sad though because soon after it was done, my big toe got stepped on, smudging the nail polish. it makes me overly sad.. perhaps a little bit too sad. such a nice bright blue it is as well. I am left in a dilemna as to what to do!

10. went to red robin's for lunch with a good friend of mine from high school. it was so great to reconnect and talk a little. always a blessing to reconnect with old friends and hear where they're at and what's going on in their lives.

11. going swimming today with carrie! hooray! i haven't seen her in forever and it'll be nice to talk rather than just email and it's a perfect day for it as well. the water will be nice and refreshing, as long as i don't burn myself to a crisp tomato red!

12. i am so excited to never smell overly like coffee again! no more arm hair coffee saturation, or my purse and wallet smelling like coffee from sitting at work. might be nice right after, but gross later when it's the stale coffee smell!

13. I need to go buy some new flip flops for the summer. Mine have morphed to my feet and have no support whatsoever (compared to the amazing support flip flops generally give!)

14. i have many starbucks shirts that i know not what to do with now. they shall perhaps become pajama tops and workout shirts!

15. This afternoon swimming was great-although I think the pool was warmer than outside at times!

16. Even though I tried covering my face I'm pretty sure I burned a bit of my nose!! But I didn't burn as bad as Carrie did!

17. Went for dinner with Carrie tonight which was nice. hadn't seen her in a while and it was really great to catch up.

18. I watched the girls on Canadian Idol tonight with my mom and I suspect the two that will get kicked off, but we shall see!! Always enjoyable to hear all the different styles of singing though!

19. went to starbucks tonight to get my discount!! I have to use it while I can!

20. When I was pulling in to starbucks I noticed my friend Tara, who just got engaged!! YAY!! Congratulations! I'm really excited for her and Scott as they plan their wedding!

21. I'm going to go golfing tomorrow morning early. So much for sleeping in! Oh well, it will be worth it to golf with my brother!

22. I feel like everythign is in pure chaos right now and I'm not ready to go away for a month.

23. Tomorrow I have ten million things to do! Especialy to clean the fish tank since I dont' think it will be cleaned for quite some time while I'm gone. No one to really do it. OH well, hopefully the fishies will persevere through the month without me!

24. I'm continually reminded that I need to find my satisfaction in the Lord, else I will be restless and dissatisfied. Also to enjoy the moment because as I'm looking ahead, it simply makes me anxious and nothing is enjoyed then.

25. sometimes i wish i knew what other people were thinking.

26. my bedroom is actually cooled off tonight! Hooray!

27. I'm supposed to hang out with Sandy and Carrie again later, but I kind of just want to go to bed!! I guess we'll see when they call and what happens!

June 26th

1. Last night i had good intentions of going to bed early. Then I realized that my room was forty degrees and there was no hope of sleep in the near future. So I talked with two friends on the phone for an hour and a half and then sleep came welcomingly!

2. My second last open today!! Whoo hoo! Only one more shift left!

3. As I was leaving the house this morning at 4:00 am, my leg felt a bit breezy. it was then i realized that there was a giant hole in the side of my capris.. good thing i realized it before i got to work and could go change it! Looks like I should go shopping for some new capris!!

4. It's so nice to have tons of people who come into work who know me. One guy was mocking me this morning because i'm always overly cheerful. haha

5. went to cultus this morning/afternoon and sat there for about an hour. Sandy didn't really want to go swimming, so we decided to head into chilliwack!

6. went to a starbucks in chilliwack where my old assistant manager is now the new manager. nice to see the store and look around.

7. were recommended to go to a sushi place on luckakuk called 'seven sushi'. really good! had some gyoza and some other sushi.

8. the sushi place was right next to toews music where a friend of mine works, so that was fun to go visit as well and see all the different instruments.

9. It is so incredibly hot! I can barely handle it!

10. I never complained about the rain, actually I liked it.. and now it's gone!

11. Just watched Canadian Idol and voted a bunch of times for Greg Neufeld, a guy who I graduated with. He sang amazing so if you're ever watching, be sure to vote for him!! Whoo hoo!

12. I keep phoning to vote and it's busy, but I'm getting a few votes in!

13. In twelve hours I will be done at starbucks!! Hoorah!

14. In the evening it's still so hot! Thank goodness for nice ice cold showers!!

15. Tomorrow at Starbucks it's partner appreciation day. I find it ironically fitting that it's on my last day! haha

16. I really wanted to go to bed at seven tonight but I'm glad I held out!

17. I think it's silly that you can vote ten million times for stuff like Canadian Idol and American Idol, because truly then it's the person who has the most persevering fans.. so i decided i would keep voting as I push my redial while I write this blog..

18. I really would like to buy a new cell phone, beacuse mine never has any reception in my house and it's kind of annoying. i think i've mentioned it before, but it frustrates me moreso now!

19. Today at Cultus there were so many young teens there.. it was interesting to overhear some of their conversations.. couldn't stay long

20. The sunsets have been amazing of late! What an amazing God we serve who makes beautifuul sunsets every evening for us to enjoy.

21. I leave in two days and am not ready at all. it has been decided now though that we are staying in a hotel and not camping. i think this will be the better decision in the long run!

22. I wish myhouse had air conditioning!

23. My manager is opening iwth me tomorrow morning just in case she doesn't show up!! haha.. now i'm worried that she won't be there!

24. I have a pedicure tomorrow morning after work and am so excited!! Finally I don't have to wear shoes anymore for any reason!! hoorah!! summer is here, no more work and I can wear flip flops and sandals forever!

25. i need to get a golf game in before i go. but it's pretty hot and i can't see myself golfing very well in the heat!

26. this brings an end to this post. always a challenge to get to the end. only four more days left and then my blogging can resume normalcy (not a word, but that's okay)

June 25th

1. I awoke this morning to the smell of baked bean mixtures and pigs roasting!! MMM! every year we have an annual pig roast in memory of my brother Leon. His friends, their families and our extended family all usually come.


2. My cousins: Simon and Ken













3. There will be about 70 people here today for our annual pig roast. It's always around Leon's birthday and is in memory of him. We are also having a big chocolate fountain!! Hoorah! I will post pictures this time around for all of you to enjoy!

4. We had about seventy people over and my mom has been cooking away the whole weekend and made a fantastic feast for everyone!

5. Chad and the pig

6. this is the chocolate fountain man!! what good chocolate it was!

7.

8. a bit of volleyball fun-although i played around three when it was stifling and it was brutally hot!

9. this thing is not letting me post any more pictures, so this post shall continue on separately!

June 25th

10. I realized the numbers were screwed up on the previous post, so we will begin this one with ten! sorry for the confusion!

11. these are the birthday cakes I made for my mom :

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14. It was so hot today! I could barely stand the heat. Now I would like to go to bed, but my room is sweltering. I closed my windows and blinds to not let the sun's heat come in, and now they're open, but there seems to be a lack of a breeze this evening.

15.













16. I got my shift switched tomorrow from a seven hour one to a five hour one and now I'm opening! Yay! I usually open on mondays with another shfit who opens every monday and I'm glad we get one last day to open together, because we always have a great time!

17. I am wearing my new skirt and I do love it so!

18. i realized today that perhaps i need to get on it and start packing for my trip. or at least make a pile of stuff to bring or something!!

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20. If I think it's hot here, I can't wait to get to Montreal where I hear it's been cookin' with super high humidity to boot!! I remember last summer there when humidity was near 100% and it was brutal.

21. Doesnt feel like i'm leaving for over a month in a little bit. Feels like I'll be here, but I will surely miss my day to day life here at home. Oh well! Summer of adventures here we come!

22. Someone told me that the place I'm going camping thursday night gets super cold at night!! And Sandy who I'm camping with hates the cold! Whatever shall she do!! Maybe I just wont' tell her... :)

23. My pictures take about five minutes to load each because I take them on such high quality with my camera and i never shrink them before posting them!! So I've put a lot of time into this post just so you all know!

24. I hate my phone in my house. No matter where I am I have no reception! It's really annoying because you'd think I'd have clear reception out of the comfort of my own home! weird...

25. Now with this final number I shall say farewell. Hope you all enjoyed the pictures as a sneakpeek into my last few days! And I hope you guys enjoyed the integrated photo numbering as well as facts from my day!

June 24th

1. Sometimes when I post at the end of the day I wish I had done it earlier so I could be in bed now.

2. This morning I awoke startled that I was late for work. I ran to my bathroom and put on my work clothes and walked back out only to realize it was 2:30 am. then i went back to bed.

3. Sadly I turned off my alarm clock at 2:30am and when I awoke at 4:20 am the numbers seemed odd.. then i realized that's because i'm supposed to be at work at 4:15. never in my life have i been late for a single shift until today. my perfect record is spoiled.

4. work was busy this morning, but fun nonetheless.

5. made and drank the most disgusting drink today. In a short cup, 4 pumps caramel, 5 pumps valencia, matcha powder (green tea) with steamed soy and caramel drizzle. gross. Josh and i made everyone try it just because we thought it was so funny.

6. the aftertaste of nasty drink lasted about an hour and left a chalky taste in your mouth. I can still taste remnants of it.

7. went to earls for lunch today and they bought some really fn new umbrellas for their patio. they're bright green and bright yellow and a lot of fun. at the right angle, they change the look of your skin color making things interesting.

8. i ate my first three cherries of the summer just now and they were good. I spit the pits into a half full starbucks cup of iced tea lemonade. hopefully no one feels the urge to drink the rest.

9. fell asleep on the couch this afternoon without meaning to!

10. after sandy got off work at nine, i brought japanese food to her house and we had a picnic on her balcony, watching the sunset and watching the sky change its multitude shades of blue.

11. it was sumas day today (the little town in the u.s. that's right across the border). they had fireworks and we watched them and it was fun.

12. Sumas, which is called a ghost town and doesn't have a very big population had better fireworks on their annual Sumas Day than Abbotsford (town of 130 000) has on Canada Day. Crazy.

13. Speaking of Sumas, they have an amazing Mexican food restaurant there. One of the only establishments left in the town other than a couple gas stations, a bar and a grocery store.

14. there's a photo convention in october i'd like to go to. An all day affair and the topics look mighty interesting.

15. Church tonight was really good. Challenging. Talked about gradualism and how were in our society gradually get pulled to complacency and tolerance by living int he world. Suddenly things aren't as bad anymore.

16. There was also a parable about a man who wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. someone wanted to buy it for 1000 and the only condition with that was that the owner could keep one item, that was the nail on top of the door. years later the old owner wants to buy the house back, and the new one says no. so the old owner finds a dog carcass and hangs in on the nail so that the stench and rot become so bad the new people have to sell the house and move out.

17. The parallel with that was that we ought not to let satan have a nail above our doorpost, where he can hang his rotten garbage so that my life becomes a stench and unlivable. interesting thinking.

18. Where in my life have I begun tolerating things of the world that are not of His word, just so I could be accepted, loved, have easy flowing relationships... there are definitely a few i can think of off the top of my head.

19. this number is to say hello to those people in church i said hi to tonight that mentioned something about reading my blog!! haha.. thought that deserved a number.

20. Two more shifts left!!!!

21. I have a day off tomorrow and we're having a piggy roast!

22. I am so thankful that where I work is air conditioned.

23. My room however is not.

24. So I might melt in my sleep tonight...

June 23rd

1. It is nice and warm out today and I wore summery work clothes for the first time to work!

2. today i was going to the bunker room to get some stuff out of the freezer (the bunker room is outside and downstairs) and two birds were sitting on the railing right outside the sliding door. For some reason in my head i thought they were going to attack me, so i kept opening and closing the door making them fly away.. but they kept coming back and chirping at each other (most likely their attack plan...) My mom got someone to knock down their nest the other day and I figured they were made and ready for attacking. So I waited to go outside. I think if I were ever attacked by birds it would perhaps scar me for life.. (emotionally that is! haha) They seem like such menacing creatures sometimes.

3. Only three more shifts left!

4. Last night I went to bed at six pm. Don't think I've ever gone to bed that early. Then I woke up early so I could meet sandy for coffee at five am. she had just gotten off a graveyard and i was getting ready to go to work. it was nice. I am still tired for some strange reason. I suppose that is the direct result of not getting enough sleep!

5. i was unable to pick up mymail today because the post office thing closes at 2:30 and I got off at that time. silly canada post.

6. i had some other really good quotes and thought from the book I was reading. Now they are forgotten and i wonder how deeply I really thought about them.

7. Found out today that i will be helping out with the 24-7 prayer room in montreal during soar. i dont' really feel equipped for it or at that place, but obviously i'm being placed there for a reason, so it should be itneresting!

8. our starbucks is getting a new assistant manager! sad to see josh go, but he got promoted to manager and will be going to a store in chilliwack (yay for him!) and a guy who recently got promoted to assistant manager from sumas will be coming to our store. i wont' be there, but it's news nonetheless.

9. there's an ant pest control guy here. 6 pm on a friday night. seems strange to me. oh well, hopefully the ants will go away. seems the barkmulch brought them

10. i wonder how much time i spend writing all of these things every day.

11. it's friday night and i'm at home and all i can think of to do is clean my fish tank. i have decided the fish will stay dirty. and hopefully i will find something else to do.

12. i wonder how much more my phone charges for text messaging. maybe it's free. my bills don't seem outrageously high or anything. i like getting text messages. perhaps you should all send me some.. since you all know my number of course.

13. i would like school to start next week.

14. today would have been my brother Leon's 26th birthday. crazy

15. we have a really amazing framed tapestry from thailand in our stairwell and i'm looking at it right now. it's really nice.

16. i feel like going swimming. i am going to install an automatic pool opener. or i'll just go open it myself i guess.

17. that means i have to type faster here so i can go swimming sooner.

18. i can type 70 words a minute. i love typing super fast, just because it sounds really cool, and to imagine that someone is actuallyt yping words out o that is a ltitle bit crazy. gee i wish i could write that fast,b ecause i like writing letters,b ut by hand it is a bit tedious. oh well. gotta work out those hand muscles somehow.

19. maybe i'll go for a walk as well.

20. i keep thinking of something i can write about my day today but i can't

21. it's supposed to be really hot this weekend. i hate the heat.

22. my mom wants me to go to costco with her but i really dont' want to go.

23. i really like my hair today. and it is nice and clean.

June 22nd

1. Worked this morning and it was interesting. Very busy and not enough people on. For about an hour I ran back and forth making drinks for drive-thru and front. I think we had about 45 customers in a half hour (and each customer orders an average of two or more drinks...) so i was busy and tired by the end of it. now exhaustion has caught up with me.

2. had a bit of a spat with a co-worker today but it kind of got left unresolved. I get so incredibly frustrated while working there. Everything chaotic and no one fully knows where they are and what their roles are. Not good for a work environment. Fine when it's slow but bad when it's busy.

3. Only four more shifts though!

4. Today I walked around Mill Lake and upon driving in, I noticed that the playground 30 km/hr sign had been switched with black tape or something to 80 km/hr. haha.. at first i had to double take because i was shocked at the speed limit being so high, especially in a park! :)

5. I started reading a book at work today on my break (although I was outside and it was sunny and I couldn't see, so I stopped). but on the first two pages that i read, this quote stuck out to me:

6. " To be satisfied by the beauty of God does not come naturally to sinful people. By nature we get more pleasure from God's gifts than from himself." -John Piper

7. What do you guys think of that? I was reminded of how often I praise creation versus the creator, the blessings versus the Blesser...

8. went for japanese taday at midori and it was all right. not the best though. Although I hear two new japanese restaurants are opening up in abbotsford!

9. i changed my church's sign this week (as i do weekly) and it was funny, because i had the whole thing laid out (letters out of the box) when I got to the last letter and realized i was short one letter! so i had to switch what it would say. I must order more Y's!!

10. I really want to go take a nap.. but then I know i won't sleep tonight.

11. had my first summer slurpee today and it was good. Mountain Dew and Pepsi!

12. my car gets really hot in the sun-good ol' black leather!

13. I have milk marks on my work shirt. Normal after work, but this time they're on my shoulder.. haha.. I wonder how they got there!! Must be a crazier worker than I thought!

14. Yesterday i thought it was monday, today i think it's friday. boy my week has gone fast!

15. saw my favorite drive-thru customer twice today! Yay! but it was during rushes, so it was quick, but always fun

16. funny because after working at starbucks for five months, I've probably only ever worked from till about four or five times, two or three of those were in my training! haha.. either they like me on drive-thru and they schedule me for those shifts, or i'm just lucky to get it! because a day not on drive-thru is sometimes a bit sad... like tomorrow! but i'm sure it'll still be bearable somehow!

17. My popped blister hurts even more now after rubbing against my shoe all day at work.

18. met some of my neighbors at the shady customer service canada post booth where the people on my street have to drive fifteen minutes to get our mail every day until our community box comes. oh silly mail company. sucks to have to drive that far to pick up your mail! plus, they're only open until 2:30 every day which isn't too handy!

19. I leave in exactly one week!! Hoorah!

20. I want to go swimming but I think changing into the bathing suit and opening to pool would take far too much effort.

21. I will rather go lie on a blanket on the lawn and perhaps fall asleep if I'm so lucky!

22. I think the fall's going to be really busy for me. I'm excited for all the stuff happening though. Methinks I won't be working though. Tough decision for me. Any thoughts?

June 21st

1. Happy Birthday Mom!

2. I baked my mom two cakes today for her birthday and they were absolutely beautiful! So nicely decorated I was shocked that I had actually made them! I took some pictures and will surely post them soon!

3. Went to Greek Islands for dinner and it was good as usual. Had some Chicken Cordon Bleu and it was excellent.

4. I opened this morning and it was a good time, although i was pretty tired by the end from the built up lack of sleep. Also it was super busy. Lots of different thoughts about work right now, trying to sort through them all.

5. I was working at two in the afternoon tomorrow, but then I decided it would be a splendid idea to switch someone shifts so that I was opening! Haha.. This week I will have done five opens at 4:15 am!! eek! i dont' think it would be that bad if I actually went to bed early... maybe tonight I'll make it in bed by midnight.

6. Today was the longest day of the year!! And summer is here! Someone in drive-thru told me today that because of the gravitational pull, eggs will stand upright on a counter.. so that was my new topic of conversation and so i tried it when i got home and it didn't work. i was a bit sad.

7. we caught a mouse today. kind of exciting.

8. realized at work again that in my pride i have trouble submitting to authority especially. i need to cloak myself in His humility!! Hard to do though, because I'm so hard headed and proud!

9. tonight when i was with my family i was reminded again sometimes how i'm not myself. it's weird. and i try to be, but can't. what is it? fear of rejection perhaps? seems like i should be natural with my family because they're closest to me, but for the most part it's just awkward. and that makes me sad.

10. i'm drinking water right now and it tastes absolutely amazing. yum!

11. my mom is talking on the phone right now with her feet up on the desk and i am looking at her feet. what strange thigns feet are when you just htink of them on their own.

12. birthdays. what's special about them? some people hate them because they're getting older, etc. but really, it's a celebration of life! Look at all the years God has blessed people with and rather than dread it, we should celebrate it. more thoughts on that some other day.

13. there's a picture of me from grade eight on my mom's desk and it's really funny. i should change it.

14. today all day i felt like it was monday and it definitely threw me off. i kept asking people at work how their weekend was. oops!

15. right now it'smy favorite time of day when the sky is all various shades of blue.. ah, the beauty of dusk! goes from bright blue on one end to dark blue on the other.

16. on sunday we are roasting a pig. i will for sure post pictures. we do it every year.

17. i am admiring this fake tree in the office but i don't really think too fondly of it.

18. i really want to post the cake pictures, but i'm too lazy to go to my bedroom to get my memory card.

19. now i feel like baking things. anyone want anything? hehe..

20. my bed is unmade and ready for me to crawl into it.

21. haven't had much quality time with my bed lately. need to invest more into that relationship.

June 20th

1. I've been caught! (perhaps!) because this post wasn't actually posted on the 20th.. sigh. But then again, maybe no one noticed! In that case, totally disregard this one!

2. I decided since this blog is not on the day, I will post some pictures for the numbers.. seeing that this blog has been lacking pictures of late!

3. Went to Bard on the Beach: Midsummer's Night Dream and it was great!! We had a lot of fun! Sandy, Theo, Brooke, Preet, Barinder and I all went and it was a blast! Great entertainment and just good times all round. I highly recommend going!!

4. My day off was great yesterday! I realized it's my second last day off. And yes, I know, I have two months off, but it's definitely different to have a day off when you have a job. Not sure if that makes any sense!

5. I walked to Red Robin's from my house yesterday to meet someone for lunch! My shoes suck so I got some nasty blisters on my heels!! Good thing I had my flip flops in my purse for the walk home (beacuse those are such good support!)

6. Today was super busy and jam packed, but it's how I like things to be!! Makes everything run smoother in my mind if I can just go from one place to the next! I wanted to take a nap today but instead i bought a coffee with an extra shot to give me a bit of a caffeine kick! Pretty much does the same as a nap, except it saves time!

7. Hope you're enjoying the pictures. They're from different events in the past few days and i hope you can all figure out from what!!

8. I've been trying to spend a lot less time on the internet and it's been great! I have two laptops and they're in my room and so it's habit just to always go turn them on.. But I decided i would pack away the laptops and not go on them so much. And it's been really good to prioritize and so forth. Now I just use the one in the office here and there.

9. On my walk to Red Robin's today, I saw children's toys squished and all along the road. Strange.

10. Also on my walk I saw what would be a really cool picture opportunity, especially at dusk (which is as a matter of fact my favorite time of day!)

11. I smiled at an old man walking in the other direction and he gave me a huge smile and it was so sweet. One thing I noticed (just as an observation), was that his teeth looked kind of rotten, or very yellow. Anyway, he didn't care at all and it didn't stop him from smiling hugely at me. And it reminded me of how self-concscious were are about ourselves. Older people at that point don't seem to care. Not that they dont' care about themselves,b ut they see that certain things are as important as we used to make them. I wonder if I'll truly only come to that realization when I'm old.

12. That whole speal reminds me of this very funny church sign by sandy's house. And I laugh at it, becausei t's been up for over two months now and didn't make much sense at first. It says, "Age is high price to pay for maturity." Hmm.. Why wait until I'm old to realize these things and to move on in life. Not sure if that makes sense, but let me know your thoughts.

13. My blister just popped and it hurts. ouch.

14. I need to clean my fish tank again! silly fish.

15. yesterday i went through starbucks drive-thru and the people i was with ordered pastries, and they said they didnt' have them. but later i found out they did!! haha.. not sure why i needed to share that, but i wanted to. once again, random information you all should know.

16. tonight i got an overwhelming sense of peace. and trust in God over some things I've been grappling and wrestling over and it was just so freeing!! Thanks Lord!

17. My car desperately eneds to be cleaned and detailed! But I think it would be stupid right now, so I will wait until i return from my road trip to Calgary!

18. I haven't wrapped my mom's birthday presents cuz they're kind of awkward.. perhaps i shall just give them to her.. hmmmm...

19. I'm going to bake some cakes for my mom's birthday tomorrow and I'm so excited!! I love baking and I'm going to pick some fancier ones to make. I'm sure I'll be tired after work, but that's okay!

20. Okay, now i'm goign to post my fake June 20th post.. I did write it as though it was June 20th, just so we all are aware!! sigh.. Stay tuned for the next post later on today! Perhaps there will be some birthday cake pictures!!

June 19th

1. Since I posted during the day yesterday I wanted to write what I did last night! But I have no memory of it. haha.. oh wait

2. I took a five hour nap in the afternoon (very very stupid idea), then i went for a walk to london drugs to get some pics developed, and then i went out for some japanese with sandy. good times!

3. funny because last night iw as tired and was pretty excited to go to bed,b ut then I lay there wide awake not being able to sleep at all. So that was really too bad. Finally i just started reading a book an that was pretty cool. and then i fell asleep around one int he mornign only to wake up again at four so that i could be off to that wonderful early morning shift.

4. work was funt his morning but kind of busy. oen of our bars was broken and so instead of havign two bars to make drinks, we only had one during our rush which was tough with all the milk and stuff that needed to be steamed. but we made it through.

5.For one of our regular customers, the girl on drivethru and i sang ice ice baby through the speakers and it was pretty funny. we all enjoyed it and had a good laugh.

6. went out for lucnh witha girl from work toda and ti was good. we went to boston piza and it was quite enjoyable. ummy yummy.

7. my fish are happyb ut i need to change the filters so the water and get even cleaner!!

8. Tonight we had a pool party and bbq for the kids in divorce care for kids program we do at church. It was so great just to bless them and enjoy spending time with them. they're all so precious and it was great to watch them swim and just enjoy life.

9. Interesting watching the kids swimming today because they swam for about an hour and a half total, perhaps even a bit more. and they would run out, jump off the diving board, swim across the whole pool, get out, and jump off again. i would jump off once,s tay in the pool and perhaps even get bored. iw as remidned of how i need to simply enjoy life and just be. not to complicate things but just to be content swimming around and jumping off a diving board. not sure if that makes sense,b ut the picture made sense in my head.

10. i found out this morning that a guy who did lts at capernwray harbor and has been on staff there for the last two years passed away yesterday morning in his sleep. absolutely crazy to think of. just the shortness of life and the unknown of it all.

11. tonight the sky was absolutely beautiful-just the way the blues changed across the expanse.

12. i had a tea tonight at starbucks and all the honey stayed at the bottom and the bottom part of it was really sweet. thought you should all know.

13. everybody at work today lost their drive to work at a certain point and we all stood around and talked. it was nice.

14. only six more shifts left!!!

15. i realized today that i really need to clean my car. it's filthy. yuck

16. my mom gave me a really good necklace today and i'm really enjoying wearing it.

17. had some hot dogs for supper and they were really good

18. i am excited to read my book tonight. it's called a grace disguised and has brought up a lot of thoughts.

19. bed time!

June 18th

1. Yay! My second blog posting exactly on the day! how exciting is that!

2. Just got off work-only seven more shifts left!

3. Last night i got to bbq at an anniversary dinner and it was lots of fun! :) Played some dutch blitz as well and taught some others how to play. Always good to spread the joys of dutch blitz.

4. I smell like stale coffee. Yuck. But I am drinking an iced grande chai and it was good!

5. yesterday i was talking to someone whose blog i look at every once in a while, but i don't really know them super super well and we were talking about how it's interesting how you never know who's looking at your blog. Like who's reading this for example...

6. It is sunny out now!! Yay! It took the sun a while to come out, but it finally has. Perhaps I shall go for a swim!

7. Everyone has father's day bbqs today and so no one is really free.. Ho hum.. Perhaps I shall throw a bbq for myself.

8. I need to book a flight that will be less than two weeks from now, but I have not booked it yet. Crazy. Home it wont' be too incredibly expensive.

9. Work was really slow today. I even got to go home a little bit early. Worked with lots of people that are great to work with-made for a great shift!

10. I still smell like stale coffee (from work) and the combo of that and the iced chai is makign me feel a bit ill.

11. i'm going to go buy a new bedspread today. my mom bought the one that i currently have and i really don't like it. and i've had it for a while. the colors just aren't really me and i also need something down so it's soft and fluffy!

12. My mom is organizing the house and there is stuff absolutely everywhere!

13. Today at work my assistant manager told me to go bus and so i was excited to go on my break after. (usually you have breaks after you bus..) then i was standing in line for a drink and he was there too.. and i asked him why he had a break at the same time as me.. and it was funny, because i didn't have a break, he had just asked me to bus for him for his break... haha.. so i went back to work and waited patitently for my break to come!

14. i just saw an advertisement on the desk that says "Betty is on her way, she's hittin' the road.." haha.. and i really have no idea what it means at all and who in the world betty is for that matter. perhaps i should go and say farewell

15. i am goign to go through my closet and get rid of a bunch of clothes today!

16. i ate the most amazing watermelon and canteloupe last night. wow.

17. i would like to go buy a dumpload of summer clothing. but i will refrain and save my money

18. Now to the shower so that i will no longer smell like stale coffee!! Hoorah!

June 17th

1. Just got off work and am happy to be home! In the beginning it was slow going because I was really tired and at work I do better when there's all or nothing to do. Either super busy or everything's done. Not so good at all the little piddly stuff. So at about eight, right when someone didn't come in for their shift and we were short staffed I got busy. I was on front register, making drinks for drive thru and front and it was steady. but that definitely got me going for the day because from there on in it didn't seem that the chaos ended! (until I left of course!

2. I only have eight shifts left! Never actually thought it would get to the last few shifts. And they're all mornings so they should go by reasonably fast.

3. For work today I was supposed to be off at 10:45 but stayed until noon and Jenna bought us pizza so that was super nice. My last shift with Jenna and Destinye and it was fun. Destinye and i sang a little song together for everyone through drive-thru and it was funny because even though it was crazy and i was running around like a mad fool, I was still managing to join in the singing over the speakers even though I wasn't taking orders. Always an exciting time driving through our drive-thru! you never know what you're going to get!

4. My aunt from Ontario is out for the weekend and her and my mom came in for coffee and it was great to see her even if it was only for a short time.

5. My trip to Calgary is in the works and I'm leaving on the 28th. I may have mentioned this before, but oh well.

6. On Tuesday I get to go to Bard ont he Beach! Yay! I'm going to all four plays this summer and this will be my first one. It's Midsummer's Night Dream which should be really good. Good way to start off the season.

7. Got a book in the mail the other day with my picture published in it! Yay! Perhaps I will scan the picture soon and share it with y'all

8. I read something about good posture today and amt rying to be mindful of having shoulders back and back straight. hard to do when you're tired!! i never realize how much i slouch until I actually think about it

9. right now i really just want to go out and socialize with a bunch of people. weird. maybe i'll just go sleep!

10. I kind of want a nap, but when i'm this tired, generally the nap turns into a five or six hour sleep.. haha.. dont' really want that.

11. I have sharpie marks all over my hands from work.

12. The transition of my moods lately has been interesting. For two weeks I was super moody and having bouts of anger, not it seems i'm back to my usual self. not sure what to make of it.

13. I'm thinking once I study psychology in school, I will perhaps understand myself better!! haha.. and understand why i'm so strange!

14. We have ostrich eggs in our office and they're sitting by a bunch of chickens (fake ones of course).. as though the chickens actually laid such large eggs..

15. Today i was int he bathroom at work and suddenly i noticed a giant grasshopper directly in front of me. I was a bit scared he would jump at me while i was goign to the bathroom. Luckily he stayed put. I thought about chasing him out of the store but squished him with my shoe instead.

16. Oilers play tonight and I hope they win!! Especially since it's a home game!! Yay Oilers! Not that I watch really (once the Canucks are gone, i just dont' have that drive), but I will cheer for them nonetheless

June 16th

1. So I am as a matter of fact starting work in four hours. And I am not yet in bed. And will have to get up in under four hours to get ready for work. Boy am I dedicated to this blog! (or i'm just wide awake and need to do something to wind down..)

2. Just had a poker night with a few people and it was fun. I lost all my chips except for three, and then i went all in and won with a flush! haha.. the game ended soon after that anyway, so it really was no big deal, but it was good times nonetheless. Good ol' two dollar buy in.

3. Cleaned myf ish tank today and took out almost half the rock,b ecause there was way too much of it picking up way too much dirt! Now that I cleaned it though, it's pretty dirty, because all the stuff int he rocks is flying around. Hopefully the filter will pick it all up and make it crystal clear again!

4. Went for coffee way too manytimes today!! And all with different people. Two times at Starbucks and once at Ethical Addictions and I must say that their fruit smoothies are amazing.

5. Had Vietnamese with my cousin for lunch today and it was great! Always awesome to have their giant bowls of soup!

6. Oh and I bought some great summer clothes today as well. Well, a skirt and two tops, but I am excited nonetheless.

7. I'm needing some answers to some questions and am not sure how to go about getting them. Am learning to simply wait though. And enjoy in the moment what's happening. Now that won't fully make sense to anyone, but that's all right. Thought I'd put it out there.

8. I only have nine shifts at Starbucks left!! And they're mostly all morning shifts! Hoorah! I love morning shifts (especially the ones where I'm banking off three hours of sleep)

9. My glasses are dirty and spotty as I'm looking through them. Perhaps I shall clean them later.

10. So today the post canada guy came to the door and told us we will now have to walk to the box to get our mail cuz it'll come in one of those big mailbox things. That's cool, except we live in the country so it's like half a kilometre or more to get to the mailbox!! Good times.. oh well, I suppose it'll be a nice walk every day as I do love getting the mail in hopes that I may get some!

11. I wanted to go swimming today and was going to, but then the pool was being vacuumed along with my hopes of swimming.

12. thought about 1 Corinthaisn 13 a bunch today and it was a good reminder that I can't produce that kind of love on my own. It's only God's love

13. I need to get to bed, but it's June 16th, so I must wait!

14. My aunt flew in from Ontario for the weekend and I get to see her tomorrow! Yay for visiting relatives!

15. My hair is straight again today and yes, I still do love it!

16. I am yawning right now and exhausted. Wonder how I'll feel in three hours... Hope this was worth my lack of sleep for all of you to read...

June 15th

1. June is half over!! The craziness of it all! Seems like it just begun. actually in my mind it's still far off in april or something.. not so much i guess!

2. Had a great night at work. A few people came to visit me which really made my night! Always fun to have people I know drop in to say hello and to see me. Makes me feel special. :) Had fun dancing around while singing as well-and my manager was the one who started it!

3. This morning made crepes with Destinye and they were fantastic. had some cut up strawberries and syrup with them as well-so good! then we did dance dance like crazy fools and had some fun trying to get as many A's as possible.

4. Saw RV with my Omi tonight. Second time for me, but it was good. Always funny to hear my omi's commentaries, especially today about how Robin Williams is such a good player (of course she meant actor, but i had a good chuckle over it!

5. I got my last schedule today and my last shift at Starbucks is the 27th and it's an open!! i'm glad to have my favorite shift on my last day.

6. I have a day off tomorrow! yay! not sure what i'll do, although cleaning my fish tank is top priority on this day off as days off are fish tank cleaning days. the water is pretty clean, but there's a lot of stuff on the sides of the tank that needs to be scrubbed. i think i need to get rid of a lot of the rock too.

7. Surrender surrender surrender. it's the word that keeps coming up of late. sometimes i'd rather just go along with my flesh, but in all things I need to surrender them to Christ. unfortunately much easier said than done.

8. i am wearing one of my favorite black sweaters today and it's all balled up and whenever i wear it, my mom tells me i shouldn't wear it!! haha.. so i think i will throw it away. good bye balled up black sweater!

9. Phoned Jenn in Quebec today and i'm excited to go visit! Looks like the time I'll be there is a fairly slower time for them (compared to the rest of the summer that is), so that's always a bonus.

10. I got my official partner card from starbucks today! The one that has a stripe to swipe and everything. I thought I wouldn't get it before I left, but I'm excited to have it. It makes me finally feel official or something.

11. I wonder how long my discount will go for. Sometimes they cut it off instantly, sometimes not.

12. I like making to do lists and am sometimes controlled by them. but i get things done. It's weird, because i have to write everything on there.. i think i just enjoy crossing it off. so for a day i'll write: wake up, shower, change, eat breakfast, make bed, etc. just so it makes me think i did a lot that day. okay, i don't do it that extreme all the time, but at bible school i liked to. weird. now i just make to do lists for all the people i need to write letters and emails to and some other random things.

13. i would like to get a pedicure. haven't had one in two years since my brother's wedding. my toes were painted pink and i couldn't be bothered to take it off (even though iw asn't a fan of the pink), but that polish stayed on my toes for almost a year! Obviously now totally in its original glory, but there was still a portion left on their one year anniversary. My big toenail grows really slowly cuz it fell off when i was a child. now that was more information than you'll ever want to know about my toes.

14. I found out some super exciting news tonight that I can't tell anyone!! Crazy!! Might go insane!! But I am pumped! Just wanted to share that with you all.

15. My bed beckons me with all my coffee smelling hair....

June 14th

1. Woke up this morning and the first thought through my head was "why is this stupid square thing beeping at me at this time in the morning!" Needless to say I was a bit disoriented and not impressed that my alarm was waking me up. I was supposed to go golfing, but it was raining, so decided against it. Not fun golfing in the rain-especially the first game of the season

2. drove around way too much today! boy i waste gas. for stupid reasons too. perhaps i will have to be more careful on that.

3. I wrote a letter today. Funny because when I first started my letter writing kick a few months ago, I was writing minimum three letters a day! haha.. now i write one letter every three weeks!! maybe that's why i don't get mail!

4. Have another early morning tomorrow that I am not looking forward to!

5. Played some rook tonight, one of my favorite card games!! boy i miss that game! wish i knew more people here who played it.

6. my room looks like a tornado blew through it (however coming from me, most of my friends would say it's midly messy.. still don't know if i'll be able to sleep soundly tonight knowing there's stuff everywhere! Perhaps tomorrow I shall tackle it.

7. Taking my grandma to a movie tomorrow, wonder what we shall see!! who knows.. probably end up something something I've already seen (got to censor it somehow, there's only certain things I can watch with my grandma next to me, even if she doesn't fully know what's going on in the movie)

8. "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and then one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders." -Deuteronomy 33:12

9. I'm itching to go somewhere and take some nice pictures!

10. I'm so excited to start planning my road trip to Edmonton/Calgary. I'm going to stop at some nice parks on the way hopefully! And my friend Sandy is coming with! Yay!

11. I am staring at a Starbucks cup and was starting to read "the way i see it" on the cup. some of them are quite stupid. i thinki found one i liked once.

12. if you want to try a good drink at starbucks, get a tazo chai tea bag (versus the chai latte) and get a tea misto with four pumps of cinnamon! yummy! i can't get enough of them right now.

13. My windows were open all day and it's actually quite nippy out (therefore it is also nippy in my room)

14. My bed beckons me! I can't believe I think of things to fill these numbers every day. I should do it in the middle of the day while my brain is still active...

June 13th

1. I just got off work after closing. Short four hour shift, not too bad. The four hour ones always seem the longest though! Funny how that works.

2. Going for the first golf game of the season tomorrow morning!! Oh! That's in less than seven hours! yay! will probably do horrible, but i'm okay with that. just have to get into the *swing* of it again... haha.. i'm so punny

3. I was cleaning my closet today and refound my favorite hat! it's white and i bought it for about three dollars when I was in Germany with my friend Kristin. What a great find! :)

4. Day off tomorrow (and this time it is for real-I rechecked the schedule about five times or so..)

5. Picked my grandma up from the airport and it was cute because one of her big stories was that for the first time ever in her entire life, the metal detector beeped when she walked through!! She couldn't even imagine what would have made it beep! So cute! I'm taking her to a movie on thursday, so that should be fun.

6. Went to Starbucks for coffee with my friend sandy, helping her get ready for her interview and just as she had to go to work, someone who i just recently got to know a bit was coming in, and we sat and chatted for a while. It was nice to have an unexpected coffee visit!

7. My room is really messy as a result of me "cleaning" my closet today..

8. I smell like coffee. Gross. I will not miss that about Starbucks! Even my arm hairs smell like coffee.. Pretty soon I will start sweating coffee!!

9. Had supper at my brother and sister-in law's today and it was nice!! Got to see their kittens too-so cute!

10. I used to be good at sending people birthday cards (used to means about two months ago, I did it for one month). Now I look at my calendar and see all the birthdays I've missed. So sad...

11. I like getting letters in the mail, or just random things mailed to me by friends. It generally means I have to write, but I don't mind. Haven't gotten anything in the mail lately though. So sad...

12. I see brown sticky syrup spots on my hands and arms from work! Looks like shower time has come.

13. What a wonderfully lucky number!! It rained and was sunny and overcast today and i was thankful for it, because it points to what a creative and diverse God we have!!

June 12th

1. Just got home after quite the day away and I am tired, yet awake enough to be awake, so here I am again!

2. Had divorce care for kids tonight. it was the second last one and i will miss those kids when it's over. they are so dear to my heart and so incredibly precious. I thank God that He allowed me to be a part of their lives during the last 12 weeks. What a blessing!!

3. Sandy and I sat and chatted at Starbucks tonight and it was nice, because there weren't too many people there and even though it was raining we sat on the patio and simply enjoyed it. it was so warm outside!! kind of like the tropics or something.

4. I drove down the newly routed and constructed Old Yale Rd today.. crazy! the whole route has changed and suddenly it's a whole new road and it comes out in a whole new place!! I was shocked upon driving down it!

5. Bought some baby carrots at save-on tonight for snack at dc4k and i think they were rotten or something, because they reeked like chemicals and vingar and had a nasty nasty aftertaste! I ate some and now all evening I have been feeling ill.

6. I worked this morning at 6:15 and now it's midnight and that seems like days ago that I was at work.

7. Continually I am reminded of my need for attitude change. Sometimes my attitude is just foul for no reason and i get stuck on everything. I need to keep surrendering this to God, because I see how it affects me and those around me.

8. I straightened my hair today and I love it. Should have taken a picture of myself and posted it. Actually I will, one second! Okay just downloaded them and will post a couple on my pictures page (just to force you to go there..) be sure to comment!! only because i'm obsessive about having straight hair.. anyway!

9. I just reminded myself that I need to pick up my grandma from the airport tomorrow-she's coming home from ontario. i cant forget! that would be traumatic i think..

10. Dinner at my brother and sister-in law's tomorrow night and i'm really excited. haven't really seen my family too too much over the last few months and it will be nice to talk.

11. June is almost half over and it's crazy. How does life pass by so fast? Sometimes I want to fast forward it to the events that I want, but then I realize that i'd continually be living in fast forward and that's no good.

12. I just washed my bed sheets tonight and am so excited to sleep in a clean bed!! YAY!

June 11th

1. Sad story: thought I had a day off today, planned a trip to the zoo and was so excited! was goign to the seattle zoo... then work called saying "can you pick up some beans from a different starbucks on the way to work"? and i'm all like "well, it's my day off silly, i'm not working.." then i realized that i'm actually blind and dont' know how to read the work schedule properly...

2. My foot feels fractured. The whole left side has been bruised and swollen and hard to walk on. hope it gets better soon!

3. the guy showed up at church last night (i think i caught a glimpse of him for about half the service). interesting to see how God connects people together!

4. my mom got home from st. marteen today! nice to have someone home again, although it was nice having the feeling of living on my own for a while!! always nice to get glimpses every once in a while.

5. been reminded a ton lately of how i need to love and not judge. i am so stinkin' narrow minded and i need to continually break out of it! i look at how i do things and how i perceive things and suddenly that is the only way.. but it's not at all. i need to be reminded of this continually

6. so revamp on the summer trip. i think i will now drive to calgary and then fly out of there to montreal where i will rent a car for a few days. i have a lot of friends in calgary and back in the day used to go at least once or twice a year to visit them and i haven't seen them for a while, so it would be so great to connect with them again!!

7. i have to work in six hours. instead of writing this, i should be in bed. but i need to write about the 11 days of june!!

8. i have mostly mornings left at work and i'm so excited! actually i have one more close left on tuesday! don't mind closing too much, but i'm just excited to be done at work. tough dragging the anticipation of being done over five weeks...

9. i've been running into a lot of old friends lately and it's been such a blessing to catch up with one another!

10. i just finished reading dan brown's book 'angels and demons'. interesting read. another page turner for sure. never was into much history stuff, but having a bunch of that type of stuff mixed in with a story makes in interesting.

11. number 11! today was a struggle i must admit to get here, and now i am off to bed!

June 10th

1. Today was Love Abbotsford! Where 120 churches in Abbotsford get together and do acts of kindness, giving stuff away as a practical way of showing God's love!! I was part of a mobile car wash team where we took a hose and some buckets and went around door to door asking people if we could hook up the hose and wash their cars! It was great! So good to bless people and also to chat with them and hear a bit of what's going on in their lives.

2. Met one guy whose two cars we washed and had a really interesting conversation with him. At first he didn't want to love abbotsford card i was giving out but he said we could wash the cars. He believes in a whole mish mash of things and I even heard him refer to the Da Vinci Code a few times as Scriptures. Interesting. Anyway, throughout the conversation, he decided he would like to come to our church,b ut only if God would lead him there and then he'd show up. then a few minutes later he asked where the church was... then he wanted directions and an address. Finally i gave him the love abby card with stuff on the front and a map to our church on the back and he said he would flip the card to see which side landed up and that would tell whether or not he would go to church! And the purple side landed up, so I hope to see Him tonight or some other night for that matter. I would love it if you guys could pray for him as well! thanks! i will share tomorrow whether or not he came.

3. I have the weekend off and it's so nice just to be able to enjoy relaxing. Took a four hour nap today and it felt so refreshing! I'm usually anti-nap so that was good that it made me feel better and not worse!

4. Interesting because after my post a couple days ago, last night at work I had a customer who was totally bold about their faith and excited to share, not caring in the least what I would think- It was so refreshing!

5. The other night through drive-thru, I asked a couple if they had any exciting plans for the evening... The guy said no, and then the girl said "well, we're planning our wedding"... i thought the black and white difference was kind of funny.

6. I really love meeting people at my church! I really want to continue getting to know more and more people, even though it is a big church! But they are my family in Christ and it's great to get to know them and chat with them every week!

7. I am wearing my favorite brown skirt today. I haven't worn it in a while, because when I first got it, I wore it all the time... didn't want people to think i only had one skirt.

8. i am really thirsty right now. i would like to be done so i can go get some water!

9. Lately the song that comes out when I burst into spontaneous singing (which happens often) is Great is Thy Faithfulness! So true.. and amidst me not being very faithful at times, He remains true.

10. I worry that by the 30th day of June people will not longer want to read to the bottom of my lists!

June 9th

1. I just woke up from a nap and was having a dream where I was really mad at someone. The phone rang, waking me up and it was the person in my dream. interesting. i think some good communication happened though... hopefully.

2. I had my early morning breakfast and it was quite nice! And amy, I agree that early morning breakfasts are nice. If I drive across Canada this summer, perhaps i will meet you for an early morning breakfast.

3. I get to work tonight 4:30-12:45. It will be a long shift, but I enjoy the closing shifts, as long as I'm on drive-thru though, because drive-thru makes all things better!

4. I feel ill today.

5. Our minds are crazy things and they way they work is fascinating. Sometimes my mind is annoying because it goes off on thoughts.. and they keep coming back. I need to continually be surrendering my thoughts to Christ, but at times, I just don't want to.

6. I am going to continue reading my psychology textbook. it's a lot of information and i keep thinking that the next few years will be crammed with such info. Interesting though and I'm sure I"ll learn a lot about myself and about others along the way.

7. Did you know that it's Canadian Environment Week? Not quite sure what that means,b ut it's on my Canadian Wildlife Calendar that i got for free. This month there's pictures of ducks on it.

8. I think I will go swim some laps this afternoon.

9. Everything is so green and beautiful!!

June 8th

1. Happy Oceans Day!!

2. I closed at work tonight and it was a lot of fun. One of my favorite drive-thru customers came through twice and it wasn't busy at all, so we had some nice little chats. Always cool to get to know people and what they do.

3. Noticed at work today how people aren't bold in sharing their faith. It's as though they're ashamed. With about four different people, only after I had asked them four questions (around the topic of what they'd done that night), did they mention they had gone to a bible study, gone to church, etc. Why are we so slow to associate ourselves with Christ? I do it all the time too. If people ask me what I'm doing on a saturday night i'll just say i'm not sure rather than saying i'm going to church.. Am I ashamed? Maybe worried that they might view me differently? I know I do it, but it was interesting seeing it from the other end tonight. Made me think about it and realize that I need to be more bold in sharing and quicker in letting Christ infiltrate every area of my life.

4. had a tour of the university i'm going to today! And I bought my first textbook on psychology!! whoo hoo! i decided i'd get a bit of summer reading in and therefore get a headstart. That will give me a good base i suppose.

5. my mom is gone and i really don't know when she's coming back. i keep wondering if today will be the day. maybe tomorrow?

6. My fish tank is amazingly clean. And to respond to leslie's question in a comment, i did not put any medicine or anything elsein the tank. the other fish died i believe from living in unclean water conditions. I have two different filters that have different biological functions and now that i clean the gravel properly it makes a world of a difference and the water is crystal clear. It's amazing actually, especially compared to the constant murkiness of earlier on...

7. I have to wake up early to meet someone for breakfast. i like sleeping in. maybe on sunday i shall!

8. perhaps I will go read my psychology textbook to lull me to sleep (i'm a nerd and a keener i know!)

June 7th

1. Had a work bbq today and it was quite enjoyable.

2. Threw three of my dead rotting fish into the bushes-that wasn't quite so enjoyable.

3. It was my day off today and the weather was nice. All of my days off in the last two months have been sunny. Interesting.

4. I ate a hot dog at my work bbq. The bun was not so good. But the meat was great!

5. Oh ya, the work bbq was at my house and was a pool party. Lots of work setting up and cleaning up, but all in all it was quite fun and i'm glad everyone enjoyed themselves!

6. I got a lot done today and it's good to be back in the groove of accomplishing things throughout my day..

7. I cut the top of my hand at work (not sure how) and now it looks funny. hopefully not infected. the side of my foot really hurts too. feels like something's harshly bruised, because I can barely walk on it! I think I walked barefoot on the cement a bit too much today.

Oma

Today is the anniversary of the day my Oma passed away about four years ago. This picture was taken when I was four at my aunt and uncle's wedding. Us flower girls got to pose with Oma and Opa (I'm the one on the right). My Opa passed away about four months after her and it was sad to watch. I feel like I never grieved properly for them or really was hit by their deaths, because it followed so closely after Leon and my Dad died. But I do miss them dearly and realize this now more than ever before.

I praise the Lord for my Oma and her faithfulness to the Lord and how she modelled with my Opa what a marriage should look like. And to see how in love they were after over fifty years. I thank the Lord for her generous spirit and for her wonderful gift of hospitality! She'd always have all the grandkids over for different meals here and there and she would always think we were still hungry (when really everyone was stuffed). After the meal and dessert one time, she brought a box of chocolates out and passed them around. No one took one because we were all super full. She couldn't actually believe that and thought maybe we just didn't like that kind, so she went and grabbed a different box and passed it around!! haha!! Always wanting to give and give and see people happy and cared for. I praise God for the legacy she has left behind and am thankful for the position my grandparents had in my life and in my family's life.

June 6th

1. Today I was going through my drive-thru at Starbucks, and the girl who was taking orders answered the truck in front of me "Good morning! Welcome to Church!" (haha.. i guess someone had asked her about her church and it being on her mind, it came out instead of starbucks..) Quite funny, and it was to one of our regular drive-thru customers who has quite a sense of humor and he definitely played it up the whole time!

2. Deek was stuck to the filter when I got home today and he is now awaiting death in my bathroom in a bucket. I realized once again that the latest two dead fish are still sitting in a garbage pail outside and they stink like nothing else. Gross!

3. i went to Costco today and bought an 8 person roots tent. now i really want to go camping.

4. i am really tired right now because last night i woke up every hour on the hour.

5. i am going to go brush my teeth after i write this post.

6. I have to keep remembering to keep my focus on God. Life's too short to live it for nothing. "Life's to short to...." is my new motto for a lot of things. Good to keep in mind for me.

June 5th

1. I am a bit tired after getting only three hours of sleep, but am still awake. I am scared to take a "nap", because mine usually go from one hour to six or seven.. not so great!

2. Went to White Spot with my cousin for lunch today and it was funny, because I think the waitress said thank-you about fifty times throughout our meal. Slightly annoying and sounded a bit practised. We had a good laugh over it.

3. Someone came through drive-thru at Starbucks asking for a hot chocolate and sundaes. Imagine the surprise when he realized that he took a wrong turn and went through Starbucks instead of McDonalds...

4. I can't believe it's June already!

5. God is good! Last night I was thinking upon the verse in Matthew where Jesus says, "all you who are weary and heavy laden, come to me and i will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." what a wonderful reminder. my prayer is that i would truly learn that gentle and humble spirit because i certainly don't have it on my own!

June 4th

1. I worked a total for 13 hours today and I am tired! I worked at Starbucks from 8am-4pm, then at Apollo from 5-10pm. Tomorrow I open at Starbucks at 4:15. That's in about five hours, and I'm not even near being in bed yet! But I really enjoyed work today and interacting with people and knowing that I can make a difference in their day. Pretty cool.

2. my pants stink like coffee. (but i'm still going to wear them to work tomorrow)

3. Coco and Kaia are dead. They are sitting in my garbage bucket outside the back door. I've got to quit leaving them there. (these are fish for those of you who are concerned...) now there are five remaining in the tank. perhaps i will buy more!

4. i have a pile of dirty socks on my bedroom floor. every day when i get home from work, the first thing i do is take off my socks and throw them onto the floor (either in the kitchen or in my room) and there they remain until i put them in the laundry. just an extremely random thing about me and my socks...

June 3rd

1. My fish continually sadden me to a depth that I didn't think could occur because of fish. Today I finally threw poor Ebony into the field (he's been sitting in my garbage bucket outside on my patio dead for about six days). He was stinky but now he is at peace in the field beside Jerry. And Coco is in my other bucket fighting for life. I couldn't bear any longer to watch him in the tank. And then today I discovered that Deek and Kaia are both each missing an eye! it's a ghastly sight to behold. Their eyes have gone missing and where it used to be is a hollow indent with a knob in the middle.. and the outside skin is shriveled. so sad! And Kaia keeps floating around upside down. I was told once that when a fish loses an eye or something it's like having an amputation and they die the next day from the trauma. Perhaps tomorrow they will be dead and I will no longer have to look at them sadly...

2. For those of you who are PDF alumni, Matt and Jess just had their third baby!! I talked to Matt on the phone today, and they have a healthy little girl named Kathryn! He told me that Millie is really excited about having a little sister and he described her as continually circling her like a vulture. haha! Just thought i'd share the news with some people who actually know them!

3. I've been reading a book of late called the Grace Disguised and I've been thinking a lot. I seem to have fallen into a bit of a rut/depression these last few weeks and it's tough, because I haven't been looking to God to pull me out of it. And I am continually reminded that it's not my circumstances but what I do in them. And yes, it's the age old saying that has often lost it's meaning, but it's so true! Do I have a right to be in a foul mood because something hasn't gone the way I would have liked it to? Not so much.. I seem to be reacting to everything lately with anger and it's not good. Never been angry as much as I have been these last few weeks. It scares me. I'm stuffing something else down and trying to cover it up with the anger... Now it's only a matter of discovering what I'm trying to cover up...

June 2nd

1. Today it was muggy and rainy, so it kind of felt tropical when you went outside. I really wanted to go for a walk in the rain, but kept delaying it in half an hour increments and then it was dark and too late.

2. I keep forgetting that I need to book myself a ticket to go to Quebec. Oops! So I'm thinking maybe I'll drive. Make it a cross-canada trip, then fly from Toronto to Italy for two weeks and then drive back en route through the states. Could be interesting. Or I'll just settle for normal and fly there and back. But we will see!! Anyone want to come with me?

June 1st

1. I have decided this month that every day I will add one more number and therefore mention one more thing. So this is the one fact for the first of June from me. Perhaps tomorrow there will be two seeing that it will be the second of June. Hope you enjoy the new format because I think it's amazing.