Something for you to read

Went to the Canucks game on Tuesday night with my friend Amy. We didn't bring our camera, so we took a classic pic on her camera phone. We probably don't look the best thanks to it but that's okay! It was a great game!! We won 4-0! yahoo!! always so great to watch your team win and to just see the excitement of everyone around you about it!

I have lots of thoughts mulling around my head and so there's a "better" post coming soon, but right now I just felt like posting so that people have something to read when they check! hehe...

Here's the updated coundown:

Everything that will happen before Christmas:

-16 more things on my school/homework to do list
-5 more days of classes
-6 more exams
-3 plays to see
-7 warm days to sunbathe in Mexico
-24 more days until my birthday

Soap Shopping Extravaganza

Well, it was just American Thanksgiving, which means it was time for Lindie's and my annual trip down to the States to Bath and Body Works to get really great deals on our favorite soap! This year we were joined by Lindie's sister Erin. I had not seen her for quite some time and it was so great to hang out again! Lindie and Erin flew in from Calgary last night and we went to Red Robin's, then to Castle Fun Park for some mini golfing fun. Then Lindie went to bed and Erin and I played tennis and baseball on the wii until the wee hours of the morning! The next day (after I have gotten about three hours of sleep), we got up early to combat the border lineups and headed off to the border. The picture above is taken while waiting in line. If it looks like I'm tired, it's because I am. haha..

Lindie and Erin posing in front of the purses (or "bags" as Lindie calls them)

Kissing the whale at the pier

Lindie ran into an old friend at Target who recommended we head to Bellingham's waterfront to find a good place to eat lunch. We were very hungry after all our shopping and good deals we got, and we found a great little restaurant!! And in the picture above, Lindie is sporting her new jacket that she bought!

Cheers!

We thought it would be funny if we "parked" ourselves int he no parking zone..

Very excited to be reading about yachting.

Wave if you love boating!

Ahh.. slippery ice!

If you look at the sign on the door, this picture of me "delivering" Lindie to the door will make sense!

Thought we'd document our trip with a pic next to a Washington/Bellingham license plate. We had to be quick in taking it though in case the owner of the vehicle showed up.

Haha.. Once again, look at the sign in the background to understand!

And we did buy a lot of soap... and lotions (as Lindie likes to add..) And we didn't even have to pay duty!! Hoorah!

Heres a couple pics from last weekend when Chad, Theresa, Cassandra and I went to the Canucks game. We had a great time and Canucks won! YAY!

And that is all for now. This tired little mind is now going to try and do some readings for school!!

And here is my countdown:
11 more days until classes are over
22 more days until my last exam
23 more days until I am on a place to Mexico with Cheryl
29 more days until my birthday
30 more days until Christmas
32 more days until Lindie visits again
36 more days until my cousin and I go on our yearly getaway.

Much to look forward to!! And I must remember to enjoy being in the "now". Even though the now may be exhausting and strenuous... we will make the best of it!

Thoughts from a Tired Mind

Right now is crunch time at school, but the end is in sight, so that is encouraging. I slightly feel like I am getting a hold on things, so that is good and instills within me renewed hope! Last night I stayed up until four am writing a last minute paper. I have never actually left a paper that late, but it wasn't too bad (except for the final product of the paper that is.. haha!) Amy came over to write alongside me and it was actually one of the highlights of this semester. I don't remember the last time I had that much fun and laughed that hard. We had a really great time and got our papers done as well. Didn't get much sleep mind you, but that made the day at school today all the much more exciting. Only a week and a half left, then exams, and then a week in mexico and then my birthday and Christmas!!
Lately I have been noticing how a lot of my underlying beliefs strongly affect the way I live my life in a not very healthy way. One of these is all or nothing thinking. I have always seen how I have had this regarding school and perfectionist performance. However, I did not realize it was so closely interwoven into my emotions. That I think I have to be feeling all positive or all negative, but nothing in between. This results in large and extreme mood swings that happen far too often. But since I have become more aware of it, the balance that I have been finding is amazing. The other thing I have noticed is that I tend to brush everything off and with my classic saying I say, "It's all good." Well, it's not. Yet I try to convince myself it is. I invalidate any negative emotions that threaten to pop up and it's not a good thing. So, I am learning to validate these things and what that looks like and to find a balance between it all.

I am constantly baffled by all the polar opposites that are present in this life. When looking at God's character, it is full of polar opposites that somehow coexist and form perfection. My life is full of polar opposites, and rather than simply focusing on one extreme, I am learning to find the balance and integration of the two opposite spectrums. It has been hard and draining, but I see a lot of personal growth in it and know that I am moving forward through it all. I have been grappling a lot and struggling with stuff, but once again, I know it is with purpose and it is moving forward and so I am encouraged by it.

Just a few of my thoughts from the last few weeks. Here are some pictures from some fun stuff I have been up to.

Kristen and I went to a hockey game a while back and had a great time. On Sunday I went to the game against Calgary with my friends C, T and C and we had a fantastic time! And Vancouver finally won!! Hoorah!! I have been waiting for this moment for so long!
A precious little girl who has a special place in my heart.

I took Chrystal down to Seattle for her birthday to celebrate! I kept it a secret so she was surprised!! We stayed at the Sheraton downtown and went to the zoo on the Sunday. Other than that, we walked a lot, hung out, bought baby blankets (haha, don't ask), saw a movie, went swimming. It was fun and good to get away as well. My experimental night shot of seattle is above. I like the way it turned out. Wish I had had my tripod though. This was our view from the 20th floor.

Chrystal monkeying around

DISASTER!!!

I convinced my mom to put up Christmas decorations early this year, so for the last week, she has been putting up the gazillion trees she puts up every year. Tonight I was in the bathroom when suddenly I heard my name being called.. My mom was telling me to come downstairs with my camera to document her hours of work. I walked into the living room and saw the fallen down tree. I felt bad, because of all the work that had gone into it, but I also laughed a little.
I was talking to my mom and she sounded funny.. I suddenly realized that she wasn't in the room. So I asked "Where are you?" And she responds "Under the tree!" She started laughing then and the tree shook a little and I could not stop laughing, because of the idea of her being stuck under the tree (I laughed only when i found out she was okay). My friend and I lifted the tree off of her (which was incredibly heavy) and she escaped her tree prison. It had fallen on her while she was trying to move it.

Moral of the story: If you come to my house, please enjoy the abundance of decorations, but don't touch the trees!!! You never know when they might fall on you...

Smashed decorations

Holding up the decrepit tree...

Get-Away

Sorry for the lack of updating!! Lots has been going on as well as me getting into crunch time at school, so I have not had a chance to sit down and update. And this is not an update either... (sorry!) Just wanted to say hi.

On Monday, the grade nine girls connect group that I am one of the leaders of came over for a chocolate fountain and games! It was a great night and a lot of fun! :)


This weekend, I am gone for the weekend and am super excited!! it was Chrystal's birthday yesterday and I am surprising her with a weekend away (she has NO idea what we're doing) and I won't post it on here to risk ruining my surprise that I have kept secret for this long! But I am so excited to hang out with her and to just enjoy a weekend being away! I'm sure I will have lots of pictures to share when I come back!! :)

And now since it's 1:30 am and we're leaving in eight hours, I should get some packing and organizing done!! Will be back with regular updates soon!!

Fun Festivities

Chrystal, Kaeli and I carved pumpkins on Wednesday night, then we made hot chocolate and popcorn and then watched the Jungle Book! Yay for Disney movies!!

I have recently (okay maybe i've always known it) realized that I really allow horrible pictures to be taken of myself. hahaha.. I was just trying to be like my pumpkin!

My luscious locks

I don't feel like writing anything else. Will write later. Thought I'd post some pictures before they were horribly outdated and I had to put up another post with thousands of pics at once

Billy Joel Concert = Amazing!

On Tuesday night, my friend Krista and I trekked out to GM Place for the Billy Joel Concert. I have always loved his music and love playing a lot of his stuff on the piano. So when I saw that he was going to be in Vancouver, I figured it might be the last time, so I snatched up the opportunity!!

It was probably one of the best concerts I have ever been to. LOVED watching him play the piano (especially the songs where his whole body was hunched over the piano as his foot went nuts keeping time). I posted a couple videos from the concert (now that i'm a blogger video guru), so hope they turned out! I would have posted more pics, but i kept getting error messages!! Hope you enjoy the videos! I have a bunch more, but only had patience to post these two!