surprise!

My brother Lucas told us that we would get our Christmas presents on the 27th! So this morning a helicopter landed in the backyard and we got to go for a ride! So we went for an hour helicopter ride! Went out to Harrison, around the area and back and it was amazing! Really great to get that perspective! And the mountains were stunning! I took tons of pictures but just posted a few, including a great aerial pic of my house! Enjoy!

the perfect birthday!

So today (or technically yesterday now) was my birthday and I have to say that I think it is one of the best ones I have ever had! It started with my friend Carrie waking me up at 6:30am and taking me to mill lake with some coffee and timbits so that we could watch the sunrise! What a wonderful idea! Something I totally love and I felt so special that my friends would think of doing that for me (sandy would have come to, but she worked instead of me having to work!) Even though it rained afterwards, the sunrise was amazing. We never actually saw the sun, but we saw the intensity of bright orange and pink in the clouds surrounding the crisp mountains that were laden with fresh snow. so beautiful! God's creation is amazing! This morning I was so thankful that I could spend the morning surrounded by God's beautiful creation.

Then we came home and Lucas, Chad and Bobbi and my mom had waffles for breakfast! Then I headed to church where I sang in all three Christmas Eve services. It was fun to sing in all them (although my voice is totally shot) and just great to be reminded once again of the wonder of Christmas and the intensity of God's love for me. After church we were off to the Keg where my friends, family and I enjoyed a fantastic steak dinner! Then we went home for birthday cake and played the new game 'Apples to Apples' that brooke got me! And then Jocelyn, Dave and I watched Serendipity.

So all in all it was a fantastic day! Really special, because normally my birthday is just meshed together with Christmas and it's not that big of a deal, but this year it was really special and I am so thankful to my family and friends whom I love dearly! So thank you all for making the day so special from phone calls to cards or gifts or even just a hug!!

grace

"Because you say, 'I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.' and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see." -Revelation 3:17-18

I have been struck anew with the wonder of His grace. How little I understand it. So often I deceive myself, thinking that indeed I do have all the resources that it takes while in reality I am completely wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! I keep trying to bank in on what I can do and what I have done, when I simply need to come to Christ who has already done it. I just need to receive that gift of grace and love. I need to cast aside my efforts and all that I think I need to strive for and receive. Good reminders!

In other news, I bought a heater for my fish tank to warm up the water for them (I think that's why they were dying) and it's my birthday tomorrow! woohoo!! Merry Christmas everybody!

update

I should be in bed since it's 11:30 pm and i have to get up for work in about five hours! But I just finished cleaning my fish tank and realized that all of you might want to know how my fish are doing. Hmm... well, most are dead. very sad. actually it was pretty tragic watching it all. The only ones still alive are Ndizi (but i think she will die this week, because she just sits at the bottom of the tank in agony), Ferguson and Santorini. I think I will buy some more fish this week (I know you're all thinking i should not, because i will kill them, but i'll be better this time!) So be sure to be thinking of some good fish names and i will have another competition and be faster on posting the results! Oh, and Kristal, can you email me your address so that I can mail you your prize? (sorry it's taken so long!)

In other news, I went to a murder mystery tonight and it was fantastic. Lots of fun. I think our group was the best! haha.. I am however quite biased. It was fun trying to figure out how to trick everyone, etc.

This week is a bit crazy because I work for like eight days straight. But at least I get Christmas day off! (cuz we're closed...) more updates later plus pictures...

Stormy

Presently I feel a bit scatterbrained. I have written five finals now and only have one more left! (which I should be studying for perhaps, but I have decided to do every other possible alternative). I can not believe that it is already mid December! I am excited for tomorrow around 10am when I shall be free from school obligations! (at least for a couple of weeks..)

I still feel restless and it's driving me crazy! Tonight I think I shall delay studying further and go look at Christmas lights! I have enjoyed this semester but am SO excited for it to be over!!

The Holiday

I went to see the new movie 'The Holiday' tonight with Sandy and really enjoyed it! It was a good Christmas movie and made you feel warm and fuzzy (not that you want your insides to be fuzzy...) And since I like to apply movies to my life and overanalyze them I did so on this one and it got me thinking. Obviously I wont' say too much because I don't want to ruin the movie! But it just made me think about emotion and having blocked it and then coming to a point where it can be released and there can be freedom to express it. That's all for now!

YAY!

Yesterday was the last day of classes!! This is a good and bad thing. Good because classes are over and bad because that means I have exams! In the next eight days I have six finals! Tomorrow and Saturday are my hardest with the least time to study but at least they will be done with! Then next week I have four in a row! I'm feeling fairly good about three of them for next week!

So one more week until I can fully enjoy Christmas holidays! Then I will probably have absolutely nothing to do and wish I had school work! haha... Tonight is my brother's company Christmas party so I'm lookin gforward to that and lots of other fun stuff happening in the future! After saturday i'm sure will post more and have pictures too!

something missing

Recently I have taken note of how I seem to have lost my passion and zeal for the things I believed strong about. It seems that ever since Leon and my dad died, I have simply let things trample me over and I throw out my opinion every once in a while, but I have let myself come to a place of simply floating through life. I am still attempting before God to live my life to the fullest, but I have lost my times of deep ponderings and mulling before the Lord. There's much more to be said here, but I shall leave it at that just to put the surface of my thoughts out there. I need to return to that place once again.

On a completely different note, was back at school on Wednesday. We are still surrounded by snow-an odd occurance here in the Fraser Valley to be sure. And now the weekend begins!! I get to light the advent candle in church on saturday night. I am excited but in the back of my mind I have an image of me falling and burning the church down... Not really a fear I have, just a side thought in my mind for some reason.. haha..

And now the topics of this post could perhaps be covered in an upcoming post when it is not 2am and i have more clarity of thought!

Soap and Snow

Here are some pictures of the much loved soap we bought!! yay for getting good deals! Today Lindie and I went for a nice little walk and took some fun pictures as you can see below. Then we shoveled off a balcony (we've been having roof caving in leaking problems of late), but my brother had taken the shovel to the barn, so lindie and i used plates instead. A little more time consuming, but it was enjoyable as we laughed at the fact that we were using plates to "shovel" off the balcony.. A few times I almost threw the plates off the balcony!! haha!! Enjoy the pictures!

The Struggle to buy Soap...

My friend Lindie and I have started a yearly tradition of going down to the States right after Thanksgiving in order to get the amazing sales they have! So she flew out from Calgary to go shopping (maybe she came to see me too!) We like buying soap and lotion at bath and body works. Not that big of a deal.. except yesterday it started snowing lots here and today it continued.

So here we were determined Canadians going into the States surounded by an onslaught of people desperately trying to get home before the weather got worse. We were innocently on a trek to buy some soap! The border guy thought lindie was a bit crazy for coming all the way from calgary to go shopping at bellis fair, but he was right, we are crazy!! haha!!

So we arrived after quite a long trek (mostly because drivers in the snow here go 10km/hr. I guess visibility was horrible and you couldn't see anything either, but that's a side note..

We wandered around the mall after buying our soaps (5 for 10 dollars-steal of a deal!!). And by soap I mean not the bars but rather the nice bottles.. We bought some other stuff from all the 50% off sales and listened to all the people worried about the weather conditions and how long it would take for them to get to their homes which were fairly close.

So after some nice shopping and a good lunch we decided it was time to go. I think it was about five at this point and i had five people call me asking me where i was and telling me not to drive down to the states cuz the roads were bad (too bad i was already there). So we started driving and it was good....

until we turned onto the wrong road (which wasn't properly plowed) and the bottom of my car kept hitting the snow like crazy until finally we got stuck. So here we were in the states in the middle of nowhere in farm country stuck on double ditch road (comforting name for a road to be on when surrounded by over a foot of snow..)

so after a while of me freezing and pushing the car while lindie gunned it, we were no further than before... then two nice young fellas came and were like "where ya going?" anyway, they said "well, go whatever way you want and we'll push you there" so they gave us a little push and on we went back to the main road.

so we made it back after a trip and i had to get out and push the car up a few hills on the way to my house which only added to the excitement (and the wet pants, shoes and socks).

But we are home and have lots and lots of soap!!

And school is cancelled for tomorrow so this story couldn't have ended on a better note!

Hmmm...

1. Throughout my days I have moments of inspiration where I think "Hey! I should blog that!" Then my brain cells mush and I forget.

2. I went to the Canucks game on sunday-we won!! and I got on the big screen!! I have been waiting for years to be on that thing! Our whole section was all into getting on the tv, so we were all screaming and pretty excited when it did happen (I only had to stand up and dance a few times...)

3. Three of my fish got flushed yesterday.. It was a very sad moment and I don't really want to talk about it. it makes me sad to think of them... I came home and two were wrapped around the filter and the other was stuck immobile in the plant.. The poor unfortunate fish were Fergie Jr., Maximillion and Montgomery Millington Kristin III.

4. I have been on a homework rampage this evening. However my hours of work have not amounted to a high number of things being done, but I have completed significant things (or so I keep telling myself)

5. The sky has been beautiful of late.. especially on the horizon mixed in with the dark storm clouds

6. I am going to go back to my bed to read about the Union of Upper and Lower Canada (sorry to make you all jealous!)

when i gaze out the window...

Every time I look outside or am outside I am baffled and blown away at the incredible beauty of God and His greatness. Wow. The fall here has been beautiful. Here are a few of the shots I took from my balcony the other night (before the torrential rains...)
















As I mentioned earlier, we have had a lot of rain lately. There was a fairly big storm here on Wednesday and it was crazy. Being outside with the wind and the rain was intense but reminded me once again of the incredible power of God. The power at our house was out for over 24 hours as well the power at school was out for a couple days so no school for two days. Amazing how much we depend on power. It was good for me, because it made me stop which is always a good place to be.

Work is good. I have been settling into my new position as front desk manager and loving it. I have had to pick up a fair amount of shifts so I have been working a lot plus school, but I do enjoy it. I am suffering from a slight sleep deprivation after a week of four to five hours of sleep every night, but I think I am almost recovered!

Lately I feel as though I have simply been stuffing my brain with so much information that it now only functions properly in the academic realm. If it is school related, then I will stuff it more. However, if it is everyday social interactions, my brain will not even form proper sentences for me and will draw a blank the moment anyone asks me any question. I wonder what the result of this is.. Perhaps my brain is on overload (is that possible?) or I am mentally shutting my brain off to function in some of my day to day activities.

There is a buy one fish, get two free sale this weekend and I would like to buy more fish, because.. well why not! Then I realize I have not cleaned my tank for some time and fail to properly care for the ones i have presently, so I feel bad at the prospect of getting more fish... we will see what the result of the weekend will be.

As everything in life seems to fall better into place and retain order, I feel this sadness that I cannot explain. I have been trying to figure some stuff out with God of late and sorting through some nasty ungodly beliefs I have about Him that are infiltrating every area of my life. He is faithful through it all.

This is long. I have a day off tomorrow and am very excited for it! Haven't had a day with no school and no work in a long time! Yippee! I shall be busy the entire day and do no schoolwork and then feel bad at the end of it for not having done anything (but I'm sure the feeling will pass... )

Proud to be Canadian

So tonight I went to the Canucks game which was great fun (even though they lost...) But there's always next game! So anyway, it being rememberance day they had a special little video and then the veterans were on the ice while the anthem was being sung. After the first line, the guy singing took his mike and stretched it out around the arena and what you could hear was the chorus of everyone in the building singing together. While singing together with my fellow Canadians and watching a video on Canada, I had the strongest overwhelming sense of gratitude. What an amazing country I live in. How often I forget it and take it for granted. We've been talking about the Canadian identity as well in history which has encouraged this thinking in my mind about what exactly it means to be Canadian and I am thankful that I am part of that identity. So yay for being Canadian! Thank-you Lord for creating such a beautiful country that reflects your glory in so many ways!

rain!

"So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth." -Hosea 6:3

God is continually going forth (dawn is happening all the time) and lately as it's been pouring rain here, I have been reminded of God's refreshing presence in my life. I just want to be drenched in the rain as I want to be drenched in His presence and rest in Him. What a wonderful place to be! All these different burdens from the day keep coming as I talk with people and just go through life, but I can give them to God and He will carry me. What an amazing promise!

I am tired (but unable to presently go to sleep!) I'm working at 5:30 am tomorrow again (in about six hours...) and then off to school and then back to work again until 5pm! so that will be a good nine hour day with a bit of school in the mix! And then studying for three midterms in the evening! Wow. Lots going on, but once again, God is my sustainer and my rock and I can rest completely in Him and trust Him with everything. I need to remind myself of this ALL the time!

drawing from His strength

This weekend has been busy and full, and for numerous reasons I have become frustrated, overwhelmed and exhausted! As I look ahead this week I'm working a lot and Wednesday I have three midterms and a group project (that i hopes comes together...) and so I am just super excited for Wednesday to be over! And then I will have completed my 11 midterms! Hoorah!

But ya, if you think of me, pray for me, that I would just draw my strength from the Lord and depend on Him in all things for He is my strength and my rock and my refuge in all situations.

And now I am off to church for the Couch (a woman's ministry) and then I get to work at 5:30am tomorrow for two hours before I head to school! Fun! Hope everyone had a good weekend!