this is one of my favorite pictures from the holidays. the sheep is a very funny little creature, and here he is telling josh and mike a intricate little tale. oh to be on holidays again...

classes end in 79 days
it's crazy that i'm already counting down the days
but not overly surprising since i'm having a really time with school this semester
it's not that it's harder than other semesters or new information etc...
it's just that there is a lot of work, and a lot of responsibilites that I haven't had yet

that, plus i have a lot on my mind... a lot of things to look forward to
there are a lot of wonderful changes and things to look forward to this year
so i can't wait.

christmas break was wonderful
full of family and fun
and i just long to be back there

weekends are great, and i look forward to them a lot
and i feel like they just help the week go so much better
does that make sense?

 today has been a good day

i finished exams this morning for the semester
only one semester left, and approx 127 days left till the graduation ceremonies! (including christmas break, reading week and all weekends!) i feel ready to be done. very very ready
my heart is not in school this year, and I think that's been a big hinderance for me
i'm just ready to be done, but still not quite 100% sure that it's the exact fit for me
i've received a lot of positive feedback about my place as a music therapist, so i'm thinking maybe it's just one of those things that I give to God completely, and trust him as i make little leaps of faith (they seem HUGE to me, but i think they are fairly little...)

the rest of the day was spent with my family. 
i love my family. i really do. 
there aren't many families like mine, and i cherish that
i value each member for a very different and specific reason, and i think that is part of what makes them so great

i got some christmas shopping done
i feel like i should be more overwhelmed, but i'm realizing that i'm just not buying as many extra/uneccesary presents this year. and that is a good thing.
plus, i feel relatively creative for some presents, and that's always helpful

this evening my cold progressed more and more
and i have now lost the ability to sing temporarily
i'm so scared of the mono coming back, and freak out when i see even the smallest indicators of it
i really don't like losing the ability to sing
although, i have come to realize that it is an enormous blessing to be forced to ignore the sound of your own voice to hear all those around you singing together

there are very few things as powerful and inspiring as  hearing people sing together
tonight i was blessed with one of those moments
i went (with my family and michael) to the steve bell concert with the symphony
and there were portions of the concert where the congregation was asked to join in and sing together

sometimes in those moments i close my eyes (even though it is risky, b/c people may think i'm sleeping)
and i try to listen as hard as i can
and my mind takes me away
i imagine myself in heaven
with all of these people
and we are singing praises to God
and no one is tired
but instead it carries on
and more and more people are added to the choir
and it doesn't matter if you are musical or not, or are totally singing your own thing
your voice is a valuable part
and without it, there would be a void

this is always powerful for me
i experience God in these moments
and it gives me a shiver right from my head to my toes
and makes my eyes water
and i can't help but smile at the sounds around me
i love it


there was also one song, that uses the text spoken by mary "my soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exalts in God my savior. For he has looked with mercy on my lowliness
and his name will be forever exalted. For the mighty God has done great things for me
and his mercy will reach from age to age
and holy... holy... holy is His name."
i don't even know how to explain this moment
but i know that there wasn't a single other thought in my mind at that moment
other than the holiness of God
i love those moments

the night carried on with the cold winter air, delicious thai food, good conversation among the family and coming home to my wonderful little christmas tree.

on a side note: i think this is the winter of side swiping. we've almost been side swiped at least 5 times now where we've had to lay on the horn.... a little scary

time for some sleep, and time to get over this cold.

tonight was one to hold on to.

 today has been one of those eye opening days...

you know, one of those days when are reminded of things that seem so obvious afterwards.

some of them light hearted... like the fact that i will ALWAYS burn the first pan of sugar cookies. it just happens, thats what i need to do to figure out exactly how long they need to cook.

others sorta in the middle... like the fact that i am very thankful that i am confident using my voice, mostly in singing, but also for most speaking things. it makes it a lot less stressful doing a music degree when you're comfortable with your own voice.

and others on the heavier side of things... like the fact that too many of us take life and health too lightly.

this weekend one of the children at my practicum died due to a blockage in his trachea tube. reminds me how fragile life is. i couldn't believe the news when i heard it, and i think it's slowly sinking in. Today i was there, but it just seemed like he was maybe away for the day... his little life was so fragile.
and today i met another little boy, who is only a few months old and has this awful (and rare) skin disease that causes blisters to form wherever he is touched. the mom has two other children who are healthy... no one expected this one to be any different. but there he lies in his bed, slathered head to toe (at all times) in vaseline.
makes my heart break.

it was just one of those days.

 hello dear friends.

i'm looking for some help, if you could pass this on to anyone that you think would fit, that would be great!!

i'm looking for ROOMMATES!

to live in a three story house, three streets south of corydon.
close to pembina, and to major bus routes.
$350 dollars which includes all utilities.
Phone/internet/TV is extra, but still not very much per month.
I'm looking for roommates for the second semester (december - april or so)
no pets.
laundry (both washer and dryer) available in the house.

call: 223-9079 if you are interested.


Thanks!

i went to an amazing women's retreat* this weekend.
and i am so thankful that i was there.

i found myself agreeing with so much that i heard, because so much of it made sense and was what i needed to hear in regards to what's all going on in my life and surroundings so to speak. the frustrating part is knowing that as soon as you've learned all this good the devil comes in and tries to screw it up by amplifying the crappy situations even that much more.
frustrating.

however, i'm refusing to forget (or push aside) what i learned this weekend.
basically it all boiled down to these 4 points:

1. God IS perfect love.
2. NOTHING can seperate me from His perfect love.
3. God pour's His perfect love into my imperfect heart.
4. Accessed, I can love anyone through anything.

and learning is only purposeful if you put it to action... so, think of me!


*the retreat was "loving well" by beth moore, and it happened at my church: mcivor ave mb church.

"You're all number one to me, if you wonder, 'Am I number one? you are.' " - my Grandpa John Klassen

I read this quote on Josh's facebook, and it was a good reminder for me.
He said that to us before he died, and it meant the world to me, and continues to.

in other news... i have mono. and i feel awful. so now it's time to go back to bed. mono is not fun.

today was one of those days that takes me all over the emotional rainbow.
you know, checking out all the different emotional colors, and in the end deciding on a favorite.

the sun was brite this morning, although the sky was plastered with storm clouds. the sun shone through all of that, and it was such a dark shade of red. it made me hopeful for another day. i find that i'm coming to that point in the summer where i'm just ready for my summer job to end. mowing lawns is definitely one of the funnest jobs one could have, being outside all day, getting a nice tan and breathing in the fresh air. plus the two guys that i spend most days with are enjoyable and easy to get along with. plus they treat me well and never make me lift the lawn mower out of the truck by myself (it is so much heavier than it looks!). so, although all of this is good, well... it's just time for a change.

things started to take on more of an orange shade of color, as crazy casey, as we affectionately refer to him, came out for a little chat. his yard is never quite complete until we survey it with him. conversations with him cause my coworkers and i to exchange glances and smiles with one another, because you never really know what to expect with him. he is definitely a crazy shade of orange.

my day took on a brighter yellow color as the three of us stopped for coffee and donuts. we discussed weather, and stress, and shared a laugh and a smile with a 'biker for Jesus' when he killed a bug with his donut wrapper. the talk of the weather brightened my day as i found someone with a common weather love of mine. we love it when it is colder outside, when you need to wear a hoodie, and jeans. mittens and a scarf perhaps... and you are crazy if you are only in a t-shirt. fall weather. and if it's raining, and you find yourself either cozied up in a coffee shop, or snuggled away at home in sweats... well, nothing can really beat that. i'm happy every time i think about fall and all that it brings... the start of my final university year, the return of my two best friends, michael and johanna, and the fresh new colors, browns, reds and oranges. our coffee break was so yellow that it brightened what could've been a gloomy conversation about work woes, and all that that entails.

but, green comes next, and so it was back to grass cutting and emotions that join with that. if you have yet to mow lawns 5 days a week for weeks on end, you will not be fortunate enough to know all of the emotions that are accompanied with each lawn.

sadly, the blue did come. i find myself in a gloomier state of mind than i have been for a long time. i am sad that michael is gone, and that his family is gone as well, and i so badly want to be sharing this trip with them. BUT the gloominess that takes over is the fact that i can't seem to just stop being sad about it. so i suppose the sadness is actually a type of frustration perhaps... i am very thankful though that I am able to be happy, and still quite joyful. i just cry more often than i'm used to. guess that shows just how much he means to me... which isn't a surprise to me. did you know that next monday we will have been dating for a YEAR?! time sure does fly.

but thankfully after the rain the sun always does come out. and the joy that accompanies those lovely colors of purple and pink took over. i spent a zany evening with my mom setting up cell phones, home phones and internet access at MTS. t'was fun because the guy we dealt with had such personality. i appreciate that. my new phone is fun to play with so far, and feels like a real treat compared to my last phone which has now officially split into two pieces... it was a good little pink phone, and it tried hard, right till the bitter end.

so now i find myself reflecting on my rainbow rollercoaster, while drinking evian and eatting japanese take out. i'm done house sitting one house, and have officially moved into to the Thiessen's house where i'll be living till september long weekend. BJ and i are both missing them all, but together we'll make it through... ok. that was officially the sign that i'm too tired to continue. so goodnight, thanks for reading, and we'll meet again.

bet you thought i was gone completely, didn't you!

rock of ages, breath of heaven
oh the mystery you have given
all my sin and all my shame
now redeemed in Jesus' name

here i raise my hands and sing
to my Savior to my King
this simple song is all i bring
to the Lord of everything

you are Lord o'er land and sea
yet from the depths you rescued me
for only one you would've died
i am that one now justified

to you Lord i lift my soul
righteousness my only goal
forever always You're the same
and i will not be put to shame

all creation sings Your praise
a majestic song we raise
here in awe, here terrified
yet in Your wonder now we hide

alleluia, alleluia, ALLELUIA
to the Lord of everything

well... it's been a LONG time since i've written in here.
i've been busy mowing lawns and soaking up the sun, and a lot has happened in the last few weeks!

one of my roomies of two wonderful years moved out in june. it's a weird transition to have an empty room, and to miss her presence in the house. i love you beth, and wish you all the best in BC! miss you babe.



also, the day we had waited for, for almost a YEAR finally came... MICHAEL'S GRADUATION!
it was such a wonderful and fun day, i only worked till lunch that day and then spent the afternoon lazing around with michael. i gave him his grad present (a zippo lighter, the new michael buble cd and a 2-year subscription to "car and driver" magazine), he was excited to say the least! then we picked up adrienne and she did my hair and we all got ready, took a million pictures and then it was off to grad. the evening was fun, the food was good, and we had dancing lessons. we learned how to do the foxtrot and how to swing dance, and we got compliments from the instructors, they couldn't believe that we hadn't danced before! we stayed up late, we had fun and then we continued the fun all of the next day. i love celebrating, it's so refreshing!

 

another big thing, is that my little jackson became a christian! he is excited about it, and informed his mom that "a few days before this one" he asked Jesus into his heart. so sweet, i love jack!



and another EXCITING moment is: JOHANNA IS ENGAGED!! so crazy and exciting. keep your eyes on your mailbox jo, something good is on it's way! congratulations babe, i love you and am so excited to celebrate this with you all year!



something kinda sad is that i quit my job at sugar mountain, it was a good time there, and i was sad to leave, but i just don't have the energy to work evenings there after mowing lawns all day. plus shannon left too, and it just wasn't the same without her!



and then finally, this past long weekend was a great one, spent at the cabin with both mine and michael's families. it was a good time of relaxing, laughing and boating. i love the cabin, and both of our families, so it was great. on a sadder note though, july 1st marked a full year of being without Grandpa. in some ways i can't believe he's been gone that long, and in other ways it feels like longer. Grandma is doing amazing, she's so strong. and I've been encouraged at the amount of things I've learned this past year from thinking about my Grandpa, he continues to teach me. i love it. we got together as a family on monday, we spent time fellowshiping together over roll kuchen and watermelon. my uncle set up a slip and slide for the kids, it was so fun to watch them!! nick is my cousin that is 3 years old, and he's hilarious. he didn't really understand how to do the slip and slide, and so he would go where there was no water, and he wouldn't slide. so josh decided to run behind him and push him the rest of the way. nick thought it was hilarious and would laugh the whole time, while filling his face with water! it was fun. then we watched a slide show of slides of pictures that grandpa had taken a long time ago. to see the world how grandpa saw it. it was really cool to watch. then we had a time of sharing, and it was so nice because it wasn't sad and depressing, but rather it was people telling happy memories and stories that had us all laughing. i think this is how Grandpa would want it to be, and i love that. plus i love how well michael fits in with my whole family. it's great.

 

other than that, i'm just trying to enjoy the heat, work hard and avoid mosquito bites as much as possible. i got stung by a bee on my ear the other day, and it's puffed up something fierce. i'm not a big fan of it! but, things are good, the sun is warm and people are wonderful. things are changing but i'm finding myself content amidst it all, and that is good. now i'm off to bake cookies for a dear friend that needs a little cheering up, and tomorrow i'm going to church to hear my mom preach about peace.

life is good. go for a walk, get a slurpee, take some time to look around, and soak it all in. enjoy.

"but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control"

i love weekends.
i really do.
there is nothing in the week quite as good as the weekend for me.
weekends mean staying up later than i can all week
and sleeping in on saturday (and trying to convince myself that it makes up for staying up late)
weekends mean doing whatever i want with my time
they mean relaxing, driving, movie watching, going for walks, sitting on the porch, watching dawson's creek...
you know, all things good.
weekends mean spending full days with michael, and that is always good 
even when we do nothing it is good
as i type he's doing math homework... in just over a week he will be done for good.
and he has his suit for grad, and well, he looks just spectacular.
i'm a lucky girl.
anyways, off of that tangent, and back to my one about the weekend.
weekends mean going to church.
i love church.
i love all the people, i love spending time in worship, for my own life, but also together with other christians.
i love it.
i love seeing my parents.
i love seeing mario and tracy, jack and kieran. especially when they are dressed up like twins. so cute.
i meet a lot of people at church through their kids.
this past weekend we had the church picnic. i think churches need more of these.
it is so good to have people come out to them to spend time actually fellowshiping with one another, getting to know more people, having fun and experiencing God through a different way than we normally do with those people. i talked to more people that i didn't know at this last one, and it felt really good to step out of my comfort zone, and makes it easier to talk to them again in the future.
church is a blessing to me.
weekends are wonderful. 
the beach is wonderful, i also went there yesterday after the church picnic. it was so fun to be there and to swim and suntan. michael and i only had these little towels so i had to be careful not to cover myself in sand while i was drying off, but it was pretty much a success. 
success is a funny word. i remember learning how to spell it in school, my teacher taught me a rhyme: double the c, double the s, and then you will have success. funny that i still use it.
something else that is funny to me is the fact that i have three very distinct tan lines on my shoulders and back. my arms are getting quite dark... which is good. but i have to wear a nice dress in about two weeks... so i will soon be visiting my dear friend 'fabutan'. i'm not going to lie, i love that place.
but now i have rambled on for long enough, and i have a mosquito bite on my toe that needs some attention.
so for now i am done. over and out.

what a happy day.



congratulations matt and vic!

another rainy day = not a lot of work for me.

the day started as usual, woke up at 6:20, got on the 7 am bus. waited on graham for my connecting bus, which never came, so i had a little bus adventure, michael called at 7:30 and talked to me till i got to work. at 8 i set out with nathan and james to go cut grass in oakbank. we were cutting this beautiful yard, that is filled with trees and the people have 3 dogs, 2 that look exactly like bear cubs, and one that kinda looks like a lion. 
about 2 hours into the job it started to pour on us so we went and sat in the truck, calling weather networks, and accidently calling some lady. after a while the rain didn't let up, so we had to call it a day. 
had a surprise visit with lisa, a little chat with theresa, a dollarama adventure with my mom, and then i made 2 shepherd's pies. yummy.
THEN. the best part. i got a phone call from my best bud, JO! it was so good to talk to her, makes me miss her more though. 
now i'm contemplating cleaning my room, also organizing it a bit, and watching some dawsons creek. i might also take a nap.
also, i'm quite amused with the fact that due to weed whacking, my right bicep is growing/strengthening, however my left one really is not. how nice.

tomorrow i'm going on a date. 
and saturday is matt/vic's wedding. 
good days are ahead.

i liked today.
i started a new job today.
i ate tim hortons with my mom today
i got a nice tip today (which then turned into a new sweater)
i spent lunch time with my favorite someone.
i did some very leisurely and productive shopping (mostly grocery)
it rained. i love rain.
i made a final decision about summer employment.
i feel peace about it all.
i made a delicious supper.
i laughed a lot.
i re-discovered the wonderful treat that is "fibre 1" (56% of your daily fibre intake in only 1/2 a cup! that is crazy goodness).
i was very genuinely happy (which is good when it's that wonderul mood swinging time of the month)
i enjoyed my new mix cd (a present from michael)
i am going to be baking yummy sugar free cookies soon. delish.

oh, and i'm going to bed early tonight. and that is a good thing!

dawson's creek is so good. i don't care what anyone else says. i re-discovered it this week thanks to my dear friend lisa.
also i rearranged my room today.
and i made a job decision. now i just have to wait.
and... last saturday i got a new hair do...
voila!

back and forth...

back and forth.


thank you for those that are praying. it's helping i think.