a la verboom

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is how I get to teach in various classrooms and learn about different ages of kids. I've established that my favourite classrooms are the baby room and the senior room...those kids have really grown on me!! On friday it was the last day of a boy who was one of my favourites...it was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be!! Yeesh, what these kids are doing to my heart. :) It's also really neat though because I am confident that their experience at our centre has prepared them adequately for "big school". Anywho, as part of my flexibility in being a summer student and doing whatever they ask me to, this week I have the privilege of filling in for our cook who is on vacation! Just call me Chef Nicky I guess, avec une accent francais, of course (so I guess that would be more like Chef NikEE). Today I was kind of thrown into it and, while initially overwhelmed, I quickly got the hang of it and found my way around the plethora of tupperware and milk bags (our kids drink a lot of milk.). I really love cooking, so it's neat to be able to do it in a large group setting...never before have I prepared food for 40 people! I'm learning that I have a really poor judgement of food quantities and that, when it comes to children, having too much is better than not enough. On the menu today was vegetarian lasagna, which apparently was a success since the toddlers asked for thirds! Good times working the Betty Crocker skills!
Another realization that I've come to over the past week or so since Veronika and I have moved in is the large amount of respect I have for mothers, and especially working mothers. After working full time (7:30-5:30) all day, I'm rarely in the mood to prepare anything to eat...and I'm having a hard time managing one room, let alone an entire house! It takes a special person to work all day and then come home and continue to serve others, I wonder where the time comes from to journal, read, relax.....blog (kidding:).......! Thanks to all you moms who work overtime on life. This month is going to be an excellent exercise of life skills and prioritizing!

Well, some of you avid blog-readers might be wondering about my bike....well....I fixed it!! by myself, nonetheless. It was a very exciting occasion, so exciting that I asked Veronika to photo-document the occasion, despite my attire. The feeling of success when I was finished was fantastic! I wrestled with it for a while, and it gave me a run for my money, but I overcome the heap of rubber and escaped with only grease-covered hands and a pedal in the eye.
Bike riding is going much better as well, I've started biking on the road with traffic, and the other day I even turned left in a major intersection (gasp!). I'm thankful that my commute to work is during relatively early hours when there are not many cars on the road.

My computer, unlike my bike, is giving me more trouble. I've discovered that the hard-drive has crashed and I need to send poor Tony away to get repaired. I sure do hope it can get fixed before school! Until then the lovely Veronika is allowing me to use hers.

....looking forward to coming home.....missing projectile peeps....having fun at work and planning for a camping extravaganza this upcoming weekend.......this is my life right now!

This past Sunday Veronika and I attended a different church than usual, Faith Tabernacle. During the singing time, we sang this song that has especially been in my head and on my heart since. I'll leave you with the lyrics....

Phillips Craig Dean - You Are God Alone

You are not a god
Created by human hands
You are not a god
Dependant on any mortal man
You are not a god
In need of anything we can give
By Your plan, that’s just the way it is

[chorus]
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
Your are God alone
And right now
In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone

You’re the only God
Whose power none can contend
You’re the only God
Whose name and praise will never end
You’re the only God
Who’s worthy of everything we can give
You are God
And that’s just the way it is

[chorus]

[bridge]
Unchangeable
Unshakable
Unstoppable
That’s what You are

[bridge]

[chorus]

[bridge]

August is here!

Hello Friends,
I apologize for the breakage in blogging. Between project ending, moving into our new apartment, a marvelous visit from some fam and my computer crashing, I haven't been able to write out some thoughts for you all to read.
Things are going well. Last week my sister Leanne and her husband Luke came to visit and helped Veronika and I move to our new apartment! It is quite lovely. Although we were sad to part ways with our Rice Residence Room and all the accompanying memories, we have found a new place in our hearts as we admire the hardwood floors and natural light of our new place. We reeeeaaalllly like it and are excited to be able to relax and unwind here throughout August. It is about a 15 minute bike ride from work I discovered this morning...so that's good. Oh, and I have a bike! My lovely friend Colleen was given a bike during project which she passed on to me to use. It was given to her by someone at her church who had no use for it and wants it passed onto a someone in need of it after we're finished with it...so that's cooL! Bike riding has been interesting in itself...I've been riding on the sidewalks because I'm intimidated by the cars, turning left in normal traffic, and at the moment my tires are quite bald, I haven't gotten around to changing them yet...so there's not much traction when it's wet. I thought riding on the sidewalks would solve these problems until this morning when I had a little run in with a brick wall in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian's briefcase (well, moreso a scraping along the walk than running into it..).........I left the scenario with a nice abrasion on my left forearm and a new understanding of why you're not allowed to bike on the sidewalk. I'll be attempting to change those tires tonight.
The last weekend in July we had a debrief retreat which was marvelous. We got away to be beside the ocean and reflect on how God has really changed us this summer. It was a most excellent time. Saying goodbyes to everyone and transitioning from project to real life has been difficult, but we're managing and trusting that God will continue to build and stretch us as we seek to know him more. Throughout the summer, it feels like I've had 3 families: home, project, and coworkers. Being so far away from home and now project peeps, my schedule has now opened up to spend time with my coworkers, which is nice. We're planning a camping trip for mid-August and are spending time together during the week which is fun.
Veronika and I now have our own rooms in the new apartment, which is nice...but sometimes I get lonely and crash her Harry Potter reading party! ( like right now ...hee hee hee:). We are living with one other girl, Danielle, who is from Grimsby and quite a lovely lady. Strangely, we know some of the same people! Small world!
Work is going alright, I'm in the toddler room this week which is stressful because I haven't learned how to handled them yet...but my coworker Jenn is great, I'm learning a lot from her so hopefully this week won't prove to be a frantic one!
Okay, well I'm on my way to fix my bike and talk to Toshiba Technical Support about my computer problems. I apologize if you've emailed me and not heard a return...the process will be slow and steady as I don't have much access to the computer and/or internet!

Home in 21 days!

Kids Say the Cutest Things

Context: Sitting around the lunch table today in the Senior Room (ages 4-5), discussing (okay..to the extent that 5 year olds discuss...basically random bursts of thoughts whenever a moment of silence presents itself) the fact that Megan(one of the children)'s dad is going to Vancouver for a week in order to be in a wedding.

1. Megan: "Ya, my daddy's going to be the greatest guy!" (referring his position as best man in the wedding party)

...as the 'conversation' progressed, I was telling them that Vancouver is all the way on the other side of Canada...

2. Kelly: "Would you have to turn left?" (probably referring to the fact that it's on the left side of the country)

Usually, in these moments, I try and hold back...I try and just smile and entertain their understanding of the situation. But today I couldn't. These comments threw my coworkers and I into gut-busting laughter. After the hilarity of the moment subsided, we were able to affirm both of the girls' comments.

Good times.

the blahhhhhhg.

Well, this week was pretty dull and I feel as though I have nothing to report...but I shall blog nonetheless. The weather was especially dreary this week and, in doing so, it largely effected the moods of my coworkers, children and myself; everyone was quite on edge. Things were definitely out of funk this week, and understandably, seeing as how we were cooped up in the daycare all week. I do believe, as well, that the honeymoon stage is over concerning my job. As the week transpired I realized that I was no longer over joyed and anticipatory about each new day. Don't get me wrong, I still love my job...it's just the commitment sort of love now. The kind of love that negotiates politics and policies and chooses to love the children each day...even when I don't feel like it. At the beginning of project, one of the major lessons we learned was that love is a choice, not a feeling - at the time it was concerning working in a team with people whose personalities may not necessarily mesh well with ours, but I'm learning that this lesson is applicable to all areas of life! It's a pretty cool yet challenging concept.

I've become quite distracted recently with thoughts of August. As a ministry, we are still working on projects of evangelism (reaching others with the gospel) as well as inductive Bible study ( learning about the Bible in its original context and how that applies to our lives today...right now we're studying the book of 1 Corinthians, it's fantastically fascinating.) among other things....and while we're having a hard time focusing on the here and now instead of the sights of home ( or a different home, for me here in Halifax), I have been daydreaming about August and having time to enjoy...............the beautiful weather...........the festivals every weekend...........the evenings that I'll be able to spend reading leisurely for hours.......watching movies (I'm making a list!).......spending time to cook a nice meal..........lounging in Point Pleasant Park.........watching free concerts in the Public Gardens every Sunday afternoon..........baking.......crafting.......sending postcards...perhaps attending some fitness classes at the Y!....preparing for C4C in the fall ...........hmmmmmmmmmmmm.....all things that I don't really have time for right now. But, alas, I shall focus on the here and now. I know that the next two weeks will be difficult, focusing and then saying goodbye to everyone, but a fun one as well because we have a debrief retreat coming up to help us process all we've learned here, relax, and enjoy each others' company one last time as a group. And Leanne and Luke are coming to visit after that!...so good times are in store.

This weekend is the Tall Ships Celebration in Halifax. It's pretty spectacular! The ships are so huge and beautiful! I'm consistently awestruck by the size of the ocean and everything in/on it! Did you know that a tuna fish is the size of a CAR, and a blue whale is the size of three school buses?! Here is a picture of my friend Becky standing next to a huge boat ( not part of the tall ships, but one that we saw on the way). God's pretty amazing and powerful in order to have created and maintain all the life in the ocean, not to mention all of us here on earth! My finite mind simply cannot comprehend it all! Also included are some pictures of a few friends and I enjoying the Tall Ships, as well as a traditional fish and chips meal down on the harbour.

Mossy Monday.

Today at work I was assigned the most bizarre task! In the playground where our children play, there is some old-ish wooden playground equipment that needs to be repainted. But...standing in the way of us and a beautiful new paint job was the accumulation of moss on the equipment. Over the years moisture has facilitated the growth of the gross plantae and today my coworker Meghan and I were given the task of scraping it all off. With buckets of warm soapy water and your average dish scrubbers and scrapers in hand, we tackled the equipment one post and railing at a time. It was disgusting. I began the day without gloves, thinking that I could hack it and convinced that the best work was done when in full control of my fingers. My mind was quickly changed, however, when I spent 5 minutes washing the green grime off my hands and fingernails in order to consume my lunch in a sanitary manner. blech. The afternoon progressed with a lot of scrubbing and scraping, bending and craning in order to reach the nooks and crannies that the breeze coming off the Halifax harbour had reached. Finally we finished at 4ish and were able to begin spraying with water and bleach (in order to completely kill the moss). Though a monotonous task, it was nice to do something brainless that allowed time for me to think and pray about life. I also got to know my coworker Meghan a bit better too, and hear about her obsession with the band White Stripes (whom I've never heard of, whoops.). I've learned that strange repetitive tasks can be quite therapeutic...and standing looking at the fully-scraped climbing equipment was strangely rewarding!
P.S. I also met my boss' cousin who is from K-W area!! Random! I love random Ontario connections.

Canada Day. August Accomodations. Tattoo. Facebook.

Hi friends, well...as I was surfing the web today and checking out some various blogs, I was inspired by Vanessa Strickland's to write less, more often. It seems as though my blogs have turned into giant stories which are neither pleasant for me to write, or you to read I'm sure...so here goes bringing you the bare facts. Hopefully this method will prove to be more manageable.

My Canada Day weekend was delightful. Although we didn't do anything extravagant, it was nice to have an extra day to be rejuvenated. Sunday after church, Melissa and I went to watch the parade which was short in comparison to anything I remember from Norfolk County, but high quality nonetheless. A bunch of us also went down to the pier to enjoy the fireworks as well, which were done well. My friend Paulman collaborated these memories into a nice little montage, if you'd like to see it, you can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA8dMk49UDc...the video is a bit blurry..but it gives you an idea of our fun-filled evening. You'll also see us playing line tag in the parking lot, singing along to "Livin' on a Prayer" ( a project theme song), and dancing in our random dance circle we started on the dock...there was a loud band at a nearby pub we could hear and dance to...we called it our 'safe circle', where no one was mocked for their skills, or lack thereof...good times were had by all! It was nice to hang out together outside of ministry and be 'real life' friends.

Praise God! He has provided a place for Veronika and I to live during August. We will be staying at our friend Becky's apartment which will be empty until her return in September.

Today I went to the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo...which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds and I didn't return with any permanent markings. It's an annual indoor entertainment extravaganza involving marching bands, acrobats, gymnasts and singers. It involved lots of music, which tickled my fancy, and I have come upon the realization that I love marching bands. I'm fascinated by how so many people can make such a amazing sound while and walking and synchronized! It blows my mind quite frankly.

Well, it happened again. I was sucked in by facebook! I recently reactivated my account to check some birthday dates and a few pictures, which quickly led into hours spent catching up on everyone's summers. Unfortunately this led to feelings of homesickness as I saw pictures of everyone I know and love back home. I realized that life is happening without me at home ( weddings..beach parties....birthdays..cottage fun..baseball!). I know, however, that God has called me here this summer and is stretching me as I grow to know him more. After participating in a pick-me-up ice/let loose ice cream and painting party with Joanna and Kacey, I have recovered and returned to my deactivated state. And so, this is the dance facebook and I do........ohhhh facebook. Anyway, I'm looking forward to Leanne and Luke's visit at the end of July(..sister and brother in law)!

Goodbye for now friends!

Beautiful Babies. Family Fun.

Last week I worked in the Baby Room all week!! I really enjoyed it. The Baby Room is occupied by infants ranging from 6 to 18 months. The ratio is 4 babies per 1 staff member, and the floor space is licensed for 8 babies (aka. bebbies) so I worked alongside my coworker Marlie, because her usual partner in crime was on vacation (to Ontario, go figure!). During the week I experienced and learned a lot about the first year-ish of life, changed a LOT of diapers, cuddled with some sick babies, and got to know my coworker Marlie quite well. I also gained a whole knew respect for Marlie and Sarah (the usual baby room staff), and anyone working with babies for that matter, on Wednesday morning when Meghan (another summer student) and I were left to hold down the fort as Marlie attended a dentist appointment. Let me tell you...it was not pretty! Meghan and I unsuccessfully attempted to master the flow of routine in the baby room...unfortunately what came of it was a lot of spills and bumping and untimely eating. The babies survived no worse for the wear...although Meghan and I were a bit frazzled. It was a great week overall and marked the first for many experiences in my life, including being vomitted upon in a projectile manner(It was quite the unexpected escapade! I took one for the team to save a mom from going to work in barf-covered clothing...no harm was done and my coworkers affirmed that I would be stronger for it...it served as the joke of the day and I definetely felt like the rookie! :) I certainly feel equipped to handle my responsibilities in the church nursery now!
The Baby Room is exciting to be a part of because of the unique developmental milestones you get to observe. For example, Jordan started walking this past week! It was so cool to be a part of this stage in her life. I also love watching how their sounds, words and eventually vocabularies progress and grow. (I know, I'm a CYF nerd!) The babies and I have become good friends, I love being a familiar face that they greet warmly and I'm convinced by some of their dispositions that if they were 19 years older we would be good friends.

This week I have been floating in between rooms as needed which has been nice because I've got to spend time with a bunch of different kids and teachers. One thing that I and Veronika have noticed while working is that there are certain YMCA-isms, which I shall share with you. These are phrases that are used with the kids, either in disciplining them or just random conversation, that we found surprising to hear when we arrived, but they're actually effective with the kids!...the names are used randomly:

• "No Justin, that's George's work, go find some new work." - they refer to what the child is doing, no matter what it may be - whether colouring or playing with blocks - as "work"...at first I thought that this was strange but I've learned that it's quite effective because all of the kids know what it means right away without having to be wordy.
• "Put your words (and/or sillies) away friends!" - used usually before lunch or when standing in line to leave...whenever the children's undivided attention is needed.
  
• They used the word "body" a lot, in ways that we would think sound silly, but to kids it clearly articulates what needs to be done/what has happened. For example: Saying "Calm your body" when a child is crying, it makes more sense to them then "calm down" because, well, where is "down" anyway? Other examples are "You just hurt Grace's body" or "You need to move your body!"(made famous by Yvonne when telling children they need to hurry up :)
• "Red light friends!" - when children need to stop what they are doing.
• "No thank you" - a phrase children are equipped with early in their speech to let their friends know they don't like what their doing instead of having a temper tantrum/hitting them.
• "UH OH Louis, you should not being doing that. " - said in a serious tone to emphasize the seriousness of the situation.
• "DANGER Ava, come off that table." - similar to above.

This is daycare lingo!.....and inside the walls of daycare, everyone is called "friend" and smothered with lots of hugs and kisses.

(This past week...)While floating in between classrooms, filling in where needed and doing random tasks (fixing fences and filling sandboxes), in short fulfilling my task as summer student, I've enjoyed getting to know the kids and staff better. I'm finding that I enjoy my time more now that I'm used to the routine(it's very stressful to go into a classroom unguided when you're not sure of their activities or the norm of structure/discipline, etc.). My coworker Yvonne is very grateful that we ( the summer students) have all come out of our shells and are willing to be crazy, an attribute necessary to survive in the world of daycare! My coworkers have become my third family (the other C4C students I'm here with would have to take second place, we've grown a lot together and are living in very close quarters)....I feel really blessed to be working with the lovely ladies at the centre. They've taught me a lot about loving (kids, and each other!), forgiveness and the importance of team unity. Walking into working everyday I feel surrounded by friends, which is comforting and doesn't really make it feel like work at all! I am very thankful for my job, the great opportunities it's providing me with, and the joy it's added to my summer. Praise God!

I've also gotten quite a bit of sun this summer, which has been nice, as we take the kids on outings daily as long as the weather permits. (Friday I went with the Rompers to the Museum of Natural History...who would think that I'd get paid to do touristy things?!) Pictured are some photos from our trip to the Public Gardens with the Rompers(2-3 yrs.) and Juniors(3-4 yrs.). These beautiful children bless my every day!



























My Family visited this past weekend!!

Last weekend Mom, Dad and Kelsey came and explored Halifax. We endeavoured in lots of fun adventures while they were here! They were able to visit my workplace which was nice as well ( ya know...introduce one family to the other!) Friday afterwork we went on the Harbour Hopper which was a fun and informative way to explore Halifax. The Harbour Hopper is a land/water amphibious vehicle that was used by the U.S. in the war (I don't recall which one exactly) to carry troops from the water to the land - Some people from Halifax bought three of them for 1.5 million dollars, repainted them and added seats...and now they're giving tours of the city and harbourfront! The tour was an hour long, about half in the water and half touring around the city. We were able to see and learn about the sites and sounds of Halifax. I especially appreciated learning about how the city was formed and the defining day of the Halifax Explosion. We also learned that the building I work in is environmentally friendly: There are pipes that reach down to the deepest, coldest water of the harbour and pump it back to cool the building. They save $40 000 in air conditioning every year!

On Saturday we roadtripped to Peggy's Cove, Lunenburg and Mahone's Bay. Although Kelsey and I's initial perspective of Peggy's Cove was skewed due to the carsickness we were suffering from, we couldn't help but awe at the beauty of the view. In the quaint village of Lunenburg (home of the Bluenose!) we ate ice cream while sitting on the pier, basking in the unexpected but appreciated good weather. It was nice to get out and experience some of Nova Scotia's beauty outside of Halifax.

the pictures: Kelsey and I on the dock in Lunenburg; Kels, Ma, Pops and I at Point Pleasant Park Sunday afternoon after relaxing and napping next to the ocean(this activity is a favourite pasttime my friends and I here; Point Pleasant Park is beautiful and close by. On the particular Sunday we were there, there was a "Dog Jog", so Kelsey enjoyed watching all the dogs.).


All is well here in Halifax, the weather is beautiful! I'm looking forward to participating in Canada Day festitivities this weekend and attending The Tattoo ( a large multicultural concert) this upcoming week...to be posted about at a later date!

Special Visit. Retreat. Pleasant Partying.

Once again I return to my blog with lots to say and report on, but not enough time to do it in! So I shall choose to expand on some highlights of my past few weeks!

A few Saturdays ago I was blessed by a special visit!! My sister Danielle, her boyfriend Kevin, as well as friends from home Jon and Amy stopped by for a few hours because they happened to be in the province! Jon and Kevin were groomsmen in a wedding held in Cape Breton (Danielle and Amy accompanied them as their dates)...and since Halifax is only a few hours away, they decided that they were just too close to not stop by. We had a marvelous time! Since they had not eaten, we went out for dinner to a restaurant called "The Thirsty Duck"...one of a few oddly named establishments on one of Halifax's main streets, others include "Your Father's Moustache"(a restaurant), and "Your Mother's Underwear"...random, I know! Anyway, we had a great time chatting and it was wonderful to visit people from home while so far away! The visit was filled with lots of laughter as Kevin and Jon entertained us with their random stories, sounds and general brotherly goofiness! I was also able to show them around my humble abode and the major sights and sounds that I experience daily in Halifax. (Note: all visitors welcome! haha) I look forward to my next special visit from my parents next weekend!

Another very large highlight for me recently was our project retreat. We were whisked away by the staff to Camp KejimKujik, a National Park in Queens County(about a 3 hour drive away). Here we were able to really relax and recharge from the busy and stressful (not bad stress, but stress nonetheless) lives that we've been leaving. We were blessed by the teachings of a guest speaker named Mike Woodard, the director of Campus Ministries. The theme of the weekend was "Supernatural Leadership", and he really imparted a lot of wisdom on us concerning how to be God-focused and surrendered leaders. It was a very special and blessed time. We also spent a lot of time in quiet reflection in God's creation - the camp we were staying at was on a lake, it was lovely to just sit beside the water and spend time with God. The top picture is of one of my apartmentmates, Amber, and I the night we arrived...we were beside the lake basking in its beauty and watching the sun set (I attempted skipped stones, which she was amused by, but I couldn't get it to skip more that once...either it's a special boy skill or the rocks weren't suited for the job...I like to think it's the latter..)
It was on this retreat that I realized quite a few things...one of the lighter ones being that I'm addicted to being by the water!! There's something about a large body of water, I don't know what it is - but I love it! At first I thought I was addicted to being by the ocean, but the lake seemed to satisfy me delightfully as well! I think a large part of it is that the weather is very different (much cooler, and always breezy) here, nothing like the thick heat of Southwestern Ontario that makes me irritable. (Don't get me wrong - I love home and miss it, but I don't miss the weather!). anyway...that was a random tangent...The retreat was really wonderful! Saturday afternoon was free time which I spent with my good friend Joanna (she's lovely - she attends University of Western Ontario in the Nursing Program)....we rented a canoe for an hour, paddled out into the lake a bit...and then just sat in the bottom of the boat and talked as we drifted back towards our destination. It was delightful...soaking in the sun, being on the water, and enjoying great conversations! (See picture!) Another thing that came to me this past weekend was that I forgot how much I love camping!! There's something to said for being in sun, water, and nature, having to survive without the conveniences of western society, and having nothing to do but relaxing activities! My new MEC gear also made a world of difference...my new sleeping bag kept me very warm as I slept outside under the stars Saturday night! Soooo, I'm sure that you can gather from this paragraph that it was a fantastic and refreshing weekend(minus our raccoon problems!...they ate some of our food...).

The last highlight of late actually happened today at work! Today was the main event that my coworkers and I have been working towards ever since I started work: the annual graduation/birthday party. Every year Purdy's Wharf Child Care Centre holds a big party/mini carnival for the children and their families to celebrate those going into school and to celebrate the birthday of the daycare being established, this was the daycare's 16th birthday! The afternoon included a special presentation by the senior class (an adorable rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" as well as a few other songs), the presentation of the diplomas and then lots of partying, cake, games and fun! As a summer staff, I was often given duties related to this event and as a result, quite emotionally invested. The day turned out great, and I left with lots of warm fuzzies. Watching the parents and kids together, interacting...watching how proud and eager with cameras in hand the parents were...and how eager the children were to show off their accomplishments ...really really warmed my heart and reminded me of a few things: why I'm enrolled in my program(Child, Youth and Family Studies) ...how amazing it feels to invest in another person's life(we, as daycare workers, have a direct impact on the kids' lives/development, and in turn the parents', because if the kids have a great experience, so do the parents!) .... as well, it rekindled my passion for working, not just with children, but families. My heart also melted as I observed my coworkers and their love for the children in their class...they were moved to tears as they presented the diplomas and spoke of the children moving forward to "big school". I have never seen such an amazing investment of love (but at the same time, appropriate boundaries..etc.) and I am continually realizing how important it is for every child to have loving adults in their life. I am learning a lot from my coworkers about working with children and at the same time growing a greater love for kids (if that's possible..). I really hope and am striving to be an effective and loving influence and support in children's lives as they have been to their students! Although I've only been working for 3 weeks I find that I'm not looking forward to when they/I have to leave...they're really adorable and there's a special attachment that forms when you invest into another's development. Watching them grow, mature and become amazing young people is really gripping my heart! It's really cool to sit back and imagine the incredible adventures in store for their life...what their occupation will be...what kind of person they'll be...and think about whether we, the daycare, had any impact on that. Anyway, I'll stop blubbering above my love for my job, coworkers and these kids......the day was really amazing (although tiring...), I was able to unleash my creative talents by womanning the face painting booth, which was lots of fun. Pictured is one of the students and myself after I transformed him into a tiger! (don't tell anyone...but he's one of my favourites!) I've actually had quite a few opportunities to display my craftiness at work ( which I of course love!) ...through designing and making the kids' graduation caps and painting the sign pictured. *sigh*...I really really love my job!

...annnnnd retreat.

Veronika got the job! Woohoo and praise God! I/we are very excited!! Yesterday and today we participated in the traditional YMCA staff training which included a Child Abuse Protocol Training Workshop (sad, but interesting and useful) and today we went to "new staff training". It was a great day! I didn't realize how great an organization the YMCA is. We learned about the history and how it has become what it is today...James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, was a YMCA fitness director! How cool is that? I really appreciate everything they stand for, especially the holistic approach they have to serving the community: they are committed to help build up people in mind, body and spirit which is different then other organizations such as regular fitness facilities who would concentrate on catering to just your body, etc.
ALSO...on a very small world note, two of the girls I met there were from Ontario! One of them grew up in the Sarnia area and the other in Markdale..apparently the maritimes is a hot spot for Ontarions to go for school!
Well, this is just a short and quick blog to say hi and happy weekend...we're packing up to go on a camping retreat for the weekend! I'm excited for this downtime to relax and recharge from work/project chaos. This past week I've been dodging the stomach flu and battling a cold, (both of which are a result of the mass exposure to germs at the daycare)... so it will be nice to rest up and have lots of fun in beautiful rural Nova Scotia. I'm also excited to bust out some new camping equipment that I invested in at MEC! Good times will be had by all and I'll have lots of pictures and stories to blog about. Have a great weekend everyone!
I've included some more pictures of my workplace!...keep in mind there are usually lots of children in these rooms..these pictures were taken at the end of the day.

Paid to Play!

I started my job on Monday and I love it!! It's really fantastic! I have a lot of details, and not a lot of time, so forgive me, but I'm going to blog in point form (gasp! I know, Mrs. Stancek* would not approve!). So, here it goes,

Why I Love my Job:
-the staff are really amazing. They have a lot of experience and I know that I'm going to learn a lot from them ( I already am!)especially concerning effectively handling a large group of children without raising the stress level, among other things.
-the facility is really great...well maintained, spacious, colourful, clean...it's really great. As well, the building that it's in is magnificent...it's one of two very large business buildings downtown Halifax that are occupied by businesses, law firms, accountants, etc....so the building is really beautiful (see picture, left). The picture on the right is of the beautiful interior.

I was mistaken when previously describing the center: it's a daycare that cares for children 6 months-5 years of age. Our centre takes up the majority of the 2nd floor. There are 22 floors in all and I discovered today that going all the way in the elevator makes your ears pop, not a delightful experience.
- the building, as I previously mentioned, is right on the waterfront...there's a huge, beautiful pier at the base of the building(see picture, right) that goes out into the water with benches and such to eat your lunch or whatever, you know...beside the ocean! SO COOL. I'm really excited about that.
-the program structure is fantastic!! The days are very structured, so the kids know what's coming (which is important!). As well, it's so HEALTHY!...That's the only word I can really use to describe it...not just physically ( although we do go walking a LOT with the kids)...but emotionally and spiritually as well. As you can tell I'm a big fan of the YMCA programs right now.
-the walk to work is really wonderful. It's nice to spend time by myself, but also the scenery is beautiful! It allows me to either walk through downtown or along the waterfront. Recently I've been taking the downtown route in the AM and the waterfront route on the way home. It's been a great way to further discover the city(and wander..fun times.)!
-apparently a large part of my tourist activities are going to be covered this summer because we're going to explore them with the daycare(museums, etc.).
-Coming soon is a huge graduation party for the children leaving the daycare, which is fun preparing for. Today I was paid to be crafty! I designed and made the graduation caps for the cutie patuties. It was fun!
- The children are adorable and really well behaved. I know, what children aren't?...but for real...these kids are really great! Today, while walking home from Dollarama, Bridget looks up at me and says "Nicky, who makes it rain?......God?"....cuteness:)
-It has potentially landed my roommate a job!! FUNNY STORY: So....my first day on the job...I'm in the kitchen and my boss Rhonda is distressed about having to hire another student to fill an admin. position
Nicky - "Well...I've got a roomate looking for an admin position if you're still accepting applications.."
Rhonda - "Does she happen to be a visible minority or have a disability?**"
Nicky - "Well ya, she's from the Philippines..."
Rhonda - "REALLY?!?!? WELL THEN GET HER IN HERE FOR AN INTERVIEW!!"
**insert lots of laughter here**

Veronika and I had many laughs over this story. The next day (yesterday) she had an interview, which apparently went super(!), and well...we're just waiting the final word to hear that she's my coworker as well as roomie! Veronika loves filing, organizing, and well, administrating...so she's going to be a great assistant to my slightly scattered boss. (she actually got excited when she heard how disorganized the office is at work!)

-It's wonderful. What more can I say? God has really blessed (spoiled!) me with my job placement and I am really really thankful!

Okay, signing off, so sorry for the rushed blog! Good night all!

*My amazing Grade 12 English teacher.
**This was the stipulation on the grant she was given by the government...they're encouraging the hiring of visible minorities and people with disabilities.

DRIME time!

Time for more stories!! Last night was a fantastic time; we participated in "Battle of the Sexes" for our Mandatory Fun/Team Building evening. It was a random set of events that tested different skills both genders were more accustomed to including obstacle courses, tests of fitness, organization, cooperation, communication, bravery and gluttony. After a very close score, the women won overall!! Woohoo! Our prize is a social next Friday night planned by the men catered and targeted entirely to the female gender. Although there've been some suggestions made that we will be watching "Braveheart" (apparently for the William Wallace factor), I'm confident the men will plan a fun evening for us.
To explain the picture shown in the last entry and tell a story I know you've been curious about...I shall proceed in telling you about last Saturday's happenings. The director of DRIME (Disciples Ready in Mobile Evangelism) Tanya Price joined us for the day to train us in the art of "driming". DRIME is an organization that "exists to reach people for Christ through choreographed street drama, empower others for ministry through drama and evangelism training, and produce passionate, discipled leaders through purposed community"(drime.com). If you search drime on youtube.com, you can see examples of these dramas that we learned (our groups specifically learned the ones entitled "please", "ragman", and thief"), there's also the ministry video on there which gives a clear outline of who they are and some great examples of their work(http://youtube.com/watch?v=VR615vEtHe8). So, basically...it's a choreographed drama set to a song that tells a story from the Bible, or just on the truths of the Bible. The specific drama that I participated in was based on the Bible verse John 10:10, which says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." and was set to the song "Idioteque" by Radiohead. In our drama I was one of three girls (symbolizing steal, kill, and destroy...I played the one being "destroyed"..it was dark/morbid, yet powerful.). The drama began with Jesus (in the professional drimes, and the ones on youtube.com, Jesus always wears a white tshirt to be distinguished from the others...everyone else is in all black.) creating each one of us in his image and then Satan slowly making his way into our lives. Soon we were under his command and participating in self-destructive behaviours. After a rigorous path of destruction it parellels us breaking the shackels of Satan's control with Christ's crucifixion and resurrection...symbolizing that he died so that we can be set free from the hold of our sin. It's hard to explain exactly how the drama played out, but it was very powerful and I found myself overwhelmed while watching another group perform. It was a very different way yet very relevant way of illustrating God's impact on our lives. Like they say in the ministry video, everyone can relate to music and drama. The day was very intense/draining, both physically and emotionally. But we all came away very empowered and excited to use this new tool.
On an entirely separate note, one of the big lessons that I've learned over the past few weeks here and I'm confident will continue to learn is effective time management. The upcoming time commitments of project and work ( I start my job on Monday! yay!) have forced me to map out a weekly schedule so that I can a) get the most out of my "project" experience through participating in ministry activities, building relationships and completing assigned homework and b) stay in contact with people from home through phone, email and blog. In doing this, I've set aside time on Tuesdays, Thursdays and once on the weekends for blogging(...just so you know when to expect them!). I think this is best in keeping everyone up to date on my happenings but also allowing me time to experience happenings. As well, I've set aside a specific time to reply to emails, so please forgive me if I don't respond in a timely manner! ..Just thought I'd let you all in "the know" of things!

wild week

Wow...I can't believe it's been a WEEK since I last blogged...the past 7 days has flown by! Time here seems very strange...part of me feels like I've been here for months because so much has happened since we arrived, but other parts feel like time is flying by and before I know it home time will be here! Strange, really.
This past week has been quite the adventure, like most weeks here! Sunday I went to church with Gilberto, Joanna and Denise. We attended Faith Tabernacle; we like to call this day "A Series of Unfortunate Events"...similar to the blockbuster favourite you know and love. To set the stage..it was raining, like it is most days in Halifax...but on this day Joanna and I had done our hair without knowing that it was raining outside (all of the females reading know what I'm talking about...straightened hair + rain = a half hour that you could've spent doing something more productive!) ....UE(unfortunate event)#1: on the way to church we got stuck in traffic due to the Bluenose Marathon, which went through Halifax this past weekend (you might have seen it on the news). As we drove around trying to find an alternate route we discovered that the marathon literally cut right through the part of the city that we needed to cross and there was no way around it. Eventually, we were allowed through..although it put us 20 minutes late for church. (funny quote: "This marathon is holding up the economy of the city!" - Gilberto). UE#2: Finally, once arriving we discover that the road that Faith Tabernacle is on was undergoing construction which meant that we had to park on a side street and walk in...in the rain. UE#3: I accidentally stepped on the back of Joanna's sandal and it broke! ...it was easily repaired, but counted as one more addition to the UEs of the day. This concludes the unfortunate events of that day, church was delightful - I think I might go there again next Sunday...I'd like to see what it's like to show up on time and talk to some of the people. I appreciated the diversity of the church, both in age and culture; there were a healthy amount of people from every age range, from babies to seniors, as well as ethnicities.
Well, I'm going to have to cut this short, I'm headed out the door...more stories to come! Tonight is "Battle of the Sexes" during Mandatory Fun time, so I'm sure that there'll be some good stories to share from that!
Happy Friday!

P.S. This picture has nothing to do with the story mentioned...but it leaves you guessing what the next one will be about!!

Back in Blogging Action....God provides!!

We're back in business!! The lovely folks at blogger.com helped me to sort out my problems! Hooray!...back to blogging goodness.
A lot has happened this past week and I've learned a lot, I'm not really sure where to start blogging! I guess my big news to report is that God provided a job for me this past week!! hooray!! I am very grateful for this and the perseverance and trust I've developed throughout the process.
Welll....I guess it all started Wednesday, what a great day it was!! I had two job interviews: 10:00am at St. Joseph's Children's Centre(picture, right) and 1:30pm at the YMCA. Both went fantastic! I was able to arrive early at St. Jo's which gave me ample time to properly prepare myself for the interview (including finding a comfortable limp-free way to wear my shoe which conveniently sits on a sore spot from walking to church wearing them last Sunday..)...the interview was with two very nice and professional women directors of the centres. The questions were nicely mixed between developmental ( all those classes I'm taking at school are finally coming into use!) and situational. God really blessed me with clarity of mind and I was able to articulate myself clearly. They both seemed quite pleased with how things went and offered me a position! Unfortunately, it was just as a Substitute Teacher so the hours weren't guaranteed; I told them that although I would love the opportunity to work for their organization ( their mission statement/outline was fantastic! I really appreciated everything they stood for.), I needed to make a wise decision in concern to my financial situation...so I told them I'd let them know after I knew how the YMCA interview went....they were very understanding of this.

...in between interviews I was able to partake in what I've discovered is one of my favourite pastimes: exploring/travelling by myself! As much as I love people and being in groups, I really love venturing and exploring new things by myself and finding my own way!...I find a great deal of satisfaction from successfully navigating the city transit system, or just reaching destinations on foot using a map...maybe it's me overcoming my long history of having a bad sense of direction (when I first began to drive, I wasn't sure how to get to my grandma's house...about a 15 minute drive away that we drove weekly...)....or maybe I'm just weird...but over the past few weeks I've discovered that I love discovering Halifax and exploring all the cool things it has to offer!...included are a few pictures from my journeys...I went into this really random yet cool bookstore...there was books everywhere!...stacked on the floor, stairs..it was a unique experience. I also window shopped at all the little stores downtown, I'm looking forward to discovering them more when time permits....Anyway...moving on to interview #2!

...After finding my way to the YMCA ( okay, so my sense of direction is stilled minorly flawed and I had to do some backtracking..but I got there...that's the point!) I was greeted by a lovely lady named Rhonda. The interview was facilitated by her and another woman named Barb. This interview was alot more laid back and casual, which was nice. It went quite well and, while leaving, the women seemed delighted that I had applied and told me that they'd notify me by Friday.

Welll.....Friday came......the phone rang.....and I got the job! YAY!

I'm going to be working at one of two YMCA centres here in Halifax. It's at Purdy's Wharf (if you care to google), which is right on the waterfront (yay, ocean view!). The centre is in a business building (the employees bring their children to the centre)...it doesn't have a pool and fitness centre like most YMCAs, but apparently we take the children across town to the other centre for those types of activities. It sounds as though I will be helping out in the day camp/care, wherever I'm needed. Although I think it would be nice to be placed in one direct room/age group for the purposes of building relationships with the kids and other staff, it will be nice to mix things up and maintain variety. I'm excited because I'll have the opportunity of working with a large age range of children (who am I kidding? I'm excited and thankful to be working with kids this summer period! :) I'll be working with Rhonda as my supervisor(one of the women from the interview), which I think will be fun, our personalities seemed quite similar during the interview so I think we'll get along well. What else...the job will be full time (40 hours/week) which is great!....the walk is about 30-45 minutes, which will be good exercise everyday...and I'll be by the water everyday, which I'm looking forward to. The job starts May 28th, however, one bittersweet aspect of this job is that it requires my presence until August 31st. This is bitter in the fact that I won't be able to spend much time at home with my family before heading back to school; I've talked to Rhonda and she said that there's a strong possibility that I'll be able to book off the last half of the week to be able to head home early(yay!). The advantage of this is that I'll be able to explore Halifax in August after the official program of our missions project has finished, so there won't be scheduled events in the evenings...I'm looking forward to this time because there are lots of festivals and touristy things to check out in the summer and I'll be able to experience Halifax at its finest!

....Speaking of home, I've realized while here that there are a few distinct things that remind me of Ontario(either Guelph home or Courtland home):

• Country music...there aren't many Country fans out here! Fortunately I was able to find a station on my radio in my room so I can wake up to the sounds of home every morning.
• City Transit - public transit buses look and feel no different here than Guelph...although I think that the drivers are a bit nicer! (everyone out here is super friendly for that matter though)
• the small town atmosphere of Halifax
• (Strangely..) the air freshener in the bathroom (Lauren!...I told you it would!)
• Laughing and being silly with roommates
• The significant amount of green space Halifax has to delight in
• The recycling system!! I was pleased to discovered that it's very similar to Guelph's.
• I know there are others...but I currently am having a lapse in memory...

Conversely, I've also discovered a few things unique to Halifax some that I love..some I could live without:

• the people here are extraordinarily friendly!
• the houses here are uniquely beautiful
• the names of the streets are stamped in the sidewalk!
• the weather is very unpredictable!...it gets very foggy sometimes...and then we hear the fog horns roar from our room! (we have a nice ocean view...it's pretty cool!)
  
• unique towers and parks
• the city is rich with culture and history

Well, I think that's a wrap for me tonight. I hope you enjoy my exploring pictures, some of them are from the Public Gardens, which I was able to delight in after the YMCA interview...it's a lovely little park in the middle of the city. I hope you all enjoyed your long weekend! Ta ta for now!

Apartment 704!

Some of you might be wondering what life is actually like here on project, you might be saying "well sure Nicky, you blog about everything under the sun lately except what's actually happening in Halifax." Well, those updates are on the way...they just take a little longer to write. Coming soon is one entitled "Heartbroken for Halifax" which I hope to be gripping and powerful. (haha..I sound like a movie critic or something...bear with me.)

In the meantime, I'd like to let you in on the fun that happens here in Apartment #704. I live with 3 other lovely ladies, named Erin, Amber and Veronika. Veronika is my roomate ( see picture ) and we get along wonderfully as we both tend to be quite silly and love to laugh. Veronika attends York University and is enrolled in the Kinesiology program there. We have been able to keep our room quite tidy (for now, we'll see how that goes once the jobs are underway!) and enjoy laughing about random things. Our room is often the site of visitors as we are currently blessed with accessible wireless internet (others are not). We are laptop twins often carry on conversations sitting at our desks back to back facing our computers.
Residing in the room adjacent to ours is Erin and Amber. Erin also attends York and is in the Design program there. Erin is a very talented artist and has blessed our quote board(a collection of paper taped to the wall where we write down funny things that people say) with a beautiful drawing of a lighthouse. Amber attends the University of Saskatchewan(!) and is enrolled in the pharmacy program (which I also find very cool; I used to work in a pharmacy and so I love understanding some of the random lingo she says sometimes. I also run to her with any medical related question which she finds quite amusing...she's taught me a lot about the pharmaceutical industry and some cool Western Canada lingo; for example, out west they call hooded sweatshirts "bunnyhugs"...cute, yet it doesn't make sense...bunnies don't have pouches!)
We are all different but it's a delightful mix and we are enjoying living with one another. We have coordinated having "apartment time" during some meals and spend time getting to know one another more, which is nice. Pictured is our first apartment meal! (from left: Erin, myself, Amber, Veronika)

One particularly adventurous event we have encountered was the recent explosion of our toilet. Water was spewing from everywhere! We quickly discovered the quality of our apartment's construction as the water flowed under the wall and into our front entrance. After a flurry of reactions, Erin quickly had the janitor sent up, I had stopped the source of the water, Veronika had a handle on mopping (see picture for hilarity). This nice little mess took me a good while to clean up and as a result I was a half hour late for weekly meeting; we were reminded, however, the importance of having a sense of humour on project!

Hope you're all having a great start to your week!

Testing 1...2...3

Hello to my blog-readers!
Thank you to those that have commented on my blogs, I just wanted to encourage all of you to do the same!! I really love hearing your thoughts and comments. Please feel free to mail, email or call me as well, I have the internet here in my room and am able to check my email regularly! I'd love to hear how your summers are going and what's going on in your lives!

This is a silly picture of me I just included for fun...it was taken during one of our games night. I was playing Dutch Blitz which is, as many of you know, one of my favourite card games! If you look closely you can see that we're playing on a stack of telephone books because there were no more available tables to sit at and for some reason our lounge has an abundant amount of telephone books sitting against the wall...so we decided to put them to use!

Ode to moms.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that are reading this! Thank you for pouring out yourself and making sacrifices to invest in the people we are today. Your hard work and love are extremely appreciated! As I reflectively look at family photos nearby I am proud to be my mother's daughter; to have inherited many physical characteristics such as her smile and eyes, as well as many of her amiable qualities, sense of humour and story telling to name a few. I love you Mom(aka. Marmy)!

Happy Mother's Day to all!

The Hunt for Work.

Well, I guess somehow my father's hunting genes didn't get passed down to me...unfortunately I am not nearly as good at it as he is! Job hunting is slow and steady. Who knew looking for work was a job in itself? I committed to trying to find a job in my field up until the end of yesterday (wednesday) and now I'm branching out to other opportunities. I've applied for a few positions that I would be really really happy if I got any of them : Program Coordinator at a youth day camp (St. George's YouthNet...google it if you like...their mission statement is really wonderful...really hoping to get a call back from them!); Early Childhood Educator assitant at Happy Hollow School (it's sounds cheerful, right out of Bambi!), as well, I have an interview today at 3:30 at Scotia Personnel, which is an agency that places you with childcare jobs (sounds like a good deal to me!...we'll see how it goes.)
I'll continue to keep y'all posted...God's slowly provided us all with jobs which is very exciting. Today I'm working on revising my resume to make it more retail oriented to prepare for the event in which I will need to start applying to other opportunities.
Thank you everyone for your prayers concerning this issue, I'm confident God will prove to be faithful.
(the picture included is of students job hunting and working on resumes at the university library)

Back to the Basics

I feel as though before I can proceed in blogging about the events that transpire while I am here I need to first establish some groundwork as to why I am here, because I don't think I had a chance to thoroughly explain that to many people.
Over the past two years at university, I’ve had the opportunity of becoming involved with Campus for Christ, an interdenominational organization that seeks to change the world by turning students into life-long Christ-centered labourers through movements of evangelism and discipleship. Becoming involved has taken a few forms for me, including: participating in a discipleship group(which is basically a small Bible study group), being a member of the prayer team, and a first year events coordinator. Through these experiences God has taught me innumerable lessons about his mighty power, love and the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance. I’ve now learned to make “God-sized” dreams and consistently “push the envelope” when it comes to imagining how and where God can use me. While away at Winter Conference, a 5 day long event in Toronto, during this past Christmas holidays, God challenged me to step out of my comfort zone, move out of the complacency I had fallen into, and take steps of faith for him. He also revealed to me a prime opportunity for that: Halifax National Project. This project runs from May 4th – August 1st.
While on this project, I am going to get a job during the day in which God can work through me to share the gospel. Each weeknight has a special focus including a time for discipleship groups, weekly meetings, specialized ministry team meetings, fellowship events, inductive Bible study times, and training in evangelism and discipleship. Saturdays are a time where we will apply what we've learned and share the gospel to students in summer session at the surrounding universities and the community around where we live. Sundays are days of rest with God and a time to check out the local churches in Halifax!
Halfway through the project, the Campus for Christ staff are going to leave and hand over the leadership of the project to us, the students! We will then have an opportunity to apply what we've learned as God leads the group to greater steps of faith. I am especially excited for this time. Over the last few weeks I was challenged and accepted the position of prayer team coordinator for the upcoming school year. While this opportunity overwhelms me because I know my abilities are insufficient, I’m also excited because I know I will have to seek God that much more to compensate for my inadequacies. I am confident that after the staff leave and hand over the project, God will teach me lessons in my role I am designated that I will be able to transfer to the role of Prayer Team Coordinator.
Now, you might be asking, “Why Halifax?”. Well, one of the things I love most about Campus for Christ as an organization is their passion and strategy. Their passion is reaching university students because, essentially, they are the future leaders of tomorrow. Future presidents, prime ministers, businessmen, teachers, are all in university right now. As well, they are a movement which, simply enough, means they are aiming to go somewhere. They aren’t just aiming to provide a nurturing Christian environment for students while they are away at university…but they’re aiming to build those Christians up in their faith, send them out to share the Gospel to win others for Christ, who will eventually win, build and send others, etc. To be a movement, a force if you will, you must be moving against the established order. In today’s society where Satan is so keen and prevalent…it requires strategy to conquer. Campus for Christ views Halifax as a strategic city to plant a ministry in order to reach the province of Nova Scotia and furthermore, our country. Immigrants/International students coming from the East often settle in Halifax because it is the first large city they reach. If their stay here is temporary and they return to their native country, this means that reaching Halifax equals reaching the world as they take the gospel back to their respective countries. Exciting, eh?!
I am so ecstatic to be here in Halifax, placing a footprint on eternity; I really feel as though I'm a part of changing the world.

Although I've done my best to explain things here, I'm sure you still have questions, please feel free to email/write me at any time about anything I mention in my blogs and I'd be more than happy to answer your questions!

Orientation Overture

Orientation Overture (written on Monday - finished and posted Thursday)
Well, what an intense 72 hours it has been! After arriving and settling in on Friday, the Halifax National Progectiles began orientation. Like any true Campus for Christ event, it was spiritually intense (and included great food!). We gathered on Saturday and Sunday at the Halifax Chinese Christian Church, which is just down the road. Saturday morning focused on project procedures, rules, guidelines (and the difference between the two), as well as the importance of the Holy Spirit and practical tips on job hunting. Saturday afternoon was filled with fun times in a nearby park. Despite the rainy weather, we carried out the plans for the afternoon (I think the rain added a special element; it melted away the sugary coatings we'd been displaying the previous day and revealed many of our true selves. I believe it was the first test of grace and patience in the group.). Ben (one of the C4C staff here), led us in activities that required us to work together, communicate effectively and trust one another. Not only did these activities build trust between us, they showed us the possible conflicts that may arise and the skills we're going to need to use in order to be effective here on project. One of the major lessons I came away from it with was the "magic bullet" lesson: oftentimes in life we wait, think, and analyze a situation looking for the perfect, or "magic bullet", solution when really just putting into place one GOOD solution will do the job correctly. I also came away with a greater appreciation for effective communication in large groups and the satisfaction of a job well done after putting in a lot of effort. The picture above was taken after said time of fun. Saturday finished off with a BBQ back at the church and a workshop on conflict resolution by Wendy(another staff member here) which I found especially helpful as it is always an area of my life I need to work on.
Sunday concluded orientation with some praise and worship time together, communion together as well as some workshops on "Practical Life Strategies for not just surviving, but thriving on Project" as well as 2 workshops on evangelism (sharing the gospel). They were all very informative and helpful. The evening was completed by a friendly game of "kick the can", or "hoof the tin" as Ben called it.

Good times, good times, good times!

The Eagle has Landed!

Hello Halifax!!
Well, I made it! What a day...after arriving late to Leanne and Luke's last night and awaking early this morning Danielle and I ventured off to take Pearson Airport by storm. It surely was an adventure! Upon arriving, our first battle was where to park; after rebelling against the marked directions, Danielle decided on a fine piece of pavement. We then discovered that we were on the wrong side of the terminal (we were in section J-K, and my check in was in section B)...so we hiked it down in hopes of not being late. From there the luggage drama began: while checking in I accidentally input 0 items instead of 2 ( I was going for the 02...the machine didn't seem to like that apparently); my luggage was too heavy and upon arrival at this fine city we call Halifax it was delayed due to belt problems. But all is well now, I'm fully unpacked and settled in. The flight was wonderful! Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a window seat like I hoped..but I peered past the lady next to me out the window...being above the clouds was so so beautiful; I was able to marvel at God's creation between spells of shut eye. I love the beauty of clouds as a general rule and being amid them was really beautiful. As a whole, my first flying experience was a delight. Next time I'll be sure to get a window seat. Sitting on the wing was a great ride, just as Heather and Ian prescribed! I think, if anything, several myths were debunked for me: there is not a lot of room in those seats! I can't imagine withstanding a 12 hour flight or something of the sort; the airport is a large, overwhelming yet very cool place; and the constant ear popping sensation is not exactly fantastic.
Part of me feels like I'm just here for the weekend...however the other part of me that spent hours packing and unpacking mammoth suitcases definitely knows I'm here for the long haul! Right now I'm just hanging out in my room until 5:30 when we have our first meeting ( dinner, of some sort )....so that should be fun.
I am excited/nervous/tired for the days to come...I know God has mighty plans in store and I'm excited to see them get underway....Halifax here we come!
...have a great weekend everyone!