The Reunion

*Large, pleased Sigh*

Here I am again, finally reunited with this page of my life excerpts. I have realized over the past 4 months that I really really like blogging. I've always known that I enjoy writing, and reading others' writing...but I never expected that I would miss blogging as much as I have. I'm really excited to get back at this.

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!