Three Weeks In

Three week anniversary today!
Haha...
So...
Here I am...
In many ways it feels a LOT longer than 3 weeks.
I was going to say it feels like I haven't been here long at all too, but then I thought about it and No...to be honest it does just feel like I've been here a lot longer than 3 weeks.
And I am happy to be here. I know this is where I am supposed to be. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.
So therefore I am not homesick.
BUT...
I am really lonely.
Dear Wise Mother always told me I would enjoy travelling more if I went with someone, and now I know it is true...however, I also know that I am supposed to be here by myself (this time around!) and I know that when I look back on this it will be a fantastic "growing experience" and it will "build character" or something :P
But it's been hard since I haven't made any real friends yet, and I'm missing all of you.

*cue for sympathy...but please no tea. I have to pee enough as it is*

Boring Newsy Stuff

(Originally written for Facebook...please forgive any repitition)

Lately I have been volunteering a lot at the Operation Christmas Child shoebox check-in centre. It is just a tiny little warehouse (and I mean TINY) with no heat, and just one bare lightbulb! But the women who are running the whole thing work very hard and long hours, giving talks at local schools, talking on the radio, accepting and tallying boxes from groups and individuals and all sorts of other things! All I do is check each box individually, taking out "taboo" items, or adding in things that weren't put in. Each box should have "2 W's, 2 T's, 2 S's". I have the little mantra running over and over in my head now: "Warm, Wash, Toy, Teddy, Stationary, Sweets...Warm, Wash, Toy...." And then tape 'em up, carton them in big cardboard boxes and mark them. It is tiring and a lot of work, but very cool. Its so nice when you get the nicely wrapped boxes with each item so obviously put in with a lot of love and care. It just makes you think how happy the kid that gets it will be!!
As for sight-seeing, since my big bout of it in Northern Ireland I've been to Cahir castle (which was cool, but hard to take good pictures of), a beach near Cork, and now I've been to Cork city twice. Its really neat to see a city that is so old and has so much history, and how it retains that old-ish flavor even as modern day things are built around and inside of it. Shopping in Cork was cool because of all its neat little shops and alleyways. Restraunts and coffee shops are tucked into the upper floors and nooks and crannies. I could spend days there, I'm sure.
OH YEAH!My visa...Well we went to the local police station and talked to the emmigration officer there, and he got me all set up for a special little card thing that I have to have with me "at all times". That comes on Thursday. But I'm in the all clear to stay until July! So that is good! Everything has worked out really well.
Anyway, that's all I can think of right now...its good to hear from you all :)

I've Always Said its the Worst Month

What is it about November that is so depressing in every way?!?!
I remember doing a post on it last year, and in the past day or so, myself and 2 other bloggers have posted about our pet peeves. November really brings out the worst.

I Have Succumbed!!!

I cruelly left you in suspense of my mysterious "second item"!
Well yesterday I gave in and bought it...
And quite truthfully I only got it because its necessary for my work here...
Sigh.
Yes, I now own a cell phone (or "mobile" as they call them..but maybe Canadian people do to, and I just live under a rock, which is entirely possible).
It is my first cell phone ever, and I've put it off as long as I could.
I have always professed a great hatred for the cell phone.
Ok, well maybe not really the phone itself. More the culture around it.
I fully realize its convenience and practicality, which is the reason I have one now. But I absolutely despise the phone that has some poor soul sucked into its orbit; where the fingers are glued to the buttons, constantly texting, playing games, downloading...whatever.
If you want to know one way to really, really, really get under my skin, and is quite possibly one of my biggest pet peeves EVER, just text someone in the middle of your conversation with me! Maybe that sounds selfish, but I hate it when someone is so attached to their phone that they tune out the rest of the world.
(I have a similar beef with iPods, you might recall...)
So while I will enjoy the convenience of my phone, I will be very strict with myself about all the gimmicks and stuff. I might allow myself a funny ringtone, but it shall remain a dutiful "strictly business" phone.
And I won't care that it takes me 10 minutes to text a short sentence.
I will wear that as a badge of honor... :P



ps. On a side note-- I went and replied to each of your comments...

Monday Meeting

So my "work" here in Fermoy begins officially today! And it is very part-time...which is perhaps why I have been blogging and facebooking everyday :P
Sam and I sat down and talked about what my role looks like, and all that kind of thing, this morning. Pretty much I'm out most nights doing teens club, or children's club, or bible studies...Friday I have off completely, but the rest of my week doesn't look too strenuous either. Of course there will be other events that I will be helping with, but they aren't on a weekly basis or anything. And I'm hoping to hang out with the teens lots, but they are in school during the day when I have nothing to do...I guess that's when I'll do my exploring :)
Today we also talked about getting me my "own place"...as in a room somwhere nearby. We both think its best that way, and I think I'll feel more comfortable and settled if I'm not living right in their house. There is one place that is being talked about right now, and I think we will go to see it sometime soon.
We will also go to get my visa sorted out this week. Pray that that will go smoothly and quickly, as tomorrow I will be down to officially two weeks left on my current visa! I'm really not too worried about it, but it is an issue that is holding me back from doing a lot of things that are necessary to be really settled in.
Karen and Sam have been wonderful, and continue to go above and beyond normal levels of hospitality! Karen was even getting excited today about going to Cork and buying me bed linen and things for my room when I move out! She told me I can do all my laundry at their house, and come over for dinner any time...Haha...she is great.
Tomorrow I go to Cahir with Sam and I will be going to see the famed castle that is the main tourist attraction in that town. Pretty excited about that!
After that I go to dinner at one of the teen's houses, and then there is a Bible study later on. So tomorrow is busy, but most days won't be like that.
The weather is gray, but not very cold. I actually get colder sitting around inside than when I am outside. (now I know why they wear shoes in the house...the laminate floors are FREEZING)
I'm looking around at buying a watch because I am always clueless as to what time it is, and its kind of necessary to be on time around here....and I am also going to get a-
well the second item I will save for a special post all it's own.
Cheerio :)

Sunday (As It Is Over Here)

I attended my first Sunday service at Fermoy Fellowship today.

As I mentioned before, it is a tiny little stone building, on the corner of "Allen's Walk" (I have a picture for later...when I figure out how to get it on here). It is surrounded by a little black iron fence and creaky gate, with a flagstone walkway and bright purple arched door. The foyer is just a tiny little windowed room, with two doors into the auditoriom (is that the right word??). Inside there is a sort of boxed podium to the right and the two rows of chairs are against the opposite wall with a NIV Bible and a songbook on each. At the very end of the room are two steps up to the kitchen doors. The kitchen is TINY and very cute, and very much made of stone! The washroom is tucked into a corner, and there is no lock on the door!!! To the right of the kitchen is another door to outside, where there is a little portable building used for Sunday School.

The service starts at 10AM (that would be about 2-3AM your time I think!). One man in the church alternates between playing keyboard and acoustic guitar (not during the same song though :P) during the worship, and we sing from songbooks and I don't know hardly any of the songs...they are quite slow and mellow. Not all hymns though. I think "I Will Worship" was probably the most lively! That will be quite an adjusment for me who likes a good rousing worship service. (Though Mark, the guy who does the music, did talk to me about playing keyboard somtimes...maybe I will lead a revolution :D)

I did "The Reading", and the sermon was quite structured, which was different for me because a lot of the preaching I have heard is more conversational and rabbit-trail-y (which I do enjoy), but it was good.

We also took communion today which was an experience in itself. After reading the bit about the last supper in the Bible, and praying over the emblems, Sam offered each person a cube of bread individually, which you then ate right away. Once everyone had taken one, he took around the single goblet of...port*...I think it was!!! Yowzers! It was a good thing I had been warned beforehand, because I probably would have choked on it if I wasn't prepared! It burned down my throat.

After you take a sip, he would wipe the rim with a little cloth and pass it to the next person. So that was definitely not quite the communion service I am used to!

Afterwards there was another prayer and song, and then everyone was dismissed, and Sam left to lead another service in a little town nearby called Cahir (pronounced "Care").

Nearly both rows of seats were filled and apparently that is a good turnout but I wouldn't be able to say how many people were there...maybe 40? Maybe less. (I met a lot of them, but I probably won't remember all their names :S)

I would be inclined not to think much of that, because in Kamloops there are plenty of smaller church plants. Different denominations maybe, but most believe in the basic foundations of Christianity...

Here, I'm learning, is a bit different.

This isn't one "Protestant" church of many...this is the only church in the area that really teaches salvation through Grace.

There are plenty of elaborate Catholic churches around, and a big fancy Church of Ireland just down the road here. But from what I hear its very much "religion", and all about doing the right things to earn your salvation...if they believe in salvation at all.
Catholicism is huge here...most of the schools are Catholic, and there are Catholic pilgrimage things (can't remember what they are called...whoops :S), and there are bells that toll at 12 & 6 PM to call the Catholics to prayer.
What I would be inclined to think of as basic Christian principles is all relatively new to people here.
So that is pretty weird for me.
Back in Kamloops I've always been immersed in Christianity. Christian family, Christian friends, Christian...things. You know. Pretty much everyone I knew believed in the same thing my family and I do.
Here, most of the teens in the youth group aren't Believers...socially, that is a totally new scenario for me.
Which is cool with me. It'll be a challenge I think. And it will also help me to really think out my own faith, which is all too easy to take for granted when you are surrounded in a secure Christian enviroment.
I have met one Christian girl around my age, a little older, who comes to help out with the youth now and then, that lives in the area. She seems pretty awesome, so hopefully we will get to hang out sometimes. But I expect that most of the people I meet my age will not be what I am used to! On one hand that is exciting to me, on the other I am totally freaked out!!!
So if you think of it, please pray for me while I am entering this Zone of the Unknown!



*for the record, that is the first taste of alchoholic beverage I have tried since landing in Ireland!

Finally in Fermoy!

I've arrived as of last night!
Northern Ireland was great, and I loved it a lot, but I am definitely ready to be a little more settled now. I've actually unpacked (!) and dumped all my pictures* onto my laptop.
*I am very very very sad to say that I cannot post pictures right now! I was so excited about it and had sorted some to be put up and I want to show you all these pictures soooo badly!!! BUT I can't get my laptop connected to the internet! I don't have a little cable thing. Or a wireless thing. I am technalogically lost without my dear brother and father. It is very sad. This means I can't Skype you either, Mom. Which I really want to do because I miss you! And also because believe it or not........
I miss a good ol' Canadian accent!!!
Who would've thought I would ever say that?!
The Irish accents are lovely, and not hard to understand for the most part. Sometimes I'm a bit lost, and the way they structure sentences can be confusing, not to mention they have switched a few words on me, like...potato chips are called "crisps" here, and french fries are "chips", and cookies are "biscuits", and a whole whack of other confusing things that are always getting me into trouble!! But sometimes I just want a nice normal Canadian conversation, you know? haha!
The voice in my head, my "thinking voice" I call it, is beginning to speak with a bit of a lilt and a strange turn of phrase. And I don't like it! I want my Canadian thinking voice back!
Fortunately, I am told I have quite a distinct Canadian accent, so I'm not doing so badly as I thought. Though we'll have to see what nine months does to me...
Anyway...
I had a day of rest on Tuesday which was badly, badly, needed (that was the day I last blogged). It did me loads of good, so I was ready when we set out of Ballycastle on the 31st to visit Sam's side of the family there. I think I've pretty much met the whole family on both sides now! Maybe I'll be able to work myself into someone's will, and have a nice Irish cottage by the sea left to me...hmmm....
The aunts, uncles, cousins, and Granny were all very delightful and friendly. We had a good time and I ate SO much. The Irish know how to stuff you beyond your capacity, let me tell you...and I still haven't had to eat anything weird. So that's nice.
Yesterday we drove down. We kind of skirted around Dublin, which was insane. And what I saw was not nearly as nice as everywhere else. It was very modern and plain looking. haha...sort of like Vancouver, but not as flashy. It took us about 7 hours to get from Antrim to Fermoy, because the traffic was so bad.
Co. Cork is quite nice. The scenery is not quite as rugged as Antrim (which I sort of miss) and its definitely warmer. The weather has been very mild. I don't need to wear a coat outside if I don't want to, though I have been wearing a tuque quite often. Hides my frequent bad-hair days very effectively :)
Its been fairly dry as well, so i've only experienced really intense rain a few times.
Fermoy is very interesting! Its quite a small town, and very compact. I could walk pretty much anywhere...which I intend to. The bridge is cool...all stone with the little arches in it, just like in a calendar picture or something, you know? And there is a nice walk along the Blackwater river I want to do sometime.
The shops along the road are very cool! They're all squished together you know, and brightly colored...I'll try and sneak a few pictures without looking too terribly touristy :P
The "Dublin side" of the town where I am living at the moment used to be a big military base, so there are loads of old barracks, and an old hospital, and training grounds, which are now houses and B&B's and soccer and rugby fields (Or "pitches" as they call them). Lots of high stone walls too.
Fermoy Fellowship church is just about the smallest little building I've ever seen, but its very very cool! Its all stone and kind of in that gothic architecture (I think), and it has a bright purple door!!! I can for sure get some shots of that.
I am going to be doing "the Reading" on Sunday...not quite sure what that is. Apparently I just read from the Bible somewhere in front of everyone!! Whatevs...I know they're only making me do it because they want to hear my accent :P
The week after I might be doing a mini interview or something...just giving some facts about me and pointing out on a map where I live...ooo....Canada! So exotic!! haha...
Sam also spoke to me about doing Sunday School a couple times a month, so I'll be doing that, and there is a kid's club on Thursday nights, and the Teens Club on Saturday nights. I helped pack away Operation Christmas Child boxes this morning (I'd just like to humbly mention that I offically hold the record for packing the most shoeboxes in one box! And Karen said I am a superb packer for being able to fit all my stuff in that suitcase Mom!) The church is very busy so I'm sure I will find loads of things to keep me busy! Which is good.
Karen encourages me to explore lots, so I'm sure I will be doing that! The city of Cork is about a 40 minute bus trip away, and it is quite a big city so I hear. So I hope to be going there more than once! Sam also does a ministry in Cahir (pronounced "Care") on Sundays, so I'm hoping to tag along there once or twice. Waterford is also not too far away, and I'd love to see it. Karen has promised to take me to Kilkenny sometime, and I am for sure going to make it out to the Aran Islands sometime while I am here and buy myself a nice big wool Aran sweater (pardon me..."jumper").
I wish you guys could all come over and explore with me!!! Its nice being on your own because you have that freedom to do what you want, but it would be nice to be able to share excitment over little things like the bright red telephone booth!!! Locals just don't understand that :P
Hopefully I will meet some fun people my own age soon, who will want to do things and see things with me. I think everyone I know so far is either 16 and under, or 40+. Haha...
I've met most of the the teens now, but not many of the kids. The teens seem like a great bunch...a few wild cards for sure, but aren't there always?? There are two sisters (redheads :D) who are quite a delight, and I was invited to their house for supper (pardon me...I was invited for "tea") for tomorrow night. (We discovered an equal interest in the tv show "LOST"...so I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about!!!)
Its funny because I think of how much has happened in the last two weeks, and really...I'm just getting started! The busyness, the challenges, and the changes are just beginning.
Its a bit overwhelming at times, and I do get a bit lonely for old friends :)
Reading your comments last time got me all sentimental, so congratulations...cuz that's actually pretty hard to do :P
It was very good to hear from you all. I miss you loads. Thanks so much for your prayers! It has made so much of a difference.
I will do my very best to find a way to put up pictures very soon. I want you all to see what I've been seeing!!
love you!

Its Been a Week!

Greetings to all Canadians!
As of today I have been in Ireland for one week. Amazing, isn't it?? It seems like forever since I have seen any of you, but the last seven days have also zipped by really, really, fast!
I apologize for the lack of blogging. I'm sure you're all dying to know my news :P
Well, I was dying to blog. I really was. I just realized this week how addicted I really am. I kept shoving thoughts in the back of my mind, and being like "Remember that so you can blog about it later!". Pretty sad, huh? Unfortunately I have had minimal opportunity to unload all those thoughts, so they're a bit jumbled and some of them have been lost.
I'll just ramble a bit and see what comes out...
After saying goodbye to Mom and Dad at 8PM Monday, I went through security, and I didn't even beep when I walked through the beeper thing (which always gives me a heart attack). I was wearing my ring though, so I don't know what's up with that. Maybe silver doesn't set it off? I guess.
Then I walked for a million miles through the airport until I found my gate, and waited for about an hour and a half. That was boring, so I just journalled a bit.
I had a window seat on the plane and I was very curious to see who would be sitting next to me. Turned out to be a huge, cussing, 20-something Irish guy, who I think bought all the alcohol available on the plane....hahaha! Pretty funny. He was actually very nice.
The plane took off just after 10 PM and that was fun. I looove take-off. Watching all the buildings grow smaller and smaller, and the lights dissapear beneath the clouds...it was super cool.
I thought I was going to go to sleep right away, but I actually probably only slept about 3 hours of the 8 hour flight.
I saw some Northern Lights, but it was not very good...just looked like a green cloud. I'll have to go back some day and see some better ones.
Also crossed over Greenland. By that time it was light out, so you could see the miles and miles and miles of snow and ice. That was very neat!
Coming into Ireland was cool....very green! And the whole landscape was sectioned off into little squares and rectangles of land like a big patchwork blanket. The pollution over the country is terrible though. It was like flying through a big murky gray cloud.
Getting off the plane was uneventful. Mom, I was totally capable of pulling my huge suitcase off the conveyor belt :)
I had no trouble until I got to Passport control. The lady was very suspicious of me, and made me feel pretty stupid haha. She drilled me about what I was doing and stuff.
"You're going to live with people you have never met before, for three months?" she wanted to know.
By the end of it I'm pretty sure she was convinced I had met someone on an online dating service, and yah you know the rest of the story...
So she only issued me a vistors visa for one month. Don't panic Mom. I'll be going into Dublin sometime this week to apply for a volunteer visa that will allow me to stay for longer. And if that doesn't work out...well, I guess I'll be travelling the world, and catching my flight home after my birthday.
A friend of the Mawhinney's picked me up from the airport. Her name is Maggie and she is the sweetest lady ever. She and her husband David live in the cutest little cottage imaginable and they've made me feel right at home. The little spare bedroom I'm staying in is all done up with popourri and antiques, and an electric blanket on the bed. haha..
That night they had Karen MaWhinney's sister and her husband over for "tea" (read: supper) and they are such a delight! Arlene and Noel. Seriously the funniest, friendliest, most fun Irish people ever.
The next day Arlene took me out to see the Giant's Causeway, Dunluce Castle, and the town of Portrush. It was such an amazingly fun day! She spoiled me rotten.
On Thursday Helen Bruce (coordinates the SWIM program) picked me up and took me to Belfast to attend the Full Time Youth Workers meeting at Church House. I met a whole bunch of people, and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards I walked around Belfast a little bit and did some shopping and stuff.
Friday I met Sam and Karen Mawhinney, and their three little boys (really cute!). Also met up with the 3 other leaders and the youth group of 10. They are all absolutely crazy, but a lot of fun! Most of them are 12 or 13, but the three boys are 15&16.
We drove to the MAD weekend in Coleraine that night. It was fun, but my jetlag was finally catching up with me, so I feel like I was dead the whole time. My highlight was the worship times led by Andy Flannagan and his band, and the speaker whose first name was Marko, but his last name remained mysteriously anonymous. He was from California I think, and his nice normal North American accent was music to my ears! Never thought I would appreciate it so much, but it was a nice little taste of home.
Some of you may remember me telling you that I tend to mimick accents unconciously. Well, its begun. Hearing the Irish lilt day in and day out is taking its toll. I'm starting to talk like them! Its kind of sad really. I mean, Oma and Opa came to Canada from Holland when they were about my age, and they still have their accents. And here I am, a week into my stay and I'm already losing my Canadian-ness. Haha....unfortunately for you guys, I will probably lose it within a week of being home.
The MAD youth rally ended Sunday at noon, and then we went to Portrush and walked along the beach there. It was very nice and I got to chat with a lot of the youth, so that was good. I took lots of pictures, which I will hopefully get up sometime next week.
Yesterday we drove back to Antrim here, did some shopping, went to Belfast and went to a science centre called W5 (who, what,when,where,why). It was cool. Kind of like a miniature Science World.
After that I tagged along with Karen and her boys as they went for dinner at a friend's house. We all squished into their tiny little dining room (they lived in one of those cute European townhouses where the houses are all only as wide as their door haha). The couple had two sons, Gavin (12) and Owen (20-something?). Funny story: halfway through the meal Gavin turns to his brother and says,
"So is she here with them or with you?"
I guess the two of them don't communicate much!!!
So all week I have been on the go, hopping from one place to the next...and I'm pretty tired. So today is my "Chill out" day. I am doing nothing. Except this.
Tomorrow I'm going to Ballycastle with Karen visiting her family there, and the next day we will drive down to Fermoy. And I can finally settle a little bit. It will be good. I'm excited for it :P
Whew! This is quite the report. I wish I could make it more entertaining or something, but I'm fairly braindead.
A few impressions I have of the country:
* They drink tea like none other! At home I have tea maybe once a week. Here it is 3+ cups a day!
*They wear their shoes in the house. That was a difficult transition.
*The nice days are brilliant. The rainy days are gloomy. The cold is COLD. Not our dry Kamloops cold, but a chill-to-the-bone kind of cold.
*Its very rural. Unless you are in the heart of the town, you will be driving past fields of cows or sheep (no sheep herders though guys...sorry to dissapoint) or llamas.
*The housing is my dream come true! It is so european...every house has quaint bay windows, a little sunroom, rock walls surrounding, many are made of red brick, and they all have gabled windows. It isn't just the high-end places either. Everywhere they are all so quaint. Even the townhouses or "flats". They all look like they grew out of the ground and have been there forever. I love it.
*I don't have to worry about eating weird food. Everything I've had so far is "normal", and they say that they don't eat a lot of fish or seafood. I've had A LOT of potatoes, lasagna, and chicken. This past weekend I don't think I ate one healthy thing. Chocolate, "crisps" (potato chips), "fizzy drinks" (pop), and "chips" (french fries), and white bread. And I'm feeling it. I need to start eating healthy again.
*Distance has a different meaning here. Everything is very close together, but it takes long to get anywhere because of traffic.

I've done a fair bit of driving around since I got here, so transport gets a little blurb all its own!

First of all,

The Irish are CRAZY drivers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They go FAST! 80 MPH on every little road. And the lanes here are very, very, narrow. If you go walking along the side of the road (as I have done) you need to be careful because they zoom past you soooo fast and so close! Its fun if you are in the car though. Its like you are on a rollercoaster because you zip along these windy roads that kind of roll up and down over the hills. And the scenery is amazing.
It was/is a bit of an adjustment getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I keep walking to the drivers side when I get in the car, or panicking because we're taking a right turn and it feels wrong to be pulling into the left lane.
They have very few light-controlled intersections here. Instead they have these big roundabouts where you just yield to traffic on the right. It seems to work well, and you rarely have to come to a complete stop.
Karen was telling me the other day that if I want, there is a family in the church that has an extra car that I can use while I am here!!! Haha...I don't know what to say. I would have to learn to drive standard, AND learn to drive on the left side. Kind of sketchy.
On the other hand it would give me a lot more mobility...we'll see how it goes.
I could make a pretty good crazy Irish driver :P

Anyway, I've been on here for a pretty long time now, so I should go. It would be grand to hear from you all, so leave a comment! Like I said I will try and get back on here once I get settled. And I will put up some pictures.

IF you comment. muahaha....

OH MY GOSH!

News Flash!
I just realized this is PJ's 1st Anniversary!!!!
*wipes tear from eye*
Happy Birthday, PJ.

Now, your job is to read PJ from beginning to end, as a tribute.
Ha!
Just kidding.
Though I was reading my MSN blog the other day, and it was highly entertaining.
I'm rambling.
Sorry.

Happy Birthday PJ!

So This is Goodbye Then..

I leave tomorrow morning.
For those of you who I only see once a year anyway, this probably won't make much of a difference. I fully intend to keep up PJ. With lots of pictures!
But for those I usually see at least once a week (or daily in the case of my family)...goodbye is a little different. I will miss you all SO MUCH! Seriously! I'm not just saying that and thinking in the back of my head, "Heh heh heh! SUCKERS! I'm going to be in Ireland having the time of my life I won't even remember your names when I drag myself away!".
I DO intend to fully enjoy the opportunity I have, so lets be honest, I won't be pining away ( I don't think). BUT I will really, truly, genuinely, sincerely, miss you! I hope you will all try to keep in touch. I want to know what is going on in your lives too!
Anyway, I'm kind of getting away from my point. A lot.
Goodbyes.
I don't like long, drawn-out goodbyes with tears, and multiple hugs. I've done them. Its not my thing. Its not that I won't miss that person, or that I am sad to say goodbye to them. And I tend to avoid situations that draw out a goodbye. I just don't like to hype it up too much.
On the other hand, a non-existent goodbye sucks just as much. The one where you can sort of remember the last time you saw that person, but didn't bring about the closure with a goodbye.
I like a goodbye where it is defined, to the point, and upbeat.
A hug (sometimes), a word of farewell, a wave, and then an exit.
That is my kind of goodbye.
But maybe its not yours.
So if I seemed cold or indifferent when I said goodbye to you (or maybe I didn't get the chance for a defined goodbye...sorry!) it wasn't because I don't like you or something. Its just the way I do it.
And really...July is not that far away. This is going to go by so unbelievably fast. When I get back and say hello to you, you will feel like you just said goodbye to me.

(Like this:)

*hug*
Well, see ya soon.
*wave*
*exit*

I Take It Back

If I have ever told you, "I have nothing to wear!", or "I don't have any anything!"...
that was a complete lie.
I am packing now, and the fact is, I have FAR TOO MUCH.
This is impossible...

EDIT:
Apparently it is not impossible...
I am packed. But there is much that was left behind, and my bag is definitely going to be over the weight limit.

Good Reading

Well it was my last day at work yesterday...
It was a pretty sweet job because it was usually not very busy, so I could do a lot of reading when everything else was done.
That was a nice change, because since grade 11 I really haven't done a whole lot of reading.
Of the books I finished in the past month or so, Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, and Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller were my favorites.
When I was reading Velvet Elvis, I was like WOW. It is such an amazing book! I felt like it was a year of Bible School squished into one short little book...though I've never been to Bible school, so that might not be accurate at all...
It had some really good things to say (I kept thinking, "I've got to remember this quote so I can blog about it!"....but alas...) and I liked how he made such an emphasis on how we should always be questioning, critiquing, and wrestling with how the Bible is interpreted, instead of just mindlessly accepting whatever anyone says it says. I know I am totally guilty of allowing myself to be "spoonfed".
There is so, SO, much to absorb from that book. I took it out of the church library, but now I wish it was mine so I could take it with me to Ireland. There is still so much I can learn from it.
Through Painted Deserts was not as awe-inspiring, or as deep...but it is by Donald Miller, and I love his style. I absolutely LOVED Blue Like Jazz, and while TPD was not as good as that one, it was funny and thought-provoking. And it said a lot of things that I can relate to at this point in my life.
In conclusion:
If you have time to read, and are looking for a good book, get Through Painted Deserts. Or Blue Like Jazz.
And even if you don't have time to read, and have a stack of good books waiting to be read, go and get Velvet Elvis and READ IT...because it will change the way you think about Christianity. In a good way.

(Pictures are on my librarything link to your right)

Too Tired

I'm too tired to write.
Just read Mom's Blog to get the update on my life...

A Week From Today...

On this day next week, I will be heading down to Vancouver to fly out of the country!
I'm getting a fluttery feeling in my stomach just thinking about it!!!
When did I get so adventurous? I don't remember ever being anything but a homebody...and suddenly I'm spending six months on some hippy island, and then the next 8 months on an island across the world!
I got an email from the pastor last night to let me know that I will be picked up from the Belfast airport by his extended family, and that I can stay with them until I meet up with the youth group on Friday. That is a HUGE blessing because I was really quite nervous about having to find my way around after a how-many-hours??-flight and then being completely on my own for a couple days. I mean, I'm sure I could have done it...but it was just one more thing to stress about.
And now I don't have to! Hooray!
I am looking into getting my travel/medical insurance today...I still need a decent raincoat that is not outrageously expensive, and I'm waiting for an email from the SWIM (Servants Working In Missions- part of the organization that brings in the volunteers for the churches) lady regarding my visa. Those are the most important things that need to be attended to before I leave.
There are still all the little things too...but everything is coming together, which really has very little to do with my planning skills, and everything to do with God not letting my ineptitude get in the way of His plans :)

Counting down...

So now the countdown has begun and I'm starting to stress...a little...
I had a big shopping list today (it is my "Saturday" today) and big ambitions to get it all done...
But nothing seemed to go right (ie: the stores didn't have the things I needed, and things are so darn expensive!), and I only got a few things done, and I still don't have a raincoat, and I still need to get so much random paperwork stuff done, and I don't know if everything I need to bring will weigh over 20 kg, and I have no clothes (ok that's a lie...but you know what I mean! I'm a terribly vain little beastie, and I like to have new things...or at least nice things...) and....I'm stressed about $$. Which is what most of it comes down to.
Its terribly selfish and "un-trusting"...I know.

Booked!

I just booked my flight!
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
I can hardly believe this is happening after talking about it for SO LONG!
WOW.
Ok....just breathe....breathe....
Whew.
Ok...
I'm good...
Ok.
Yeah.
I'm flying out of Vancouver at 10PM on Monday (the 22) and will arrive in Ireland at 2:45 PM (their time) Tuesday.
I'm hanging out in Northern Ireland for a couple days until the 26...then I will meet up with the Youth Group and head out to Coleraine for the youth rally.
So...yeah....this is it!
I am actually going!!!
This is SO weird!

Its Happening!....Slowly....

First of all I'd like to say that I am failing miserably at my self-imposed internet restrictions. Just wanted to have that out...you know...I wanted to say it before one of you did. But I AM getting stuff done...
Listen to this...it is kind of cool...on two separate occasions yesterday two different people (yes Dad, one was you) suggested that I look at Zoom airlines for my fight. I was going to look there anyway, having been referred there by my seasoned traveler friend Sarah from camp, but it was kind of neat to have it "coincidentally" brought up. Because...when I searched for flights from Vancouver to Belfast for this month, one came up on the 22nd for only $250+tax!!! Crazy, eh??
I think it is destiny :P
I emailed the pastor in Fermoy and he responded right away saying that that timing would be ideal. There is a big youth rally right up there in Northern Ireland that next weekend that the youth group will be coming up for. SO...I won't have to find my way to Cork all by myself, I will get to meet all of them and we will be staying in a big house in North Antrim...which I REALLY wanted to see, but didn't think I'd ever get an opportunity to.
What a HUGE blessing and answer to prayer(s)!!!
God is far too nice to me.

Maybe I will get to see the Giant's Causeway!

Girls' Night!!!

The Bath Bombs that Wouldn't Be

Last night us girls from the C&C had a Girl's Only night ...and it was SO MUCH FUN! Seriously, it is totally different when the females are all alone! I'm pretty sure we giggled ourselves silly over the littlest things. There would be an explosion of laughter followed by a small siiiiiigh ("Good times...")....and then I would start laughing again and everyone wouldn't be able to help themselves....it was a vicious cycle! By the end of the night our cheeks were hurting from laughing so much. Carissa showed us some expert cheek stretches, which basically makes you look like a fish...
Yeah it was a good time!
We started off by making Spa Bath Cookies...recipe shown below.
I showed off my baking expertise by immediately confusing the teaspoon and tablespoon.

The first time we mixed it, it was too crumbly to mold, so we added another egg.
Which might perhaps have been the biggest mistake ever.

But the extra egg made it stickier, that's for sure.

Seija put them in for 10 minutes, while we did our Bible study.

This is probably my favorite picture of all time!!!!
Carissa was smelling them.
They did smell more like cookies than bath bombs...

And they were awfully hard to get off the pans...

In the end, they didn't fizzle in water like they were supposed to....BUT....they did provide many a belly laugh, so it was all worth it in the end! We even almost got Dave to eat one when he got home, but when he reached for it the room went quiet and we all stared (hopefully), and I think that probably tipped him off....
Too bad!
Maybe Dana succeeded in getting Kurtus to eat some....
heh heh heh....

Complete

I've been journaling since I was like...six. But I think this is my favorite journal (center picture behind the cat cartoon). It started out as a regular coil-bound book from superstore, probably $5...but it was transformed into the patchwork of pictures that you see above, by me(click on the picture to see the random stuff better). In the last year I have grabbed scraps and bits of paper that made me laugh, I thought were cool, or had something to do with my life.
Among these random things are an Mac sticker from my iPod, the Chinese character for Dragon (my year), a licorice spice tea bag (its my favorite tea), a Mars bar wrapper (My favorite chocolate bar), the Irish flag, my favorite cartoon of all time, and a Billabong tag because I thought that promoting name brands was cool at the time, and now I realize that it is just lame. Anyway, this is a tribute to that book, because it is complete now, with no more pages to hold my over-abundance of thoughts. I must move on to a different book now, which makes me kind of sad...

So True

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend!
(Translation: No blogs til Monday at the soonest)

Addicted to Wasting Time?

At work I have a lot of time to waste.
Its usually pretty slow, so I read, write, think...
And at home I have few responsibilities, and when I DO go to work, its usually for a max of 6 hr shifts sooo...there is a lot of time to be had.
And I've been wasting it.
Mostly on the computer.Email, Blogs, Facebook...mostly computer stuff. (Ok, maybe I don't consider all that stuff a waste of time....but I don't need to check them all every five minutes...THAT is a waste of time!)
I was thinking about it at work today...and I've decided that I've gotta cut back on the computer stuff and attempt at being productive. I can be SO bad with time management.
So for now I am limiting myself to 2 hrs on the computer a day. I'm not really sure how much time I do spend on the computer, so I'm going to see how hard/easy this will be. Maybe eventually I will trim it down to 1 hr. But for now: 1 hr in the morning, and 1 at night.
Let's see how it goes, and how much I get done because of this!

Why I Never Wear White

My hand-mouth coordination sucks big time.
Especially when it comes to chips and salsa.

The Strathmore Trip

Matt & Alicia's wedding was beautiful! My cousin Matt has always been such a quality guy; strong in his faith, mature, and really, really fun! I had never met Alicia until this weekend, but she seems like such an awesome girl I am excited to get to know her more in the family reunions to come! The two of them looked SO happy to be together, it was really sweet.

I don't know if you caught what the pastor said there....I actually video'ed it by accident. I thought I was taking a picture! haha...anyway, the pastor started off the ceremony by quoting the Impressive Clergyman in "The Princess Bride" ...which I thought was HILARIOUS! The whole wedding had a good sense of humor about it which I enjoyed.

I snapped this on the way up to Alberta.....mom falling asleep at the wheel?? (Sorry Mom, I couldn't resist putting this up)

It was raining hard when we left, and when we reached higher altitudes, it began to snow! CRAZY!

The hotel we were staying at turned out to be right next door to The Station- where my friend Angela from camp works! We surprised her...unfortunately it was Friday night and she was too busy to talk much. Luckily we managed to snap some shots of her to use as blackmail heh heh heh! What will Irwin say!

Mountain Goat things on the side of the road.

Lake Louise! So beautiful!

I didn't end up taking nearly as many pictures as I wanted to, and some of them didn't turn out...which I think had more to do with me being inept with the settings, than it had to do with the camera itself....hopefully I have more luck in Ireland!

Updates, Updates...

1. Mike and I zipped up to Vernon yesterday around 2:30 PM, picked up Katie at her work around 4 PM and then spent some good times over at her parent's place. We met her family (really cool people!) and toured the sweet acreage and house (built in the 1930's *sigh*), not to mention got assaulted by their ridiculous pug dogs, Molly and BooBoo. It was a real treat.
We spent the night, and left early this morning. I ate a Tim Horton's bacon breakfast sandwich on a cinnamon rasin bagel for the first time in over six months!!! (when I worked there I ate them a lot...it was very strange eating one again)

2. My passport arrived today!
...
I got really nervous all of a sudden.

3. I got my hair cut! It was in desperate need of pruning. It had become an overwhelming mass over the summer, but since it was up all the time I didn't notice until I got home. I got SO MUCH chopped off, it looks much more under-control now.

4. We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for Strathmore! We're gonna go see good cousin Matt get hitched on Saturday! It will be fun to see all the family again, but I'm not looking forward to the drive! I'm not sure what time we get home on Sunday...

Anyway, that's all my updates at the moment.

More Exciting News!

Aw, isn't it cute???
This is my baby: Sony Cybershot DSC- H3.
I picked him up from Staples this afternoon. He was so happy to come home for the first time.
I'm very proud of him. He has 8.1 MP, 10X Optical zoom, and lots of very exciting features.
I feel confident he was the right choice for me, and when we venture to Ireland together he won't let me down.
And you, my friends, will benefit as well, because the essence of that wondrous place will be captured more accurately and PJ will be happy to show off the fruits of my labor. Assuming I get internet access there.

In other news...its off with the old, on with the new I'm afraid.
Good ol' Pentax Optio (who took the picture above) is on the market now. Optio is happy to forward the funds he raises to my Ireland trip, so if you're interested in a nice, basic camera let me know :)
He's going for a very reasonable price!

Surprise!

My brother Mike made a surprise appearance Sunday night! Paul and I had just got home from C&C and suddenly there he was! Its been great having him "home" (is that a correct use-age of quotation marks?? Now I always question it...thanks a lot Ryan!).
Last night we watched the last few episodes of "the Office" (season 2) together which was so fun because.
1. The Office is hilarious!
2. Its sooo much funnier if you are watching it with someone else who finds it just as funny!
And tomorrow we are planning on taking a little trip up to Vernon...because....well Vernon has such a charm around this time of year....heh heh heh....

(To Be Continued...)

Preemptive Eating?

They say you should only eat if you are hungry.
Ok, so let's say you are not hungry at supper time so you don't eat supper.
Then at let's say....8 PM you get hungry so you eat.
Does that really make any difference to your body?
If you ate at dinner time with everyone else wouldn't that be a "preemptive" meal, and therefore you wouldn't be hungry at 8 PM? Is it better to eat at regular intervals even if you're not hungry, if you know you will be hungry later anyway?
Its the same amount of food, but you just consume it when your body is in a different state of hunger. Doesn't it all even out in the end?
Is this a dumb question?

My Brain Hurts

Math was NEVER my favorite subject in school. In fact it is safe to declare that is was my LEAST favorite subject of all time. My mom would let me skip one subject on my birthday and every year it was math. She didn't even have to ask.
Somehow my brain refuses to understand numbers and logical math concepts. In fact logic of any kind is hard for me to absorb. I don't know why.
Today at work was the first time I had to close up alone.
Which means I had to count the till....alone.
It wasn't fun.
I don't like numbers.

New Job

I started my new job today!
Admittedly I was only there for about 4 1/2 hours...but still, it has begun.
I'm working at a little cafeteria inside the Convergy's call center called "K's Korner". They have prepackaged sandwhiches, subs, samosas, quiches, and lots of baking. And soups. And coffees of course.
I learned how to operate the non-Tim Horton's till and did some inventory and cleaning. It was very slow today, but my manager Sharon says that it will be a lot busier on weekdays, which will be good. When its busy your shift always flies by so much faster!
So this is how I will fill my days until I leave for Ireland. It will be nice to keep busy, that's for sure.

Operation: Passport

Thursday afternoon: Mom and I head down the Coquihalla hwy in the ultra hot blue Toyota Rav-4.
Destination: Passport Canada office, Surrey.

Its a long story. See, my passport is good for another year, and since I plan to only be in Ireland for 8 months that should be fine, right?
Apparently not.
I'm going with a program called SWAP (Students Working Abroad Program) and in order for them to get me a working Visa for Ireland, I need to have at least 18 months left on my passport. Grrr.
So I need to get a whole new passport before I can go! And if you go through the regular route of sending it away, it will take until January before you get it back!
I can't wait that long!
So Mumsy kindly offered to go with me to Surrey and drop off my application directly at the Passport Canada office. This means that IF we get in, I will get my passport back in up to 4 weeks.
So there we were.
7:30 AM, shivering outside the office building that opens at 8 AM.
We were the second people in line by minutes. The lineup behind us grew steadily.
Finally the doors were opened and about the first 9 or 10 of us were herded into an elevator which was activated by the guard's key. Apparently if he wasn't able to control the elevator there would be a mad rush?
We all nervously shuffled around and a few eagerly stumbled out when we stopped on the wrong floors.
When we arrive on floor 9, we were in line again. It wasn't long before we were called up, quickly diagnosed as a "complicated" case (because my passport still had a year before it expired) and sent to sit down, carrying a little tab with 'D 713' printed on it in blue ink.
Then we waited, alongside a hundred other people, for the screen hanging from the ceiling to flash our number.
'D 705' was up there FOREVER. I thought I was going to scream.
By this time I was tired (hadn't slept), stressed (I don't like beeping offices, guards in uniform, or the possibility that this whole trip could be a waste of time if there is too much glare on my picture, or something stupid like that), and hungry. This equals a shaky Jill.
I nibbled at my granola bar and felt a little better.
When the screen had reached about 'D 710' one of the guys in uniform started telling everyone about a 'faster' way to get your passport if you weren't such-and-such, and you were such-and-such. Just follow him over here and you could be done in 20 minutes.
I was keeping one eyeball on him and one eyeball on the screen that was now flashing 'D 711'. Should I wait or go?
Mom and I got up and asked him a few questions...seemed like we fit the criteria.
'D 712'
Just as we were about to follow him out of the room...
"Bing Bing" D 713!
"We're up mom!"
That decided for us.
We were done in 10 minutes. The lady didn't think our case was so complicated after all.
So now hopefully I will have my new and improved passport in my hands in 3-4 weeks.
Hurrah!

Made Me Laugh

So I was looking around the Internet for some fun t shirts (since I can't find any in the mall grumble grumble) and when I was browsing through one site I saw "Christian" as one category.
And I thought to myself, what would a funny Christian T-shirt look like? Would they all be really lame or cutesy?
Admittedly, some/most of them were...
But there were a few that made me laugh! Check them out...







I think those last three were my favorite!
ps. please don't be offended...its all in good fun!

I'm All Alone...There's No One Here Beside Meee!

I discovered something new about myself these past few days.
I don't like being alone!
Maybe that doesn't seem weird to you, but I always thought I was someone who liked, or at least could handle, being alone.
And I can enjoy being alone...as long as I'm not completely and irreversibly alone! I like knowing that if I so choose, I can stop being alone and go talk/see/hang out with someone.
Camp was nice because I could creep off to my house and be "alone", but there was always some activity going on if I wanted to stop my solitary ways. But with my mom and little brother gone camping these last few days, and myself being somewhat car-less, I was kind of stuck at home with the cat. And I thought I would go crazy!
I had to turn up my music really loud so that it wasn't so eerily quiet, and I read a whole book (which turned out to be fairly depressing...just the pick-me-up I needed), and a I played a whole lot of piano. Yesterday I 'stole' Paul's car and went shopping...by myself...which was not fun at all.
I was not meant to be alone!
Which brings me to my fears of traveling alone...

Off With The Old...?

In an attempt to tidy my blog, I have deleted...yes, it's true....deleted three links to blogs that have not been updated in many moons. I bid a tearful farewell to Treadettes, Theo's House of Pain, and Life, Love, and Lattes. It was a hard thing to do, but in the end, I believe it was for the best. If they choose to revive, I will be waiting for them with open arms.
In other news say hello to Spider Webbers! My friend Kelsey seems like a promising Blogger, and a welcome addition to my blogging community! I don't think she quite knows what she's got herself into...hee hee hee...

I Did It!

I made myself go out for some excercise tonight!
I've been feeling so blah lately...headache-y, sluggish, fat, ugly...you know what I mean....or maybe you don't!
Then, as I was chatting with my mother today over a exceptionally sweet cup of Maple Latte, I began to remember a time...
A time when I would pull on my sweats and runners after a long day of work, plug my ears with my iPod earbuds, and make for Homewood's nearest exit. 15-20 minutes of walking/running would do the trick. The scenery was beautiful, there were no children, no ovens, no demands...just me & my tunes.
I would drag myself home, take a cold shower, and I would be completely exhausted and completely rejuvenated. Any dark clouds that hung over my head when I left would be gone.
That was in the Spring when there was time and (some) energy for such things.
I guess when the Summer rolled around I got out of the habit, and that's when the trouble started.
Anyway, tonight as I logged into Facebook for the 100th time I thought to myself, "I should go".
So I did.
It was about 45-50 minutes and completely satisfying. I was especially pleased that I COULD run at all.
Strangely enough, when I got back I had more energy than when I left.
So now I know I need to do this more often.
Argh.

Pictures

You can find the pictures of my life in the past six months on my Facebook account!
I will have more when Mike brings me some later this month :)

Back in the Desert

Drove back to Kamloops today (thanks Pops, you're the best!) and attempted at unpacking and simultaneously chucking things I've discovered I didn't need in the last six months (which means I probably won't need them ever).
It was a wee bit overwhelming, so my room is half unpacked and very messy. And I'm tired.
Friday night the remnants of the summer staff went out to Boston Pizza and we all had supper there, and then we went to hang out at Graeme's until the last ferry. It was a lot of fun, and it was nice to have some final visiting time with everyone.
Saturday there was a wedding that most people went to , so I stayed back to pack and such, and then left on the 10 PM ferry.
Leaving Homewood wasn't my favorite thing in the world. I love that place so much, and the people there are such close friends. It was hard to say goodbye to my roommate Zoe especially. Its been (surprisingly?) fun to have someone to share a room with, because you get to know them that much better.
I'm sure she's glad to have some space to herself now though!!

gah I just realized what a boring post this is. I apologize...what else can I say? I'm brain-dead right now, and going to bed. Nighty-night. I will be posting some pictures tomorrow hopefully.

Memory Catcher

"Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! Don't send a message, leave a comment on here. Next, re-post this in your notes and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses"...

It Feels Good

It is very satisfying to my frugal Dutch nature to find good deals.
There are "pretty good deals" which for the average item might mean anywhere from $10-20.
And there are "good deals", which are under $10.
And then there the deals that are "Rip-roarin' Steals!" for under $1.
Yesterday while shopping for a few miscellaneous items, I stopped my mom to show her a set of dishes I had noticed previously that I thought were pretty sweet.
My Mom is a Bargain Master Supreme. and naturally her sharp eye caught the 50% Off last ticketed price sign, that my yet-to-be sharpened eye had missed. We looked at the price tag and I was blown away! Each piece was about $1.99. The teapot was the most expensive, at $4.49.
It wasn't long before I was loading up a box and we lugged them to the till.
As the cashier was running them through, she goes, "Oh that's funny. They're even cheaper. We must have missed a markdown."
There is something so contenting about good deals.
I had a lot of fun comparing the original full price with what I paid.
Teapot: $24.99.............I paid $2.25
Creamer: $8.99...............I paid $.75
Sugarbowl $9.99..............I paid $.94
Plates: $11.99 each....I paid $1.12
Bowls: $8.99 each......I paid $.75
Mugs: $7.99 each......I paid $.75

In total, the whole six piece set cost me $22.05, and I walked out smiling!

Hooray for Hi-speed!

After using the slowest dial-up Internet in the history of the universe for the past 5+ months, I decided to make good use of my parent's hi-speed, while I could. Unfortunately I was delirious was I was packing, so I didn't bring my laptop. No Homewood pictures. Sorry. I'll do it in September.
Instead you get to learn with me about the little town of Fermoy, co. Cork, in Ireland! The picture is of Fermoy Fellowship, where I will be working! Isn't that amazing?! It was built in 1834.
Fermoy is small town "nestled at the foot of the Galtee Mountains", with a population of approx. 5,000. Its located right on the Blackwater River, and apparently its mostly known for its fantastic fishing. I might have to learn how to gut a fish after all...ick.
It is also famous for its abbeys, and its military history. Sounds like I won't have to go far to soak up some interesting Irish sights! Cork county is the location of the Blarney Stone...which I am debating going to see. I don't really cherish the idea of kissing a rock so many other people have touched....but its sort of one of those things you HAVE to do. Besides, I could use "the gift of the gab" that is supposedly bestows.
It is also said to have a "disproportionate" population of musicians, playwrights, artisans, and poets! Unfortunately it doesn't sound like there are many handsome sheep herders around....I may have to further Northwest for that. Oh well, I've got time.
There are so many castles, and cliffs, and interesting old buildings to see in the surrounding counties. I am sooo excited!

(Ps. I am also excited about my 'job' at Fermoy Fellowship, but I just needed to gush about my excitement for traveling today)

For Your Information...

Its only a matter of days now before I visit my homeland!
I'm leaving here on the 15th, spending some quality time with good friend Karissa, shopping in Nanaimo, and then meeting Mom in Horseshoe Bay. Either we will spend the night in Langley with dear Aunty D & Uncle Matt, or we will head straight home. On the 17th I hope to meet up with some friends (aka YOU....so contact me!), on the 18th ANGE IS GETTING MARRIED! Crazy! And on the 19th I pack up and head on back down here. Its going to fly by!
But I'll be leaving Homewood's green pastures for good at the end of the month, so even if I don't catch up with you this week, I will in September. Unless of course you are leaving to go live in the States at a most inconvenient time, as Some are in the habit of doing. In that case I demand to see you on the 17th!!!
Ready or not, here I come!

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom & Dad!

I love you guys!
Can't wait to come up and visit you!

ps. the card is in the mail!

Milestones

Today is a day of Milestones for me!

First of all, this is PJ's 100th post! Though is has taken an extremely long time to reach the third digit, I like to think it is because I prefer quality over quantity :S
Secondly, today is the fourth and that means I've been here for precisely five months!!! I can't believe how fast the time flew. One more month to go!

Lastly...today I have received an email which may strongly direct and influence the next few months of my life, and bring me closer to my goal of many years: travelling to Ireland.

Its a long story...I'll abbreviate it as best as I can.
I was looking for a way to experience Ireland without being a tourist...I wanted to do something meaningful while I was there. I mentioned that in passing to a friend I met as a kid, who now lives in Afghanistan with her missionary parents.
Well her pastor there used to pastor a big church in Ireland, so she asked him if he knew of anything and then emailed me back and said, "Hey Look, I've got you a contact in Ireland!"
So through a friend, of a friend, of a friend, I was put in contact with someone in Fermoy (A little place in Southern Ireland...I looked it up. Its situated almost exactly there I wanted to be!) who I emailed a few days ago.

The whole process has just seemed to ridiculously random and coincidental that I felt it couldn't be just luck!!! (Even if we are talking Ireland)

I've been nervously awaiting a reply since then, and finally received it just a few minutes ago!

The email begins:

"Jill,
It has been a real blessing to hear from you. All of us in the Fermoy Fellowship have been praying for such a long time for someone like you to volunteer to work alongside us for a season so I guess we are all hoping that you are an answer to prayer."

And I am hoping they are an answer to mine!

Though as I read on, I became more and more nervous. What they are looking for is someone young like me to come and work with the kids and young teens in their little church. I won't be a youth pastor by any means, but as Harry (the guy I'm in touch with) says, all the leaders are 45-50 years old and they want a "young person" so come be an example to their kids!

SCARY? I THINK SO!

Firstly, I love kids, but I've never been a "kid person"...but I really felt a change in me after this last week of counselling at Woodsman. And I feel a sort of peace about the whole thing.

I'm not about to make any rash decisions guys, but I think I want to do it! (Which is really weird for me...)
So...I'm going to pray, pray, pray! And if you want to join me in that, go right ahead!

Dutiful Daughter

I don't really have anything to say, but news that my dear family at home checks my blog regularly for an update gives me a wee bit of a guilt trip.
So here is the Woodsman Counselling Adventure update.
It rained pretty steadily for the first three days, a teeny bit of sun on the fourth, hard rain on the fifth, and then good strong sun for the sixth and seventh days.
Because we are outside ALL THE TIME there, with no real "indoors", no heat in the tents, and no dryer of any kind, we were pretty muddy, damp, and cold all week. If it hadn't been for the few days of sun, I'm pretty sure there would have been a camper mutiny!
I was having the time of my life though! Being outside 24/7 was a first in a very long time! I loved not having a real strict schedule, and I tried to pass on some of my enthusiasm to my campers. I'm pretty sure I had the sweetest tent of girls ever in time, because they were real troopers and were basically the best group in the whole camp.
One girl got super homesick the second day and that was a challenge because she was very persistent on wanting to go home, which was "conveniently" right here on Quadra Island. It totally brought me back to when I was 12, going to camp for the first time, and desperately wanting familiarity! (Yeah...I was the crying camper)
Fortunately, I managed to get her to stick it out (mostly by keeping her busy alllll the time) and she ended up loving her week! That felt good :)
Zoe and I were in charge of one activity block, and it was her brilliant idea to create a new activity, which was dubbed, "Woodsmanship & Weaponology". Basically the most gong-show hour of the day! First of all we would "blend in with our surroundings" by putting mud on our faces, and making fern skirts, or something crazy like that. Some of the prissier campers had a hard time with it!!! I showed them my "cougar scar" (from that time when I wrestled with a cougar, and strangled it with my bare hands!....) on my arm, and awed them all....until they found out later it was acutally a burn I obtained while baking. Erk.
Then we hiked out to a really cool bunker Mike built a couple years ago, and invented weapons of self-defense and did skits showing how to use them! One of mine included two blades of grass to shove up your enemy's nose....very creative, I know.
My co-counsellor turned out to be pretty fun, and we got along pretty well all week! I discovered her crazy side, and she defnitely kept the kids entertained at night by telling them her "most embrarassing moment" stories!
Our "tent times", the time after chapel when we would discuss things about God and stuff, went really well, which was good because that is what I'm always most nervous about. Actually, two of our girls gave their lives to Jesus, which was really neat!
I had to give my "testimony" on the last night, which was a huge stretch for me, because I HATE speaking in front of people especially about something so personal! I was so nervous, but the feedback I got was positive, and hopefully I encouraged some of the campers.
Overall it was a really great week, maybe the best of my summer so far. I was sad to say goodbye to my girls, but very tired afterwards.
From Friday until tomorrow is Staff Retreat, so I'm trying to catch up on my rest before another crazy Family Camp.
Tomorrow is the "fancy brunch"...yay. (I'm still in grub mode)

Exciting New Adventures

So I have been working in the kitchen for just over four months now, and I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting pretty tired.
Luckily for me, Irwin, the director, understands that! This week I'm completely out of the kitchen and doing something completely different!
I'll be heading out to the Woodsman camp two days from now, co-counselling a group of 7-8 girls between the ages of 10-12.
This is so far out of my comfort zone! I feel so ill-equipped for counselling...which is partially why I volunteered for the kitchen in the first place!
I am also going to be counselling with another girl here that...lets be honest now...I don't particularly like. I mean its not like we're enemies, I think we both just know and accept the fact that we will probably never be buddy buddy. I was a wee bit upset last night, but I've come to terms! with it, and I think it will be ok.
Besides these minor setbacks, I'm actually very very excited! I absolutely love the rustic Woodsman camp....its located on a nice freshwater lake; we'll all sleep and eat under tents, no showers, or flushing toilets....ahhh...that , to me, is camping! :)
Plus its in the middle of nowhere, so you feel like you're totally in another world. I love it!
Anyway, I'm just feeling very crazy right now, with my apprehensions and anticipations colliding in a frightening way...
Pray for me this week that I will have a positive impact on my campers lives, and that me and my co-counsellor will get along :P

Disturbing Discoveries

Whilst allowing my tired feet to soak the other night, I stumbled across something very troubling.

Two small warts on my right foot.

On below my index toe, the other on my second-to-last toe (the one by the pinky toe). They are disgustingly white rimmed, with horrific fuzzies flowering inside. I wished to vomit.

I've never had warts before...

How do I get rid of them?

September Solutions

I feel like I'm already on the "Home" stretch!
Its only the beginning of July, but the last few months have gone by SO incredibly fast that I'm expecting these next two to melt away as fast as ice cream in this amazingly hot weather!
While this inspires a certain anticipation of seeing familiar places and friends again, I also get a little panicky thinking about September.
The terrifying Unknown!
Its obviously a little late for school, and I definitely don't want to work at some $8/hour place again. I feel like someone is suddenly handing me Ireland and I'm way too freaked out to take it!
The more I think about it, the more it seems like the perfect timing. I am completely responsibilty-free, I have saved up some funds, and its one of my dreams....right??
Yet I'm so scared of actually going!
What is wrong with me?!
Its like all I want is to slip right back into the normalacy of Kamloops life, where it is safe and comfortable and warm....
But everything changes.
For one, Beebs will not be there at home, Ange will be married (!), and a certain brother of mine might be moved out! Who knows what else will be different. Home might not be bathed in such a sunny glow once I'm living there again!!!
I think perhaps it is time for me to take a little adventure. I just need to work up the courage to actually jump on it.
GAHH! SO FREAKY!