The good news is...

...I'm writing again. For a while now, I've been extremely busy and have been exhausting myself, barely having a few hours to myself here and there in a week. For someone who needs their recharging time, this doesn't work well and can't last long.

This past weekend, I headed home to a friend's wedding- it was so beautiful! and I was glad to be a part of that day- and spent some time with family. We hit up the canal (Beavertails included, of course), and I got to meet my little brother's girlfriend, who is an absolute sweetheart. It was great catching up with family friends at my parents' church- I feel so loved when I'm back there. My sister and her boyfriend came up to visit the family, and he is a top-notch guy, I really like him. She sure knows how to pick 'em :) We all enjoyed getting to know him a bit more.

I wouldn't say it was a restful weekend at all, but it was a worthwhile visit. I got to see all my siblings; we had a brief but great visit overall.

Coming back here, I thought I would be exhausted, but I've felt a bit more refreshed for some reason, and started working on a piece I had started a while ago, but had added onto on Friday. Yesterday, I added lots more, and today I am trying to keep it going. When I say I'm writing again, I'm not trying to jinx the process :) but rather, I'm encouraged that there are still some creative elements in my life and some ideas in my brain. Sometimes I wonder! So that is encouraging to myself. I do wonder if these scrawlings of mine will amount to anything, but for now, I'm trying to build a repertoire and draw from a broader palette. For me, this is a good start.

This morning, I realized I still have some thought to put into the conference I attended. There was so much information it was slightly overwhelming, and I am still attempting to put the pieces together while not feeling I need to commit to one thing right now that will be forever, but also not getting too caught up and avoiding making a decision altogether. I wish I could say I'm usually at a happy medium in this area but, unfortunately, it would be more accurate to say I'm sometimes one and sometimes the other and usually can hope for a happy medium on the way to the other extreme:) Wow, doesn't that make me sound stable, haha.

What all that means is that I'm still exploring opportunities, and pursuing what I do know I'm good at/enjoy, and the rest will fall into place (so I'm told). I'm learning that no frenetic activity or hair-pulling (my own, not someone else's, heheh) will accomplish much of anything, so I am doing my best to take each day for what it is: a new day.

(I had another post cooking, but decided against it, since it was written on a much less positive note and I didn't feel that would be useful; it doesn't apply to me today, in any case. If you had wondered or noticed.)

I'll try to post some photos soon...tschüss!

un petit dessin de rien du tout

This is meant to exemplify the way I'm feeling today. I had a long tirade written out elsewhere but may or may not post. It's one of those I should probably re-read before rashly posting:)

I call it Deception and Fine Mastery of Flagrancy, or Flaming Laurels.

(You're right, it makes no sense, heheh.)

Of conferences and concerts

This man was an incredible tap dancer, and it was along with a spoken drama- just amazing.

One of my favourite songs from the conference!

The tap dancing again

My friend Melissa:) It was awesome to see her

Amy and Carmen, all the way from the Canadian prairies! We lunched together the one day after Carmen and I randomly ran into each other. So refreshing to see these girls! I went to school with both of them at different times

Rascal Flatts in the flesh! What a concert. And right in my city!

love these gals!

You can dress us up but you can't take us out, haha!

Old Mills and Siblings

On our way home for Christmas Eve, Jon and I stopped at this old mill to take photos, both of us captured by the charm of this place, dead silent on Christmas. These are from our explorations. (While we were taking photos, Liz thought it would be funny to drive off with the van, using the spare keys.)

Brace yourselves for a slew of family photos now... :)

Naomi and I

Liz, looking sallow- just kidding, that's a tan

Success! A good picture of Samuel

Ruth and her lovely scarf

Silly Tim

Mathieu

Dad

Yes, it's true- Hershey has a car seat

Maman et moi

Benjerman

More to come...

"Forget regret, or life is yours to miss...no day but today"

In case you can't tell, I'm currently enamoured of (of? with?) Rent, and I don't know how I've missed watching it before now. Of course, I'm sure the Broadway production would be simply amazing, but I really like the movie- the cast, the music, ahhh! Brilliant.

As you can see, I'm back in the blogosphere! I've been putting off posting because, once again, I keep forgetting to upload photos and like to have them on my posts. However, that will come later.

Well, there's lots to catch up on- if there's no day but today then I have nothing to write about, because most of it is in the past:) Christmas involved a short visit home, a lot of travelling, and an incredible conference. Good times with friends old and new. A furry addition to the family. A connection with a family friend from before I was born. Meeting a new friend who's from nearby, that I wouldn't have met otherwise. Yup, exciting and packed with non-stop activity.

I got to visit with my two cousins who are my age, and that was so great, since I haven't seen one in two years and the other, since the summer. I've always thought of them as way cooler than me; it's funny the ideas that stick with you from childhood even though no one plants the ideas in your head. They're awesome guys and it was great to see them and catch up.

There has been so much running through my mind since the conference; it gave me lots to think about and process. I think I would summarize it as challenging, intense, touching, and shaking-up. I learned a lot, and caught up with my good friend before her trip, and had to process some unpleasant realities about myself that I would rather have skipped. All in all, there is a lot I still have to think about, which is why I'm being so vague (and irritating even myself as I write, if that's any comfort) :) Mainly, I was hoping to come away with a bit more direction in terms of what to do with my life, or where I might find a place to use my gifts (those elusive entities), or maybe even stumble upon some great revelation. As it turned out, none of these came true in the ways I had anticipated, but I learned so much in other ways and I know these will continue to shape my life and decisions.

Right after the conference- I'll elucidate on that when I get the photos up - we had a breakfast meeting with the life group leaders at church. It was a pretty tough meeting and we all discussed the challenges and hardships that we'll be facing in the next few weeks as a community.

What else...Liz's boyfriend came to visit this past weekend, so I got to meet him. She sure knows how to pick 'em. (By that I mean, he seems like a really together guy.) :) Hopefully I'll get a chance to hang out with them more, since he's now an important part of her life.

I'm contemplating a trip out west and even fleshing out some potential dates/places. I really hope it can work.

More soon! ...

These are from Christmas Eve- the family get-together

Father and son (couldn't resist snapping one of the lederhosen from my cousin's trip to Germany!)

Grandfather and granddaughter

The two Barbs

The mutual phone fascination of the cousins