La fête

I wanted to do something splashy for my birthday this year...but I couldn't come up with any grand plan. Instead, I went for a lovely dinner with a few friends and mini-golfing afterwards (which we got progressively worse at as the bugs came out, but still fun!), and I thought I'd post some photos.

On Monday, I got my hair cut - you know it's been a while when it becomes some kind of event:) - so now, even though it's slow growing, I can wear it down. The simple things amuse me!

I'm starting to train more intensively for my first marathon and I'm not totally dedicated yet- I haven't signed up for the race itself because I just don't like the course, but I figure, even if I only ever do one, that's okay. It's hard to be motivated lately, because after a while I don't like running the long distances alone; I get bored even with my music. I have to say, listening to Paul Brandt does make the runs a lot more enjoyable!

Some days I feel like I'm at a crossroads, the one with all the major life decisions, including how long to stay in London, what to do next, and so on. Other times it's as if I'm just coasting, waiting for my life to happen, but in this mode it kind of slips by and I've done nothing. More and more, I'm finding I need an equilibrium between the two, and especially I need to ground myself in my relationship with Jesus. When I don't, everything gets helter-skelter and it's hard to figure out how I fit into the grand scheme and what is worthwhile in life.

This weekend I'm camping, so I hope to have more pics of that soon. That's all for now!

Me, Sarah, Marie, Renée (& Liz taking the photo)

Renée and a nifty tree

My new 'do :)

Summer days, drifting away...

Lots to catch up on! I realize I haven't posted in a while, but, to whoever reads this, here are some photos finally! Enfin, les voici.

Since I last posted, my parents came to visit Liz and I for her graduation from nursing. It was great to have them here for a couple of days, and to be there with Liz at her grad. The ceremony lasted a few hours and I didn't get any good pictures, but she looked fantastic in her cap and gown, and we're all proud of her. Since then, she has started her job at the Children's Hospital in pediatric oncology, and she's still getting used to the shift work.

I took a few photos at our ESL barbeque- we had over 30 people crammed into Shirley's house after thunderstorms got everyone out of the pool. Someone had brought a guitar, and the house was filled with Spanish music and lots of laughing- especially when, after the great singing, someone had the idea to make the white people sing something- a little mortifying but we went with it!

My friend Mija and I

Mariana and Andrea

This past weekend, I spent some time at my friend Tracy's cottage for her birthday. I always appreciate the times I can get out of London, into the countryside to enjoy the greenery. Cottage country is beautiful, and the whole pace of life slows down- I could get used to that:)

I hope to post more photos soon, hope you are all keeping well and enjoying the summer! Happy belated Canada Day- or, as my Mexican friends exclaimed at the fireworks, Viva Canada!

~A la prochaine! ~

A good day to run

By now, this is old news, but I haven't posted in a while. I thought I should try to find some pictures to add, and fill you in a bit.

On Mother's Day, the Forest City Road Races were held in London, and my sister and I and some friends decided to compete together in the marathon relay, basically on whim. Mark needed to get in some mileage for his marathon the next weekend (he recently ran a marathon in each state, I think), and I thought it would be fun to run with my friend Tracy, from other races, and her husband Steve.

For May, it was pretty cold and windy, but we had a good pace going, started by Mark (he's the tall one), and at the end, we all finished together to bring Steve in, which was a blast. We were pretty sure we had come in first for the relay, but we had to wait for official confirmation.

After a lot of waiting around and some pretty good organic race fare, the results came in: we beat out every other relay team, including the all-male teams. Not bad for a team with three girls:) Needless to say, we were ecstatic! We ended up getting our medals engraved as well, just for fun.

Once the awards ceremony was over, we rushed off to the twins' birthday party (for the family I babysit for), and it was a whirlwind afternoon with twenty eight-year-olds cooped up inside due to the rain.

Other than that, not too much is happening. My parents are coming to visit us in London, which will be a first- they're staying with us for a couple of days to attend Liz's grad, which will be great.

I hope to post more pictures shortly! Bye for now.

First guest in the new apartment!

On Wednesday, Liz and I had our previous rooommate, Leyla, over. On moving day, we had planned to get together before she goes to France for the summer (as I turn a pale shade of green), and we decided to make a meal. Good things always happen when the three of us make food, and this was no exception.

Our pièce de résistance was a baked brie, topped with sundried tomatoes, garlic, and walnuts, which we served with stone-wheat crackers- delicious! We also threw together a salad with strawberries, and shared some zinfandel.

It was a lovely evening and has inspired us to host a cocktail party sometime in the coming months:)

Here are a few photos of us, and our new apartment too!

Leyla and I, being classy

Pensive Leyla

Look, Mom- matching place settings :)

Leyla and Liz

Moving, and heavy thoughts

Liz and I are now nicely settled into our new apartment. I should say, Liz is nicely unpacked and I'm still living out of boxes- no surprise I'm sure:) We love our new little apartment and it's great to have walls that aren't white. We're looking forward to checking out a few garage sales to spruce up the place.

I'm getting a little sick of moving- I figure out that I've moved 16 times in five years, including to and from school and summers. Some people might not count that, but since I didn't live at home during that time, I do:) My mother says I'm a true Kuhn because of it:) Anyways, it's strange to think it's been almost 2 years since I've been in London. I try not to think about it actually, I get a little panicked that time is flying so fast!

However, it was wonderful to find this place, even though we didn't want to be in the student area, but that's all right. Hopefully it won't be too noisy for Liz when she's on nights- she starts her job at the hospital today, congratulations, Liz!

While packing up at our old apartment, and during the whole preparation of moving, I came face to face with something about myself that I'd rather avoid, but seems like a minor turning-point. I was pretty disagreeable throughout, mostly because, like my sister, I'm not a huge fan of change but I still embrace it- a helpless paradox- and I finally realized during church on Sunday morning that it's not really okay for me to use that excuse. Change is inevitable, and I can't decide I'll only enjoy it when it's on my terms. I've been a bit of a baby, actually, and I've made up my mind that this isn't the type of attitude I want to be known for.

What struck me while sitting in church was that I need to acknowledge my capacity to hurt. I don't like to think about the fact of how capable I am to hurt those around me, especially the ones I'm closest to. It's not a pleasant thought, but one I need to face, and this move brought it to the forefront.

If anything, it is a reminder to me of how short life is, and that I do want to make the most of the frienships I have. Besides that, this provides a new perspective in how I interact- hopefully making me more gracious, in my close friendships as well as my contacts with others.

Just a few thoughts that have been running through my mind! That's all for today:)

A Night at the Orchestra

Last night, my sister and I went to a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, put on by Orchestra London. It was a late Christmas present for her and an excuse to finally go to the orchestra for me, and it completely surpassed my expectations.

Liz and I took the bus to St. Paul's Cathedral, and we were by far among the youngest people there, but we didn't care. I'd been looking forward to this performance since the fall, and we were almost nervous as we walked in to find our seats and waited for the beginning.

The focal point was the Four Seasons, but interspersed were solos by instruments from around the world, including lute, sarangi (India), pipa (China) as well as songs and speaking from Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, who promote a lot of awareness and cultural teaching about and for aboriginal people. Mary Lou Smoke sang at the 1976 Olympics, but this time they did some traditional drumming and singing.

At first, I looked for the conductor but I soon realized the principal violin was the conductor, waving his violin like an extension of himself. He and the second violin kept echoing each other phenomenally, I was mesmerized. I couldn't believe the nuances and the tone of his playing- each movement was better than the next.

I was hooked from the first cheery notes of Spring to the triumphant finale of Winter. I enjoyed each movement even better than the first, and although Winter was usually my least favourite, but the way the orchestra played it was absolutely incredible. The entire final movement was so poignant and just made me want to rush out and join a chamber group right away.

We ended the evening with coffee, a walk home, and each a half-piece of cheesecake. It was a wonderful outing and we felt quite cultured:)

All in all, it was an excellent outing to the theatre, and it was great to reconnect with our baroque roots.

It's been a while since I wrote anything here, but today I did the half-marathon in Run for Retina here in London. This photo is from Around the Bay in Hamilton a few weeks ago; my friend Tracy and I ran it together which was a blast, as well as being the longest distance I've done yet. This is us with our medals:)