My wonderful and wacky family

For the August long weekend, I decided to visit my family, since I haven't seen them since Christmas, the kids anyway. I took the train both ways, which I much prefer to the bus, and it was a leisurely trip. Liz was home the weekend before for a wedding, so she had to work and couldn't come this time.

I got to spend some quality time with my younger sister- can you tell we're related? :P - and my brothers. It was weird to feel so outnumbered by the guys:) Poor Ruth:) You can't tell in the photo but she's already taller than me, I'm already the shortest sister. Oh well, it was bound to happen!

Curly sisters

(I haven't figured out how to get rid of the red-eye yet...)

Maman et moi

My brother Benjamin decided to be funny and put this tacky border- I can't get it off but I like the photo:)

Unfortunately, the time flew by all too quickly. It seems like the more I'm away from them, the more I appreciate family, and can make more meaningful connections, you know? I feel I've missed out on a lot of time I could have been more intentional, but there's no time like now to keep a good thing going.

On Monday I had the chance to meet up with my friend Nathalie who I haven't seen in a couple of years. It was great to catch up on what we've both been up to - I was going to see Chantal as well but she was away for the weekend. (Hope you had fun, Chant! :D ) We went out for breakfast and walked around the mall a bit before I went to catch my train. I loved reconnecting with her, she's an awesome girl and I'm glad we're in touch again.

Nat and I

More to come! :) Thanks for reading.

La visite

Contrary to what I posted last time, I have no photos of the camping, but it was great to have a retreat at a campground, just to be in nature and to have some time to breathe. I went with the young adults group from Open Door, and they made me feel so welcome; I really enjoyed spending time with them and debriefing the last few weeks for myself and have time to just listen.

This past weekend, I was so blessed to have company, twice in one weekend! Now in case that sounds lame, they were both visits from out of town, it's not that I never have company!

On Friday night when I got home, there were two messages on my answering machine, one from a family friend from back home, and one from my aunt and uncle.

The first was to say that Verena, one of my friends from highschool, who was an exchange student from Germany, would be in London on the weekend and we should get together. I was pretty surprised to hear this; we kept in touch for a while but haven't talked for years.

My aunt was calling to make arrangements to meet up, since they would be in town for a couple of days.

So it ended up that Verena and I had coffee together on Saturday, with her new husband:) and her cousin's family. It was so great to see each other again and catch up- we hadn't seen each other for 10 years! Her little cousin was five last time I saw him and now he goes to highschool with my brother, how weird is that. I felt old when I saw him. Now I want to learn more German so I can go visit them:)

Me and Verena

Hardi and Verena

On Sunday morning, my aunt Nancy and uncle Harold picked me up and we went out for breakfast before church. I always love spending time with them, we can be real with each other and they bless me so much by building into my life.

Me and Aunt Nancy

And now for a little humour- last week I made a trifle for work, and I was so proud of it (it's not hard to make but it looked pretty). I put it in a bowl my mom gave me and then took it home at the end of the day.



After work I had to run some errands and the one store I was at was having a sidewalk sale, so what did I do? I was so distracted that I walked right into the glass front door, holding my bowl, and it smashed into three pieces.


Classic move! Just when I thought I was growing out of my clumsiness.

This weekend I'm going to visit my family- here's hoping the travel isn't too long, it will be good to visit. Sorry it's such a long post!

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:)