1) The sound of feet walking in Birkenstocks- it's beautiful. I indulged my inner granola and bought a pair and the sound they make is like hushed happiness. Whatever that means :)
2) There's an ice cream truck outside my work today, no joke. Everyone gets an ice cream, so I have a twist cone sitting on my desk and it's making me smile.
3) Home church-type-thing last night was particularly thought-provoking and encouraging at the same time. I love those people and they love me back, and I know community is so much more than just liking the people you get along with, but it sure is great.
4) Home-made iced tea. I'm pretty good at it ;)
5) My neighbour's amazing flowers. He has such a knack with plants and it always looks gorgeous when I walk by each day and I look forward to walking by.
6) The gift of mobility. Despite my wish to be graceful and poised and be good at dancing, I'm still glad to get out there on the field and play whatever sports are going (mainly soccer since it's the only one I can understand, haha.) Unfortunately I'm not great at sports requiring gracefulness and coordination but it's pretty important for me to be able to move around, as evidenced by my mood when I get injured for long periods of time, yech. Movement makes me happy.
In spite of the ups and downs of late, there's so much that I can miss in worrying or trying to get things down. It sure helps when I slow down and take time to smell the flowers. Literally. I don't know what kinds they are but they're as tall as me and they smell pretty :)
It's 30-something degrees and tonight is ultimate, oof, that's gonna be interesting! Maybe we'll win or get the game done really quickly, that would be nice.
Later, 'gators.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Wee update
It's been a busy few weeks, despite making concerted efforts at slowing down time and taking advantage of a bit of free time. It's filled up quickly, that's for sure.
These last two months (or three or four) probably hold a record-breaking number of changes, such as deciding to take further study (and all the ramifications of that), trying to make career and job decisions (including multiple job interviews) and even changing around the furniture in my apartment. They all add up, and there are days that I embrace the change and days that I dig my heels in and cross my arms and pout (like today).
Sigh.
I'm doing a lot of that lately, it feels like.
After hitting what seems to be just one more dead end at the end of a really exciting path (which confuses me every time), I'm trying to reevaluate and also not read too much into things. Just because things don't turn out a certain way doesn't mean something isn't "meant to be." Sometimes, yes; however, I'm slowly learning that to get where you want to go, you have to really work at it. It's not something separate from faith or only about faith in the sense that everything is or isn't a sign from God, I just mean that in the general sense, even though I feel God is guiding me in general to make certain career decisions over others, a lot of this is plain hard work.
Maybe I can explain this better (aka in a less yawn-inducing way) through a story I read just the other day. In the midst of madly cleaning my apartment, I picked up a short kid's novel that I'd bought at a used bookstore, and read it cover to cover. It was a nice break :) It's called The Midwife's Apprentice, by Catherine Cushman, and is about a young girl in medieval England who starts out at the bottom of society in the village, and in the end gains the skills and confidence to take her place in the community. It struck me at the ending that you really have to fight for what's important to you if you ever want it to come true; this rings true for me on the career decision front.
On a brighter note, I'm looking forward to seeing my family for a few days in August and going to a friend's wedding- that's my big holiday for the summer :) Anyone else have any vacation plans coming up?
These last two months (or three or four) probably hold a record-breaking number of changes, such as deciding to take further study (and all the ramifications of that), trying to make career and job decisions (including multiple job interviews) and even changing around the furniture in my apartment. They all add up, and there are days that I embrace the change and days that I dig my heels in and cross my arms and pout (like today).
Sigh.
I'm doing a lot of that lately, it feels like.
After hitting what seems to be just one more dead end at the end of a really exciting path (which confuses me every time), I'm trying to reevaluate and also not read too much into things. Just because things don't turn out a certain way doesn't mean something isn't "meant to be." Sometimes, yes; however, I'm slowly learning that to get where you want to go, you have to really work at it. It's not something separate from faith or only about faith in the sense that everything is or isn't a sign from God, I just mean that in the general sense, even though I feel God is guiding me in general to make certain career decisions over others, a lot of this is plain hard work.
Maybe I can explain this better (aka in a less yawn-inducing way) through a story I read just the other day. In the midst of madly cleaning my apartment, I picked up a short kid's novel that I'd bought at a used bookstore, and read it cover to cover. It was a nice break :) It's called The Midwife's Apprentice, by Catherine Cushman, and is about a young girl in medieval England who starts out at the bottom of society in the village, and in the end gains the skills and confidence to take her place in the community. It struck me at the ending that you really have to fight for what's important to you if you ever want it to come true; this rings true for me on the career decision front.
On a brighter note, I'm looking forward to seeing my family for a few days in August and going to a friend's wedding- that's my big holiday for the summer :) Anyone else have any vacation plans coming up?
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Blonde moment
Yesterday, on the bus, I had a moment that really made me feel dumb and a little too insular.
At a busy downtown stop, a lady got on, all distressed, looking for something. She left out the back door, saying how she had lost her script and her daughter was out of town.
That was all.
I couldn't make sense of this encounter at all at first, thinking she was working on some kind of script for a play or whatnot, and I was trying to connect that with the absence of her daughter. The first thing I thought was, that's so cool that she's working on a script. Then I realized she was talking about a misplaced prescription...oops.
Go figure, that's the kind of thing that happens to me all the time, I habitually assume the least likely option is the most likely option, to my own discredit, usually. It made me think that I need to get my head out of the clouds from time to time, and that if I were better connected with my community, I wouldn't have been confused by that. It's so much easier to not engage, sometimes. Less awkward and invasive to one's personal space. I could go on, but the point is, it's crucial to engage with those around me, whether or not I they are people I choose to have in my closer circles. I'm challenged by the church group I met with last night who is burdened for their community and actively seeks to keep being challenged by them and reach out to them and be a part of one another's lives, unashamedly.
Does anyone else have struggles to actively engage with others? You don't have to answer that, it's just something I keep coming back to in my own life.
Thanks for hearing me out :)
~Ciao~
At a busy downtown stop, a lady got on, all distressed, looking for something. She left out the back door, saying how she had lost her script and her daughter was out of town.
That was all.
I couldn't make sense of this encounter at all at first, thinking she was working on some kind of script for a play or whatnot, and I was trying to connect that with the absence of her daughter. The first thing I thought was, that's so cool that she's working on a script. Then I realized she was talking about a misplaced prescription...oops.
Go figure, that's the kind of thing that happens to me all the time, I habitually assume the least likely option is the most likely option, to my own discredit, usually. It made me think that I need to get my head out of the clouds from time to time, and that if I were better connected with my community, I wouldn't have been confused by that. It's so much easier to not engage, sometimes. Less awkward and invasive to one's personal space. I could go on, but the point is, it's crucial to engage with those around me, whether or not I they are people I choose to have in my closer circles. I'm challenged by the church group I met with last night who is burdened for their community and actively seeks to keep being challenged by them and reach out to them and be a part of one another's lives, unashamedly.
Does anyone else have struggles to actively engage with others? You don't have to answer that, it's just something I keep coming back to in my own life.
Thanks for hearing me out :)
~Ciao~
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Surmising
That's my new favourite word, as of yesterday. It suddenly came to mind and that made me feel smart, haha. From time to time I do like to make lists of my favourite words- another tidbit I'm sure you all were dying to know.
Words make me happy, you know? The sound, the shape, the crunch of them. Today, the first customer I spoke to is from a town that is one of my favourite words, Mascouche, so that made me smile. Seriously, say that five times in a row, it's irresistible. I dare you ;)
On that note, I've been reading everything by Miriam Toews recently that I can get my hands on. So far I've read A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, and, just this weekend, Irma Voth, the newest one. I don't know what it is, but the way she writes is just so profound. It draws me in and makes me sad, and I don't usually get drawn to the sad books, but I can't help myself with these ones. It's like I'm taken into the story and get completely wrapped up in the characters and their lives and longings, and they're remarkably poignant in the way they speak and think. It's like every other sentence, hidden in prose, is a sad, sad poem of futility and hope, all wrapped up in the mind of a Mennonite girl doing the best she can with what she's got. So much of it is so beautiful that it hurts.
Has anyone read any of her work?
I almost didn't want to finish Irma Voth because it was getting really sad, but I knew I had to see the end, and I'm glad I did. (Let's be honest, I wasn't really going to not finish it.) It's one I would highly highly recommend. Can I say how thankful I am for the public library?
Haha, I should review books for a living (not) :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Canada Day weekend!
Words make me happy, you know? The sound, the shape, the crunch of them. Today, the first customer I spoke to is from a town that is one of my favourite words, Mascouche, so that made me smile. Seriously, say that five times in a row, it's irresistible. I dare you ;)
On that note, I've been reading everything by Miriam Toews recently that I can get my hands on. So far I've read A Complicated Kindness, The Flying Troutmans, and, just this weekend, Irma Voth, the newest one. I don't know what it is, but the way she writes is just so profound. It draws me in and makes me sad, and I don't usually get drawn to the sad books, but I can't help myself with these ones. It's like I'm taken into the story and get completely wrapped up in the characters and their lives and longings, and they're remarkably poignant in the way they speak and think. It's like every other sentence, hidden in prose, is a sad, sad poem of futility and hope, all wrapped up in the mind of a Mennonite girl doing the best she can with what she's got. So much of it is so beautiful that it hurts.
Has anyone read any of her work?
I almost didn't want to finish Irma Voth because it was getting really sad, but I knew I had to see the end, and I'm glad I did. (Let's be honest, I wasn't really going to not finish it.) It's one I would highly highly recommend. Can I say how thankful I am for the public library?
Haha, I should review books for a living (not) :)
I hope you all had a wonderful Canada Day weekend!
Friday, July 1, 2011
A wedding and one of my favourite things
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| Megan, resplendent in red |
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| So happy to celebrate with friends |
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| Zach and Lisa entering the reception |
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| The lovely Laura, back from her world travels |
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| What would a wedding be if I didn't take a photo of the dessert? hehe. Crepes of French vanilla ice cream drizzled with chocolate, and a berry sauce. |
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| The table centerpieces |
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| Together at last ;) The four of us reunited. It did our hearts good:) |
So here you have it, raspberry and chocolate macarons. And an owl, of course, made by the highly talented Missy Dueck.
Happy Canada Day, too! I hope you enjoy in whatever way you're celebrating today. I meant to post this yesterday, not as a Canada Day post, but my computer wouldn't cooperate, so here we are.
Nos vemos!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Bittersweet
I'm eating blueberries right now and it is one of my favourite things about this time of year. I guess technically they're not in season anymore but I am trying to eat more seasonally with my produce in general. It's tough because I love to have berries all summer long and they're not all in season all summer long, oh well. They sure are tasty.
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my dear friend Lisa to Zach. He's a good guy and she's one in a million so it was wonderful to share in their day and get to see some acquaintances in the family and friends. I had Friday off, and my friend Megan and I took the Greyhound to the city where the wedding was held, and got to have a good visit together, and our friend Laura met up with us there, we three shared a hotel room. We hadn't all been together since early May, so it was lovely to catch up. The three of us plus Lisa have been getting together for pre-church breakfasts for the last few years and got closer through leading/participating in a small group together. I'm so happy for Zach & Lisa, and the wedding was absolutely beautiful, but it's sad too because they're living overseas in the fall, Megan's going to Alberta for school, and Laura moved to Ottawa, so it's just me still here once fall rolls around. I can't be too sad, though, because these are the friendships forged through some pretty significant events of life, and I'm so thankful for them. I hope we're able to keep in touch and visit and stay close, even if it's not the same. Sigh.
Photos soon to come, of the wedding...
Saturday, my roommate and friends had book club and that was a lot of fun, then Sunday I had three soccer games in the afternoon, with biking to and fro and between games. I'm sore from head to toe now, especially after bashing the back of the head on the dryer door too (don't ask me how I managed that one). Luckily, our team captain had us to her house between games and she has a pool :) It was just the thing. I got one goal, which isn't too bad since I'm usually not that great a shot for being a forward, haha. My team puts up with me because I can run fast up the wing even if I don't get that ball in the net too often ;)
So far, I haven't heard about the job interview and haven't fully made a decision in regards to studies sooo I guess you'll have to be in suspense along with me, sorry :)
My friend's brother opened a Parisien pastry shop and crêperie, and it's opening today, so I'm going to pop by after work, I've been anxiously awaiting this:) We'll see what kind of treats they sell, pretty sure I'll have to save up a while to buy anything and bike a lot to work it off, just kidding.
Next up, I have to figure out what to do for my birthday in a week and a half. I was thinking of seeing a play in Stratford but I did that last year and want to think of something different and inexpensive. Well, I do have slightly expensive taste but not the means to match it :) I'm thinking of rounding up a bunch of friends even if they don't know each other, and having a picnic in the park, what do you think? Or maybe go for drinks on a patio somewhere but they're often so loud, and I am getting one year older (and crankier), hahah.
Well, I guess I don't have as much to say as I thought, but I'll keep you posted!
~Adios!~
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the wedding of my dear friend Lisa to Zach. He's a good guy and she's one in a million so it was wonderful to share in their day and get to see some acquaintances in the family and friends. I had Friday off, and my friend Megan and I took the Greyhound to the city where the wedding was held, and got to have a good visit together, and our friend Laura met up with us there, we three shared a hotel room. We hadn't all been together since early May, so it was lovely to catch up. The three of us plus Lisa have been getting together for pre-church breakfasts for the last few years and got closer through leading/participating in a small group together. I'm so happy for Zach & Lisa, and the wedding was absolutely beautiful, but it's sad too because they're living overseas in the fall, Megan's going to Alberta for school, and Laura moved to Ottawa, so it's just me still here once fall rolls around. I can't be too sad, though, because these are the friendships forged through some pretty significant events of life, and I'm so thankful for them. I hope we're able to keep in touch and visit and stay close, even if it's not the same. Sigh.
Photos soon to come, of the wedding...
Saturday, my roommate and friends had book club and that was a lot of fun, then Sunday I had three soccer games in the afternoon, with biking to and fro and between games. I'm sore from head to toe now, especially after bashing the back of the head on the dryer door too (don't ask me how I managed that one). Luckily, our team captain had us to her house between games and she has a pool :) It was just the thing. I got one goal, which isn't too bad since I'm usually not that great a shot for being a forward, haha. My team puts up with me because I can run fast up the wing even if I don't get that ball in the net too often ;)
So far, I haven't heard about the job interview and haven't fully made a decision in regards to studies sooo I guess you'll have to be in suspense along with me, sorry :)
My friend's brother opened a Parisien pastry shop and crêperie, and it's opening today, so I'm going to pop by after work, I've been anxiously awaiting this:) We'll see what kind of treats they sell, pretty sure I'll have to save up a while to buy anything and bike a lot to work it off, just kidding.
Next up, I have to figure out what to do for my birthday in a week and a half. I was thinking of seeing a play in Stratford but I did that last year and want to think of something different and inexpensive. Well, I do have slightly expensive taste but not the means to match it :) I'm thinking of rounding up a bunch of friends even if they don't know each other, and having a picnic in the park, what do you think? Or maybe go for drinks on a patio somewhere but they're often so loud, and I am getting one year older (and crankier), hahah.
Well, I guess I don't have as much to say as I thought, but I'll keep you posted!
~Adios!~
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Choices
Choices. They're what sets us apart from each other. They set us on one path instead of another. They bring out the intrinsic differences between human beings.
The other day, while stewing about the myriad of decisions I need to make right away, each of them affecting the other in ways I can't reverse. Being rather indecisive, I have a tendency to want to keep my options open, and this is not a conducive trait to making the big decisions with confidence.
However, in the midst of getting caught in the cycle of worrying that I'm going to ruin my life in three easy steps, it struck me that even one of these choices is a tremendous privilege. Things like what kind of job to have, what to study, where to live and with whom- how many people, by their circumstances, have very little choice in their own lives? How many women across the world have a limited (if any) access to education of any kind, and here I am complaining about how difficult it is to choose between all of the options before me?
Suffice it to say, I've been feeling humbled ever since, and that thought has stayed with me. I love reading and literacy and languages, and take the gift of literacy for granted every single day. It's something so minor in our culture, it's expected in "civilized" circles, if we can even use such a word in self-depracation, and yet it can be the difference between poverty and opportunity, to state it in a basic way.
So, as I attempt to hurdle what insists be addressed, I will choose to view this stage of life and these few weeks with gratitude, and try to remember that one decision, while having its effects, does not necessarily sway the balance in terms of the rest of my life. Well, as I say that, I'm aware that just one detail has the potential to do just that, but as far as is in my means, my job is to rely on God with this and forge on ahead rather than run away to live in a cave somewhere.
It's funny how everything seems to be linked in some way and I just want to figure it all out right this second, but life rarely works out that way, does it? I have an idea of the end goal, but it will be interesting how exactly to get there.
Just wanted to share what's been on my mind! Thanks for your support, my friends:)
The other day, while stewing about the myriad of decisions I need to make right away, each of them affecting the other in ways I can't reverse. Being rather indecisive, I have a tendency to want to keep my options open, and this is not a conducive trait to making the big decisions with confidence.
However, in the midst of getting caught in the cycle of worrying that I'm going to ruin my life in three easy steps, it struck me that even one of these choices is a tremendous privilege. Things like what kind of job to have, what to study, where to live and with whom- how many people, by their circumstances, have very little choice in their own lives? How many women across the world have a limited (if any) access to education of any kind, and here I am complaining about how difficult it is to choose between all of the options before me?
Suffice it to say, I've been feeling humbled ever since, and that thought has stayed with me. I love reading and literacy and languages, and take the gift of literacy for granted every single day. It's something so minor in our culture, it's expected in "civilized" circles, if we can even use such a word in self-depracation, and yet it can be the difference between poverty and opportunity, to state it in a basic way.
So, as I attempt to hurdle what insists be addressed, I will choose to view this stage of life and these few weeks with gratitude, and try to remember that one decision, while having its effects, does not necessarily sway the balance in terms of the rest of my life. Well, as I say that, I'm aware that just one detail has the potential to do just that, but as far as is in my means, my job is to rely on God with this and forge on ahead rather than run away to live in a cave somewhere.
It's funny how everything seems to be linked in some way and I just want to figure it all out right this second, but life rarely works out that way, does it? I have an idea of the end goal, but it will be interesting how exactly to get there.
Just wanted to share what's been on my mind! Thanks for your support, my friends:)
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