from west to east and everwhere inbetween

It's obviously been awhile since I last posted, and some may be figuring my life was just too boring to record, but really, it's been for the opposite reason! I have been so busy since the last post that only just this week was I able to catch up on reading everyone else's blogs/xangas!

A week of rest at my parents' home was much needed, and has now finally provided me the chance of updating you on my summer, and what a momentous summer it was!

Most of the summer was spent nannying for a family in Edmonton. I bonded almost immediately with the 7 yr old girl and 9 yr old boy, and was able to spend my time with them laughing, going to the park, swimming, walking to "the slurpy store", learning how to play x-box, having reading parties, etc. There were, of course, the challenging days when I was all too happy to go home and hoped it would be awhile before I had children of my own, but all in all I'll remember it as one of my most rewarding 'jobs' ever.

The month of August was a crazy and wonderful one. It began with the wedding of two incredible Discoverites, Stefanie and Justin, in BC, which called for a Discover 04-06 reunion!

From Vancouver, I flew to Missouri for the wedding of one of my longest, dearest friends, Elissa, to Clay. The few days I spent with her and her family were like a step back in time, and I was sad for our time together to end so soon.

After a week of housesitting and madly running around to pack up and move from another house, I was able to fly to Ottawa to be with my own family. Yes, it was for yet another wedding! My big brother, Keith, took Darcie to be his wife! She's felt more and more like a sister every time I've seen her, so I'm ecstatic for their marriage. The time together was also made more precious by the facts that Allison was visiting from Australia and Emily and Trent were leaving for South Korea. Now half my family is on the opposite side of the world, but I'm excited for them to be following their dreams and gaining incredible experiences.

One week later and I was once again at a wedding, this time in Edmonton for my two friends, Ian and Shelly. It was a beautiful experience to see their relationship unfold, from the time they met all the way to being married.

The final week of August was full of good-byes. Part way through the summer I decided not to return to King's, but to spend some time closer to family by living in Ottawa, working part-time and studying from Prairie by Distance Education. While I was excited for new adventures, it was difficult to say goodbye to the friends I'd gotten to know so well in just twelve months.

Amanda, one of my friends from King's, was moving to Manitoba, so I was thankful for her company as we set out on a roadtrip with my little car packed full of my boxes. My world got turned upside down, though, when for no apparent reason my car went flying off the highway in Southern Saskatchewan and rolled multiple times before coming to a stop. In a miraculous way, God had definitely sent angels to protect us as we walked away from the hospital that day with no major injuries! I feel like I talk about that crash a lot, but after experiencing a time when I thought I was about to die, I hope I will never be the same again. It reinforced a lot of principles and priorities for me, mainly that we are spiritual and not solely physical, so what matters after life is what we've done in the spiritual realm by loving and living for God. As the car stopped rolling, the only thing that was important to me was that both Amanda and I were okay; none of my possessions in the car mattered to me at that moment. (Amazingly, though, not only were we both okay, but other than the car, none of my other things were beaten up!). This reinforced the idea that we should be investing in the people around us rather than the stores at the mall.

After spending a few days with Amanda and her family, I was able to fly from Winnipeg to Ontario. Since last Saturday I've been staying with my parents, enjoying being with them while I prepare for the new chapter in my life. This weekend I'm bussing to Ottawa, where I'll be looking for an apartment. I've applied to Prairie Bible College's BA in Intercultural Studies and also for a job in Ottawa with Christian Horizons, an organization of group homes for adults with disabilities (I worked at their retreat centre last summer and loved the challenging yet rewarding work!).

After an extremely long blog, this brings us to the present! I'm sure that I could write a thousand more words about each event I've touched on, but this must suffice for now. Hopefully my next post won't be so long in coming!