In the pre Christmas season, I got a call from sister asking me to meet her at the mall. We set the time for right after my exam but my since my exam was done sooner than expected I headed to our usual meeting spot and sat down on the bench to wait. After a few minutes an elderly gentleman sat down next to me and turns to me, "Hey, aren't you the girl who works at Save on Foods?" After telling him I was we had a lovely chat for about 10 minutes until his wife finished shopping and we said our good byes.

Another 5 minutes ticked by. Yet another man, this time much younger, started to walk by my bench and then stopped up short. He turned to me and said "Do I know you? You look familiar." and then it occurred to him "Hey aren't you the girl that works at Save On Foods?" Again I agreed, we chat for a couple of minutes and then he moved on.

Finally Michelle arrived and we begin to shop.

The next day a friend asks me to go for lunch at a local fast food joint. When we arrived we placed our order and then when I went to pay the man said, "This one is on me." I gave him a strange look and he just smiled and said "You work at Save on Foods, You are a nice person."

Since when have I become 'The Girl Who Works at Save on Foods"

Its official.

I am done. Just 21 days of chillaxin.

Now that I am a quarter of the way to becoming a nurse, I will share some of the things I learned this past semester.

1) If you go to someones house and your bring Tupperware they will fill it up with leftovers and you are set for the next couple of days. No cooking required.

2) When driving to and from Edmonton make sure you do not pull an all nighter the night before and if you are feeling sick don't even attempt to drive. Not worth it. The trip takes way longer from all the stopping you are required to do.

3) Procrastinations is both a good thing and a bad thing. I don't get as stressed out about school if I do the work beforehand, but when the deadline is looming and I feel the pressure I tend to much much better on the assignments. Very bad habit to get into!

4) Sticky notes are amazing. I am definitely a list person so if its not written down I probably won't get it done so I have sticky note reminders everywhere. It is a very satisfying feeling to rip the paper into tiny pieces and throw it away. Ahhh.. finished.

5) I love grocery shopping. I hate clothes shopping. I guess I get that from my mom but it I could live without ever having to enter a clothing I would. I am definitely a roll out of bed go as you are type of person, this is much to my mom's dismay. But grocery shopping... I just love it. Going up and down the aisles looking for the best deals. Looking at all the products. Wow. I could go everyday (I don't though). I especially love the cleaning products aisle. Strange I know.

6) I can't do school work if my room is messy. Before I can even think about studying I have to make my bed, pick up my clothes ect.. Otherwise I just can't concentrate.

7) When I moved away a friend gave me a tea cup and every time I do my school work i make myself a cup of tea or hot chocolate with this mug. I just have to say it is the perfect cup. It is the perfect size and holds just the right amount. Also it has this little spot for your thumb on the handle that is just perfect. SO if I didn't say thank you.. THANK YOU!!

8) Since we don't really have a TV at our house I realized how much time I have to dedicate to my studying or other. Also I realized that other than a few shows I don't really miss it at all (even though sometimes when people at school are talking about the latest show or movie I feel a little left out because i have no idea what they are talking about!)

9) I drink too much coke. One time our instructor was giving a lecture about diabetes and he said "when Rebecca gets diabetes..." Not if.. but when.. Dang. Maybe I will slowly wean myself off. I don't know where I get this love from because we never really drank it when we were younger but...

10) I am an overachiever. This I found to be shocking. In high school I never studied not even once, rarely did my homework and got just decent grades and I was happy with that. In fact I scoffed when people who got nineties whined about their grades. Now I have become one of 'those' people. I have no idea where it came from, and I am working on it. When I get a mark in the eighties I have to convince myself that it is an awesome mark still I bite my tongue to keep from complaining. Grrr.. That frustrates me.

Anyway This is my list of what I have learned. There are many I though of before that I can't think of now. I will probably remember in the middle of the night. Enjoy!

A couple of weeks ago at work, I asked for four or five days off during the Christmas holidays so I could have a nice visit with my family. My boss smiled and agreed he could work something out. Today I looked at the schedule and he gave me 2 days off for Christmas and 3 days off for New Years. A total of 5 days.

I guess I should have been more specific.

13 More Days of School...

19 more Assignments Due

Well.. To be fair. They aren't only assignments. This list includes everything. 6 Quizzes, 3 Essays, 3 Assignments, 1 midterm and 6 final exams.

I am thinking of writing a book. I am going to name it 'How to be Awkward." because ever since I moved to this windy little city down south my nack for putting myself into very embarrasing/awkward moments seems to be at a high.

Case in Point:

Our school has a very strict policy about wearing your scrubs outside of clinical. This makes sense as we would be transfering germs and bacteria we picked up at the hospital or the nursing homes. So the other day after clinical I decided I needed to run into Walmart for a few things, but I was still in my scrubs. So I pulled into a far stall and debated my options. I could get my groceries later after school and after I have changed, I could just go in and hope nobody notices or I could change in my car.

Slowly I looked over one shoulder, then over the other. Nobody was in sight.

I reached down and took off my shoes. I looked over one shoulder then the other. Nobody was in sight. So I quickly threw my coat over my lap, undid my scrubs, pulled them off and reached for my jeans.

Just as I was leaning down to put my legs into my pants 2 full sized vans of hutterites pulled into the parking lot and parked right next to me. There I sat with nothing on except a coat covering my lower extremities as they piled out of the van and started to talk.

My face was the color of crimson by the time they finally started to walk away. With them gone I pulled on my pants and just drove away.

Today I woke up earlier than normal. This is not an normal occurrence for me as I am the type who has trouble rising when the sun is still sleeping. As I lay in the dark snuggled under my blankets I listened to the sound of the wind and I think I knew even at that moment that this wind was different than any other wind I had heard in Lethbridge before. So slowly I got up and peered out my window and all I could see was the frost and pure blackness. It wasn't I stepped outside ready to head to school that I saw what made the wind different.

SNOW!

The very first snowfall.


Its hard to tell here but the snow and wind was actually very strong and by evening it was up to my ankles.

As I got to my car I attempted to open my door only to find it firmly iced shut. Since it was only -3 out the snow was falling and becoming instant ice. It was actually so bad out that it was hard to walk on the road let alone drive. I had an exam that morning but as I listened to the radio most of the school were shut down due to horrible condition. All the school except mine of course.

It was actually nice going to school though because I got prime parking next to the door, the hallways were empty and the best chairs in the library were available.

And now here I am at home, snuggled under a nice warm blanket with a cup of tea. Sometimes i love winter.

Today in church I was chatting with a couple of girls when a women came up to me and started to speak with me. She knew my name but while she looked familiar I could not place her (luckily I have a photo church directory and with one quick check I found her name and address - Veldmanville - Main House) She invited me over to her house on Wednesday night and told me I could bring my friend Tracey and the curly haired girl (Shauna) with me if I felt that would be more comfortable. I agreed and a time was set. She started to walk away and almost as a afterthought she turned back.

"Make sure you are looking your best, i have single boys."

Say what!?!?!

I walked right into that one.

We had the project since the beginning of the school year. The date on the assignment was clear, it never changed and the instructor gave us many hints about the assignments and many warnings about the date it was due. Yet when the time came for the assignment to be due a lot of students moaned that they didn't have enough time. They were up all night frantically working on it but they didn't seemed to worried about it. After all they finished the assignment.

Some students did try and worked on it for those couple weeks. So when they listened to the group of procrastinators talk about how they got distracted by the television or by hanging out with friends instead of doing homework they just shook their heads and smiled.

Now fast forward a couple of weeks.

The instructor holds up the assignment, and you can just feel the anticipation as she begins to hand out the papers. Some of the people wear a great big grin as they peek a there paper while others hold a look of disappointment. Then the complaining begins. The people who waited to the last minute start trashing the instructor. They got a poor grade.

'The instructor hates me..'
'She marks so unfairly...'
'What gives her the right to give me this grade..'
'Its not my fault, its not my fault, its not my FAULT..'

What has happened to accountability? Why is it the teachers fault?

She didn't make them go to the movies. She didn't get distracted by television and yet somehow its all her fault. We live in a 'ME' generation. Our ancestors worked hard to build a life for us and now we think because of that we don't have to work or try at all. Everything should be handed to us on a silver platter. We should be rewarded for no effort at all. It is sad and because of this mentality a good instructor is leaving. She said she can no longer endure the looks of hate when students get their marks back and their complaining and tireless efforts for her to change their grades to grades undeserving of the work produced. How pathetic is that? The students put more effort into getting her to change their grade then in the assignment itself.

How ridiculous.

Hahahaha.. When I saw this picture I laughed so hard, if you don't reconize it, it is the picture of the women descibed in Song of Solomon. Somehow I never pictured her looking like this!

"How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves behind your veil.
... Your hair is like a flock of goats...
Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes...
Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
Your temples are like a slice of pomegranate...

"...Your neck is like the tower of David
built with rows of stones
on which are hung a thousand shields...
... Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle
which feed among the lilies...

"... Your lips, my bride, drip honey,
Honey and milk are under your tongue...
And the fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
Your belly is like a heap of wheat...

"... Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon,
which faces towards Damascus..."

From Song of Solomon chapters 4 and 7

Recently in the last couple weeks as I was working at save on foods I saw a man. He was an ordinary man with normal looking clothes and big basket full of groceries. Just a typical customer. But the more I watched him the more I noticed something strange about him. He was always at Save on.

Every single time I worked.

He never would go through my till, I would offer every time he walked by but he would just grin and shake his head. After a while I mentioned it to another cashier. She turned to me and said 'next time you see him tell me and if necessary we will call security.'

Sure enough a couple minutes later he came around the corner again.

As I pointed him out to the cashier. She started to laugh.

'No need to call security. He is security.'

No wonder he never wanted to come through my till. He still laughs about it this day.

Today a group of friends and I were in the science study hall. We had a three hour break and decided that the best use of this time was to study for an upcoming exam. For this exam we need to learn all about many of the cells and be able to identify them off of a picture. The pictures we need were in the study hall but unfortunately a group of boys (also in our bio class) were already using them. So we proceeded to chat and study for another class. After an hour or so we noticed that the boys no longer seemed to be using them so we decided to approach our fellow classmates and ask for the pictures. On the way over I picked up an magazine that seemed to be thrown on the ground and when we approached the boys. I confidently held up the magazine and asked the boys if the magazine was theirs.

They looked at the magazine. Then looked at me. Then back at the magazine.

Two of the boys looked down awkwardly and avoided eye contact.

Two of the boys made eye contact and just smirked.

The third looked very uncomfortable and denied the magazine belonging to them.

After an uncomfortable silence I slowly turned the magazine over and stole a peek at the front. Staring back at me was a naked women and the words PLAYBOY shouted out to me. I gave a horrified gasp, threw the magazine on the floor and just walked away.

That's five more people I can never make eye contact with again.

Today was my very last and final mid term exam and probably the most intimidating exam I have ever written.

We had to go into a room, draw a scenario and then complete the task in front of a board of nursing instructors who had to evaluate if you did the task right or wrong.

If you did it right good for you move on and never have to think about this exam again. If you do it wrong you fail and have to re write. If you fail twice you are booted out of the nursing program. GAH.

No pressure or anything.

Luckily for us we got to know the four possible tasks we could possibly perform and luckily for us we also got a list of things that are automatic fails. Unfortunately for us it was 2 pages long.

Don't introduce yourself to the client - Fail
Don't ask for allergies - FAIL
Don't check patients name band - FAIL
Don't lower bed when finished task - FAIL
Don't raise bed when doing task - FAIL
and the list goes on and on..

So I walk into the room and I was sweating bullets. I was almost to the point of hyperventilation and I walk over the hat and draw handwashing.

Never have I washed my hands so good.

The instructors never even blinked. They gave me no positive or negative sign to tell me how well I did, just the instruction to check my email at six. If I failed I will receive a email.


I never recieved an email.

:-D

Piece of cake.

As of Sunday, October 17 I officially have dual church membership. I am part of the pilot program at Trinity as they try to work out the kinks but I think it is an amazing idea. Basically I will be a member of the Lethbridge Church and will be able to partake of Lord's Supper and I will have an elder that will be watching over me and the church in edmonton will receive consistent letters regarding my church activities. This way when I go home for the weekend or for the summer (maybe) I will be able to do so easily. I think it is brilliant and I know of several churches that have this program in place for students.

And now that I am actively involved in the Lethbridge Church I have joined the young adults group and my experiences have been amazing. In the beginning of the study we all open our hymn books and we sing together and it's not the everyone is embarrassed that someone else will here them sing type but rather everyone sings loudly and joyfully. I just love that, its pure communion of the saints. Then we spilt off into little groups to discuss the weeks lesson. This year we are doing Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! I started to read the first chapter and didn't put it down till the end of the book. Its an easy read and its packed jammed with a lot knowledge and will have you reevaluate your whole life and view on sin. Here is some excerpts from the first two chapters.

In the biblical sense of the term, sainthood is not a status of achievement and character but a state of being — an entirely new condition of life brought about by the Spirit of God. Paul describes it as “[turning] from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18) and again as having been “delivered . . . from the domain of darkness and transferred . . . to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13)... (p14)
He then goes on to speak about how even though we are set apart by God, we still struggle in the flesh with sin:

The Bible has a word for conduct unbecoming a saint. It is sin. And just as “conduct unbecoming an officer” covers a wide range of misconduct, so the word sin covers a wide range of misbehavior. It covers everything from gossip to adultery, from impatience to murder. Obviously, there are degrees of seriousness of sin. But in the final analysis, sin is sin. It is conduct unbecoming a saint. (p16)

[sin] has, in many instances, been deflected to those outside our circles who commit flagrant sins... It's easy for us to condemn those obvious sins while virtually ignoring our own sins of gossip, pride, envy, bitterness, and lust, or even our lack of those gracious qualities that Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit (p19)...

The result, then, is that for many morally upright believers, the awareness of personal sin has effectively disappeared from their consciences. But it has not disappeared from the sight of God. (p 22)

I do believe that this is a necessary read and everyone should read it. It is just a reminder that sin is sin. It doesn't matter if you murder someone or tell a little white lie, the consequences are the same. It certainly made me think about the all the sin in my life.

My memory is nearly gone;
but I remember two things;
That I am a great sinner, and
that Christ is a great Saviour.

John Newton (1725-1807)

I'm back.

After seven exams in a week and a half and two major projects I am absolutely exhausted. When I start to study I tend to get into a zone and forget about the time until it is way to late and past my bed time. Fortunately for me it paid off and I did very well on all the exams I have gotten back. Only a couple more weeks and it will start all over again as the second round of mid terms come around. But providentially they are a little more spread out next time so it won't be two or three exams a day.

For about 2 weeks I carried around several stacks about this size of cue cards so I could study any where. These cards contain anything you could possibly want to know about the human body and its functions and a ton of medical terms. These are my best study tool.

On a high note I have received my scrubs and have had 2 clinicials at the extended care centre. It was so exciting even though it almost feels like the staff thinks we are in the way and in a way we really are. We have been at school for 6 weeks and our skills are just the very basic of skills. My mom will be excited to learn that I have learned how to make a bed (a skill she thinks I lack) and just for the record the way we learned is very precise and it was a two page list of all the steps involved. I never knew making a bed could be so complicated, but mom you would be proud of beds I now can make. They look perfect.

Now I had very good intentions of blogging more about the wedding with pictures and stories but I didn't take any pictures that day so I am waiting for Jason to send down a cd with the pictures he took. I was actually amazed at how some of the pictures he took turned out he is becoming an amazing photographer and I hope he stays with it. And along with a wedding blog comes a post about the wedding pranks and unfortunately I also forgot my camera for these so I will try describe them as best as possible. The first was on wedding with the saran wrapping of the car ( i wasn't responsible for this one but it was fun seeing Richard's reaction). The second one was on thanksgiving and the day of the return of the happy couple. We didn't do too much but we did saran wrap the toilets, and put a layer of dixie cups filled with water across all of the bathroom floors. We then blew up about 200 hundred balloons and filled about 50 more with water and we filled both bathrooms up with balloons and closed the door. Then we streamered the house. Actually I should say we streamered the house first which was not a good idea on our part because everytime we had to go back and forth between bathrooms we had to pull out our mission impossible moves. I think it was more fun for the group of us that put it up then for richard and michelle as the had to take it down.

A lot more has happened in the last couple weeks but this post is getting long and I need to shower before I head to work at five. I will post again soon.

So a lot has happened in the past two weeks and everytime I think its blog worthy I quickly jot it down on a piece of paper and have good intentions to write about it. And I will.

I promise.

I only have one exam, two quizzes, one major essay, and 2 poster presentations to do first.

Then I promise I will blog.

On Saturday October 2 my sister Michelle married Richard Voorhorst in a very beautiful and very simple wedding in Coaldale.

The ceremony was beautiful and the reception was so much fun, even though I didn't enjoy the first half of it because I was so nervous about my speech I had to make. After I made my speech though I really enjoyed myself. There were plenty of games and lots of people contributed. Even the youth group from the URC of Lethbridge did a skit potraying Mich and Rich's dating life (how they met, their first date, the proposal, and the wedding planning) It was a lot of fun. Today I will leave you with a copy of the toast to the bride speech I did.

When I was preparing this speech I thought about what it meant to be a sister. According to the oxford dictionary it means “a close female friend”. I thought this was interesting because even though everybody in this room has a close female friend not everybody in this room has a sister, and sadly I imagine there are many sisters out there that cannot call themselves close friends. This is when I realized how lucky I am that I have someone who is both a sister and a best friend. Some of my friends hated growing up in the shadow of an older sister but I consider myself blessed to be Michelle’s little sister. The path she paved for me is one I am honoured to follow along on. Michelle has always left me big shoes to fill and I am a better person today because of it. So as I stand here and watch my big sister, my role model, enter into marriage I wish her all of the happiness that I could imagine.

I can still remember clearly the day Michelle met Richard. She had gone on a hiking trip at Waterton National Park and she was so tired when she got home but she wore this great big ear to ear smile and I think we all just knew, even though she denied it, that she had met someone and Michelle, you couldn’t have met a better guy. I never knew Richard before he started dating my sister so I can’t tell you any horrible stories about him but seeing the way Michelle’s face lite up when he pulled into the driveway or the way she still breaks into a grin when you mention his name we are happy to welcome him into the family.

When Michelle and Richard started planning the wedding I think they had everybody a little bit worried. The two favourite phrases that seemed to come out of their mouths were.. ‘ It doesn’t matter’ and ‘I don’t know’ and even though people, including me, have been known to crack a joke at this wedding planning technique I think Michelle and Richard had it figured out from the beginning. It doesn’t matter what your wedding colours are, it doesn’t matter how you decorate the tables or what kind of food you eat. A wedding is about Michelle and Richard exchanging vows before God and a room full of family and friends and that should be the focus. Even the day before the wedding, as I was sitting across from her at Tim Horton’s I didn’t see even a trace of the stress that some brides seem to have before there big day. Everything was placed in God’s hands and I think all everything just fell into place. You guys did a wonderful job.

I would love to stand here and fill you in on the Perrot family fun and special childhood memories, but the truth is there are too many laughs and way too many good times, to pick just one or two to share with you, but Michelle and I both know and cherish these memory’s, and I know tonight will bring many more memories that will last us for many years to come. SO now at the age 21 for the first time in my life I have to think about what it means to have a brother and this is something totally new to me so once again I turned to the dictionary, and you will never believe what it said, according to oxford, ‘ a brother is someone you can always turn to when you need a loan.’ SO tonight I wish my sister, my best friend, and my new brother God’s guidance as you begin your new life together. I love you both.

Congradulations Mr and Mrs Richard Voorhorst.

So its been a while since I have had a really post and while I can't promise you this one will be any good it will be longer then the last few! It has been crazy down here in Lethbridge. Between school, work, the wedding, volunteering and school I have no time. I know I put school in there twice but I seen to be there all day and when I am not there I am studying and when I am not studying I am thinking about it. Its crazy. There are so many courses I am terrified that if I don't study for hours I will get behind and never be able to keep up. The average college student takes 4 or 5 courses a semester. A nursing student takes eight! I am stressed but I am trying to leave it in God's hands.

For one of my course I had to find somewhere to volunteer for 15 hours this semester so I found the Family Centre in Lethbridge. Its a really cool organization that provides programs to kids with parents of low income families. They do really good work. I was suppose to be the indoor playground attendant and I was so excited it seemed like an awesome way to get my hours in. So the first day I got there and there was no where to park except if you pay for the meter or in the Bay parking lot but it said 2 hour parking. So I parked at the very back of the lot where there was no two hour parking signs and headed in. There I sat in this little room for three hours. Alone. Only one parent brought there children in to use the playground and only for fifteen minutes. While she was there though her baby started crying and she just casually took off her shirt and started breastfeeding. Wow! I didn't know were to look. But basically that was the excitment for the day and hopefully next week draws more people. I think I will bring my books and study for a couple hours.

Michelle has asked me to be the one to do the toast to the bride and its stressing me out. I have a good beginning and ending and lots of ideas for the middle but nothing sounds quite right. I am not at all a speech maker so the idea of getting in front of people is making me lose sleep. Usually it always turns out alright but I don't know. I am excited for the wedding though. As I see everything falling into place I can't wait to see how it turns out. I also can't wait for the people from Edmonton to come so I can visit with them again. Texting and facebook is not enough, I need person to person interaction.

On friday I am going for a hike in Coalies for one of my classes. Jolene, I know you have no idea what a coalie is so I will take lots of pictures so you can see them. They are beautiful and I am so excited. We are bringing food and having a picnic in the middle and doing some sort of wandering off by yourself and relaxing. Our teacher is concerned we are too stressed so this is her relaxation technique. Maybe I will bring my bible for my time alone. There is nothing like leaving our stress to the Lord. Its going to be amazing!

Last monday the mangment at Save On announced that they will be opening a new Save On in Lethbridge. I am so excited. They asked me if I would like to transfer. At first I thought this is what I wanted all along but when they asked me I said I would think about it. I have no idea why but something seems to be holding me back. I guess I will see, it will be a while before it opens.

So that seem to be my life in a nut shell. I will try to post pictures sometime soon. Blogs are always more interesting when they have pictures!

Bye Bye.

I will see a lot of you Saturday <3

It has finally arrived...

Okay, so maybe I am a day late but I am still very happy to announce that Fall has arrived. I think out of all the season fall has got to be my favorite. I love the cold mornings when you wake up feeling so warm and cozy in your bed and you have to force yourself out of bed and into your morning. The colours of the maple and mountain ash trees as they contranst with the yellows of the trees. The blue of the sky as the day warms up and you find yourself shedding layers. The sound of the leaves crunching under your footsteps. The cool wind blowing the leaves across the parking lot and off into the distant. The lack of bugs. Even the air smells crisp.

The only problem with fall is that it brings in the winter.

Well... nothing can be perfect.

Today in school I held a human skull. A real human skull. It was amazing!

Yes, I know this is a picture of a fake one but I figured not everybody is as open to skulls as I am. :-P

1000

Since I put up the counter a couple of months ago I have had officially 1000 hits. YAY! I was going to give a prize to whoever was the one thousandth person but since I have no idea how to tell, I guess not :-P

Happy Reading to all of you!

Happy Birthday

Today my eldest sister turned 25 years old and since you only turn 25 once we celebrated. I jumped into my car and headed north and she hopped into her car and drove southbound till we met up in Calgary and headed straight for the new mall. For hours we talked and walked and window shopped until the shops started to close. Both Amanda and I agreed that there was one store in particular that we both LOVED. Can you guess? I will give you a hint.

.
If you guessed the Bass Pro Shop you are correct! Wow! What an amazing store. You could look around for hours and still not be bored. There are stuffed animals everywhere and they are all on display to look like they are doing something. This picture above shows a herd of deer being attacked in a realistic setting. The store even has two waterfalls and a stream with foot long fish in it and a giant aquarium with a large variety of fish for you to try to identify. Teachers could probably take their children hear for a field trip. If your in Calgary check it out, it is definitely worth it!

After the mall we found a hotel in Airdrie where we had a girls night. This includes facials, pedicures, a very late night, and lots of giggles and laughter.

These were the necessary supplies

Of course when it comes to pedicures only red will do!

I hope you had an amazing evening Amanda and I hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you. Have a great rest of your birthday with the rest of the family in Edmonton.

My last post about work was very negative and even though I still feel the same about most of the issues I have decided to make a more positive approach to work.

1) As a cashier I never have to go outside and bring in carts. In Lethbridge we have service clerks that bring them in. Yay! No more freezing my butt off in the wintertime!

2) The children's carts in Lethbridge are hidden away and not allowed to go outside. This makes bringing in carts a lot easier for the service clerks.

3) While the a lot of the employees are a little on the.. sketchy.. side most of them have been with Save On for more many many years and know what they are doing, even if they might need a bath.

4) While not everyone wears there uniform the management is trying to get people to wear them by doing contests and one day they even went through and wrote everyone up that wasn't dressed properly. A lot of the employees still didn't care but at least they are trying.

5) I am never bored because either there is a lot of customers or there is a lot to clean. By the time I leave Save On the place should be spotless :-P

6) The customer are a lot friendly than the ones in St.Albert and a lot more understanding. I ask the customer if they want there milk in a bag and they laugh like its a ridiculous question and say no. In St.Albert, for the most part, everything had to be bagged and bagged separately. Pork does not go with beef and beef does not go with chicken and if you did watch out!

7) When customers bring in cloth bags they usually offer to bag them themselves which is really nice. Cloth bags slow down the line if when you are fighting with them and trying to put the groceries in without squishing anything. It's really nice!


I think I am going to print this list out and put it in my apron and next time when I have to pass a group of police officers arresting some people of questionable character to get to my car I will take this list out and read and reread it.

Have a great Saturday!

Eight on 8

I know its suppose to be Ten on 10 (ten pictures on the tenth day of the month) but I revised it to fit my first day of school. Here is eight pictures showing my day.

Would you believe me if I told you that you were looking at 1000 dollars worth of merchandise? I found out first hand how expensive nursing books are. My teachers assured me they would be good for a couple semesters but still.. ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS! Ouch.

This is me on my first day. I felt very first grade getting my picture taken as I headed out the door but still very very excited!

I had to pay for parking :-( because I didn't have a parking pass yet. Four dollars for the whole day. I had to buy a coffee to come up with the change :-)

I then headed straight for the parking pass office and got one for the whole year.

I also got my photo id for when I work at the hospital to identify myself as a Practical Nurse. Wow that feels weird to say.

A couple nights ago my computer stopped working. It wouldn't turn on, and yes it was charged, so I had to bring it to Future Shop. I only had it for 2 weeks. I was so impressed with the service there I would highly recommend them. They took a quick look at it and told me that my computers mother board was defective and gave me a couple of options. They told me they would give me the money I paid for this one to put towards another computer of a different brand, they would send this one away to be fixed and put a rush on it so I would get it back as quick as possible or I could get a brand new one of the same kind. I was so happy! I actually got the other one dirt cheap because it was the last one and someone had returned it because they didn't like it. I even explained that to him and he still said I could have the brand new computer. Yay! He was very nice about it and didn't pressure me at all.

My brand new computer!! :-P

Now I have to go. Along with the first day of school comes the first set of assignments. Have a great day everybody.

Save on Foods

Today I started at the new Lethbridge Save On Foods and wow, what a difference. At the St.Albert location Save on Foods is known as a high quality, high priced, and very very clean grocery store, and this is part of the reason I love it so much. Almost everybody that works there is reliable (with a few exceptions of course) and you can count on them coming to work in uniform on time and ready to work.

Today I walked into Save on 15 minutes early like i usually do so I can do a produce walk and fill out papers and read the binder to see if there is anything new. I walk up to the front and introduce myself for the first time and the lady looks at the clock and gives me a huge smile. She was shocked I came even a little bit early and told me I would quickly become a favorite if I kept that up. From what she told me most people don't show up until 5 or 10 minutes after there shift starts! That just boggles my mind. Its a job you are getting paid for why would you come in late. The she took in my uniform. There I stood white shirt, name tag, black pants, polishable shoes, and apron, the complete uniform and she told me how impressed she was that I was wearing the appropriate clothing. As I took in the other cashiers I saw what she meant, most of them were wearing jeans or regular t shirts, just whatever. The tills were completely different so I had a bit of a hard time adjusting and the customers are completely opposite.

So in short. I came from a very regulated clean Save On Foods to a Save On Foods where they are a lot more lax with the rules. Where my Save on Foods is high priced, this Save On Foods sells food in the reasonable to cheap range, thus attracting more average people with normal standards (which is a good thing). Basically though, it feels like I am working at Walmart. The store is dirty, the cashiers don't really seem to care and the lineup are long and never ending.

Hopefully after a couple of shifts I will get in the groove. I just need to get used to it.

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Refrain

But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessèd hope, blessèd rest of my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

Everyone has a song that when they hear someone humming, the tune brings back a flood of memories. A song that brings you back a step or two in time. This is my song.

For many many years when I was younger my mom had a couple copies of this CD "Country Church' and it was always playing in the back round whether we were travelling to the store or doing the dishes. As a result I know allot of our church hymns as well as I knew songs off the radio. 'It is Well With my Soul' was always the song I begged my mom to turn up and put on repeat.

This Sunday was the first Sunday that I attended the Lethbridge Church and if anybody has ever attended that church they would know that their congregation is HUGE. So imagine my excitement when I saw on the very bottom of the song list 'It is Well'. And let me tell you it was one of the most perfect singings of the song that I could have ever imagined. 1000 voices raised up to the Lord, the organ silent. I just closed my eyes and sang all the words from memory. What a beautiful sound. After the song when I opened my eyes I saw people with tears running down their faces. How blessed we are.

Lethbridge Bound

After many goodbye parties for Save on Foods, Elves, church and meeting my other friends, It was finally time for me to leave. We loaded up the truck and my car full of clothes and furniture and books and we headed out. The trip was relatively uneventful with only one minor 'I'm almost out of gas' scare. We arrived friday night unloaded the big stuff and then headed to Richards soccer game and then it was off to search for hotel for the night. The next day we unpacked most of the rest, got a new phone number, and did alot of odd and end jobs.


Unpacking my many many boxes and suitcases.

This is MY NEW HOUSE! I live with three other girls Raylene, Lynette, and Anna. They all seem really nice and I think we will get along nice.

My room. I know my room is a mess but I haven't unpacked everything yet so maybe I will post a post move picture when the pictures are hung and clothes and boxes are hidden out of sight. Tomorrow I will move in for sure and it will be an eventful week as I try to get into the groove of life in Lethbridge.

This begins my adventures in a new area code. Feel free to visit at anytime.

I love...

... the first ten minutes of nice, hot bath.

... experimenting in the kitchen.

... taking and editing photographs.

... selecting the perfect card (even if I have to look at every one of them).

... bare feet and painted toe nails.

... flipping through the pages of an old favorite book.

... the new book scent.

... browsing through libraries and bookstores (another place I could spend hours)

... slipping into a clean bed with freshly washed sheets.

... daydreaming.

... receiving a good old fashioned letter in the mail.

... writing pointless lists.

... waking up on a cold morning buried under a pile of warm fluzzy blankets.

... the satisfaction of cleaning a really messy closet or room.

... a nice big bowl of hot soup and bread fresh from the oven on a rainy thursday.

Yum Yum... Perfect.

Ten

10 more days.

10 days to finish packing, sorting and organizing my suff.

10 days to say my goodbyes and I love you to family and friends.

I can't believe its finally time. It seems like just yesterday I made the decision to move and now in just 10 days my car will be loaded and I will be heading southbound down the QE2. All my plans are falling into place. I have a place to live, a job and my school schedule and only 10 more days in Edmonton.

Gaining

This past week has been a whirl wind of activity. It all started last Sunday morning after the rest of the family had left for church. That is when Richard proposed. So after much excitement I am happy to announce that Richard will be joining our family on October 2 or 3 of this year.

We have gotten the dress and she is looking for the venue this weekend and everything should fall into place quickly. I pray that the Lord blesses their engagement and all their plans for the future.

Congratulations Michelle and Richard.

Moving On

For two long and blessed years I have been working at Elves and now with this school year coming to a close so is this chapter of my life. I am moving on. Its not that I don't love my job (which I do) its just I need a plan for my future. My job may not be around for that long because of government budget cuts to special education and I realized this is probably a good time to go back to school. So I am heading off to Lethbridge this September and going to the college there. I am becoming an LPN and am very excited by the possibilities. I have already got my acceptance letter and now I have to work out all the details. I am already making lists.

I need to
1) Create a budget to make sure I will have enough to go and live while down there. I don't want to have to work if I don't have to as the first year is suppose to be very challenging, but I know I have to face the fact that I most likely will have to work.

2) Find a place to live. I am hoping to place an ad in the church bulliten and will hopeful be able to billet out.

3) Send my previous courses I took at Grant Mac and hopefully some of the courses will transfer so it will be cheaper to take and not as heavy of course load.

4) Start to gather supplies that I will need. Most I should already have but I need some other major items like a laptop and things like that.

and the list goes on... My stomach is in knots just thinking about going but I am sure everything (DV) will fall into place.



"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
1 Corinthians 15:58

Saturday's

We have been blessed with a very mild January with the temperature sometimes rising above zero. But we all knew it couldn't last. This Saturday I was a little surprised when I stepped outside and not only was my car covered in a layer of snow but I actually had to put my mittens on. My plan was to walk down to the library and get some books out but the moment I felt the cold I dug my keys out of my purse and hopped into my car.

I love going to the library. I usually need someone along with me hurrying me along so I don't spend hours there flipping through the books. Skimming them and deciding whether it is a book worth reading now, later or never. Soon my arms get tired and I look down and realize I probably have 15 books. Way to many to take home and I have to choose between my picks. I recently leave some behind with the promise to pick them up next week and I head home.

I put on the water to boil. Make a nice cup of hot peppermint tea and curl up on the couch with my books, and a blanket.

I think its a perfect afternoon.

Wanted: One Forever Family

Adoption - a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; the adopted child is entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child of the adoptive parents

From a young age we are taught that when children are adopted they are brought into a safe, loving and PERMANENT enviroment. They are taken from a place of uncertainty from many different circumstanced and brought to a mom and dad who will be there forever. A place where they can finally feel safe and know that their journey to a forever family is over, they are finally home.

Unfortuatly, the people that tell you this fail to mention that sometimes these adoptions have a return policy. That after a certain amount of time these children can be returned to the province to start the adoption process over. One child in our class has had this happen to him. Twice.

Twice he was brought into a family.

Twice he met his new mom and dad.

And twice he was returned.

He is four years old.

And now we just learned he was about to be given to another family. Luckily the social worker took his case very slowly this time. They showed the family videos. They described him in great detail and then the perceptive parents decided against it. I am just happy he never even got to met this family.

I know he has his share of problems. He can throw an tantrum like nobody I have ever met, but he is so cute and innocent that even in the middle of the worst he can possibly give us my heart still melts. What these parents missed out on is his adorable smile that lights up the room when he sees us. They missed out on his spontanous hugs that seem impossibly strong coming from such a little guy. They missed out on his laugh when he is super surprised or happy or delighted. Nobody is there to see him dancing along to the music, singing at the top of his lungs, and doing all the actions so dramatically.

This little guy needs a forever home that has two stable and loving parents that can keep up with him. A family who can see past all of his faults and see to the potential he has.

I wish I could adopt him.

Sick

My throat is sore and I have a horrible cough. It started on saturday and got worse today. All I feel like doing is sleeping.

So things I have done in the past week.

1) I have always loved using the photo editor on my computer to change photos and am always playing around with it. A couple of weeks ago my aunt approached me and asked me if I could add a certain person to the family picture. The didn't notice he was missing till after the photo was taken so they took a picture of him and gave both files to me. Turned out good eh?

Can you tell me which one is photoshopped??

2) Michelle and Shauna are leaving for the dominican today. I am so proud of all they are doing down there. I know that this is the second years for Shauna and several of the other people have formed alot of attachments to the people and children down there and its great they could go back to see them. I will be prayng for them. Safe travels team.

"Declare His glory among the nations, his marvelous deed among all people."

Psalm 96:3

Have you ever had..

Have you ever had one of those days where you just keep repeating to yourself... I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. I love my job. Trying to convince yourself that if you can just hold on till 2:30 everything will be okay. Well I have had one of those days.... twice now.

The week started on such a good note. The children were unusually well behaved and all the staff in the school were commenting on how quiet ours kids were. It was the calm before the storm.

The next morning I woke up with a feeling in my stomach that I could not get rid of, and I knew Tuesday was going to be bad. I was on bus duty and when I got to a certain bus the bus driver just rolled her eyes and said "Good luck today" Another TA and I had to physically remove her from the bus as she was screaming and refusing to leave. When we got her to the classroom we took off her coat and she was still in her PJ's. We opened her backpack found her clothes for the day and a little baggy with some pills inside it. It had a note attached to it that said the respite home she was in could not control her since the night before and that she had not slept yet or taken her pills for the day. Sigh.. Why even bother to send her in?

She had tantrums all day and I think I spent the whole day in the hallway trying to contain her. Poor girl. She never asked for her mom to drink when she was in womb and yet now her mother is far away and someone else is raising her child and dealing with the monster she created. Its not fair.

Today she was back under control and doing good. But it was still a horrible day. It just seemed to shift to another child. This child seemed fine but when we went to circle he started to act up. I turned my attention to another child for a moment and he grabbed his shoes off his feet and threw his shoes at another TA. I quickly removed him from circle and told him he could go back when he ready. He then tried to get the other TA and I moved him to the door and as I moved him he scratched my arms. And I mean scratched them, they look horrible. I sat with him for over half an hour before he could join the other group. What frustrates me the most about this situation is that we told the teacher about it and she is not willing to do anything about it. She refuses to put him on a behaviour plan because she thinks he is such a good kid and it must be something we do. GRRRR...... Maybe he has to attack her for her to do anything.


Anyway that is my rant for the day. I will leave you with a cute story.

One of the ladies at work is 8 months pregnant and she has a HUGE belly. One of the kids asked her about her belly and she told her she had a baby in her stomach. The girls looks at her with disgust and replies, " Ewwwww... You eat babies!"


Hahahaha...


PS I looked up worst tantrums on You tube and I could not find any tantrums even close to the tantrums we deal with at school.

I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me

When I think of Africa, the following images immediately come to mind: Starvation. AIDS. Child soldiers. Genocide. Sex slaves. Orphans. From there, my thoughts naturally turn to how I can help, how I can make a difference. "I am needed here," I think. "They have so little, and I have so much." It's true, there are great tragedies playing out in Africa everyday. There is often a level of suffering here that is unimaginable until you have seen it, and even then it is difficult to believe. But what is even harder is reconciling the challenges that many Africans face with the joy I see in those same people. It's a joy that comes from somewhere I cannot fathom, not within the framework that has been my life to this day.

The images spilling out of my television showed circumstances that could seemingly only equal misery, and I was fooled. I bought into the lie that circumstance defines happiness. The truth is, in Africa I find hearts full of victory, indomitable spirits. In places where despair should thrive, instead I find adults dancing and singing, and children playing soccer with a ball crafted of tied up trash. Instead of payback, I find grace. Here, weekend getaways are not options to provide relief from the pains of daily life. Relationships and faith provide joy. Love is sovereign.



My new reality… I know now that my joy should have no regard for my circumstances. I'm ashamed by my lack of faith, but at the very same moment I am excited by my new pursuit. I'm forced to redefine the meaning of having much or having little. I'm uneasy with the prospect of change and of letting go, but just the thought of freedom is liberating. I want what I have learned to trickle down from my head into my heart - I no longer want to need the "next thing" to have joy.

I'm not saying that Africa does not need our efforts. It absolutely does need our partnership. But for me, I've come to understand that I NEED AFRICA MORE THAN AFRICA NEEDS ME. Why? Because it is Africa that has taught me that possessions in my hands will never be as valuable as peace in my heart. I've learned that I don't need what I have and that I have what I need. These are just a few of this continent's many lessons. I came here to serve and yet I've found that I have so much to learn, and Africa, with all its need, has much to teach me.

30 by 30

I was reading a blog and I got this idea to make a list. These are thirty things I want to do before I turn the age thirty. I know somethings I might not achieve or they aren't meant to be but I am going to try accomplish all of them. So here is the list;

1. Get up early specifically to see a sunset
2. Run a half marathon
3. Climb a mountain
4. Get my first aid and CPR
5. Go whale and/or dolphin watching
6. Go skydiving
7. Drive a motorcycle
8. Sit on a jury
9. Become a foster parent
10. Go bungee jumping
11. Donate blood 30 times
12. Take a karate class
13. Read the bible from front to back
14. Pay for a meal for a stranger
15. Take a photography class
16. Buy a house
17. Get married and start a family
18. Go to a drive in theatre
19. Try a new cuisine
20. Visit a place important to Canadian history
21. Kiss someone in the rain.
22. Get my portrait drawn or painted
23. Read all the books on the New York Times Best Sellers list
24. Sing karaoke in public
25. Learn a second language
26. Go to ballet, opera, or orchestra
27. Cook a gourmet meal
28. Go camping and sleep under the stars
29. Visit 5 countries
30. Hold a spider or snake.

Some on the list will be very easy to do, some I am half way done, and some might take years but thats okay. What do you think??

Sunday Lunch

A couple of Sundays ago my uncle jokingly invited us to lunch at him house. He lives on his own and said he is still in the process of learning to cook. Last Sunday he told us that he bought a cookbook and wanted us to come over. I was impressed the soup was so good! He later admitted he practiced before we came over.


Uncle Rob stirring his delicious soup.

The final preparations on the lunch.

While we waited for lunch my dad, Megan, and my sisters made a puzzle. The whole afternoon was a lot of fun and now I guess we owe him lunch. He already requested apple pie for dessert so I guess it will have to be soon!

A Year in Photos

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!