not since '97

oh the water. the heavy rainfall warning has been ended, but the water is all still here. back in 1997, the road just south of us, our link to schanzenfeld, washed out. our dugout has a culvert leading to the other side of the ditch, but it wasn't big enough, so we lost the road. great memories walking across the gap on 2 two-by-fours to catch the bus. then they put up flags so no one would drive into the break. well, that didn't stop someone from vaulting over the pile of dirt (there to prevent that very thing) and onto the floating, useless culvert. after all that was fixed, they put in two culverts, and i was disappointed. as a 12 year-old, it was adventurous to have your road wash-out and i knew if they put in two culverts = no fun! so it's been a number of years, and now the water is so high our cows had to swim across this morning to get back to the corral, usually they can just walk around the dugout/puddle. you can no longer see the culverts, just two whirlpools sucking downwards. woohoo!!! wash-out! wash-out! wash-out! just kidding!!! as it is, the road to the north, towards winkler, is far too muddy and pot-holed to drive to work that way, so i go south through schanzenfeld and back up the highway. and if the road decides to break, well, i have to brave the mud flats. and while i do love brad paisley's "mud on the tires" song, i would love it more if i had a big truck and not my buick. oh well! life is an adventure, right?

what would i do without my camera??!

here's some of the cuties from my day supervising the bouncy tent for a birthday party!


one of the most relaxing sundays i've had in awhile - at the park....


....and camping!

an aussie from winnipeg?

so this will be short and sweet, i'm off to work in a few minutes. jen and i found an apartment. the shocker? it's a one bedroom for three girls. yes, yes it is. but i would venture to say (without knowing square footage) that the bedroom is as big as my living room at home. and we're thinking bunk beds. yippee! annie is coming....take awhile to let that baby sink in...i'm happy about that too. it's the greatest apartment i've ever seen, it was clean, spacious, has 6 (maybe 7) windows that are TALL, and split three ways, almost 90 bucks cheaper for rent than my last one! better location, cute little roslyn street off osbourne, just across the river from the legislature.....mmm. i still occasionally get twinges about the space and privacy....but with prayer, anything can happen! and ours will be a house of prayer and peace! i speak and pray that right now, in Jesus' name! woohoo! so church rocked on sunday...sorry about the pun ;)

i'm working on scanning my recent pictures, so keep looking.....! oh, yes, and the title. saturday night jen, heather and i got gelati and walked across provencher bridge to the forks. we ended up watching a street performer, who was small and cute, and had an accent. i thought it was a variation of english, but others thought he had aussie tendencies. he spent most of his time building a crowd, talking, being cute and only about a third of the time was doing tricks. they were good, though, pretty much. here's the kicker...i just read christina's blog, and someone she knows commented that he went to school with this dude, who was born and raised in WINNIPEG! i laug....no, didn't. but it amused me! buh-bye! oh yeah....short.....and sweet....it's up to you...

pizza and chicken coming out of my ears...

today was our second in-school mentoring luncheon...and tomorrow we have another one. but i still like pizza and chicken, so i won't complain! i recently finished reading "black" and wow,....wow. kids in my sister's junior high class are reading these books and i'm sure it's all going over their heads! not that i'm saying i'm exceptionally bright, but the spiritual implications of what ted dekker is addressing are HUGE. i've only just begun to dig into those revelations in the last year, for myself. who knows, maybe those kids are all brighter than me and figuring this crazy stuff out at 13! what makes love love? why does evil exist if God is love? why do we have free will? doesn't it just mess things up? why do are we so easily deceived? what is it that humans have that makes them love so desperately and forget it so easily? desire. not that that's an all encompassing answer, but i really believe desire is what makes us yearn after God with so much passion, but in a fallen world, it is also what pulls us into being deceived. okay, so that's my thought for the day. i'm gonna go chat with a friend who dropped by now...

how do you like your sunburn?

aching skin! oh well, i brought it on myself. i just came home from my one and only (probably) camping trip of the summer - it was the best! so relaxing (even though, i'm apparently a "doer" and kept trying to organize things....i thought i had practiced a great amount of restraint!). it was really great to be able to hang out with some people i don't see a lot, together with others i know really well. we baked, swam and even got to watch someone be baptized!! that was really fun. it was super windy, though, so flying tents were the norm. there were some guys living in what we called a tin box, which was funny. and we visited a church this morning where we pretty much doubled the population! it was fun to meet new people and worship with them. but i like my home. i do. it's good to be back too.

last week was....BUSY. but my highlight, before camping, was supervising kids 5 and under in one of those bouncy tent things at a birthday party - so fun! i thoroughly enjoyed myself, although i scared some of the mothers there because they didn't want to think i was there with my own kids! gooood thing i'm not. anyways, i've been reading some good books recently. one of the most thought-provoking was "a new kind of christian" by brian d. mclaren. don't worry, it's not a "book of deception", but it does challenge your perceptions and what you believe like crazy!! same with "black", by ted dekker. in a completely different way. more on those perhaps tomorrow, i need to go and find some softer clothes that don't chafe!

what to say

Lord, it's you who give me life
i can't explain just how much you mean to me
now that you saved me
Lord i give all that i am to you
that everyday i can be a light that shines your name
(courtesy of good ol' United's Joel Houston)

my last week has contained a fair share of tears and crazy emotions. the gift of the Holy Spirit has never been more needed. this last year i experienced true loneliness for the first time i can remember in my life. this last week i've experienced other relational ups/downs i'd never gone through. i wish my intentions were as clear as my actions. or rather that my intentions shone through my actions, and that i would listen more to the Holy Spirit! always, always, i know his mind, his heart for me. and often, too often, i brush it aside and react to situations instead of responding! i've talked about the transparency thing, and it has become increasingly evident that that is what i desire. i have nothing to hide. enough about me.

i would like to proclaim blessings over my friends heading out to South Korea tomorrow. may the Lord uphold you in his strength, by joy, and bind you together in unity. may your spirit of celebration be an encouragement to the churches you visit and your devotion to Christ a challenge to all you meet! Go with God, my favorite YWAMers!

also, welcome home Andrew!! i'm looking forward to hearing about God's working in the last months of your life...
good night

really?

"it all begins with a risk"
~ ten shekel shirt

that's one of the most basic and yet profound things i've learned in the last year. i'm not really a risky person. i prefer to do things i know i can do, and i know will work out with me looking pretty good. but the huge thing of God's love is that He took the risk of us rejecting Him. which we all do, or have done. but it wouldn't have counted as love if we hadn't been given that choice. the fact that we can choose to love God makes it the beautiful thing it is. where would any love story be without choices or risk? another quote that struck me came from Pure Country, a movie with George Strait (thanks eric!). the grandma in the movie answers a question with these words: "it's not about the answers....it's about the search" i found that to also ring very true. we all want the pat answers to fit into formulas or we have the "whatever" attitude. in desiring to know God more, we find the joy and beauty. not in being given a handbook with the answers listed alphabetically. the joy of a revelation is inspiring! as we get closer to God, and start to see His heart and learn His character, we begin to understand our place and purpose. and the answers to our questions. which always bring more questions as well, but that continues the search and the joy and excitement! there's nothing like the pursuit of God, knowing He is all-out pursuing relationship with me too.

soooo that was long and i'm tired!

this weekend was fun and long....ish. ness. :)
english skills were seriously lacking on the drive home from winnipeg about an hour or so ago. oh no, wait, that started before we even left! i went in with jen to shop a bit, bought a bathing suit (!) and then booked it to my cousin's wedding. i arrived exactly at 4, and thankfully the wedding was a bit behind as per usual, and i didn't miss anything. it was really nice, the wedding i mean, but we spent forever at the reception, and ended up leaving early. i got to spend time with my cousin, maria, so it was all good :) then after that, i went to lori & kendra's place in the city, where jen, lori and i vegged out to the wee small hours of the morning. pretty much, sleep didn't happen, and there was much laughter and other amusing things ;)

this morning, we woke up nice and early, jumped into the car and headed off to say farewell to our dearest annie. she flew off to vancouver, and is working in her brother's restaurant as we speak! or "speak". then it was shower time, which was not without its mishaps, and we went to church!!!! have i ever mentioned i love my church in winnipeg? cuz i do! and the people that have blessed me there! we went out for lunch with the recently engaged to be wedded in holy matrimony through a proposal of engagement accepted by Andrea from Todd. yeah. that's what i thought too when Andrea told us how her dad had introduced their engagement! super fun times hanging out with them, but sad that some people weren't at church. and that paul ran off before we could take him for food too. oh well. but it was a good day, rounded off by some shopping, during which i further drained my bank account. now i'm home, and josh groban is spending some time with me. oh, my parents are home. i should schpitzeer mit them.

worthy of a cowboy hat?

so monday eric was generous enough to allow me, lori, phil and holly to crash his ranch and visit him. we rode pretty much all evening. and i'm still sore. but it's a good sore, and i never really got stiff, i could just really feel my muscles, which hasn't happened in awhile! so now i think i may perhaps be true to my profile picture. although my plans to get my own hat haven't panned out yet. i'm at work and i'm bored. very bored. my mom came to give me a book. i will go now.