Am I strange, or no?

How many of you eat broccoli? I mean, just eat it. Raw, no dip.

I sometimes bring a baggie of broccoli for lunch, and the other day I was eating lunch with a coworker and her friend, and her friend just stared at me while I ate my broccoli. She then said "I've never seen someone actually just eat BROCCOLI before...."

In honor of my first ever aquacise class last night...

(to the tune of Tiffany's "I think we're alone now")

It’s fun like a rave!
That's what she says when we enter
And watch for the wave!
I can’t quite hear her so we

Flutter kick as fast as we can
Hold the noodle with both of my hands
Trying to get away into the deep (end)
And then I put the noodle under my butt
And I kick around in circles
And then she says

Just take it slow now
There’s a lifeguard near in case you go down
Just take it slow now
The beating of my heart is the only sound

Look at the way
We cannot hide what we're doing
Through the water she sees
She always knows and so we

Run in place as fast as we can
Hold the noodle with both of my hands
Trying to get to the side of the pool
And then I put the noodle under my arms
And I hop into the shallows
And she says

Go as fast as you can now
Tread that water ‘till you think you’ll drown
Go as fast as you can now
The beating of my heart is getting really loud

I’m going down now
There doesn't seem to be anyone around
I’m going to drown now
My aquacised body
Will n’er be found.

*******************

I actually did enjoy myself quite a bit, even though i totally could not figure out half the moves we were supposed to be doing

I hope it's not contagious....

Number of pregnant people I know right now = 12.

Just found out about another one this morning. It's like an epidemic, but in a good way.

Kinda glad it's not me quite yet. Not sure i'm ready for that.

But what a miracle each one of these precious children is, and what a cause for celebration - every one of these is being born into a loving family with mature and responsible parents who I know will love and care for their child.

If only every child that was born had that.

welcome!

I have added new names to my blogroll - these people are not new to blogging, but i had not yet gotten around to adding them, despite the fact that I click through many other blogs and links to get to them on a regular basis.

So if you have a moment and the inclination to do so, check out Steph, Lindsay, and Dixie (who I don't actually know personally, but whose writing is always entertaining).

My johari window

This is a bit of a twist on normal personality assessments, as you not only rate yourself (by picking traits that you think best describe you), but then you get your friends to rate you as well, by picking a few words that you think describe me.

Then you get to see where the overlap is between your perceptions and those of people around you, see where they converge, diverge, and maybe discover something new about yourself.

So if you want to, take a couple seconds, click here, and rate me! Then do one for yourself here.

does anyone else notice that sometimes green grapes smell a bit like sulfur? I mean, after you eat green grapes, do you ever notice that your fingers smell like you just lit a match?

You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away...

....know when to drive.

Even though I'm pretty committed to my morning walk to work (what better way to get the recommended 30 mins of exercise every day), this week has been my breaking point.

Fortunately, my parents are on holidays, and thus my dad's car was sitting in his garage not being used. He has been kind enough to let me use it this week, and my sister (who lives 2 blocks away from campus) has been kind enough to lend me her visitor parking pass so I can park all day for free.

Even the short walk from her place to work this morning almost left me as a frozen ice cube, I'm very thankful that things worked out this week so that for the coldest week of the winter (at least I hope this is the worst we get), I have an alternative to walking. Must have been providence.

Why I believe

I've been thinking lately on the topic of why I believe in Jesus, why I have chosen to adopt the Christian faith, as described in the Bible.

Here are a few of the reasons, this is not an exhaustive list, and is meant to be based on my own personal experiences, not on arguments or theology or really, anything that is "objectively verifiable".

I believe because I have felt and experienced God's work in my own life, impacting situations that have seemed impossible, I have felt peace and comfort at times when I should have been feeling fear and sorrow. I have heard His voice in my heart and mind, guiding and directing me, chastising me when I'm off course, prompting me to love others.

I believe because I see the difference that following these tenets makes in my life, in the lives of those around me who are also trying to simply live with the same focus and values as Jesus did. I mean, what can be wrong with trying to live a life of love towards others, trying to value other people more than yourself, extending the same forgiveness towards them that God has given me, and striving for peace? Now, I know that these are goals and ideals, I do not always act 100% in accordance with these values, nor do many others who would call themselves Christians. And yes, Christianity (along with every other religion) has abused and misapplied many of the values and principles of their beliefs for selfish gain, and to the detriment of others, but if you honestly take a look at the Jesus of the Bible, and the ideals set out within there, you will soon see that this is not how it was intended to be.

I believe because there is considerable historical evidence that verifies many Biblical details regarding history, events, people, etc. I would feel very silly if the sacred writings of my faith were inaccurate and full of historical errors. I obviously cannot begin to scratch the surface of this evidence here, but there are many others who have exhaustively searched into this matter.

I believe because Christianity is unique among the world religions - unlike many other religions, we do not have to strive to earn God's favor or be in His "good book", we just need to accept that we are broken on our own, that we have done wrong things (i think all of us can admit to this), that we need to be restored, and that this happens through Jesus Christ because of God's love for us. Of course, when we accept these facts as true, we will be compelled to live our lives differently, but that is as a response to all that we've been given, not an obligation.

Like i said, this is just a scattering of ideas pulled together, not an exhaustive list. Comments? Ideas? Questions? Challenges? Why do you believe? Why do you not believe? What are your thoughts on this?

I also want to say that I am just putting forth my own personal thoughts here, I believe that everybody has to choose for themselves. I am not trying to "push" this onto anyone, just wanted to share my heart and why i have made this choice for myself.

Happy V-day

V-day for Anthony and I is somewhat like every other day. We will probably spend a bit more time and care on cooking dinner, and probably eat it at the table and talk just with eachother instead of watching the news and discussing it during supper, and we'll have a bit of a fancier meal than a normal weeknight, but that's it.

No flowers (my request), no gifts (except maybe our favorite treats from the corner store), no fuss.

I am not anti-valentine's, i'm just not fond of the commercialization of love, and the pressure that people feel to go out and spend a bunch of money to get across the message "I love you". I have nothing against those who do, but i think it depends on their motivation to do so. If the relationship does not exhibit love the other 364 days of the year, one day of trying to make the other feel special is not going to make up for it.

But I do think it is a good idea to have a day every so often where we can celebrate love, and have a bit of a reminder to tell those special people in our lives that we love them. So here is my valentine to you. To all the readers I know, you guys enrich my lives. I'm glad God has blessed me with you in my life, and i love ya. Happy V-day, now go spread the love to others.

And maybe take a moment today to remember the greatest gift of love ever given...

Weekend Report

Well, we're back and we survived 48 hours straight with 20 teenagers, some of whom were full of raging hormones.

The weekend was actually pretty amazing - besides all the fun we had, it was neat to see these kids getting serious about trying to deal with some of the crap in their lives.

The fun side: playing a giant game of settlers of catan (oops, almost called it settlers of carcassone - who's still short on sleep? I am!) that lasted the entire weekend; hot tubbing with some of the girls until almost 4am (note to parents: THEY kept me up, not the other way around, honest!); being the one-member film crew for the teams who were making short ads/infomercials on products or services such as "If your teenager won't wake up, call us!", "the-mostly-amazing-but-slightly-less-than-cool-almost-yellow-shoulder-garment-of-POWER!", and the Wonder Crutch, which helps geeks get girls among other amazing features; playing CSI meets ER-if-it-were-for-special-agents as the female leaders attempted to find all of the alarm clocks that were hidden in the girls cabin by certain boys (who, for the record, were inspired to do so by the YOUTH PASTOR HIMSELF) - they kept going off every hour or so, so finally we grabbed the nearest cell phone for light so we didn't disturb the few girls that had slept through these episodes, and searched under every bed to make sure there were no more, and dismantled the ones we had found. (I'm not sure I would make a good bomb expert, definitely more spastic ripping of wires and batteries went on than carefully planned and executed moves, but it got the job done. I'm just glad I didn't get a jolt when I was pulling the battery connectors off with my teeth.)

The amazing side: We're doing a series right now with the youth called "life hurts, God heals", and part of the weekend was a life assessment - everybody took about 30 minutes to themselves to evaluate their lives according to a questionnaire from the manual - questions about past hurts, forgiveness, bitterness, grudges, unhealthy habits, accepting and liking your self, etc. This was very powerful for me, and also for many of the kids, who (some for the very first time) were able to pinpoint the sources of their anger, apathy, hurts, fears, etc., and begin to take some positive steps towards correcting these areas of their lives and becoming a more whole and healthy person overall. One conversation I had with a girl after doing this inventory involved her realizing that she used her mom as a scapegoat for everything negative in her life, and recognizing the impact of this blaming on their relationship. As they put it in AA and so many other groups focused on life-change, admitting the problem is the first step. And SO many of these kids took first steps towards healing, restoration, and wholeness this weekend. I just pray that these processes continue despite the fact that they are often very hard to go through at the time.

So now all that is left is to catch up on sleep, clean the house, catch up on all the chores and social activities that were missed when we were away. Being away for the weekend sure puts you behind on a whole bunch of things, and tends to screw up most of the rest of the week as you try to get back on schedule and catch up the other areas of your life that were left behind. But was it worth it? You bet.

Happy February Break!

For all you non-university types who have never experienced Feb. break on campus, it's a bit of a mixed bag.

For some people, it is pure jubilation, rivaled only by the last day of exams before Christmas - these are typically the people who are going on a nice holiday somewhere: skiing, visiting friends in Alberta, and going somewhere hot are all popular options.

For the rest of them, it is pure relief - an extra week in which no classes are scheduled that would otherwise impede hours of studying, doing research, and writing papers, often done in the comfort of one's own home while wearing pj's for six days straight.

Either way, for people like me, it means a very quiet week on campus. My boss will be gone to meetings in Toronto, my coworker is reliving his undergrad days by going on a holiday, and I will be here alone, every day. Today is a bit of a taste of that, next week will be the full deal.

But I am not complaining - a quiet week is very good to catch up on numerous little tasks that get overlooked when things are busier, and is also just plain un-stressful.

And the break will not be without any fun for me - tonight Anthony and I are accompanying 20 teenagers and a handful of adults to Redberry camp where we will spend the weekend pretending we're young again - playing snow games (some at night in the bush), tobogganing down a suicidal hill where the trees are much too close on both sides, eating amazing food cooked by Amanda's parents, and sitting in the HOT TUBS under the stars. Not to mention getting to know these amazing youth on a deeper level and helping them navigate the often tricky situations of life as a teenager.

So whatever you are doing this week, whether you are experiencing February break as a student, remembering with fondness when you used to have such a thing, or looking in from the outside having never experienced this phenomenon, enjoy!

Does anybody else struggle with the word verification thingy on blogger's comments?

It happens to me all the time, i go to leave a comment on a friend's blog, and it asks me to type in:

jvqifkwlx

and it comes out as jvpiflwkx

and then i have to try and try again in order to get my comment published.

sigh.

Chinese New Years' Resolution?

Ok, so I know i'm late even for Chinese New Years - but I was thinking today about a post that I thought I had written just after Canadian New Years', and apparently I never got around to writing it, so here's the story.

I'm not the type of person who makes new years resolutions, as I tend not to follow through on them for long, which just ends up leaving me more discouraged about whatever it is I am trying to change. But this year, I made one. And though I have failed a couple times at it, it is still sticking with me, popping into my head now and again...

I have to admit that the resolution was not my own original thought, but borrowed from someone else, perhaps an unlikely source, definitely a bit of a surprise to me. See, I was out for coffee at the beginning of January with a 17 year old girl - one of our kids in the youth group at church - decently mature for 17, but definitely still focused on all the things that preoccupy most teenage girls' minds. We got talking about resolutions and such, and I asked her if she'd made any. Yes, she had, and I admit, I had a bit of an assumption that it would be something along the lines of changing her appearance somehow, finding a significant other, making friends, doing something fun, etc.

But what she said next I did not expect. Her resolution was this: that she was going to give everybody she knew a clean slate - no matter what they had done to her or her friends, no matter what her attitude towards a given person was for whatever reason - she was going to forgive and forget all of the past, and start everybody out fresh in her books.

Now the moment I heard this, I decided to adopt it for my own. Me, the girl who does not make resolutions, with my very own New Years Resolution - and one made in an instant, at that, not planned out or committed to out of rationalization and thought, but one adopted on the spur of the moment.

But what a resolution it is. I find it coming to mind when I'm feeling instantly negative about a person because of a situation that has occured between us in the past, which then tempers how I respond to that person in the present. See, just like you probably, I have are a few people out there to whom my actions and reactions are colored by all the baggage that I am still carrying from past interactions with them - for example, people who disappointed me in high school, people who i think don't like me so therefore i don't like them.... - all people who I need to give another chance to.

Can you imagine a world where we put this into practise on a daily basis? As I said above, it is a resolution that I have already failed at numerous times this year, but it keeps coming back to me, and I keep trying at it. It's hard, definitely, but I believe that it's also worth it. Most of these people whom I've been trying to do this for would have no clue that I I am doing this, and maybe wouldn't even notice a change in my behaviour or attitude towards them. But I believe the biggest difference has been in my own attitude, my own heart towards people, and the release of resentment and bitterness in my own life.