Heather Princess

It's About Time...

2008-04-15T00:43:00.004-04:00

Well. I never update this thing! I just really don't have much interesting to say! We started our kids program at Collingwood Salvos 2 saturdays ago. On the first day we had 3 kids (all of whom were associated with us already) and on the 2nd week we had 9...so I'm praying for 27 this Saturday! If we can keep mulitplying by threes that would be great!

I had my hair cut...and then on friday night I colored it myself. I think that it looks good.

Tonight I have to go to Borders to pick up a book that I ordered...I can't wait. I love to read a good new book!

OH...and last night the best thing EVER happened. I had the whole night at home...didn't have to go out ANYWHERE! Just lounged around on the couch with Fee and watched tv all evening and then went to bed nice and early. Only problem was that I woke up at 5:30am...and felt ready to go for the day...but I forced myself to sleep for another hour!

Stranded.

2008-02-05T06:38:00.000-05:00

I just spent 10 long boring hours stranded at SanFrancisco Airport...BORING. Although I did have facebook to keep me entertained. Then I took a 5 hour flight...a not very comfy one at that, to Dulles Washington. I've never even heard of Dulles Washington before! Oh well...and now in less than an hour I will get on my flight to TORONTO...FINALLY! It's about time.

I can't wait to see all my friends and family. I already miss my friends from Melbourne though. I wish I could be in 2 places at once.

I've had such a small amount of sleep it is UNBELIEVABLE! I'm going to be so tired. I arrive in Toronto at 9:45am instead of 11:33 last night. Oh well. They say you should stay up to avoid jet lag...but I'm not sure if I'll be able to cope. I do know that my Daddy is picking me up and taking me straight for a Timmy's coffee! Hurrah for my dad!

Dulles Airport is more boring than San Fran...I'm glad I've only had to spend 2 hours here!

Well...more Toronto updates to come surely!

18 Days Until CANADA!

2008-01-16T17:46:00.000-05:00

It is now just 18 short days until I leave for my vacation to Canada. I am looking forward to seeing friends and family. I am looking forward to Tim Hortons. I am looking forward to seeing red and white streetcars.
I am looking forward to hearing people talk the same way that I do. I am looking forward to going to church at 614. I am looking forward to staying up late laughing with friends. I am looking forward to celebrating my birthday in the snow. I am looking forward to the snow. I am looking forward to smartfood popcorn.

I am looking forward to seeing my cats. I am looking forward to driving on the proper side of the road. I am looking forward to seeing my little blue car. I am looking forward to a breakfast at Frans. I am looking forward to friday morning breakfast with Denise. I am looking forward to so so so much more than I can list here!

On another note, Matt and Fiona arrived in Melbourne on Monday. That was so exciting! I am so happy to have them around. It is nice to have someone who really knows you and knows your neighborhood. I love that Matt, Fee and I can chat about Regent and about things that I miss and love. I am so thankful that they are here.

Tonight I am having dinner with some friends. I am looking forward to that...and to good times.

Last night we had a great cell group at collingwood cell. We had so much fun and laughter and some really great chats about the Kingdom of God. It was amazing. I love my cell group. I love my friends.

Christmas In Australia!

2007-12-28T17:43:00.000-05:00

Christmas in Australia has now come and gone for me. It was weird. It was good. I had a lot of fun. I went to the beach on boxing day (!!!!). So crazy. I spent my Christmas break in a country town called Bairnsdale. I spent it with my friend Perri and her family and I had a really wonderful time. it was strange to be away from my family and friends in T.O., but it was a great time of fun and relaxation.

Oh...and I got sunburned. I think that this is the first time in my entire life that I can say I got a sunburn on Christmas! Haha!

Now I have 2 more days left until I go back to work. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them. I have to get some practical stuff done, like cleaning the bathroom and doing some laundry...sounds very exciting, I'm sure!

That's about all I have to share for now!

Connections07

2007-11-27T09:16:00.000-05:00

I had a great weekend. It was the weekend of Connections07...which is the Australia Southern Territories commissioning and similar type thing to congress. It was a really busy weekend but a LOT of fun! I worked on the Corps Programme Dept. booth at the expo for MANY hours. It was good because I got to meet and talk to a lot of new people.

My boss Dave and his wife Kylie were commissioned as Salvation Army Officers and it was really wonderful to get to see that. I was blessed.

The weekend had its ups and downs (as most days do!), but overall it was a really fun and exciting.

We also had a youth rally on Saturday night that was a hit. There were lots of bands there and it was a fantastic time.

Update...

2007-11-02T23:07:00.000-04:00

It has been way too long since I last blogged. I need to try to be more consistant, but find it hard to remember to blog! ANYWAYS...here's some random stuff that I can think of that has been happening since i last blogged.

Last night I went to a great Restaurant...It was called Lentil As Anything. So good. It was all vegitarian food. It was fantastic. I loved it. I need to go back.

Not much new has been going on. I'm enjoying life in Aus. I'm just having such fun! Oh...last weekend I went to St. Kilda in Melbourne. We went to the bay. There were so many fly....enough that it almost made me want to catch the next plane back home to Canada.

This week on Tuesday I get a holiday. It is Melbourne Cup Day (some big horse race) and so I don't have to work. I love a holiday that is built around something so random as a horse race.

I got my nails done this week and they look so good. i'm glad that I got them because I was starting to bite mine so bad that they were in too much pain. Crazytown.

Tim Horton Envy

2007-10-16T02:32:00.000-04:00

I'm so jealous! I was looking at Zoe's facebook and saw that she had pictures up of her visit with Cheryl and Katie in Ireland...and THEY HAD TIM HORTON'S COFFEE...IN IRELAND! I just can't believe that they have a Tim Hortons in IRELAND! They should get one in MELBOURNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I need it! ...okay I want it!

It just doesn't taste the same when I have to make it myself and it's not in a Timmies take away cup!

Man...I miss Tim Hortons!

It's been ages since I blogged. A LOT has gone on since then. We've had ACC (Agressive Christianity Conference) and Sean came down from Sydney to visit. I've had thanksgiving dinner at Resi with all my friends from Resi and made Pumpkin Pie (from Scratch I might add!) for that celebration!

Good times. Still loving life in Melbourne!

Nothing Really!

2007-09-17T05:39:00.001-04:00

I had a great weekend! My tattoo turned out just exactly how I wanted it! I had fun at another great fire with my two favorite fire friends, Cate & Leah. We took lots of photos which are up on facebook...I'd put some up here...but I'm don't have them with me.

Right now I am at LaTrobe University with my lovely housemate Claire. We are just checking our e-mails and facebooks, etc. Good times. Then...we shall go home. Very exciting stuff.

I went to an enrollement of senior soldiers last night. It was great...there were 6 new Senior Soldiers enrolled at Box Hill Corps in Melbourne. The night was really great!

Not really much more to say at the moment...OH WAIT! In exactly one week today I'll be in the GOLD COAST...surfers paradise to be exact! I'm so excited. Should be so fun. I'm going to a conference...I expect to learn heaps and am looking forward to that greatly!

I Love FIRES!

2007-09-14T01:36:00.000-04:00

For the last few weeks in a row I've been involved in at least one fire everyweek! Now...these are not the kind of fires that are bad like the ones that I've had in my past. These are CONTROLLED bon-fires in a backyard in a fire pit. Last night I had a great bonfire. It started off with our after school Girls Group for teens and we all sat around the fire and talked and had fun. Then we drove the girls home, and my friend Leah (whose house we were at) and I came back and continued the fire!

We roasted marshmallows, sang songs, had good life discussions...and pretty much just had a fantastic time. We only left the fire to go get more wood so we could keep the fire going. The only bad thing about the fire was that it did distract us from going to the gym. We had every intention to go...but the fire was just too inticing!

By about 9:30 Esther (who happens to live with Leah!) came home and saw us in the backyard with the fire (actually I believe that she smelt it first from in the house!!!) and so she came out and joined us. We sang more songs...(from such great artists as Shania Twain, Garth Brooks, Bon Jovi...some nice 80's classic...you name it we pretty much sang it!). Eventually though, all good things must come to an end. So we had to finish up the fire...although I'm pretty sure that Leah might have slept out by the fire all night! That was the plan anyway!

Good times with good friends...there is nothing better than that!

PS - Tomorrow is TATTOO DAY! I'm so excited!

My Tattoo...

2007-09-10T05:13:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited...I've got an appointment to get a new tattoo on Saturday! I'll post pictures of it when it is done! I'm going to a place in Melbourne where my good friend Cate just recently got a tattoo from! This will be my 3rd one...and probably my second last...I just want one more after this one.

Today was a funny day. I was SOOOOOO tired when I got up. The first thing I did when I got to work was to go and get the biggest coffee I could...but it didn't really seem to help much. It was a quiet day at work. A lot of people were away.

Tonight I made a satay thing for dinner. It was so good. I thought so anyways! My housemates might beg to differ...but oh well! At least I've not had any fires in this house ;)

This post really doesn't have much to do with the title...I really should have called it random rambling or something like that...oh well...too late for that now!

THE ZOO!

2007-09-09T06:52:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I went with some friends to the Melbourne Zoo. It was so amazingly fun! I love the animals. When I was a little girl I wanted to be a lion when I grew up...obviously I'm over that now. But I have to say that I was TOTALLY fascinated by the lions. They were beautiful and majestic. And for a split moment I could see why I wanted to be a lion!

The zoo was fun. Then I went to a tattoo place to look into my tattoo and I made an appointment for next saturday! Hurrah! I'm so excited!

Today I went and helped at the community tea at Box Hill Salvos. It was wonderful. I make a pretty rockin' salad!

That's it for now!

Banking Issues...

2007-09-05T01:28:00.000-04:00

So yesterday I had some banking issues...in that there was no longer any money in my account. TRAUMA. But not to worry. It is fixed now! YIPPEE! It turned out to be an error by the bank. They had accidentally put in the wrong account number. So all my money was gone...but now it's back! Hurrah! I guess that's one way not to spend money on payday!

I felt so helpless because there was pretty much nothing that I could do. But it all worked out will and turned out to be fine! God is good!

Tonight I'm going to watch a movie that one of the teens from Shop 16 (Reservoir Salvos) made about the shop! I'm looking forward to cheering him on and to seeing what he has made! It's in Federation Square which is right in the downtown...should be fun. I'm meeting my friend Merideth to travel there with her! Good times!

That's all for now...that is my update!

Adventures Of A Friday Night

2007-09-03T06:45:00.000-04:00

On Friday night I got the opportunity to go to a Youth Workers Network thingy...I was setting up a prayer Labyrinth for them...and leading them through it. It was really good. It went really well. The adventures were in the getting to and from the location.

I travelled with my friend Danielle...which in theory was a great idea. The only thing I didn't think about was the fact that she too is Canadian and neither of us really had any idea where we were going. That was okay. We were only about 45 minutes late arriving after getting lost a few times...trying to no avail to call Cate for directions (her phone was in another room)! We kept asking people at stoplights how to get to Footscray and they would point in the direction and we would drive that way...until finally we asked someone how to get there and they said "you are in it" and when we asked how to find the street we were looking for, he said "this is it!" So at last we were there!

The actual funniest part though took place on the way home. We made it as far as a roundabout that we recognized...but from there did not know where to go. We ended up trying all 4 directions but nothing looked right. So finally about 5 minutes down the road of the 4th one we asked someone at a stoplight for directions...and got the funniest response EVER. Now...you must also know that we were both laughing so hard it was hard to even ask...but Danielle manages to ask "Do you know how we get to the eastern suburbs from here?" To which this really aussie reply of
"Oh $%&* mate...you're not even close! You're going the exact opposite way!" He then goes on to say "Let me show you a map..." but trails off at the end when I hold up the map that we already have in the car. Anyways...the guys in the car were really nice and ended up pointing everything out to us on the map and then basically driving us pretty much right to the highway. It was so funny.

Which brings me to my next point. Australians are very very polite drivers. They always seem to let you over if you get stuck, they wave when they get in front of you, they don't really speed past or drive right up close behind you. They are just plain considerate. It sort of freaks me out!

There's No Place Like Home!

2007-08-27T07:10:00.000-04:00

Okay...so...the weirdest thing happened to me last week in Sydney. I actually called Melbourne HOME. It was really quite weird for me. I was actually taken aback when someone asked me where home was and I answered "Melbourne". I do have to admit that as soon as I said it I realized what I had said, and added that Melbourne was home for now...but originally I am from Canada, Toronto specifically.

The fact of the matter is that I must be starting to feel like Melbourne is home because of the automatic answer I gave as being from Melbourne. I actually answered something else as "I'm from Melbourne...just down for the weekend." It was weird for me though to realize that I'd called Melbourne home.

I also have to admit that after the other night when I blogged about going for Ice cream with Cate, we didn't even end up doing that...WE WENT FOR THAI FOOD INSTEAD. Who even does that!?!?! Who even goes for Thai food at 10:30pm. Weird. It was good though!

Went to Box Hill Salvos on Sunday night. It was a really good time for me. That's it...that's all...I have nothing else to say!

Yippee For Fridays!

2007-08-24T06:32:00.000-04:00

Why is it that Friday's are always a great day?!?!?! I think its because I can just anticipate the weekend coming and how much fun I am going to have. Today was a great friday...although I did miss both Naomi & Vanessa at work.

I had a meeting about ACC this morning (Agressive Christianity Conference) so that was good...it involved both cupcakes and coffee...which you can never go wrong with.

For those of you who don't know...I've given up eating chocolate...unless it is fairtrade. Which means less chocolate...cuz fairtrade is harder to find and more expensive...but I watched a video at Unlimited last weekend which was very impactful on me...and I will never look at chocolate the same again. I had no idea that human traffiking for cocoa bean picking even would still have existed in the year 2007...but it does. I will only now eat fairtrade chocolate. This has been easy. The video left such an impact on me that when I even see chocolate I get disgusted by it.

Well...I'm heading out for a late night ice cream trip with Cate in a minute...Good times!

UNLIMITED!

2007-08-18T19:18:00.000-04:00

I'm in Sydney at the Unlimited Conference. It is great...and I've also been able to catch up with friends at the same time. Some people who I've not even seen in 2 years since I finished up at SFYL. So it is really really exciting!

Yesterday I went to a session by Danielle Strickland "Pharisee's Anonymous". It was amazing...she talked about how we don't tend to want to see ourselves as having the most in common in certain stories with the pharisee's and how it often is the pharisee's that we have the most in common with. We split up into small groups and discussed how we are like the pharisee's today in our lives. I had a really great small group...we had amazing discussions and it was a really great mix of people. It was good times.

I was also really challenged by Phil Wall's session. He was talking about picking something you are passionate about and then sticking with that brand...not just jumping from cause to cause...It was awesome...really inspired me!

Today is the last day...I'm really looking forward to hearing some more amazing things...I'm so ready!

Poutine Thursday...

2007-08-16T19:47:00.000-04:00

So yesterday at work we had Poutine. It was great...I've got some of my co-workers a little bit hooked on the poutine! And when we make it in the cafeteria people give us strange looks...they don't really "get" the whole poutine thing here in Oz...but they are starting to!

Today I am in Sydney for Unlimited...a conference run by the Australia Eastern Territory. It starts tonight at 7:00...so for today I am going on an adventure in Sydney. We will see how much I can remember from being here in 2005...surely I couldn't forget how to get places! I'm heading out for that adventure in a few minutes...it will be wonderful!

Just talked on the phone to my friend Denise from home...that was great. And yesterday I got to talk to my family and to Fiona! It is always fun to hear people's voices and find out how they are doing.

Well...I'd better get going on my adventure!

Puppy Sitting Tonight!

2007-08-10T06:00:00.000-04:00

Tonight I will be puppy sitting. Cate and Micheal got two very adorable puppies whom I will be watching tonight at their house. They are just TOO CUTE! I can't get enough of them. I wish I had photos to put up but I don't! Maybe after tonight!

Tomorrow I am going to Healesvilee Animal sanctuary. Should be good times! I'm SO looking forward to it. Maybe I will get to pet a kangaroo! If I'm lucky.

I also plan to relax a bit tonight and watch some movies or something. it will be a fun night. Today I also got to talk to my dad over e-mail for quite a little while...it was nice. And I chatted to mom on the phone last night...so that was great too!

Today I got to have coffee with Lorelle and her friend Pauline and wee tiny baby Micah...I just wanted to never put him down he was so sweet. I love the smell of new babies...I love how soft their skin is...I love how they are a new miracle from God. I was so blessed to get to hang out with them today!

Oh..and I even got an e-mail from both my sisters today...well 2 e-mails actually..cuz they didn't done together or anything like that! Oh...and I got an e-mail from Erin which was a lovely surprise also! Yippee! That's really about all I have to say right now...

Oh...but if you've not read "Darkest England & The Way Back In" by Gary Bishop...I highly suggest you get on that! It is such an amazing book. Good read. It will change your life.

That's all!

Just a regular day in the life of Heather!

2007-08-07T02:50:00.000-04:00

Today was just a regular day! It was good. But I was a bit homesick today. It might be because I talked to a couple of friends and family from home. That can always do it. But it was SOOOOOOOO worth it to talk to them.

I am looking forward to the weekend because I am going up to Healesville Sanctuary (I don't even know if I spelled that right) to see Aussie animals with the Halsey Girls...should be good fun! A little Canadian adventure never hurts!

Tonight I am going over to Cate's sister Merideth's for dinner. That will be nice. I'm so looking forward to it. I think that my other friend Katherine (from yesterday's blog!!!!) will be there too! So that will be fun and exciting! Good times!

Oh...and I had cherries today. Yum!

My Lovely Friend Katherine

2007-08-06T01:01:00.000-04:00

I have a freind here in Melbourne named Katherine L. She is so very lovely and I am just blogging about the loveliness that is Katherine! I had the pleasure of hanging out with her 2 times this week. She is good fun! And always up for a good laugh!

I met Katherine through our mutual friend Cate (who is very lovely herself I might add). Katherine brings a lot of joy with her whereever she goes. She is fun, happy, delightful. I just can't think of enough words to describe!

I'll have to post a picture of us soon so that you can all see my lovely friend!

Oh...and...has anyone else noticed that I've improved at my length between blogs recently! Good one! 10 points for me!

Laughing 'Til It Hurts

2007-08-03T01:58:00.000-04:00

Have you ever had one of those days where you just laughed and laughed and could not stop? Today was like that for me. At one point I was in with Naomi (0ne of my co-workers) and I was laughing so hard I was sure I was going to vomit!

That's really all I have to say about my title. SO...moving on.

My friends Josh and Lorelle had their baby last night! They had a little boy named Micah! I am so happy for them and can hardly wait to see the wee little baby! Babies are such a miracle from God. It is quite amazing that a new little creation is in the world. He was born on the same day as my sister...only 30 years later!

This weekend should be a pretty relaxing one for me. I'm quite looking forward to it. Glad to have reached the weekend! I'm ready for a small bit of a break! I think that I might even try to get a lot of reading done this weekend. I have some good books that I picked up at the conference last weekend to get through!

I wish that I could sit on my hill in Toronto...the one on the corner of Gerrard and Broadview. That would be the ultimate thing that I would love to do this weekend. Maybe what I should do is go on a search for a "spot" here in Melbourne that I could relax and hang out at! I'm gonna do it! ...Now if Marnie and Greg could just be here that would be even better!

That's it for now!

Update...

2007-08-02T02:26:00.000-04:00

I've been staying at a friends house this week and taking care of her 5 year old son sometimes at night when she has something else on. It has been fun. He's a very sweet kid.

Tonight I have Girls Group on at Reservoir. I'm looking forward to it...I've not been in awhile because of School Holidays and then I had to work last Thursday night. So it will be good to actually get a chance to go again.

Not much else is new. I am in DESPERATE need of a haircut. I don't know when I'll get the chance to get that done...

OH yeah...just remembered someone backed into my car the other day and dented it and smashed the headlight...so now I've got the hassle of having to go and get that fixed...Grrrr. Not fun! I hate doing stuff like that...and I'm in a new city where I don't even really know where to go to get it fixed. Sooo...I'll have to ask around and find out a good place to go.

I'm also feeling really tired today. I can hardly wait until the weekend! Just one more day...!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surrender

2007-07-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went to the UNOH (Urban Neighbours Of Hope) Conference...Surrender. It was amazing I got to hear some really great speakers (Jackie Pullinger, Shane Claiborne, Tim Costello) and hang out with some great friends! I really took a lot away with me from this conference. It was a lot to take in over such a short period of time...but WELL WORTH IT!!!!!!!!

I am EXHAUSTED today...however I feel that half of the reason for that is the fact that it is a really dull and dreary day here in Melbourne! Now...just as I've written that last sentence, the sun has decided to make an appearance...in typical Melbourne style. There really can be all four seasons in 1 day here!

I picked up a couple of good books at the Surrender...fools for a revolution conference. I think that I forgot to mention before that it was a fools for a revolution theme! I can easily fit in with that! ANYWAYS...picked up some good books and started reading them over the weekend. SO GOOD. I'll blog more about them later!

For now I should go and enjoy the sunshine for the few minutes that it may last!

24/7 Prayer

2007-07-26T02:12:00.000-04:00

The Salvation Army Australian Southern Territory has launched a year of 24/7 prayer this week. The launch was really amazing and the chapel at THQ has been set up so beautifully. I've spent a fair bit of time in there praying...and it has been wonderful. God has spoken to me. He has joined me there in that room and it could not have been better.

Tonight is my first 2Love event since I've been on the team. We are hosting a night out at the movies...our advertisements have been "Invitation to Change the World (and see a movie)" I'm really looking forward to it. We have the whole theatre rented out and we get to play Stop the Traffik video's before hand and have a discussion after. We will also be serving coffee (fair trade of course)! I am anticipating a great night of good fun and learning!

Lately I've had a bit of a chance to catch up with Heather Keeler a few times over instant messanger. That has been so great for me and I'm looking forward to seeing her and Jono in October when they come to Melbourne for a visit! So fun!

Also, this weekend I'm going to try to get to a bit of a conference that is put on by UNOH (Urban Neighbours of Hope...look them up at www.unoh.org...they are a pretty sweet organization!) The speakers at this conference are going to be amazing and I'm looking forward to hearing them speak!

That's it for now!

Weekend Away

2007-07-25T02:46:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness Jordan! I had so much fun in Sydney this weekend that I didn't even want to leave. It was crazytown..in a good way! It was so exciting to see good friends who I'd not seen in ages and to just hang out and have fun together.

Casey's party was a great time! It was so weird walking up to the front door and there was CASEY! It felt like ages since I'd seen her. It was so great! Got to hang out with Sean and Matt and Emma on Saturday and that was just good fun! I laughed and laughed until I thought I was going to vomit!

Matt and Emma also gave me a great compliment this weekend! They told me that I was one of the greatest storytellers ever. That was cool for me! I love telling stories! ...And now I know at least a couple of people like listening to them! How great!

Anyways...the bottom line is...SYDNEY WAS GREAT! FRIENDS ARE GREAT!

I also came to the realization this past 2 weeks or so...that I AM REALLY REALLY REALLY RICH IN FRIENDS! I have amazing friends. Yesterday I got home from work and had a beautiful card in the mail from a good friend. I am constantly getting phone calls and e-mails from good friends, etc., etc. I AM BLESSED!

I'm Off To Sydney!

2007-07-20T03:19:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Sydney for the weekend...As I've already said before I'm going for Casey's 21st which is on tomorrow night!

Today was a good day. I had a lot of fun...and a lot of coffee...hmmmm...maybe those two things go together!! We had a great lunch of poutine! All Canadians reading this blog will actually know what that is! So that was a nice bonus for me!

Only 3 MORE HOURS until my plane takes off for Sydney! Yippee!!!! I'm not the biggest fan of flying...but this will seem short compared to the journey to get from Canada to Australia...I'll feel like we've barely even left the ground!

YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited! Vanessa - I'll try to bring you something back from your beautiful city!

FINALLY I CAN HAVE A TITLE AGAIN!

2007-07-17T02:44:00.000-04:00

First of all...I'm very proud because I made my first Latte ever! Lorelle taught me how to make it...it was fantastic! So the photo above is that Latte!

Obviously my week must be going better cuz I can title my blogs again! Today was crazytown...I went to a meeting with Dave and when we came out to go to the car there was HAIL! So the ground was all white...it felt a bit like home!

Not too much news to tell. I'm looking forward to going to Sydney this weekend for the lovely Casey's 21st! That should be exciting...I'll be sure to post pictures of that after the weekend!

That's it for now...10 points for me!

2007-07-11T02:50:00.000-04:00

Still can't get a title to work on my blog...DOH! So...just to finish off the story of yesterday. MY DAY DEFINATELY DID NOT IMPROVE. My car broke. I could not get it to start...due to my OWN STUPIDITY! I left my lights on and it drained the battery. Luckily I knew who to call. Danielle...she saved me. She came and boosted the battery and then it was all good.

Today was much better. Minus the whole not being able to title my blog thing!

Tonight I'm having dinner with Cate. That will be fun. Then we are both going to a fun movie night with some friends! Good times!

2007-07-10T03:03:00.000-04:00

GRRRRRRRRRRRR...for some reason I could not make this blog have a title. Not sure why! I might go back and try to fix it later. Today was one of those very interesting days. It felt like my head was going to explode. I just had too much racing around my mind at the same time. Oh well! Tomorrow will be better.

I had the most random day. I got my business cards...but they were wrong...DOH! And I also got to talk to Shannon on the phone which was good. That was so the most random thinking...but that's seriously what it's been like for me all day today. It is really funny!

Tonight I am down to make dinner at home. Who knows what I'll decide to make! It could be interesting. There are only 2 of us home this week anyways because my other 2 housemates are in PNG visiting their parents who are officers stationed there. So it is pretty weird having half of the house away.

I think that maybe this weekend I might try to explore Melbourne a little bit...I'm not much of an explorer on my own...so we'll see how that goes. It could be fun! It will at the very least be an adventure of some sort. Life is crazytown...but good!

Slack Blogger...

2007-07-09T03:01:00.000-04:00

Arrrgh! I am such a slack blogger the last little while. I get really good for a bit and they I die down...then I get good again. So hopefully we've entered the good phase at the moment...only time will tell I suppose!

I had a good weekend. On Friday night I got to hang out with a fellow Canadian. That was great fun! Then on Saturday I went over to Cate's to help her set up for Leah's 21st...and then I went to Leah's 21st. It was all good fun. Cate and Michael got puppies which is really very exciting. They are SOOOOOOOO cute! I will try to post a picture of them another time. I don't have my camera cord with me at the moment.

On sunday I had a good day also. I ended up going to a couple of different church services. One was definately more boring than the other...but both were pretty good. I also spent some time in the afternoon hanging out with friends which was fun...and later that night I went to see the movie knocked up. It's pretty funny but has some pretty foul language in it.

Well...I will try to be more faithful in my blogging...but I'm not making any promises. I just don't want to have to break them.

Yippee!!! My First Thing Is Done!

2007-07-04T03:04:00.000-04:00

The first part of my job here in Aus. was to get the 2Love website information ready...and that is now done! Yippee! Ben, the guy who actually did the webpage, did an AMAZING job and it looks so good! I am really really happy with it...

Check it out at www.2love.salvationarmy.org.au

Things are going really well for me here. I am happy and I am loving life! I do need a new supply of Tim Hortons coffee though because I drank the last of it yesterday...so I'll have to get someone on that for me!

Today I got to spend some time with Noah, who is my boss Dave's 5 year old son. He is just too cute. I still can't get over how cute kids with accents are! Then this afternoon I got to meet Kaja, who is Sonia's (the assistant TYS)little girl. She was so adorable...so outgoing!

Well...I should go...I'm watching a movie with my fellow Canadian Esther tonight! That's it...that's all!

Footy, Sam's 18th & Canada Day!!!

2007-07-02T06:45:00.000-04:00

I had a very very eventful weekend this weekend! On Friday night we had "God & Pizza" which is the youth group at Shop 16 (Reservoir Salvos) and we had a fun night playing Karaoke video games and it was great! Then on Saturday I went to my second ever Footy game. I saw St. Kilda play. It was great...I went with Cate and her husband Michael and some kids from Reservoir. That was so much fun!

Following that on Saturday night I went to Sam's (a girl who goes to shop 16)18th birthday Party. It was so much fun!

THEN on Saturday I hosted a Canada Day party with Esther (from Toronto!) at my house. We played Canadian Trivia (with prizes to win I might add!) and we had Canadian music playing and Esther had downloaded some great Molsen Canadian commercials and we watched them! Hilarious! Then Esther and I taught all the Aussies the words for O Canada and we went out onto the front lawn with sparklers and sang O Canada! It was so much fun! Oh...and we also had Poutine and Burgers and a great time!

So...as you can see my weekend was absolutely fantastic! Yippee!!!

Update...

2007-06-27T01:55:00.000-04:00

Well...it's been a few days...so it's time for an update on my life. One thing that is really exciting is that I booked some tickets to go to Sydney. I'm going near the end of July and am going down for Casey's 21st. I was going to go in July anyways, so when I found out when Casey's 21st was, I thought I might as well go for that!!!!!!!!!! Yippee!! I'm very excited about it as you can see!

Yesterday at work I took a picture of a couple of my work friends Vanessa (who's comments you may have seen in my previous posts) and Simon. So I thought I would post it so you could all see a couple of the people I work with! Very thoughtful of me I know!

Tonight is Bible study night...I'm almost ready to go for that. I'm sure that I will enjoy it. Although I do have to say that I miss 614 Bible Studies with Sandra. I really enjoyed those a lot.

Oh...and I can't remember if I mentioned it before or not...but I got a good haircut from the girl by my work...not Melinda...but good.

Well...that's all for now!

This One Is For Vanessa

2007-06-22T02:40:00.000-04:00

I am writing a blog specifically because Vanessa is holding me accountable to more consistant blog writing...and I would not want to dissapoint my readers.

It's been a good week. Tonight I'm going to Josh's birthday party as well as a housewarming for Josh and Lorelle. I am looking forward to it...should be good fun! I have to leave soon in order to do some gift shopping on the way!

This weekend I'm sure will be better than last weekend. Last weekend I was sick for all of it with Bronchitis...YUCK! So I'm sure that this one will be much more exciting than the last!

That's all I can think of to say for now!

I Miss Melinda!

2007-06-13T00:09:00.000-04:00

Well...the time has arrived. I knew it was bound to happen sooner rather than later once I got to Melbourne...and now here it is ALREADY.

Wait for it...

I NEED TO FIND A HAIRDRESSER....I MISS MELINDA.

So I went to find one. There is one just a few doors down from my work that looks nice. So I booked an appointment. We'll see how it goes. I'll post about it. Possibly even a picture of the final result. I think it would be impossible to find someone that I love more than Melinda for my hair...but I'd be happy if I could just find someone good.

Hmmmm...maybe I'll even get them to do my eyebrows. We'll see how the haircut goes first!

The Game...

2007-06-10T06:10:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness...The Footy game was so good. Unfortunately the team that we were going for lost...So that part was not very good. I did however learn a lot of the rules and by the end could figure out what was going on without asking Claire!

Claire made sure that my first Footy experience was truly Aussie...so she bought me a meat pie to eat during the game...I did get photos of that...but they are on Claire's camera, so I'll have to post them later!

It was hilarious to hear the songs for each team (you were right Aunt Sandy they do each have a team song). We also had the craziest guy sitting behind us yelling obsenities for the whole game...it made for some amusement.

I could not figure out how to move the pictures down...which is why they are all at the top. Basically the pictures are...2 of the field, 1 of me and my housemate Claire, near the beginning of the game when our team was winning (there are some that I'll post later that we took after the game when our team lost and we were taking ones of us "in despair"...I however, was just not as in despair as Claire because I just took on her team!) And there is also a photo of Claire holding up a GOAL sign that we got at the beginning of the game. You held it up during half time and if the camera zoomed in on you then you won $5000. We didn't win...!

Footy!!!

2007-06-04T07:07:00.000-04:00

I'm going to my first EVER footy game on Saturday with my housemate Claire! I'm very excited...I've only ever seen it on T.V. but Claire has tickets for us to actually go to the game on Saturday! I am quite excited...and promise to post pictures after the game!

The teams playing are Hawthorn (Claire's team she goes for) and Sydney. This will be an adventure. I also had an adventure today of having Pumpkin soup. Mmmmm...it was good!

I am truly looking forward to my first footy game and see what all the hype is really all about. Everyone here gets so into the footy. It's crazytown (in a good way of course)! Last week I went over to my new boss and his wife's house for supper (or as they say here 'tea') and their 5 year old son asked me to read him a book and it was all about Footy...so I feel somewhat informed of the sport!!!! Not really! But it was hilarious to see how much even kids get into the footy. He knew all the teams and even came out later wearing his whole footy outfit thingy!

Needless to say...I can't wait for Saturday for the game!

A Milestone!!!

2007-06-01T01:18:00.000-04:00

So...I suppose this is a milestone...my 100th post! Well..I've officially finished my first week at my new job, purchased my car, settled into my new house. It's been good...and tiring! I'm really enjoying myself.

This weekend I'm going with Cate to a conference that she's speaking at in Geelong which is near Melbourne...but I'll get to travel and see another bit of Victoria so that should be great! I'm also going to try to do some more grocery shopping...now that I can drive it home in my new car! Yippee!!!

Today I was thinking a lot about what I miss from home. Reese's peanut butter cups! I definately miss those. I miss my friends and my family. I miss my squad kids...I miss Kanga. I miss going to the gym with my mom. But I'm really enjoying it here at the same time...so it is a bit of a funny thing!

Well...I should go...working on getting insurance for my car!

2 Days & Counting!

2007-05-29T05:45:00.000-04:00

I've now been at my new job for 2 days. It has been great so far! Very busy and fun. I will have to put a link to the 2Love website on here once it is up and running...which should be in about 2 weeks or so. The design for the page is really cool! I had my first look at it today.

Also today I went looking for a car. It would be much easier for me to get around if I have one. Without a car it would take about 2 hours to get to and from work...four hours a day of travelling is SOOOOO not anything I want to do! I think I found a car that I'd be interested in. It's just an old car that could get me from point A to point B!

Not much else! Although I am happy to see that I have at least 2 readers! I know that Keeler reads this...and now I know that my Aunt Sandy does too! So that's fun!

That's it for today!

Melbourne!

2007-05-27T05:57:00.000-04:00

Well...after much time waiting for my visa...it has finally happened and I am actually in Melbourne! I am starting work tomorrow!!! I can't wait! It seems like so long ago since I've been waiting to come and begin my new job here. The jet lag has just started to set in! I had trouble sleeping last night...so I'm hoping tonight will be much better!

I've done a fair bit since I've been here so far! I only arrived on Thursday and I've already got my room completely set up! I even had a trip to Ikea with Cate in order to get a hanging wardrobe thingy for my room! I got myself a bank account and a cell phone..so I'm starting to feel settled a bit!

Even had to do some collecting yesterday for Red Shield with Cate and some of the kids from Reservoir! Today I went to church at Reservoir and then had dinner at my new house with Some of my housemates and some kids from the church...so that was good!

Anyways...that's about all the news to report for now! I'm having a great time and will try to be better about updating my blog!

Fun Times!!!

2007-04-20T10:13:00.000-04:00

Today I went out with some of my friends from High School. We had so much fun. I'd forgotten how much fun we can have when we get together...it was really really great! I love the kind of friends who you don't see for ages...but then when you see them you just pick up right where you left off. That's what it feels like with these girls! We can just pick up from where we left off...even if we go months between seeing each other.

I also got the chance to meet their lovely boyfriends whom I'd not yet met. That was great. They were both so lovely and those girls deserve the best...so I was very happy for them! Dinner was fun. We all just sat around chatting and laughing and sharing life. It was great! I love how God has blessed me with so many great friends!

Waiting...

2007-04-17T23:11:00.000-04:00

I am patiently waiting...and working on my visa to Australia. It is a bit frustrating why it is taking so long...but the beauty of it is that God has been teaching me a whole lot in the waiting. He is teaching me about being still in Him...about being patient...about a whole lot more also!

This week I've been really thinking a lot about how blessed I am. I have an amazing family, fantastic friends, a really great community that I live in...and a great new beginning coming up in my life! I have also been working on our March Break Camp video...that has been a really fun and fulfilling experience for me. For one thing...I never ever thought that I could edit a video...but I've had to learn or not have one this year...so I've learned. (Keeler you would be so proud!) And for another thing it has just been a chance to reflect on the fun and learning that occured for me at camp! Good times.

In Honor Of Casey...

2007-04-11T18:07:00.000-04:00

I just found out from my friend Casey, who is visiting from Australia right now, that she still reads my blog. This made me realize how incredibly long it has been since I've even written anything on it.

Not much has been going on for me lately. I've just been waiting on my visa to go to Australia. I am waiting patiently! I'm sure it is bound to happen soon.

Had a good Easter weekend at the corps this past weekend. We had a passover dinner which was really fun. We had different people going to different houses and then explaining the reason behind passover. The house that I went to (and cooked for) had a really great group of people. We were all people who might not normally get the chance to hang out with one another, but we did and had a whole lot of fun!

Thats about it for now!

Back From Camp!!

2007-03-18T00:59:00.000-04:00

It was a fun week. Lots of hard work, but it was well worth it! I have to say that one of my favorite memories from the week was watching all the kids worship during Bible time. There was much dancing and singing and a lot of joy on their faces. We taught them a few new songs this year...some of which were "adult" worship songs...but they got so into them. It was truly beautiful.

One of the biggest hits this year in terms of songs was "Put A Little Love in Your Heart" and it was so beautiful to see the kids walking around camp singing "we want the world to know, we won't let hatred grow...put a little love in your heart". And we also had the classic "kids" songs such as "Our God is A Great Big God". It was funny because my friend Rob who was choosing and playing the music for the camp said to me that he had been going through all this different music, trying to choose songs for camp, and noticed that the "adult" and "kid" type worship songs were fundamentally the same. It was something that made me take notice of the words of the songs that the kids sing. Yeah...they are kids songs, but the words are just as effective and as important to an adult as to a kid, they just happen to be a bit more fun!

I learned a lot this year at camp. From other staff, from the kids, from nature, from different ways that God was showing himself to me. One of the best things was this one day when I was feeling a little stressed and a little bit sad, we were watching a movie with the kids and one of my squad kids walked by and gave me a big hug around my neck from behind me and said..."we really love you Heather" and I really felt that God was reassuring me of His love through one of His children. It was beautiful.

Another really beautiful thing at camp was this one little boy who decided that he wanted to make butterfly wings and antennas in craft time. He wore them for the whole rest of the camp. It was so adorable. Kids just bring so much joy to the world!

There are so many more stories that I could write, but I'm so tired and exhausted and must get some rest!

It's Just About Time...

2007-03-09T14:10:00.000-05:00

Wow...It's hard to believe that the time has come again...March Break Camp 2007 !!! My church is heading up to our Annual March Break Camp and I am super excited. Our theme verse this year is Matthew 25: --'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

I'm really feeling that this is going to be a really really great year for us. I'm looking forward to some great times and lots of fun! I was thinking this week, as I was preparing for camp, about all the good times that we've had up there! The many many many occasions of our guys ending up in dresses, or the different missions where we had to find people such as "Queen Matthew" (oh wait...that's still our guys dressing up in dresses!) Oh and I could NEVER forget the annual March Break Camp PILLOWFIGHT! Always a fun time!

This year I'm really gonna miss my friend Heather Keeler. I can't remember being at a March Break Camp without her there. So sad. AND she makes the BEST videos that the kids and leaders can take home to remember the week we had together! Boo-Hoo! Keeler if you are reading this...YOU ARE WELL MISSED!

Well...Should get back to the joys of planning camp!

I love my friends!

2007-02-12T23:30:00.000-05:00

Wow...last night was so amazing. My good friend Kathy Lewis threw me a party for my birthday. It was so much fun. One of the most amazing things was that Joy (who is a lady from church who is very special to me) cooked me a wonderful meal for my party. I didn't even know about it...it was a birthday surprise! Kathy just told me at church that I didn't need to eat the meal after church because there was going to be food at the party...but I had no idea it was yummy Jamaican cooking by Joy! What a blessing!

She also had a poster up on the wall where people could write prayers and/or bible verses on it...that was also a really beautiful thing to read. It was framed with pictures of people who I love dearly!

Kanga also surprised me in church with a really really really beautiful gift. She had framed some pictures of me and kids from the church or squads and had the kids write their messages to me all around the pictures. SO BEAUTIFUL!

I truly am blessed.

Tomorrow Is My Birthday!

2007-02-08T15:16:00.000-05:00

Guess what...guess what...guess what....TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yippee! I still love birthdays! Although I'm getting older...it is still just good fun!

It's funny...I've been thinking back over all my different birthdays...having a good laugh and such! There was the year that I cried...I don't even remember why. There was the year that my grandmother gave me the ugliest jeans ever known to man...they had 5 flys...two on the back, one on the front and one on each side. And to make matter worse I was in grade 6 and it was a roller skating party...and she wanted me to wear the ugly jeans...so I had to pack another pair of non-hideous jeans in a backpack and change when I got there.

Then there was the birthday that I had in Australia. It was only the second day of the school and noone believed me that it was my birthday...until Lorelle made me a nice Canadian Flag Birthday Cake. I wish I had taken a picture of that.

I also remember a year where it was freezing cold in Winnipeg and on my way home to my party...I decided to stick my tongue to the pole...and it got stuck...and I had to rip it off...and it was bleeding for my whole birthday party. And I didn't want to show my mom so I had to try to pretend nothing had happend...she figured it out!

Every year I throw myself about 10 parties...but this year I think I'm keeping it down to 5 or 6! I can't wait!

That's all for now!

Rowe-Rowe's Birthday

2007-01-21T23:59:00.000-05:00

I promised Heather Rowe that I would write a blog tonight in honour of her birthday considering it has been ages since I blogged. So with 3 minutes to spare before it is no longer her birthday...here it is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHER!
Heather (also known as "newfie girl") is one of my favorite people in the world. Today she is turning 23...I actually forgot that she was that much younger than me until we started talking about her birthday. Weird eh?

I have been so blessed by her friendship in the 4 years (or so!!!) that I've known her. We've laughed together (A LOT) and cried together (A LOT)...and have just had some brilliant times...(ie. glow in the dark mini-golf...rememer that Rowe!!!) We have spent many hours laughing and sharing life with each other...and I don't ever remember her missing her curfew on Ignite because we were out for coffee or something stupid like that ;)

Rowe, you are a brilliant friend and a joy to have in my life. I am so glad that we are friends and though you live so far away that we can talk on the phone and it's like you are just around the corner. Thanks for being such an amazing friend! You are the best! I've learned so much from you and appreciate your wisdom!

Also...I promise to try and remember to blog more.

Christmas Fun!

2007-01-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

It has been so much fun having my friends Josh and Lorelle here to visit me over Christmas! We have spent a lot of time seeing the sights of Toronto as well as just hanging out and chatting and spending time together...all has been so much fun!

One day we went into Niagara Falls to see the Falls. That day we also decided to cross over into New York State to do a bit of shopping. We had so much fun! Although we did have to wait AGES to get across because there were so many cars crossing into America...and when we finally did get to the front of the line we had to go inside and that took another 45 minutes...but the shopping and fun was well worth the wait!

Another day we had the adventure of going up in the CN Tower for Lunch. That was really good fun...and good food too! Lorelle was a bit nervous of the glass floor...but she managed to get one foot on it! And we enjoyed watching the brave souls who could actually jump on the glass floor. It was funny because this one guy dragged the girl who he was with out on it...and you could tell that she didn't want to be on it because she was walking along the metal beams in between each pane of glass...HILARIOUS. Who does that...drags someone out on something they are obviously uncomfortable with.

The sad part is that The Josh and Lorelle have to leave tomorrow...and I will miss them! But we had some great adventures together in Toronto!

Just one more day...

2006-12-23T00:41:00.000-05:00

Well...this is IT! Today was the last day for handing out Christmas Hampers...and tomorrow is the last day for Kettles. I am so exhausted. This was such a busy time for me...but I got through it and everything went really smoothly! It is so hard to believe that the time is already up.

AND...ready for it...my friends Josh and Lorelle arrive tomorrow night to visit! They are visiting from Australia...and I am a bit dissapointed in our weather. Today it was RAINING for goodness sake...this is Canada...land of snow and ice! I just want some beautiful snow for Christmas! I'll keep praying.

Well...I should get some rest...have much shopping to do for Christmas tomorrow AND have to finish up the final kettle day!

Adventures with the wonderful Zoe Fay

2006-12-05T23:42:00.001-05:00

Today I got the joy of having some fun adventures with my friend Zoe. We were rushing around trying to get things on our "to do" lists done and having a blast at the same time! I must say that the best part of the day was when I dropped our proof of parking ticket under the van and Zoe had to crawl under to get it...it was pretty hilarious!

Wow...Christmas is such a busy time of year in the Salvation Army. I have been running and running and running without stopping since 2 weeks ago. I'm so tired.

Christmas Kettles are on my brain all the time...or toy distribution...or BOTH! I do have to say that I really do love the Kettle Campaign. I love standing on a kettle and just singing out some Christmas carols or jumping up and down in the freezing temperatures to keep warm during 2 or 3 or 4 hour shifts! It also brings me a lot of joy to see people who are really enjoying the Christmas season and getting into the spirit of Christmas!

Today I was blessed by some help picking up the kettles by my new friend from Australia, Emma, she was such a huge blessing to me tonight because I was exhausted and didn't really feel like pushing on...but we got to laughing and I made it through!

Myrtle the Turtle is in Town....

2006-11-24T09:08:00.000-05:00

Yes folks, it's true. The rumor that you have all heard is absolutely 100% true. Myrtle is here in the beautiful city of Toronto to visit me.

Poor girl.

She's been doing kettles and hampers with me for the last week and a day...and she's LOVING IT! I just know she's having fun! Most exciting thing is that she gets to be in a kettle band tomorrow...but not just any kettle band. A 614 (we never practice and kindof suck) band! It will be good fun! She will be the best out of any of us because she probably plays more than just at christmas time!

We are also going on a road trip to Niagara Falls tomorrow...so I am actually letting her have SOME fun! We are going at night because the lights will be so pretty. She will love it...or else!

Also...on the top of the news list today is the upcoming wedding of Emma Chant and Matthew Moore. It is tomorrow...can you even believe it? I can hardly believe it. I really wish that I could be in Brisbane for this joyous event...probably the biggest wedding to hit since Tom and Katie's last week.

Well...I should go...I'm overtired and crazy people are calling me!

WICKED!!!!

2006-11-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon I went to see Wicked. I have to say that it was one of the best musicals that I've ever seen...I even liked it more than Rent ...which is HUGE for me! I went with my friend Rob and we both really enjoyed it. I was actually supposed to go and see it with Keeler, but seeing as she's moved out of the country that was going to be next to impossible.
The talent in Wicked was amazing. There were some really really funny bits to it...but I have to say one of the funniest things that happened was the the woman sitting next to me asked her husband about halfway through the 2nd act ..."Do you think this is supposed to be like the Wizard of Oz." OH GOSH....You might as well just leave now lady, you've completley lost the plot! HILARIOUS! Oh well!

I Need A Haircut!!

2006-11-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

My hair is getting out of control...and my eyebrows are even worse...they are a disgusting mess. I can't stand it anymore! I have to get my hair done ASAP...but here's the good news! I called Melinda (my hairdresser) today and she can take me in on Friday to get my haircut...and my eyebrows threaded! So that is only 3 days away! I can hardly wait for it!

Melinda is the best! My hair and eyebrows are going to look amazing! Can't wait..and the brilliantly lucky Chezza will be coming with me...and experienceing the joy of Melinda's haircutting expertise!

Yippee!!!!

DO NOT ASK TO BE BLOGGED ABOUT!!!

2006-10-30T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am only blogging about Cheryl because she entertains me during team meeting and goes on Tim Hortons runs with me immediately followng and is just plain wonderful!!!

My friend Cheryl also know affectionately as C-Beb or Chezza...or C Biddy or Bebby-Baby (of which no one but Fifa and I can actually call her!) Cheryl is my saving grace during LONG and tedious team meetings (they actully are not as bad as I try to pretend!).

I've know Bebby (again...only I can call her that!!!) for quite a few years now when she first came to 614 on the Salvation Army Summer Mission At Home Team or something like that. We spent many days together at the office and became friends. Then she went back to Hamilton...but as tends to happen at 614....she came back! She came on the Ignite team of 2004-2005...and blessed us with her presence....I left halfway through her year to go to Australia...but alas here we are together again...!!

In fact she just helped choose my halloween costume at Shoppers Drug Mart...and I don't know what I'd have done without her help...she actually found most of my costume for me...and that is a good thing. She has a stunning personality.

Well...that is all I have to say for now!

Sick...

2006-10-23T11:04:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness...I went to sleep last night just fine...and woke up at about 2am unable to stop sneezing...and my throat was killing me...I had a fever...It was CRAZYTOWN!

I'm feeling icky still this morning...but trying to push through. I CAN'T STAND BEING SICK! It is something that I really really hate. Hopefully this won't last too long and I can be feeling fine the sooner the better!

Tonight I have squads and I just have to pray that I will be feeling better before squads begins because it is so important to me to be able to be at my best for the kids. I have to come up with a craft before tonight...that could prove to be interesting...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh well. It will all come together I know...God is good...all the time! Even in sickness!

Should go and do some work now. Have lots to do!

Friends...

2006-10-16T21:42:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I can hardly believe how blessed I am. God has placed so many amazing and wonderful people in my life. I work and hang out with some of the most caring and beautiful people in the world. If I were to try and describe how great my friends are it would be next to impossible...they are all just so unique and mean so much to me in so many different ways.

Today I had lunch with 3 of my really good friends. It was so fun to just hang out and chat...and as we were sitting there in the restaurant two of our other really good friends (who just happen to be getting married this december!!!!!) came into the restaurant and that really got me thinking about how blessed I am with so many good friends.

Last night I went out with 5 of my friends and we laughed until it hurt, and we just spent time with one another...it was really really great. I just really can't believe how blessed I've been by my friends. I thank God for them every single day of my life! One of my favorite things about my friends is that they all know that they can call me for anything and I in turn know that they would be there for me through anything also. I truly truly thank God for them everyday. My friends are the best friends that I could ever ask for!

Thanksgiving

2006-10-10T16:20:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a fantastic fun-filled Thanksgiving day! I spent the morning and afternoon with my family...and a few others. And spent the evening with some good friends. It was really nice because we were all just hanging out, relaxing and having fun together!

Tonight I think that I am going out with my friend Heather for a bit...but am mostly going to try to spend the night at home relaxing.

This is seriously such a random entry today...I can't think of too much to say...so I keep just coming up with these randoms thoughts that I write down...oh well!

That's it for now!

You're Beautiful!

2006-10-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

Last night my housemate Kim and I had the most awesome experience. Let me start from the beginning...On Wednesday morning Kim and I were sitting in our apartment watching Breakfast Television. They annouced a contest to call in and win tickets to see James Blunt in a special TV filming. So we called in...

AND WE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were so very excited and last night was the night. We got there and we were not really sure how close we would be or anything. It turned out that we were probably only about 10 feet away from him!! It was so very exciting. He sang about 8 songs or so...and there were interviews in between!

It was such an amazing time. Kim and I were so excited and he performed AMAZINGLY! He is so talented. I still can't believe that Kim and I won those tickets and got to see him so close and personal! There were only about 100 people there...and Kim and I were in about the 3rd row. We were so blessed to win and get such good seats because it was not assigned seating...but we happened to be able to get really close seats.

The picture shown is not one we took. We were not allowed to bring ANYTHING in the studio with us. I even had to check my purse at the door...but it was SOOOOO worth it!

You've always got time for Tim Hortons!

2006-10-03T08:58:00.000-04:00

So...I've been off of Coffee since January of this year...and only started drinking it again about 3 weeks ago. I fasted coffee while I prayed for a friend. It was hard...but well worth it. I am so glad to be drinking coffee again...except...here's the thing...I can't drink as much as I used to. All of a sudden now when I drink more than about 1 cup a day, I feel really really sick. I used to drink about 5 or 6 XL's from Tim Hortons a day. If I were to do that now...I think that my body would revolt against it.

So...I guess it is a good thing to be drinking much less coffee...much healthier I'm sure. But OH HOW SWEET IT IS to have the pleasant aroma of coffee and not want to tear my hair out because I can't drink it!

Bottom line...MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm...coffee!

Squads

2006-09-25T11:12:00.000-04:00

It is so unbelieveable to me that Squads (our church's kids program) is starting up again already...it seems like not that long ago that we were finishing up for the summer...and now 3 months later here we go again!

My squad is starting tonight. I am really looking forward to it...although also a bit aprehensive about the whole thing. My squad is all brand new leaders except for me and one other. So it puts a whole different perspective on it. These are new leaders who've not worked with our kids before...and working with our kids can be a very interesting experience. I know that God has his hand in this and so everything will work out according to his great plan!

Yesterday I also just moved house! I moved in with my friend Kim...! It should be fun living in a new place!

Church was amazing yesterday. I felt really blessed by my friends yesterday. I spent many moments of the day thinking how blessed I really am to have such amazing and wonderful people in my life. And already today I've been reminded of it again quite a few times and it is only 11am!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well...should go and continue getting ready for my squad tonight! I have a bit of shopping to do and also having lunch with the lovely Heather Stump!

Thanks Greg!

2006-09-18T01:11:00.000-04:00

Greg e-mailed me how to post the picture taken from my cell phone...so here it is....the picture of me with my princess power punch!

Princess Power Punch!!!

2006-09-16T23:54:00.000-04:00

No...this blog is NOT about me punching anyone! But I had the greatest experience tonight! I was looking through the menu at East Side Mario's and I saw for the first time ever that they have a drink on the kids menu called Princess Power Punch. I was out with Zoe and Keeler and as soon as I discovered it Keeler called the waitress over and asked her if we could order one even though we were over 13...and we had the greatest waitress EVER and so she let us!

Tried to find a photo to post but I have NO CLUE how to get a photo from my phone onto my blog!

It was really great picking Heather up from the airport tonight and just getting the chance to hang out with her again. I've missed that...I've missed working with her...It's been so weird not going around doing things for Ignite and introduing ourselves..."Hi...I'm Heather." "Hi ...I'm Heather." and watching people look at us like "oh yeah...whatever!" I always wanted to be the first to say that I'm Heather because it was usually the second one to say it who got the weird looks!

Oh...and one more thing...this is my 75th blog!!

Holiness...

2006-09-11T13:18:00.000-04:00

Well...We just had a holiness retreat weekend up at Jackson's Point with the new Ignite team. It was an amazing weekend...and God really spoke to me about some very important things in my life. I was blessed to be a part of such a special weekend. One of the best activities that we did that I really enjoyed was that we went up to the top of a hill...and sat below a cross and shared communion with one another by sharing stories of Christ with one another. It was a very beautiful time and I gained so much from the experience.

We tried twice to have a campfire...but the first night it was rained out...and the second night there was already another group using the fire pit...so we had an ice-cream sundae party instead! That was so much fun!

Then yesterday I went back into the city to go to church. We were not able to have church in the room that we normally use at the community centre...so we had to use the gym. That was so great...I really loved having church in that space. It was so nice to have the extra space...plus the sound was much richer!

And then last night I came back up to camp...Finally had the campfire...due to the very amazing fire building skills of the new Igniter Stephanie (aka - SAGALA - long story...but if you want to know just ask!!) and we had s'mores...which were AMAZING!

Today I am hoping to get into town to buy a few things...and to get some Tim Horton's Coffee! I'll keep you updated!

At Jackson's

2006-09-05T22:44:00.000-04:00

So I am now officially without a job and inquiring into finding a new one! But first I am taking a little 2 or 3 week break up at Jackson's Point with the new Ignite team (PS...picture shown is actually last years team...but the best photo I could come up with!!! And they are far away so you can't really tell!)...and I'm cooking. So I'll try not to set fire to anything like I did to the kitchen last year! So far our first night the cooking was good except for a minor issue...we (Fifa and I) did not set the stove high enough and we ended up taking about 5 hours to cook the Lasagna instead of the required 2! But the lemon tart pie that followed the meal more than made up for it I believe!

I am so tired lately so it will be nice to get some rest while I am up here...as well as getting some cooking done! I am going to be a fantastic cook by the time I leave here!

Tomorrow night I go back into the city for prayer door knock..and for a meeting...then I will be back up for more good times at Jacksons! Looking forward to every moment of it...Even brought about 5 books with me to read and enjoy!

It's been awhile...

2006-08-27T22:14:00.000-04:00

Wow...I can't believe that it's been so long since I last posted...I'm such a slacker. It's actually been pretty busy lately and I've not had that much access to a computer. I was house-sitting my pastors house for the week...and I guess also looking after their 17 year old niece...although not really cuz she can look after herself...just staying in the house with her.

The house I might add is home to many interesting pets...There is a hamster (pretty normal!), a snake, 3 lizards & a tarantula...so it has been interesting. On Thursday I had to go and buy some more crickets and worms for them to eat...when I got to the pet store I told the guy that I needed some crickets & worms...and he said "lets start with the crickets...what size do you need?"

WHAT THE ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? There are different SIZES...I don't know! Anyways so he thought he could help me figure out the number of bugs to buy if I told him what kind of lizards, and tarantula they were...I just looked at him and asked "Do I look like I would know what kind of things they were?" And his response was "mmmmm...no"

Anyways we eventually figured it out and he sold me the bugs and I was on my way...the next feat was to get the bugs out of the bags and into the containers that they are stored in...Now the worms were easy...they don't JUMP. But the crickets...now that's another story. But I am proud to say that I only managed to let one little cricket escape...although I did sleep a little more restlessly wondering if or when it would crawl...or should I say hop...into bed with me.!

The week of housesitting was really nice...I have to say that my favorite thing was looking through their vast number of books to read and trying to choose what I would read. I managed to finish 3 books while they were away and am hoping to be able to borrow some others!

That's about it for now!

Our God Is A Great Big God...

2006-08-14T17:02:00.000-04:00

and He holds us in His hands.

This is such a simple kids chorus that we sing with our kids in our squads at 614...but I found myself having to keep reminding ME of that fact over and over and over again this past weekend. It was just one of those weekends where nothing seems to be going right. I was sad, frustrated, angry...and I just kept needing to remind myself that God is bigger than anything going on in my life right now.

This past thursday at Bible Study we were talking about communicating with God...and I found that it was the perfect thing that I needed at this time. I really had to just keep listening for God's word in all that has been happening in my life. Some really big changes...and no matter how good changes are they are always a struggle. I just have to remember to keep my heart in tune with God's and things will go exactly as He has planned!

"And He knows me and He's loved me since before the world began!" These simple lyrics to the song are a simple reminder to me that God is with me...I just have to keep remembering to listen for what He is telling me...and then OBEY no matter what!

Introducing Anita

2006-08-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

Well...It seems as if I've started something!!! You blog about one person and then you get requests from people wanting to be blogged about! So here is a blog about my lovely ex roommate from SFYL...ANITA!

Anita and I had much fun together...lets see...we raided the kitchen at night for leftovers and juice and played skip-bo late into the night...we spent 3 months together on our placement in Sydney when everyone else was in America. I hold many fond memories of those days spent in Sydney (ie breaking the sugar bowl at one of the poshest coffee shops in Sydney (right Emma & Neta?!?!?!?!?!? HILARIOUS), then there was the time that we spent hanging out with all the people from Carnarvon (the house we stayed in while we were in Sydney).

She also had to put up with my talking in my sleep...we spent many mornings at breakfast where she would tell me something that I had said in my sleep the night before! One of my favorite things about Anita is the way that she accepts and loves people. She has a real gift of friendship and she is a good friend to me...I thank God for bringing her into my life!

Test Driving Cars

2006-08-06T10:09:00.000-04:00

Okay...So yesterday I went looking for a new car for my friend Kim (with Kim of course) and we test drove the sweetest car. It was a Hyundi Tuscon...and it was so nice...now I want a new car...but of course we know THAT's not bound to happen very soon!!!

I do love smurfette (my car-pictured on the left) very much and would miss her greatly if I had another one...which I suppose is inevitable at some point...and I did eventually get over the death of Betsy my last car...although sometimes I REALLY REALLY REALLY miss some of her features that my new car does not have!

Random blog...but Oh well...I was really thinking about this dilemma!

Introducing Fiona

2006-07-26T14:35:00.000-04:00

As I was trying to come up with something fun and interesting to blog I made the comment to my friend Fiona that I should blog about her...and she was so very excited by this prospect that I thought that I had to really actually do it!

Fiona (also known affectionately as Fifa...which I would like to take credit for coming up with that nickname...but I have to give credit where credit is due and say that our friend Rob actually came up with it...although I would have if I had thought of it first!

I originally met Fiona when I was living in Australia for the year last year. Because, you see, she comes from the beautiful city of Melbourne. When I went to visit Cate Daniels in Melbourne I met Fifa. Little did I know that she would soon be coming here to Toronto to live and work at 614 and I would get to become great friends with her.

Fiona and I have had many adventures together including numerous trips to and from Buffalo, preparing many Sunday meals for church (well actually only 2), throwing numerous fantastical parties at our house, performing many of our broadway type hits that we create as we go, and much much more.

Fiona is a good friend and I'm so glad that she came here to 614 so that I get the chance to hang out with her and there are many more adventures of fun to come!

Newark NJ

2006-07-24T08:16:00.000-04:00

I've not posted in over a week. I've been away in Newark New Jersey with a group of people from 614 who went down to help out with a few things around a corps there. I must say that the week was a lot of fun...and it would be hard to put down all the different things that we did...so I'll just put down a few highlights!

So we only had a chance to go into New York City twice. Both times that we were in the city it absolutely poured rain. Not just rained a bit...but was coming down so hard and fast...it was crazy.

We bought a couple of $5 umbrellas from a vendor on the street which blew inside out in about 15 seconds!

Another part that I really enjoyed of our week was that on one of the really really hot days...I think it was around 103, the city came and opened the fire hydrant that was across the

street from the corps and we had fun playing and splashing in the water with all the kids. It was like something out of a movie...we all had a blast!

And one other thing that I was really really excited about was that on Friday night just before we left to come back home Rob, Sandra and I went to see Rent...Rent is my favorite musical. I was so very happy to see it. I've seen it before...but it was a treat to actually see it on Broadway.

I really enjoyed the time we spent in Newark. We ran a VBS for the week and it was so great to see the kids learning and singing and participating. There were some really beautiful moments for me where the kids taught me more than I could ever teach them! I can't wait to go back and visit Newark again someday.

There was so much more that happened that was amazing and funny and such...but it would just take so very long to write it all. But these last couple of things were probably the biggest highlights for me!

DENISE IS MARRIED!!!!!!!!

2006-07-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning my dear friend Denise got married! It was so beautiful and her new husband Dave is the perfect gift from God for her! She looked so beautiful and both her and Dave could not have looked any happier!!!

It was so amazing to see them so very happy and in love! Denise deserves the very best...and she found her very best in Dave! He is kind and a good man. I am so happy for them both!

What to do...

2006-07-07T17:00:00.000-04:00

I'm just at that point in my life again where I am deciding what to do next...It is always so confusing for me to figure out if I am doing what God wants me to do or what I want to do. I often wonder why this is...Am I just not listening properly...am I wanting what I want and not really considering what God wants...am I ignoring something that God is asking me to do???
I'll keep you all updated on what is to come in the future...

But as for now I'm really enjoying myself taking care of my friend Ally's children this summer. We've had a lot of adventures during our first week together. I've been really enjoying playing in the yard, walking to the park, swinging on the swings...Reminds me of when I used to work at the Daycare...I always loved that!

So as for next year...I am still just sorting things out and trying to listen to what God wants me to do.

Been having fun with Cate visiting for the last week or so. Nice to reminise about all the fun that we had when she was living in Toronto. We have gone on walks through Regent, been to the beaches, spent lots of time with Fiona & Tim (he's from England), and Zoe & Matt. It's been just a lot of fun hanging out and talking. Feels like old times!

An Amazing Weekend...

2006-07-04T17:49:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the conference that 614 runs in Canada...SAROOTS...It was really amazing. I unfortunatley didn't get a chance to make it to any of the adult venue...but was so incredibly blessed in the kids venue!!!

I was leading much of the weekend along with Denise, Kanga and some wonderful staff from camp Wabana...we all had so much fun and the kids taught me so much. It was amazing to see how much they loosened up in their worship over the weekend. They became more and more free with their worship each time that we came together! We had so much fun doing bible, crafts, sports, a pool party...it was just so much fun!

One of my favorite things from the weekend was when I was at the front talking to all the kids I asked the question "who is staying for all of Roots?" and one of the little boys in front of me looked really sad and said, "I'm only staying for 3 days"....the whole thing IS only 3 days...so I told him that and he was really excited that he'd not be missing anything!

The other great part about the weekend was that there were some afterhours times in the cafe...where there was just good music and hanging out! That was great. The first night it was my friend Erin who was singing and she was amazing...the 2nd night was Phil Laeger and Marty Mikles (don't know if I even spelled either of those names correctly!) and they too were really amazing. So it was nice to at least get to hear a bit of the adult venue stuff through the after hours cafe!

Then on Sunday night some of us stayed up at the camp because on Monday was the camps Canada Day picnic & baseball tournament...614 lost the baseball...but we did it with style...and not many other teams had the enthusiasm that we did even when losing! Then we spent some time on the beach which was eventually rained out!!!! It pretty much rained on and off again for the rest of the day! It was good fun all in all!

Rest, Relaxation & Friends

2006-06-21T22:53:00.000-04:00

The last 3 days I have been up at my friend Erin's cottage with the Ignite team! We were having our final Holiness retreat of the year...let me tell you...it was SO amazing and beautiful up there and we had some really fun and amazing times together!

The scenery was beautiful and I really could not get enough of the lake...I wanted to always be swimming in the lake.

We had some amazing times and lots of great prayer sessions that went really well. It was great to get a chance to reflect on our year together (well...half a year for me!) and also to just remember great times and share fun stories with one another!

We were able to participate in lots of fun activities (I didn't do the whole water skiing
thing)! It was just really nice to get a chance to relax and hang out and spend time with God and friends and not really have anything else on the agenda! It was amazing!

The boys of course were boys and so here's a photo of Colin and Mike throwing Bethany into the lake!

Erin, Curtis and Luke were also up at the cottage and Erin was cooking all the food for us which was AMAZING!

All in all the 3 days was a time of sharing with one another and relaxing with one another...and communing with God in His beautiful creation!

So now their graduation is on Friday and it should be really great! I am so proud of the team this year...it's been a tough year and they've been through much transition but they've pulled through and now they are almost done!

Here are some more photos of the week

CN TOWER!!!

2006-06-14T10:27:00.000-04:00

So last night Jono and I took our house of the Ignite team up the CN Tower for dinner. We had such an amazing time and it was so beautiful to watch the sunset over Toronto. We had so much fun! The food was amazing and we laughed so much...then after dinner we went down and went on the glass floor and the outside lookout and stuff...it was great fun. I'm actually gonna try to post my first picture...so I hope that it works!

I hope that it works well...anyways we laughed so much and it was just a really great way to celebrate our year together! It was funny because Jono mentioned that only 2 of us had actually bee there for the full year because Paul made a last minute decsion to come to Ignite, so he missed the first couple of days...Jono was deported and I came home from Australia from the School For Youth Leadership and ended up filling in for Jono...and then Jono came home and we both stayed on as leaders...so it has been a pretty interesting year for our house.

We also really missed Casey last night because she ended up having to leave the program in February for personal reasons and go home to Australia...so it was really hard to see her leave. So we really missed her last night!

The 360 Restaurant was amazing. Bethany and I were loving the women's washrooms because they were so nice! We liked that we could wait until the washroom came around to us and then go to it...as the floor revolves but the middle part stays the same...so every once in awhile the washroom would be right near your table! Random I know...but we enjoyed it!

Anyways...the night was just really fun and a really great chance for us all to get to bond with each other one last time before our year together is finished!

Not much to say...

2006-06-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I really don't have much to say...but if I didn't post a new blog soon people would start to miss me...hmmmm...not really. Just Fiona really!
Well...this week has been busy with getting ready for the Kids Venue at Roots...Denise and I are having so much fun preparing all the Bible stuff...and thinking up games and stuff.

I am really excited because in 14 days my beautiful and wonderful friend Cate is coming from Australia to visit. She's coming down for our friend Denise's wedding which I am really looking forward to. And she's also bringing me a block of my favorite Australian Chocolate (Cadbury's Black Forest Chocolate)!!! I can't wait!!!!

This past weekend was so unbelievably cold. I bought some new summer clothes on Friday and I've not even been able to wear them yet cuz it's so cold :( So that makes me awfully sad. But I'm hoping that I can wear them tomorrow!

Made 2 trips to Buffallo over the last week...so at least I will know the way so easy when I have to go to pick up Cate! Dropped Fiona off there on Thursday to go visit her parents in L.A. and then dropped Elais there on Saturday to go and help out with the hurricane relief in New Orleans...so I had a lot of driving to do in the last few days...!

Well...not much else to say...I will write again soon (I promise Fee!)

What A Day...!

2006-06-04T22:46:00.000-04:00

Well...today has been quite the day in the life of Heather. I ended up cooking the sunday meal for today after church with Fiona and we were cooking all morning...but it did turn out really good if I do say so myself! We made pasta bake and it was a hit (I think). We did that all morning...and then we had soldiers class at 2pm, right after that we had church...which is where the worst and most embarassing part of my day happened.

So...I had my laptop there for powerpoint (as usual)...Well for some reason this week my computer managed to pick up a really good wireless connection (which it usually doesn't there!) and so it automatically connected to it...which in turn made it automatically connect to my MSN...and me being completely oblivious to all this happening is turned away from the computer and focusing on Sandra's sermon...when I catch my friend Fiona's eye and she's pointing at the screen. Someone had started a conversation with me which made MSN and the converasation box pop up onto the screen. Talk about embarrasing...Then I'm looking around to see if anyone has noticed and I see two of my best friends standing at the back of the church and they are just absolutely losing it! Erin told me later that she literally collapsed to the floor in laughter...it was so bad!

Following church I went to hear a lecture on Social Justice which was really good. It was at DHQ and I ran into some people who I used to baby sit their son when he was 2 years old and we got talking and I asked her how their kids were to which she replied "Oh they are really good Nathan is 12 now..." and I was floored...It does not seem like 10 years ago that I babysat him and he is now 12 !! It was so crazy!

Now I'm home and trying to recover from my busy and interesting day! I think I'm gonna go and watch Walk the Line and just relax!

24/7 Prayer

2006-05-31T19:54:00.000-04:00

So this week at 614 we are having 24/7 prayer...I've been having some really great times in the prayer room and really hearing God's voice. It has been so amazing already and I still have many more shifts to go!

The room is set up so very beautifully and it is so calm and serene when you go in and it feels so peaceful. I love spending time in there and can't get enough of it. I have actually signed up for extra sessions than I had originally put my name down for because I am just so peaceful and love going in there. The 2 hour shifts seem to just fly by way too fast.

The one thing that has so far been my absolute favorite was on Monday in my very first shift. I went and looked at the sign up sheet and saw that an activity had been added right smack dab in the middle of my slot...and it was Yoga. I thought "oh great...I'm gonna have to do yoga and I don't think that I'll like it". Well...it turned out to be so amazing. Sandra explained to us first that it is a really powerful way to worship God with your body rather than letting it just get ignored in the prayer and worship of God. Then we learned some yoga exercises with certain prayers or Bible verses that go with them...it was really beautiful, relaxing and by the end I felt really amazingly connected with God body, soul and spirit...so much so that I even asked Sandra to write down the prayers and exercises for me. It is something that I would like to continue in my personal prayer times.

My next shift is tommorrow afternoon from 1pm-3pm...then again tomorrow night from 1am -3am...and I'm really looking forward to it!

It's so hot I could die...

2006-05-30T03:33:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness...It's 3:3oam and I can't sleep because my house is like a freaking sauna. I keep waking up every 5 or 10 minutes and I'm sweating to death. This is so ridiculous! So I decided to come downstairs...apparently I'm not the only one who can't sleep. As I came down the stairs I could hear someone else down here...and I come into the living room and there is Colin who also can't stand the heat.

Seeing as I have to get up for prayer in less than 3 hours...I don't think that I'm gonna get the good nights sleep that I expected. I went to bed at around 11pm hoping to just get a really really good nights sleep.

Oh well...off I go to the sauna to try again!

Busy Day...

2006-05-27T23:32:00.000-04:00

Today was such a crazy busy day...but it was good fun also! It was the annual 614 parking lot sale/ Carwash/Video Game Tournament! I spent most of the day in the glorious sun! I was so loving it...just tanning and working at that same time!!! That's my idea of fun!

I showed up to help set up for the sale at 7am...then I worked from then until 10am when I had to take my squad to the park for their final squad party. It was amazing fun...we flew kites, had pizza, ran around, went to Riverdale Zoo, played tag, and much much more! The kids had so much fun and when I was walking one of them home it was so adorable because she told me that she is gonna miss squads SOOOOOOOOO much over the summer! I told her that we will have to hang out during the summer and go to the water park and stuff like that. She seemed really excited by this!

After squads I headed back to the garage sale and stayed there from about 1pm - 5pm...then I hung out with Fiona and had a nice (and easy) dinner of leftovers from our team meal yesterday! After that I went to Kinkos to get some pictures printed off that one of my friends asked me to find for her on the internet...for the prayer room which they are setting up tomorrow after church for the 24/7 prayer week which starts on Monday!

I just got home from that and it is now 11:35pm and I am so tired! I am most definately going to sleep well tonight! The day was totally worth it! And I have a great tan to show for it...some people have been teasing me that it's not that good...but if you compare how pasty I was before with how I am now...it is pretty good! The watch tan is the best place to see it!!!!! If I knew how to do it I would post a photo of my wicked tan!

So now I'm off for a well needed sleep!

The things we take for granted...

2006-05-23T14:25:00.000-04:00

So on the weekend I was realizing that I take many things for granted. I took one of my squad kids to see a movie on Monday afternoon (I'm counting it as the weekend because it was a day off and a long weekend!!) Anyways we got to the theatre and I found out that it was actually her first time ever going to a movie theatre. She was fascinated by EVERYTHING! The lights on the stairs...how dark it got before the movie was about to start...the posters on the wall. It was amazing to see her face light up when she got her popcorn and treat that came in the Kid's Combo. And to see her engrossed in the movie...and she sat through the whole thing...which is no small feat for this particular little girl!

Then after the movie my friend Kanga and I decided to stop and grab a tea (for those of you who know I'm still not drinking coffee again yet!) And so we went to the Tim Hortons drivethrough where we found out that it was actually her first time ever in a drive through either. She said "you just asked for it through that machine now how are you going to get it?" So I told her to watch and then we went to the window and got it.

Sometimes I forget that some of the things that I did as a kid some people never get the opportunity to do. This little girl has hardly even been outside of Regent let alone have gone on vacations...etc.
So anyways that all just got me thinking about it!

Then last night I went to see the Fireworks with some friends...that was good fun! We just enjoyed being together and watching the fireworks...then I went out for coffee with some friends before heading home...so it was just a really relaxing and fun day...which I am really thankful for. It made me thankful for good friends and family!

Had an amazing time playing a game "jungle speed" with Sasha and Anya...and I even won twice which is pretty tough cuz Anya is most definately a tough competitor at that game (yes...an 8 year old beat me numerous times!)

Confession...

2006-05-17T13:09:00.000-04:00

I don't really have a confession...except that I've stolen my friend Fiona's blogs and changed it a wee bit...mostly from my name to her name! And I'm reusing it for mine because I was gonna write about the same thing but she beat me to it...she is HANDS DOWN a much better and more consistant blogger than me!

Sorry Fee! Hope you don't mind !!

A Funny Arvo

Yesterday Fiona and I had a very funny time. We had to go and do something that we thought was going to be boring. What was I thinking...nothing is ever boring when 614 rolls up! We arrived and were thankful to see Mike and Maeva. Things already were looking better. But then the music started and we were priviledged to see some of the greatest dancing I have seen for a long time. It didn't matter what music was being played on stage, our older male friend got right into it. Mike was a little scared because sometimes he started to move in our direction and would make eyes at Mike. It was hilarious. Then we got to watch a group of dancers. They were all not bad... except for one, she was utterly clueless. We decided she must have learnt the dance that morning. They even had props - these hankie things and flowers. She kept having them in the wrong hands...then they would do this special trick where they would spin the hankie and she would just hold hers and shake it. But what's even better was the she was always in the front...nice. That was amusing (meanwhile crazy man is still dancing). Then we were treated to some singing from the drug free marshalls of canada. They sang their theme song 'we're the drug free marshalls of canada, wouldn't you like to know you helped someone break free'. Fiona and I can sing it to you if you ask... (meanwhile, crazy man is still dancing). Then the thing ended and crazy man left. This is when we were fortunate enough to meet Brad. He was wearing a drug free marshalls of canada sheriff's badge. He then stopped all the traffic so we could drive the van the wrong way down a one way street. The funny thing was, it was a police event that we were at, police were everywhere around but it was Brad, wearing his sheriffs badge who was the one stopping the traffic. Good times!! While we were waiting for the van to be loaded, we notice this guy is being filmed by a friend...he's singing. It's also now raining really heavily. Fiona andI realise that we are in the shot and so start being silly in the background. Sweet. Brad informs us that the guy's from Canadian Idol. We are not so sure. We then drive with Brad to drop the stuff off somewhere, where he agains stops the traffic so we can back in. A classic afternoon...nothing is ever boring when there are crazy people around. That's a good lesson to learn.

(My Addition now)
Anyways the day was so much fun and we defintaly were not bored like we thought it might be and we got to meet new friends such as the old dancing man and Brad, and the guy singing for a music video in the rain!

It was an adventure to say the least!

Tired...

2006-05-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

That's how I've been feeling for the last week or so. I am just so exhausted all the time...and yet I manage to keep going. So I've decided that tonight I am going to get some really good rest. I am having lots of fun with my friend Heather Rowe...but she goes home on Monday and then I will be sad :(

Today was a busy day but it was also really good fun. I started off the morning by going into my church at 6am to pray for the people that I am in relationship with who are struggling in different ways. After that I came home and had "holy space" with my team...where we were trying to practice the discipline of silence. It was a really great time of reflection for me...specifically on that particular discipline.

Following that I had kids squads and we went to the park, had bible, and then ate a really great lunch of sandwiches and tomato soup together. It was really good fun.

At 2:oopm we had the opening for the year of the Peace Garden in Regent Park. This is a garden that was started by a group called the "Dreamers" and it is a symbolic way of honoring and remembering people from the community who died through accidental death or violence. The opening was really beautiful and many people payed tribute to those that they lost to death through violence.

After that I went home and had a nap seeing as I've been up since 5am...and there was still much more of my day to go! Then I went to a birthday party of one of the little girls from church...Emma. Her party was good fun and all the kids seemed to be really enjoying themselves. I was happy to be a part of her special day and seeing the joy on her face as she played games with all of her friends really brought a lot of joy to my heart!

Next...I'm on my way out to my lovely friend Zoe's birthday party...should be good fun!

Rolling Beds...

2006-05-06T18:10:00.000-04:00

Well...you may be wondering what this title may possibly mean. I just got back from taking some kids to Jr. Youth Councils, when I went to go to sleep last night I realized that my bed I was sleeping on was on wheels. So every time that I moved during the night my bed moved...I was rolling all over the place...cuz apparently I must turn and move a lot in my sleep! So that was a bit of an adventure...trying to fall asleep on my wonderful rolling bed.

Youth Councils was good fun. The kids seemed to really really enjoy themselves and the 614 worship team did a really amazing job of leading the kids in worship and I really enjoyed watching them worship God in some really fun and really amazing ways!

Just did the drive home which was great because all the kids in my van fell asleep on the way home so Bethany and I just listened to some great music and talked and enjoyed our Tim Horton's! But now I must say that I'm super exausted...and my throat is a bit sore...but it was so worth the time at camp!

That's it for now!

Heather Rowe Is Visiting !!!!

2006-04-29T17:16:00.000-04:00

Well...my good friend Heather Rowe has been here since Wednesday night and we have been having loads of fun! It's funny how you can not see someone for a long time and then when you see them again it's like you had seen each other yesterday! That's how it felt with Heather...it was like we just picked right back up where we had previously been!

She's been welcomed right back into the life of 614 with me...doing squads, bible study, hanging out with kids that I mentor...it has been great fun!

Today I went and watched some of our kids leaders and kids play sports...and then I decided that I would try when they were playing tackle football. So let's just say that now I am washing grass stains out of my favorite jeans...but I'd say it was worth it...although I did get tackled by a bunch of 10 year old boys ..You'd think I could hold my own!

Now tonight my friend Kathy and I are hosting and "80's pop party" It is going to be so much fun! It all started off as a New Kids On The Block party...but we had to add a bit more of a differnet slant to convice some people to attend! Well...must go...I have to do some shopping for our party tonight! So that's it for now.

Palm Sunday

2006-04-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

Today was an amazing day! We had a really great prayer walk during our church service. I was leading a group and when we split into our groups I found myself with about 6 or 7 little girls and 2 adult women. We spent a lot of our prayer walk singing "Dance, dance, everybody dance, everybody sing for joy is in this place, " while the girls danced around Regent and waved the palm branches that they were carrying...it was seriously one of the most beautiful things that I've ever been privileged to be a part of.

It was also really great to pray with the girls as we walked our community and they were answering things such as what causes them to see Jesus in their community...and coming up with such profound answers such as "Kanga..." or "My family..." or "the peace garden". It was just a really humbling experience for me to do the prayer walk with the kids rather than the adults...and I've never had so much fun dancing around the playground singing and worshipping God! It was pretty amazing!

On another note...on Saturday night I decided to drive one of my best friends, Kanga, home to Brampton which is about 45 minutes away from my house...one of my housemates Bethany and I took her home and on the way home my beloved car "smurfette" just died on the highway...I was pushing the gas pedal...but nothing was happening...
So I had to get her towed to my mechanics and come tomorrow morning I will find out what the deal is with her. It was so funny though because Bethany and I were driving Kanga home so that she'd not be on the bus for ages and get home late...and we ended up sitting on the side of the highway for quite awhile...and didn't even end up back at home until 2am...so we found that to be a little bit ironic...don't ya think?!?! (I know...that was a really bad and cheesy joke!)

That's it...for now!

50th Blog...Whoohoo!

2006-03-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

Wow...I can't believe that I've written 50 of these blogs...most of which are pretty meaningless and always have me trying to come up with something interesting to write...

Well...today was a pretty great day. I met up with some of my friends from High School and just had coffee (well...I didn't...but they did...wish I did!) It was so surreal to discuss what we are all doing now because it just seems like High School was not that long ago. And now Karen is getting married and it just seems so strange...but good!

It was hilarious because I was telling Chris and Karen how I was making a list of things that I wanted to do...but I was not sure if it should be before I am 50 or 30 or just no time limit...and Chris reminded me that 30 is not that far away...and that seemed so surreal also...

I am really trying to decide what to do next with my life...I am just praying about it and trying to sort it out...I think that I have a personality where I just get really restless really easily...I just always want to be doing something new and exciting...and I'm starting to think that maybe I just have to come to the conclusion that maybe that just is not possible...but yet I am a dreamer and so I'd like to continue thinking that God will continue to bring new and exciting things for me to do! Oh well...still just thinking that through...so most of what I just wrote probably doesn't even make much sense...but to me it does!

That's it for now!

March Break Update

2006-03-19T21:40:00.000-05:00

Ok...So first of all...I'm a slacker cuz I've not blogged in ages...but I don't really think that many people read this anyways...so whatever!

Got back from our 614 Kids March Break Camp yesterday. It was a week of such amazing moments...I really enjoyed worshipping and praying with the kids. The games and missions put on by the lovely and beautiful Kanga were amazing. The kids (and leaders) just had such an amazing God-filled week. I was really glad to be a part of it.
This was actually the first year where I was blessed with a job that made it possible for me to be at the entire camp...other years I've only been able to be at half or so of the camp...and it was such a blessing to me.

Lots of kids from my squads were there and it was just a great chance to get to know them better and to hang out with them. I find that most of the time I learn so much from the kids that I work with. Sometimes I think that they teach me much more than I could ever teach them.

Their memory verse for the week was "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power" Ephesians 6:10...and to hear them all saying the verse and walking around the camp singing the words of songs such as "our God is a great big God and he holds us in his hands" or "Oi Oi we are gonna praise the Lord, He's an exciting, power-rising c-c-colossal humongous, mongous God" was one of the most beautiful parts of my whole week. It showed me how much they were learning and I believe that God will use them for amazing things.

That's it for now!

Friday Morning!

2006-03-03T08:24:00.000-05:00

So Friday mornings are one of my favorite times...Every Friday morning I get together with my friend/mentor Denise. She brings so much joy to my heart and I love hanging with her on Friday mornings...it is something that I look forward to each week. We just chat and discuss things as well as pray together. She is so amazing. I really thank God for my friendship with Denise, I am so blessed to have her in my life.

In fact, I am so blessed to have so many amazing people in my life. I was thinking about all the people that have come in and out of my life over the last few years and have seen that God has really blessed me with some amazing friendships...I have many good friends I made in Australia that I treasue...as well as people who've come in and out of 614.

Well...I should go get some work done now!

My Top Ten Movies

2006-02-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

I decided that I should pick my top 10 movies...so here they are...only problem is that I have so many movies I love...I'll probably think of more when this is all over and done with.

10) 10 Things I Hate About You

The scene where he sings to her on the field alone would make this movie make the cut!

9) Rent --One of the best movies that I've seen in a long time!

8) Anne Of Green Gables -- I've always loved these movies ever since I was a little girl! I wanted to BE Anne Shirley!

7) Dead Man Walking

6) Billy Madison -- Don't know...just always loved this movie...Adam Sandler is my favorite!

5) How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days...This movie just makes me laugh so hard EVERY TIME!

4) Top Gun -- When they sing in the bar...that's enough to make the top 10 list... also "It's classified...I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you."

3) Love Actually -- Just a great movie!

2) Empire Records...I could watch this movie over and over and over again and never get bored...it is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen!

And my number one favorite movie is...

1) THE BREAKFAST CLUB! This movie is a classic...it never gets old...I could watch it everyday! It has so many great scenes and I've loved it for ages! Classic 80's!

Okay so that's today's list of top ten movies...but by tomorrow it could change easily...there are just so many good movies that I love...in fact someone will probably remind me of my favorites in like 10 minutes...then I'll want to change...but oh well cuz the list is done now!

Leave your top 10 movies...

Hmmmmm....

2006-02-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

I don't really have anything very interesting to blog...I've been getting really tired lately and feeling really sick.
This morning I'm going for brunch with one of my best friends Erin and her wonderful fiance Curtis! It will be such a good time. I'm looking forward to spending some time with them together. Then this afternoon I have a bible study thing at my church and then right after that I have church at 4:30.

I was thinking last week about how much I love the people at my church. Every sunday I get a lot of joy from seeing so many different people that I love. I've also been realizing that God has placed so many people from so many different walks of life together, and we have no other reason to know each other than by the grace of God. There are people in my life who are so very important to me that I probably would never have met if I didn't go to church with them. And yet I can't even imagine what life would be like without them.

Last week Erin held me a birthday party at her house after church...it was great because so many people came who I really treasure...and I got to share the party with a lady whom I treasure greatly. I've always known her, but I feel that this year I've come to know her better and it was just really great to get to share my birthday with her because she is such a beautiful part of my life.

Anyways...that's enough of a rant from me for now!

Wow...

2006-02-07T22:03:00.000-05:00

It has most definately been a while since I posted anything on this blog! I just never really have anything interesting to say....oh well.

This week has been a very good one for me so far...and it can only get better I reckon...cuz it is MY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! I am so excited...my lovely and beautiful friend Erin is throwing me a party on Sunday night...it is a joint party with the Lovely Iris from my church! I am very excited about the whole thing!

Yesterday Keeler, Jono and I took all of the team (minus Mike who could not make it) up to Niagara falls...it was great fun! We had some good laughs and took loads of pictures...I would post a picture...but I actually don't know how!

Tomorrow should be a fun day...I've got to clean house and go to the gym in the morning...and then I've got to work in the afternoon...followed by a fun evening with Keeler going to the Montreal Bistro Jazz Club on Sherbourne Street...I am fully looking forward to it.

Okay but the funniest thing that happened this week was on this past Friday...Mike, Paul, Sean, Myself and Daniel went out to the Tango Palace Cafe...where Mike and I convinced Sean to sing to some girls that he thought were so beautiful...It was so classic. He jsut went up and introduced himself and did a fantastic rendition of "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" It was so hilarious and the girls fully loved every moment of it! Sean is totally my hero for that! It was so funny and great!

That's about it for now!

What A Week...

2006-01-14T16:32:00.000-05:00

I've had an interesting week...On Tuesday night I fell and tore a ligament in my right ankle...which meant lots of pain...plus I couldn't even drive myself home because I could not use that foot....ACK! Then the following day a broken chair got put back in the office at 614 and I was sitting on it and it collapsed under me...causing me to fall on my already incredibly sore ankle!

So then yesterday I got a car door slammed into my knee...which was already hurting from one of my previous falls....then today at squads one of the kids accidentally poured an entire glass of Lime KoolAid all over my jeans...

Finally after squads my lip was swollen from some sort of allergic reaction...so I'm in great shape...obviously...!

Which really only means that the next week can only get better!

A New Year Has Begun...

2006-01-02T16:18:00.000-05:00

So it is now the New Year...and can I just say that Sean and I were the most excellent hosts of karaoke EVER! We were so good! And Sean did the most amazing version of "I Believe In A Thing Called Love." (Almost tops Matty Kean's version!) The New Years Party at 614 was good fun and we managed to have everything run really smoothly the whole night! It was great.

Then on New Years day I went out for brunch with some friends to the Hot House Cafe...It was my first time going there since I got back and it was really good fun.

Okay well that is all I can think of to write...Oh except that I have the week off this week and I am really looking forward to relaxing!

Last Blog of 2005!

2005-12-31T12:09:00.000-05:00

I have not posted in so very long! Since I've been home I've been so super busy...with Christmas and all that kind of stuff.

Tonight is our big New Years Eve party at 614 which we have been working all this past week on...it is going to be a great time! I am running the Karaoke...which will be super fun and I can't wait!

Wow...my life really is exciting...but when I got to blog about it I can come up with absolutely NOTHING INTERESTING to blog about...I don't understand!

I'm Home!

2005-12-05T13:26:00.000-05:00

Well...I can't believe that 10 months in Australia went by so very fast...and now I am home. I went to church at 614 yesterday for the first time in 10 months. It was really weird because it just felt normal. I was expecting things to feel weird, but rather I felt right at home! It has been so great getting a chance to catch up with people! And...of course getting right back into the swing of things...kettles...etc!

I am so happy to be home. The first time I drove through Regent Park on Wednesday night when I got home it felt so surreal...and then when we went on prayer walk on Friday night, my group walked around the borders of Regent Park. It was the first time since I got back that I'd walked completely around the area! It was so good.

I've had so much coffee while catching up with friends...but I'm okay with that! I've been to Tim Hortons MANY times since I arrived home...beginning with the very night I got in....the first thing I did after Kanga picked me up from the airport was to go to Tim Hortons with some friends! So...all in all it just feels really good to be back home.

I do miss Australia A LOT! And really miss some of the good friends that I've made there...REALLY miss the warmth...as it has snowed everyday since I've been home...except for today actually!

That's it for now!

Attack of the Little Bird!

2005-11-27T20:00:00.000-05:00

Okay so yesterday morning Cate and I were at her house...I went into the washroom and when I came out this little bird swooped at my head! I screamed and I ran to get Cate...the bird followed me into the lounge room and it was flying into all the windows trying to get out! So Cate and I were trying to open all the windows (actually mostly Cate was opening the windows as I was busy screaming like a small child!) So finally we could not find the bird anymore and then we saw it sitting right up against the door of the room where I was staying...Anyways Cate finally got it to fly out the door...

But it was a bit of an adventure...and now it really just does not sound as funny as I am writing it out...but Cate and I were killing ourselves laughing after the whole thing was over! It was so funny!

Anyways that's all the excitement...except that I leave for home on Wednesday...I can't believe it is already time for me to leave Australia :(

But I've had a great time and it's been a life changing experience...so that's definately a good thing!

Nothing Interesting...

2005-11-22T20:04:00.000-05:00

I just feel that I should blog because I haven't done so in a while...but I have nothing interesting to blog about. Not much new has been going on here...Cate has been sick so that has not been very fun for her. I have been seeing a fair bit of Melbourne. Went to 614 yesterday...it was good fun!

Staying at Cate's house with her and Nathan and Sheridan...They are a fun house. I went with Greg last week to try and have lunch at the restaurant where Sheridan works...we searched for ages and could not find it. So finally we had lunch somewhere else...just as we were eating she rang and showed us where it was. You could literally see it from where we were eating...it was so funny!

Well...that is probably the most exciting story that I have. Not really but I just can't think of anything else to write about!

Later...

In Melbourne....

2005-11-15T23:20:00.000-05:00

Well...I arrived safely in Melbourne after my plane was delayed by an hour in the air...So Cate was waiting patiently at the airport for an extra hour. What a good friend she is.

Ok...so there was much turbulance on the plane and the woman sitting next to me was fully crazy. Everytime that the plane would hit some turbulance, she would yell out that "We're going down.." Okay so I hate flying anyways and always sit sort of clutching the seat. So this yelling was definately not helpful. Anyways I just tried to fall asleep and ignore her...which worked quite well. That is until the plane landed in Melbourne and I sat up she turned to me and said "You're hair's all flat at the back from sleeping." I managed to just smile and say thanks...although some other choice words were running through my head! But instead I just smiled and thanked her and proceeded to fix my hair! HOW FUNNY IS THAT!

Anyways...so now I'm just hanging out with Cate and relaxing in Melbourne...for 2 weeks...then in 2 weeks today I head home. I am a bit worried about going home because I am finding Melbourne cold compared to Sydney...so I'm not sure how I'll handle Toronto in December!