Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!! I hope that you are all finding joy and love this holiday season. It seems like I haven't had that much time to reflect this holiday season on Jesus, but I am finding that I am just experiencing Him deeper through loving other people, seeing how other people have compassion for others and just all the ways that He works. It's amazing. I have just been thinking about how humbling it was for this great God to come to earth as a little baby; helpless and innocent. He lowered himself to reach out to the whole world, to be able to relate to us on every level so that later we may be saved, something that we don't even deserve!!

It feels so good to be home. It's been relaxing so far, reading some books, seeing family, and getting together with friends. I really appreciate all the prayers from everyone for our drive home. It went better than expected. I am so thankful to God for sending us great weather and clear roads! Well now that I think about it I don't really have much to write on this thing. Just wanted to give a quick little shout out to my avid readers. Thanks for your loyalty. I really enjoy writing these blogs and going back and reading them from the past year. It's fun to see where I've come from and my plans for where I'm going. Later days!!

No more homework! No more books! No more teachers' dirty looks!!!

Yipee!!!! I'm finished! Oh man the agony of the past few days is what kept me from writing on the ol' blog. I have had the time, believe me, but I just didn't want to complain about the only thing that was going on in my life . . . studying. Well now it's over. My test yesterday was okay. I don't think that 3 weeks of studying could have prepared me for it because the teacher just doesn't have a clue. Today's test went alright. I could have been more prepared, but I say that about my last one every year. My friend, Megan, in that class is done her degree too and this was her last test forever too! She however has plans for her life and is headed to Australia in January.

Took me a good 4 hours to pack up and clean the house, but now I am done and waiting impatiently until we go to board the ferry. It's snowing again here which is okay for me, but will slow the traffic down tremendously because people still don't know how to drive. Okay I know that it's not like Alberta but come on, it snows here at least once a year. Get used to it.

I would like to say it was a tearful goodbye to campus and classes and teachers today, but alas. . . it wasn't. I just want to get out of here so bad right now. Could be because it's Christmas and the holidays, but I also just need a change of scenery. Seems like I can't stay in a place longer than 2 years before I get bored of it.

Let me sum up last weekend briefly . . . lack of sleep . . . surprise for Christmas . . . Michael W. Smith concert . . . amazing . . . Jack in the Box . . . outlet mall shoppping . . . intensely slow and careful driving . . . snow . . . NO studying . . . love my friend Serena!!!! Yes folks. It was an amazing weekend down in the lovely U S of A.

I can't say that I have much more to write about today. If you could all keep Brianne and I in your prayers for safe travels, patience, and wisdom for how we should be driving. The weather forecasts are looking positive so I'm keeping optimistic. Can't wait to see you all!! Later days!

Goodbyes

Here I am writing on this thing again. Get used to it. I really should be studying today because I had this dream last night that I hadn't studied enough and I was going to fail and it freaked me out. I am just waiting for my lunch to digest before I go for a run this afternoon and don't feel like getting all into my studying. Nice excuse, eh?

Well on Saturday was the Adore Christmas Gala and it was really good. The food was good and it was fun to hang out with Faith and Sarah again. I got to chat with some other friends too. We took some fun pictures and were entertained by some games and "acts" that went on. Faith and I then watched the Princess Bride because we both hadn't seen it. It was actually pretty good. I loved getting all fancied up for the banquet too. I crimped my hair with a triple barrel for the first time and it turned out pretty good. Although I had so much hairspray in it that I woke up today and it looked like I hadn't even slept on it, so I just went to church like that.Today was another day of goodbyes as my church family at Parkdale E. Free Church in Victoria wished me well and sent me off with a graduation gift and acknowledgment. It was good to go to such a welcoming and accepting church while I was here. I enjoyed getting to know everyone even if it mainly happened this semester. I just wish that this goodbye seemed more like I was leaving than it does because I haven't even written an exam yet. First one tomorrow!

It's just a shorty today, but I thought that you would like to see some pictures so I added them! Later days!!

Course evaluations - the mellow version

It's funny. I have mixed feelings about each one of my exams and tackle the method of how to study for each one completely different. Here is a run down of each of them and my comments about the class. You may not find this interesting but I don't want to study right now and this is a good way to procrastinate.

- My first one on Monday is religious studies. Now I am completely ready for it already because I find it really interesting, we have a clearly defined outline about how the test will be, and it's worth 50%, the most out of all my exams. The class overall was good. The instructor could work on his public speaking skills, but I learned a lot and even spoke up a couple times in that class.

- I have Human Anatomy on Tuesday. I haven't been studying for this test mainly because I hated the course. I have wanted to take it every semester I have been here, but it just wasn't that good. I learned a ton of stuff and use it when I am at the gym, but the instructor was brutal and the lab treated us like babies. I only studied an hour for the midterm and pulled out a 90% so I am not too worried this time either since it's only worth 30% of my final mark. Safe to say the majority of time I have left until then will not be spent on studying for it.

- On Thursday is Animal physiology. Now this one I have been having fun studying for because the things that I learned in Anatomy are helping my understanding of the physiology behind it. With the help of the lab too I understand it all and am better prepared to study rather than just memorize as I did on the final. I liked this class. During the semester I hated it but I made some good friends in the lab and learned a lot.

So the week after that I have my last two. I have not begun to study for those yet other than downloading the papers I have to read for them and looking at some maps. I am not super worried about those either. I have done well this semester with all my assignments and exams so the pressure is off. Plus I am graduating!!! I will be posting later about my evaluation of those other two classes, but for now I should get back to studying. Later days!

Killer Whale Way of Life

Enjoy!!

Certainties About Exams

Greetings,

There are a couple certainties that accompany the dreaded exam time:
- actually seeing what the inside of the library looks like
- opening the textbooks that you bought for $120 for the first time
- snacking or drinking tea all day, every day
- being on-edge and irritable the days leading up to a big final
- no more classes!!!
- a great desire to NOT study for the next exam after having just written one
- finding anything possible to do instead of studying (like I am doing right now)

I thought that I should give you all an update anyhow. Last week was relatively uneventful other than going to Adore and finally having people to sit with!!!! I went to visit Serena for her birthday and we spent Friday night at CBC watching the men's bball game which they narrowly won by 4 points. On Saturday was the big birthday party which was, of course, fun times! Also I gave Serena an awesome present. On December 13 she will be accompanying me to Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington to watch a Michael W. Smith and 65 piece orchestra Christmas concert!!! I am so excited. It is going to be amazing.


As for my future . . . I really don't want to think about it. I know that I should be responsible and be making some plans, but right now I just want to bask in the celebration of being done my degree! Honestly though, the more unsure I am of what I will be doing in January, the more peaceful I am. I have fully given it over to Jesus. I have placed all my worry at His feet and am just allowing Him to spark ideas and opportunities that I could go after. I used to think that being indecisive about something and letting Jesus guide you was a cop out for actualy making a choice. I thought that by having an idea in mind and taking steps to accomplish that, and then having Jesus tell you to do something else, was the only way that He was supposed to work in you. Like, I thought that it was a leap of faith to give up what you have and follow on the path that He is leading you. However, I think that He is willing to give us what we want. He wants us to work at a job that we are passionate about. He wants to see us in an environment that is uplifting and a place that we can encourage and bless other people. And maybe that is why I am having a hard time deciding on something. I know that what I chose to do in January doesn't have to be the one thing that I do for the rest of my life, but I want to be on the path to achieving future goals. What I do now does affect the future and my opportunities in my career of choice. I am passionate about marine life, animals, nature, but also cooking, baking, sports, health and fitness, and my faith. How do you go about narrowing that down? I don't think that it's supposed to be "What does God want me to do?" I think that it should be more like "How can I serve and love God and people in my career?" and "How can I honor God best with my life?"

So if you have made it this far in reading my ramblings, I would appreciate some prayer. For exams and deciding my next step. Hope the rest of your November is rockin'! Later days!

It shall go down in history as the best retreat ever!

Where to start? Oh man, the retreat that I went on this past weekend was a blast!!!! I don't have the time or the space to run through the whole weekend but I will tell you a bunch of stuff. Let's start with some pictures.

Friday we played a sweet ice breaker game, had chapel, snack and then a neon black light dance party. Despite me never dancing in public as a general rule for myself, haha, I danced the whole night long. It was so much fun. We then played lots of games and went to bed at 3:30 am. Oh and when I speak of "we" it usually means: Faith, Sarah, Rob, Carey, Brant, and I. Darcy and Lauren were also with us a bunch.

Anyhow, on Saturday all before lunch Faith and I played pingpong, had breakfast, started this assassin game, played soccer, played more pingpong with Brant, and had chapel. I love being that busy. Most people go on a retreat to get away and rest, but I loved being busy every minute of the day and having people around that wanted to do stuff all the time too. After lunch we played in a dodgeball tournament. Our team was Faith, Sarah, Ashley, Carey, Brant and I, as the Dragons. Not a very ferocious name, but it was thought up quick. The tournament was 70's so we were wearing some sweet bright clothes. We ended up losing every single one of our games, but it was still super fun and we rocked! A quick trip to the hot tub came after that because we were so cold.

Following a banquet for supper we played sequence and a hugely rousing game of spoons! Then came skating. Now Carey has never skated before, so it was so fun to watch. At first he was using the little kids skating helper, then he had a group of 4 guys around him practically holding him up, then he was able to go by himself but would only glide like a foot or so off each push off. Brant also tried to teach me how to stop, so I am getting a bit better at that. We played British Bulldog with the whole group, which was around 50 people. No major wipe outs.

We then had snack back at the camp, played some theatre games, had worship at 12:30 am, played spoons, cheat, and president. And lastly Rob, Brant and I sat in the hot tub until 4:30 am chattin' it up. Great fun until the next day when I woke up at 10am more tired than ever before. I pumped some tea into me and we had chapel, cleaned up, had lunch and left for home. It was such a good weekend!

I have to tell you about the assassin's game now. Everyone's name was put in a jar and you picked one. So you are that person's assassin and must secretly without anyone seeing go up to them and point a gun and say "Bang. You're dead". The fun is that you don't know who has you so everyone was super paranoid walking around with someone else at all times. Anyhow I had this guy named Chris and he didn't know that it was me until I went to get him in this room, but turned out there was someone else in there. So the kill was null and he then knew that I had him. At dodgeball I killed him again, but then my friend Sarah came up to him and said "Ha you're dead now. She got you." But that meant that she saw and he knew so that kill didn't work either. Then Lisa killed me, so she got Chris's name, but we kept it going that I still had him. Then when he was least expecting it at skating, she killed him. HAHA! Lisa went on to win the game, so I felt like I sort of had a part in that.

As you can tell it was a jam packed weekend that felt like a whole week. I had so much fun and am pumped to have met these great friends that I can hang out with more at Adore and do other things. Let me finish with how refreshed and renewed I feel in Christ as well. The topic of the sermons was "Intimacy with Christ". Mike was a great speaker and I really felt like I was lead by God to be there this weekend. We had communion every day which completely just focused me on His love and the desire to be close to Him and also how to live it out in this fallen world.

Well I am pumped for what this week and weekend brings, but there is work to be done at this moment so I should go. Later days!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Greetings!

Well folks, my reading break was awesome! Too good actually. It felt like Christmas break already and now my desire to go to class is fading. I am almost done though. I know I talk about it a lot, but I am excited. I have 4 quizzes, 2 projects, and then just my finals. I only have 2 full weeks of class left too! I spent the weekend at CBC visiting with my friends. We hung out, went to Madagascar 2 (which was amazing), played some bball, went swimming, made a craft, watched some movies and played games. It was really fun. I also got to see Leia, go shopping, and go out for coffee with Melissa. It was a much needed break from the regular school grind.

The next few weeks are definitely going to fly by because this weekend I am going on the Adore Retreat. Adore is a college and career worship service/community on Thursday nights that I have been going to regularly. The retreat is at Camp Imadene on Lake Cowichan up island. I'll for sure have to fill you in when I get back but they have a 70s dodgeball tourney, Neon black light dance party, skating, late night worship, games, banquet and a ton of other things planned. I am really pumped. I am going with my friend Faith, who I met at my church and has been going to Adore too.

Then you all know that the next weekend I am going to visit Serena for her birthday! I don't know who is more excited, Serena or me. Haha. So safe to say that the semester will fly by. I don't really know what else to update you on. I really, really need some new ideas for what to write on my blogs and I bet you would all like to see some pictures. Too bad I don't take any! Well I'm off to my only class today, since I skipped my 8:30 one. Later days!

New Look!

Happy November!!!

You may have noticed that the blog has a fresh new look. I wanted a new look. And unlike my sisters who decide to give their bodies new looks by adding "accessories", I would rather change in some way that would be less permanent. However I really do want a new look and I have told Leia that when she is done working on her hair dressing certificate that I want a new haircut/style. Safe to say that I am totally stoked for that although I don't know when that is going to be. I am pretty sure that she will be excited to do someone's hair for real too.

Brianne and I watched "The Bucket List" last night and it was so good. A few things that I took out of it that I wanted to comment on here were these two questions that they asked before they died: 1) Have you experienced joy in your life?
2) Has your life brought joy to others?

Obviously the question of knowing Jesus Christ as your Saviour is way more important however I really like these questions and they get you thinking. I think though that the world gets happiness and joy confused. Happiness is so dependent on circumstances and what is going on around us while joy is a state of being that is not dependent on our circumstances. We find joy in our Creator and in the things that He has given us. We have joy knowing that we are saved and loved no matter how we feel. We can have joy in our suffering knowing that Jesus has suffered far worse and that what we do here on earth is all for God's glory.

It's funny that they should talk about being a joy to others in the movie because that has been on my mind lately. Do people really want me around? Do I make them feel respected, honored and encouraged? What can I do or say to meet someone else's needs today? I think that these are questions that we need to ask ourselves everyday. People meet our needs and build us up in small ways each day and they don't realize it. They hold doors open for us, smile, say hi, compliment us on something that we are wearing, listen to what we have to say, spend time with us, and I could go on and on. I think what Jesus was saying in John 15:13 "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends " in part was that we should sacrifice our time, our money, our lives for the sake of our friends. Time is precious and we are so concious of how we spend our time. How hard is it to take time out of our day to talk to a stranger, meet someone new, let the car in front of us into the lane? There are so many little things that we can do to show God's love to others. I admit that I am guilty of living my life in my own little bubble having things my way so that I can do better than others at school and get places faster than those around me, but that is not how God intended us to live our lives. So let's truly love our family, our friends, strangers, and enemies with a love so precious that could only come from God each and every day. Granted, it will be hard, but there is nothing that God wants us to do that He himself will not be a part of and give us the strength to do.

Peace out and have a great Sunday!

Wisdom levels are depleting

Greetings!

The title doesn't mean what you think it means. No school has not been that stressful as to decrease the level of intellect that I have. . . I just had a wisdom tooth pulled on Monday. Let's just say that my sister was right and it hurts a heck of a lot more than knee surgery does. I guess the pain isn't going to last as long, but it was really bad right after the freezing wore off. I also have a bit of a cold right now and am feeling a bit sorry for myself. LOL. I only get colds twice a year, once right after fall midterms and once after spring. Thank goodness this will be the last "scheduled" cold in awhile. Despite all this I am remaining rather chipper and upbeat as I tackle the last half of this semester. Good things are happening.

My parents came to visit this last weekend and boy we had a BLAST! We rented some scooters to drive around Victoria and I am now hooked and want one as my primary mood of transportation. We also watched the salmon run, got educated at the bug zoo, did a bit of shopping, enjoyed the fall colors, took a carriage ride, and basked in each other's company. It was great!

November brings Reading Break (which I plan to spend on the mainland), Serena's birthday which includes another trip to the mainland, a trip from Serena to the island, Empress Christmas trees and Santa parades, hanging out watching America's Next Top Model with my roommates from last year, little homework, a few of quizzes, and some Vikes basketball games. What can I say . . . I like to be busy.

My future after December, however, remains to be full of questions and unmade plans. Many ideas have been floating around and I know that the only way to choose one is to prayerfully decide on something that God wholeheartedly approves of. I know that He isn't just going to fling open a door and walk me through without testing my faith a bit, so I am prepared and ready to seek His will without having a definitive answer. If you could pray for me, that would be awesome. I am of the opinion that if you are passionate about something and would thoroughly enjoy it as a job AND glorifying God in it, than go after it! I am excited for the possibilities and careers that are out there for me to pursue.

Have a great rest of October and you'll be hearing from me in November! Later days!

Thanksgiving aftermath

Well well peeps! Seeing as how I don't have a specific topic to discuss, I will once again update my life. This last week has been the BRUTES!!!! I do not appreciate writing 4 midterms in one week, nor do I appreciate the fact that I didn't do well on them either. It is coming to the point in this semester that I just don't care anymore. I am almost done my degree and just don't want to be here. I am slugging it out to get that piece of paper in my hand that says "Bachelor of Science Degree" with a major in Biology. When that day comes I will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Oh it can't come soon enough.

My last dive last weekend was amazing. The water was so calm and we saw tons of sea stars including my favorite, the leather star. We were swimming with lots of jellyfish, kind of like Nemo, but not that many, and along this wall where if you looked left it was pitch black and drop to the bottom of the ocean. I really love scuba diving and can't wait to do it some place warm.

Thanksgiving with Leia and Brianne was great too. I went to my friend Melissa's house for dinner on Sunday and then Leia and I hung out, went swimming and walked around on Monday. We made a big ham dinner for supper on Monday and had a facial, pedicure, girls night that night. It was great to do something all weekend and not study.

God has subtly been teaching me some things this past week. No matter how unhappy I am with my life right now, God still deserves my love, glory and praise. He doesn't change, He still is the God who loves and saves us. He doesn't love us cuz of who we are, He loves us cuz of who He is.

He has been molding me in other ways too: patience and anger issues. The number one verse that is shedding light on my attitudes and how I should be living holy is this:
"Everyone should be qick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angy,
for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." James 1:19-20
I really, really need to get some better topics for this blog because even I am getting bored with these updates. Hope you enjoy and get excited for the next time I blog!!! Later days!

Midterms . . .UGH!

Hey all! Seems like this blogging is a Monday thing to do. I guess since I only have one class I have the time. And it always happens to be right when I am procrastinating the most. This time I am dreading identifying over 150 types of birds for my vertebrates of BC lab next week. It's brutal, although when I am walking around outside and I see a bird I wish I knew what it was. So this class might come in handy after all.

This week and next week are crazy busy for me with 2 anatomy quizzes, 4 midterms and a couple assignments. After that though I am home free!!! (Almost) My scuba lessons are almost done. The dive that we had on Saturday was amazing. It was really cold outside, probably 10 degrees and really windy. Our instructor was a little hesitant for us to dive but we did anyways and it was so cool. We saw a ton of sunflower sea stars, sea urchins, some kelp crabs, and a sea cucumber. My buddy Spencer and I finished almost all of our skills needed to pass the course and get certified for life. We have 2 more dives next Saturday and then we are done. Although I complain about the cold water, I really love it. But the tropics might be where it's at. LOL. (Disclaimer: pictures are not mine. I swiped them from the internet. Wish I could bring a camera down to get some closeups.)

Other than that fun stuff, not a whole else is new with me. Leia may be coming here for Thanksgiving and one meal I am heading up to Duncan to Melissa's! I can't wait to go to the mainland sometime soon. I feel so trapped on this island. I think the 17, 18 weekend maybe. It's so sweet because now there is Melissa, Amendts, Leia, Caitlin, Serena, and CBC people to see when I go there. Always fun times.

So sort of a brief update of my life. Wish I had more to tell you, but that's pretty much it. The weather has got me wanting to move to a place with warmer temperatures something fierce. The time will come. Oh and if you have anything you would like to know, or want me to blog about, just let me know. I would be happy to have a topic to indulge you on rather than my somewhat boring life. Later days!

Our house smells like wet suit

Well folks, it's been awhile. Can't say that I'm sorry cuz I have just been way too busy to even think about my blog. And the only reason that I'm writing now is that it is a good procrastination tool, seeing as I have 3 midterms this week, one next week and 4 the week after. Crazy, I know, but the week after Thanksgiving is my last crazy week and then it's all somewhat downhill from there.

SCUBA is going alright. I wish it was done now. The ocean dive was good. Nothing spectactular. Didn't see much because of all the debris and algae floating around and was freezing cold so all I wanted to do was get out of there. I guess it made the pool dive tonight seem warmer. I would really love to scuba dive in a tropical area once I have my certificate. It would be warm and the colors of fish and sea life would be awesome. One day hopefully.

I don't have a whole lot else to report on. I can't wait for this semester to be over. It barely started but I just want to be done with school and get on with life. An enjoyable one. Andy and I aren't dating anymore either . . . um, no real story to that one so can't really give you any details. I am busy working on finding a job/internship in the states and getting a visa for that too. There are some great opportunities, I just need to get on it so that I can go in January already. Hawaii, Florida, California, etc, the possibilities are endless.

Haven't heard back from the aquatics work study position. Seems like it's a "no" but I'm trying to be patient to hear back from them. The visit from my mom and grandma was enjoyable and it was good to see them. Wish that I didn't have so much work that week, but what can you do? We did the horse carriage ride downtown, which was awesome, and did some shopping and mini golfing and other such shinanigans.

Well that's about all from my corner of the world. Hope life is treating you all well and you lead more exciting lives than me. Later days!!

Half Way Through September

Well folks, school is in full swing now. The past two weeks have been pretty boring because there hasn't been that much reading or assignments today. However, that begins to change this week. I am taking SCUBA diving lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays for the next 4 weeks and then we get to do 6 open ocean dives. I am really excited for this. It is also a great thing to have in order to get a job at an aquarium in the future. I have quizzes already this week too and some prelim. work on some papers. Should be quite busy. Plus I am just trying to find stuff to do to fill up my time. I have applied for a work study and am now just waiting to hear if there is an open position in the aquatics facility where they house the fish. I really hope so. It would be a great experience and a good thing to have on a resume. Just gotta wait now.

Patience . . . a virtue that I struggle with. Oh man, I am so impatient and when I am just sitting around watching tv or studying I think too much and then I worry. It's a vicious cycle that I am trying so hard to correct. Prayer is the only thing that's going to fix that.

Whoa got a little off track there. So I just wanted to throw in a bunch of random and interesting facts that I learned this week in class or on the news:

- Never start running on a trail that you haven't run on before without knowing how far it is. Turns out the trail around the lake by our house in 10 km and I ended up running that the other day. Never ran 10km before. I was exhausted and I am still recovering today.

- Brain freeze. The reason that we get brain freeze is that the roof of our mouth has a very thin layer of tissue/cells. The bones and blood vessels and nerves run close to the surface. When you drink something cold, the bone drops a little hitting the nerve below it which sends signals to your brain and gives you brain freeze.

- On the internet I was reading that this man has eated 23,000 Big Macs since 1972 and he only weights 185 lbs. Apparently he eats 2 a day and is obsessed with them. He has only missed 4 days in his entire life. Oh and he walks 16 km a day, which will account for the lack of weight.

- One of the commentators of the NFL games last week was saying that the coach of the Cowboys said that this one player on the O line weighing at 310 lbs was "too light" to play that position. I laughed cuz that's huge. Probably 6'4 or something too. I think most of them weigh upwards of 500-600 lbs.

- Ever wonder what the white dome like shape at the bottom of your fingernail is? Well it's just the area where the underlying blood vessels aren't close to the surface of the skin and so you see white instead of pink. The blood vessels give the nail the pink color.

Anyhow those are some random facts that have been burning in my head that I just had to tell someone. Later days!!!

Previously promised pictures and more - in reverse order than I wanted

See what I mean? It's kind of a kitchen/salon/cafe/bedroom all in one.

Our living room/kitchen/hallway. The door at the end is Brianne's room. The door to the right is the one going upstairs and there is a door behind the kitchen area that is the bathroom.
The entrance and the desk that is now mine, since my room isn't big enough to have a desk in it.
My bedroom in our new place in Victoria. It's about 4 times smaller than Brianne's but the view in the morning is amazing! At 6am every day I see the sunrise over the ocean!

These are the Calgary Zoo pictures which I was just recently reminded to put on here.

We got to bring a friend, Aja came with Leia, Charlene with Brianne, and Andy with me. We also bought these massive soft ice cream cones that were amazing and cheap!!

Everything is finally coming together

Hey folks! It's been awhile but there is much to talk about today. I am back at school in Victoria for 4 more months. I will be finishing my marine biology degree in December and graduating in June. It's exciting times. I was just talking to my physiotherapist today as I passed her in the gym hallway and was telling her about my summer, my knee, the place Brianne and I have and she said "It sure sounds like things are finally coming together." I couldn't believe how true that was and how awesome my life is turning out to be. I've had some disappointments and frustrating moments in the past couple years but finally I am figuring out who I really am and how I can get the most out of life. I still have a whole heck of a lot to learn, but things are coming around.

As I look back on my time at Bamfield this summer, I can't help but smile. It was an amazing experience that I just want to tell everyone about. The whales, the class, the people, it was all great. I think the most important thing that I got out of that experience was confidence. Man alive, I was walking through campus yesterday and I was beaming with confidence. I have finally come to the realization that I don't need to impress people and that they aren't judging me. I can be who I want to be and do what I want to do. I am better at communicating with people I just meet and phoning for appointments and informational things. I want to be involved in things and hang out with other people. Not that I didn't before, but now I am just so excited to do it. I truly feel like a graduate. God is such an amazing God! This all may be rather personal for a public blog, certain people may say, but I would love it if others could take something from this and learn from my experiences.

Brianne and I have this great place up in Cordova Bay, about 10 min. drive to UVIC. It is gorgeous. We are a 5 min walk to the ocean and a couple minutes drive to a lake (actually the lake where the Canadian Olympic rowers practice at). She is occupied with getting a job and I am just getting into my classes which are conservation biology, animal physiology, vertebrates of BC, human anatomy, and a religious studies course on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Should be a great semester! We have visitors coming every month it seems. I like to think that we are a good excuse for people to come out to the island for a vacation.

I'm currently looking for some sort of club to join or volunteer opportunity because my course load is the least I've ever had and I fear that I am going to be quite bored. Well I am right now just because we haven't really gotten into the swing of things yet. The time will come. Oh yeah, me and Andy are doing good. Long distance again, but seems like it's the story of my life. Ha! Later days!!

I am not homeless

Greetings people! It's been quite some time since I posted on this thing, most likely due to the lack of excitement in my life. The last week of my course at Bamfield was awesome. Well we spent 3 whole days and nights writing our papers and presentations but it all turned out and I ended up with an A in the course. It was sad to leave all the friends that I had made up there but I am sure that I will see them again. Including Jamie who lives in Michigan and offered to go to a Detroit Lions game with me!

I spent a week in Lethbridge, mainly just sleeping, shopping, reading and working out while Andy was at work and then we did a bunch of stuff in the evenings, including an awesome meal at the Keg. It was so good. I had wanted steak for so long, and it tasted even better because it was the payment for a bet that I won that the Boston Celtics would beat the Lakers in the NBA finals. The next weekend saw me in Strome (east of Camrose) at Andy's parents house. We went golfing on the Saturday and for not golfing in 2 years I shot a 90 in the front 9 and 79 in the back. Ha. It was a really fun 7.5 hours of golf. LOL.

Since then (really only 2 weeks) I have just been working for my dad and getting frustrated about finding a place to live in the fall. However, on Thursday night we got a place!!! It's a great place a little far from school, but a good price and everything included. Brianne and I are even more excited now. I thank God for solving my problems and taking away my worry. Just that night was Leia's prayer night at the church and it was then that I just gave my burden of finding a place away to God. Amazing how when we finally let go of the control that we have over things, we see God work and feel a whole lot more peaceful about the whole situation.

I am pretty pumped for my classes in the fall too. I am taking conservation biology, vertebrates of BC (studying most of the birds and other wildlife of BC), animal physiology, a religious studies course (2nd year level so easy, on Judaism, Christianity and Islam), and human anatomy which will require a ton of memorizing, but I don't mind that when it's going to be useful information.

I am hoping to post again this week with some pictures from the Calgary Zoo and with some thoughts on the most recent book that I am reading. Thanks for reading! Later days!

Oh the life of a lighthouse keeper

Greetings! I am back in Bamfield after my 5 day stay at the Carmanah Lighthouse aka the Carmanah Hilton. It was far from roughing it. Some groups of people from our class were camping for 5 days and eating hotdogs and oatmeal. We got to stay in this house with leather couches, all the food we wanted, and some amazing lighthouse keepers to spoil us. Jerry and Janet had us over for homemade pizza and a lot of desserts one night and then the next night brought us leftovers and the next night we played Settlers of Catan and had more dessert. We also got the key to the lighthouse to go up any time we wanted. It was amazing. We did do some research but it was hard to be motivated to leave our sun tanning posts in order to sit up and take a count through a telescope.

The best day by far was Saturday. I was eating breakfast and looked out at the water and saw a fin. I was like "Okay it's probably just a humpback or a gray, no big deal." I went outside and saw 6 and knew then they were killer whales. I ran into the house, it was only 6 am, and woke everyone up banging on the doors saying killer whales. Turns out it was 3 pods together and over 80 whales. We saw 4 breaches and some feeding on fish. Later in the day we saw 5 transient killer whales. We got to see the moon through the scope too and Jupiter the planet and its 4 moons all lined up. We watched the sunset from the hill where the lighthouse is. Yeah definitely spoiled.

Today, however, is not so exciting. We have 2 days to work on our papers and finish up our reports. They are due Wednesday and in the afternoon is a guest speaker. Thursday are our presentations of our projects and Friday is clean up/bbq day. I am attempting to mak the 10:15 am ferry on Saturday in order to have enough time in the day to make it all the way to Lethbridge. We'll see how that goes. I might have company all the way to Vancouver from Bamfield though so that will be entertaining.

I know I constantly bore you with my day to day schedule, but I just don't have anything else to write. The rest of the summer . . . well that's up in the air. Just working for Dad I guess. The fall plans are coming along, not finalized but getting there. After that . . . who knows. It seems that whenever I make plans for my life and future, something happens and things get so thrown around. Usually that something that happens is my knee blowing out and having to have surgery. So at this very moment in time I just want to work for a bit after I am done school in December and make some decisions later. That's the extent to the plans. I would like to travel a bit too and for sure do the West Coast Trail. Everytime I step on that trail the more I want to finish it.

Well so long for now from one dark skinned, very burnt, marine biologist!

Crazy number of posts

Lauren and I doing what we do best . . . whale watching!

The pod of killer whales!

Greetings! Where I have the time for all these blogs is beyond me, well I guess it could be attributed to procrastination. I have a paper due on Saturday that is coming along but after putting the information in I need to revise it so it makes sense. I think that my paper writing skills aren't that good and I need some new method for writing them. My eyes are bloodshot now though and instead of getting some sleep I am going to blog a little so I don't keep my eager readers in suspense anymore.

My exam on Monday went well. Easy I thought. Tuesday we ended up going out on Brian's boat and saw a ton of gray whales, like over 40. It was crazy. He let me use his camera and so I have some really good pictures. It totally helps having a nice camera so that you actually want to take pictures. I think I might get one of those. Brian is a local guy who runs the West Coast Trail taxi boat from Port Renfrew to Bamfield. He knows pretty much everything and is so super nice.

Today we went out on a different boat to go offshoring for humpback and killer whales. In total we saw over 20 gray whales, over 20 humpback whales, 3 Dall's porpoises, 6 harbor porpoises, a lot of Steller sea lions, 4 dogfish sharks, and 20 resident killer whales! It was a great day! We saw one of the humpbacks feeding too and so we got to see the underside of it. The killer whales were amazing and came right for our boat and then swam under. They were so close that I even got some pictures with my lame camera. It was so exciting!!

We are thinking of going camping again on Saturday after we hand in our literature reviews. I am getting quite excited for that. Only 2 more weeks. How fast it has gone. Next week from Tuesday to Saturday I will be isolated in a little lighthouse cabin on the very west coast watching a sea lion haul out for 10 hours a day doing my research project. Should be entertaining. Later days!!


Humpback lunge feeding. You can see it's baleen and ventral pleets to take in water.
My favorite shot of a grey whale close to shore.

I'm lovin' it!

Greetings! My blogging lately seems to be a Sunday thing. I have come to realize that my blogs are all pretty much updates on my life and week rather than any cool topic to discuss. However, I like writing them and I hope that you enjoy reading. Obviously, or you wouldn't still be coming back here. Well I'm halfway done my course up here. It has gone really fast in some ways, but really slow in others. I love being close to the water, mountains, trails, wildlife, and being in class opposed to working. But I really, really want steak, I miss Andy, my family and a whole bunch of other people, and it will be nice not have to study for an exam (which I am supposed to be doing right now)! Pros and cons weighed, I am glad that I am here right now and when the time comes to go home I will be happy to. Take life as it comes!

One of the most exciting things this week was our dock dive on Monday. We jumped off the dock into the 8 degree water and went swimming. It was cold, but after awhile you just go so numb that it feels warm. It was so much fun. The next best thing this week was our camping trip on Friday night. Allison, Jennifer, Caitlin, Jamie, and I went to Pachena to camp. We didn't have a tent so we slept between a tarp and had rigged up this other little tarp on top to prevent some moisture. It didn't rain as it was close to 28 C yesterday. Safe to say we are all a little red today. We did some swimming there, badminton, campfire (with me eating half a bag of marshmallows. They like cooking them but don't like eating them), played some cards, and just hung out.


Tomorrow is our final exam, so after that we just have our literature reviews and our final projects. The work load is not too hard, but not really easy too. We didn't even have time to read our text at all, which we were supposed to be doing. Oh well. The next few weeks include a lot of offshore boating, working on projects and some lectures. It should be a really good time.

Well I don't have a whole lot else to report on. Life is grand up here. Prayer requests: Eva, Caitlin, Allison, and Jamie all have major upsetting things happening at home with friends and family, so if you could remember them in your prayers that would be great. Later days!!

Crunch Time

From the Left: Caitlin, Jennifer, Allison, Caroline. Having our movie night in the Fireside Lounge.
Campfire at Pachena.
Gray whale. I still suck at getting pictures of these.
The boats (skiffs) we took out to go whale watching.
Our side of Bamfield where the Marine Centre is.

Aloha! It is almost tropical out here today, hence the warm and friendly greeting. I really don't have the time to blogging today or anytime in the next 2 days but after getting some positive reviews I figured I couldn't let you all down. Since Wednesday not a whole lot has happened. It's crazy that you think that you need to put time into working and reading yet I just don't have any stories to tell then. My presentation on Wednesday went alright. Public speaking really ain't that bad. Friday we went out on the boats and saw some more gray whales, harbor seals, and other miscellaneous wildlife. Friday night we participated in the first bonfire of the year at Pachena Beach. Twas fun. We left early though to have a movie night and eat popcorn! Yay! I finally got some. It tasted incredible I must say.

Yesterday saw me working all day on my project proposal and presentation for Tuesday. I thought we did something fun but we really didn't. We watched Surf's Up to get a good dose of laughter but I ended up falling asleep. LOL. Today was incredible though. Being so busy this last week, my quiet time with God has gotten shorter and shorter. So I knew that today would be nice. I spent my usual 2 hours down at a quiet part of the inlet having my own little church service. And as expected, it was amazing. There is nothing quite like being by the water worshiping God. I have a couple podcasts of Insight for Living to listen to. Learning about joy and just spending time with God today has given me hope and taken away my stress for the upcoming week. I'm not going let my God time vanish this week, it's way too important.

I then had a 2 hour nap before lunch. After lunch Allison and I just chatted and worked hard on our stuff. We are planning on a walk soon tonight to release some stress. Everyone is freaking out up here to get these papers done. I am sure that it is going to be much worse in a couple weeks when the real project paper is due. Eek!

Only 4 more weeks. The past 2 have flown by and after this week we aren't having regular lecture times, so it will go by even faster I think. We get to head out to work on our projects on July 8 or so for a couple days, so I am looking forward to that. As for my knee, well, I'm taking it easy for the time being. It's so hard to sit back from all the activities going on here. I just have to pick and chose which ones I would rather do. Well, hope you enjoyed the pictures once again. I guess it's more fun than reading this whole long thing.

Oh I almost forgot. It's disappointing that there are no good sports to be updated on now. After my Boston Celtics beat Andy's Los Angeles Lakers this week I have no one to cheer for. Ha and that victory was bet on with me winning a meal at the Keg! Oh yeah I can taste it now. I think the bragging rights are 100 times better. Later days!

20 km hikes, presentations, and general fun

Me sitting at Flat Rocks. An amazing view!
The view at Flat Rocks - 10 km into the West Coast Trail
The lush temperate rainforest of BC
Caitlin climbing the ladders that we had to go up and down on the trail.
Me at dusk on the balcony looking out over Barkley Sound!

Wow so much has been happening up here, it's crazy. On Saturday we went on a 20 km hike. Well 10 in and 10 out. We had to bush wack a bunch when we went off the trail to get to the beach. We saw a bunch of whales and some sea lions. We also had to repel down and climb up a mud slope. So much fun. I think everyone was sore from that. It was part of the West Coast Trail and it was really muddy. Someday though I am going to hike all 80 km of that trail. Camp in a couple places and take time to enjoy the scenery.

Sunday saw us heading to the beach to get some sun. Got a little burnt on my face and legs, but it's all good now. Today I did my first presentation which went extremely well. I had practiced a lot. We are all getting really comfortable with each other now, so it's way easier to speak out and in front of people.

Last night I played basketball for the first time in like a year and a half. It was so much fun! I haven't played much pick up ball so it was awesome. I did well too and it was funny because everyone thought that I was amazing. Not to brag or anything. I did hit like 80% of my shots. It was really fun. I had a good time playing against the boys too that thought that they were so much better than me. LOL. Steve did stuff me twice mainly on account of me not really being able to jump. Today, however I am paying for it. My knee is okay, a little sore, but all the rest of my muscles are super sore. Everyone is out right now playing ultimate frisbee and I really, really wanted to play but know that I just can't. I need a day of rest before going hard on my knee again. There will be other days too. Tomorrow is volleyball so I am looking forward to that. Probably on the beach too!!

The work load is picking up a lot. I am finalizing my project tonight and working on my proposal a bit. It seems like a shame to be holed up in my room working when there are people to talk to and the sun is shining, but things must get done. We have a full weekend with hikes and boat rides so not much will be getting done then.

Last night too I had an awesome discussion and talk with my roommate Allison about everything! And I mean everything. Mostly religion but a lot of controversial stuff such as homosexuals, abortion, politics, war, animal rights, career choices, etc. It was amazing. I almost fell asleep in class today though since it was 2:30 by the time we got to bed. Prayer for that would be great! Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Later days!

Yahoo for whale sightings

Just a picture of what the coast looks like around here. The rocks show so many different colors, it`s amazing.
This is the Steller sea lion haul out.
This is a really bad picture of me, but this is my friend Caitlin.
This is probably my best picture of one of the grey whales that we saw.

Greetings Folks! At this very moment I am looking out my window and watching a raccoon. Anyhow we went on a full day boat trip today around the islands to check out the wildlife, as seen above. We saw many gray whales, a few humpbacks, a couple harbor porpoises, a haul out of harbor seals, one sea otter, and a huge haul out of sea lions. For those of you that don`t know what a haul out is, it`s when all the animals are resting on the rocks together. It was pretty amazing. I love riding on boats. I was cold for quite a bit of the time, but having the water spray in your face was amazing. I almost fell asleep a couple times because it`s just relaxing, like putting a baby in a car. Instantly they are put to sleep.

We are all super chilled right now and just plan on doing work and play some cards tonight. No one has the energy to do things. Oh some other exciting news is that yesterday I ran for the first time since before my surgery . . . without pain!! I was so excited. It was only for about 20 minutes but it was hilly and my first time. Today my roommate Allison wanted to go so we went out again. Already I am getting better. However I was incredibly sore today and realized how few muscles we use like that on a daily basis.

The food is great up here. We have had a variety of things and the salad bar is always open. They always serve a big breakfast, like eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc, but, as you should already know, I just eat cereal. Some fruit too, but no big breakie. I love my cereal too much. However I am going to have a big one on Saturday and Sunday is brunch at 10:30, so that will be good too I think. On Sunday is a 150 year celebration of the coast guard so they are having a huge open house and a navy ship is coming in and going to be open for tours. It should be awesome. On Saturday our class is going on a full day hike on part of the west coast trail.

I just love it here. I miss certain things (popcorn) and people back home, but right at this moment I wouldn`t want to be back in city life. It`s really a great place. And after 6 weeks I am sure that I will be ready to go home. Hope you are all keeping it real! Later days!