January - April recap in pictures

JANUARY

One of the first weekends after I got home from Malaysia, Bren asked if I wanted to hitch a ride with a class from her school that was going over to Victoria. I hadn't been to Victoria since High School (you don't need to know how long ago that was), so I said, "Yeah, let's go." It was a bit on the chilly side ... ok, a LOT on the chilly side and a little drizzly as well, but the scenery was still beautiful.

Here are our beautiful Parliament buildings and The Empress Hotel.

More from The Empress Hotel. Tea, anyone?

View from The Empress and possibly a building I could work in if I moved to Victoria. All in all it was a nice day, however, we did say we have to go back when the weather's a little more agreeable.

FEBRUARY

We started February off with a bang! Snow! Now, I know snow in February doesn't sound so out of the norm, but for us British Columbians it is ... or at least it used to be. I thought this was odd, but I didn't know what we were in for. We ended up having snow in April as well - UNHEARD OF! Still, "It really was quite pretty," I say begrudgingly.

Also in early February my friends dog had puppies! I don't know how well you know me, but I LOVE puppies! Aren't they adorable? They looked like little sausages. hee hee They were so small. They didn't even have their eyes open at this point. Too cute!

Mid-February I won tickets to go see Mika in concert. Who's Mika, you ask? A lot of people asked me that, but you would know his songs if you heard them. I did take lots of video as well, however, it would take up too much space to post them here. If you have Facebook access, I posted them there. I knew Mika was an odd character so I wasn't sure if his concert would be weird-odd or weird-fun. It was definitely weird-fun. He had SO much energy and his stage was decorated like a circus. It had an Alice In Wonderland feel to it. Very well worth the price of admission ... oh wait, they were free! :) Bren and I both said we'd definitely go see him again.

By the end of February there were a few beautiful, sunny (yet still a little chilly) days so we made the most of them and got outside for a walk and I brought my camera along.

MARCH

Karen and I decided to go see some comedians in early March. Now, going to see comedians can be a crap shoot. Will they be funny? Will they be crude to be funny? Will they dog my religious beliefs? I would have to say "yes" to all 3 of those questions.

Here are 4 of them you might know:

Picture #1 - Mary Lynn Rajskub (she plays Chloe on 24) Didn't know she was a comedian? Most people say the same thing. She started off TERRIBLE! Got a bit better in the middle and ended on a funny note.

Picture #2 - Greg Behrendt (author of He's Just Not That Into You) Sorry the picture's blurry, but it's probably because I was crying I was laughing so hard. He made the night worth going. SOOOO funny!

Picture #3 - Janeane Garofalo (she's been in such movies as Reality Bites; The Truth About Cats & Dogs; Mystery Men) She was funny, but a little too political for me. Got a bit boring at times.

Picture #4 - Patton Oswalt (plays Spence on King of Queens and is the voice of Remy in Ratatouille) He was quite funny as well.

All in all a pretty good night. Definitely a few things we didn't need to hear, but we had a fun night out.

A couple of days later I had to go check on the puppies again. Now their eyes were open. :)

Through Facebook I got a wonderful message from a long time friend named Genny. She had extra tickets to a hockey game and did I want to go? Her treat! Well, of course I said yes. 1) It's always fun to catch up with old friends and 2) A hockey game is always a good time.

It was so great to catch up with Genny, Shelly and Marilyn. Thanks for a great night out, you guys! Let's do it again soon.

Easter without family around is kind of weird. Every one's getting geared up for their family festivities and I'm ready to settle in with my remote and watch a good movie or something. Not this year. Jennie invited Bren and I over for an Easter egg hunt and Easter dinner. It turned out to be a beautiful day outside so the egg hunt was quite fun.

I didn't get any pictures of the scrumptious dinner, but check out the last picture. Jennie knows how much I love paska and since my Mom doesn't live in the same town as me, it's very hard for me to listen to all my Mennonite friends talk about (and put as their status' on Facebook) how wonderful it is to have Paska at this time of year. Jennie also took care of that. She made paska for me and it was her first time ever making it. That was SO special! Thank you Thank you Thank you, Jennie. You are SUCH a great friend for thinking of me when I know you have so much going on in your life already. This was a very special Easter for me.

Again, a few days later, I just had to go check on those puppies again. Now they were all chubby and running around. I could just gobble them up!

Regrettably, this is my last post of the puppies. Right after this, they started selling like hotcakes. Every time I would come over there would be 1 or 2 less puppies until one day when I drove up I actually watched the 2nd last one get into a car and drive away. That was very sad ... although my friends were pretty happy that they weren't stuck with 8 puppies, so I was happy for them. I sat and played with the last puppy for awhile and a few days later she was gone as well. I guess you have to wait awhile to breed the Mom again, but does anyone know exactly HOW long you have to wait? ha ha

APRIL

April brought a trip up to Sun Peaks to my parents condo. It's a good thing we went when we did because they sold it about a week later. :( I really didn't take advantage of that place enough. I only went up there a few times over the years.

My Dad built the Hearthstone Lodge and he did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. :)

This is the view from our room. We could see the slopes and how many people were on them. Since this was the 2nd last weekend before they closed, the slopes were pretty empty. This last picture above is the pool we tried to get into at The Delta, but they wouldn't let us. :(

The weather cooperated for the most part and Bren and Karen had a great time skiing/snowboarding.

Since I do neither of those things, I took the chair lift up to the top and just had a look around. Unfortunately, there really was no view from the top so I waited for Bren and Karen to come meet me and then I headed down again.

The little guy in this picture below was TWO YEARS OLD!!! Isn't that cool? The guy can barely walk and here he is skiing. I love it! When we asked his Dad how old he was, he said he gets asked that a million times a day. I bet! It's just so cute you can't help but ask. The rest of the pics are the view of the village on the way down the lift.

I really wanted to go snow shoeing, so the girls went with me. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but the snow was pretty compact, so maybe it would be harder in deeper snow.

We were gone for about 2 hours and we were happy to see the village in the distance when we came around this last corner. :)

A fun time away!

Most recently in April my sister, Jodi, came to visit. She had a lot on her plate while she was here, so we only got to hang out for 48 hours, but it was worth it to see her to chat, hang out and have some good laughs.

Picture #1 - Jode LOVES her some Starbucks!

Pictures #2, 3 and 4 - We took a walk down to English Bay. It was nice out but a bit on the chilly side.

Picture #5 - If you ever see these 3 buildings in English Bay area, my Dad built those. :) Can you tell I'm proud.

Pictures #6 & 7 - I don't know if you've seen this cute little store on Denman, but it's called Cupcakes. It's very girly and pink and that describes my sister, so we had to take some pictures. We didn't actually end up buying one .. I don't really know why. Hmm, silly of us.

Picture #8 - Cherry blossoms. So pretty!

Picture #9 - We met up with my friends at Las Margaritas to celebrate Bren and Natasha's birthdays. I just realized that this picture cuts Natasha off, so I'm going to add it again below. That's one thing I don't like about these collages.

Now I'm pretty much caught up. Again, sorry for not being more frequent, but I've been more of a nomad then usual and have finally moved into another house sitting place. This time I'm here for at least 6 months, so I'll be able to set up camp more often and will feel more settled. Hopefully that'll get me back on track with my blogging ... that is ... if I still have any readers.

I'm a terrible blogger!!!

Hey Everyone,

I'm SO sorry for not posting for so long. I'll be back to regular blogging soon. I promise. Right now I'm training for the Sun Run (which is this Sunday, aaaaahhhh!!) and I'm involved in a fundraising/charity even called Run For Water (www.runforwater.ca). We've been having more meetings lately as June 1 is fast approaching. What is it? Well, thanks for asking.

The 1st annual Run For Water will be held in Abbotsford on June 1, 2008 featuring chip-timed half marathon and 10k distances and a 5k Fun Run. It will start and finish on the scenic grounds of Mill Lake Park and will also feature a post-race concert by Abbotsford Canadian Idol finalist, Greg Neufeld. As the BC Lions open training camp in Abbotsford that same day, we will also have Wally Buono and several BC Lions players in attendance. We've also sent Trevor Linden an invitation but have yet to hear back from him.

Run For Water Society is a local group of volunteers, of which I am a part, dedicated to: 1) promoting a sense of community spirit in Abbotsford, 2) encouraging active, healthy living and 3) raising money to provide clean water in Amedo, Ethiopia. We would love for you to register! Get involved in the fundraising program and help provide clean water to people in Amedo, Ethiopia with the top adult fundraiser receiving 2 round trip airfares to anywhere in continental North America!!! The top youth fundraiser will be able to choose from among several options including 2 club seats to the Canucks opening game next year, 4 tickets to a BC Lions game or gift certificates to some great stores. Registration is underway now!

All distances will accommodate both walkers and runners with advance start times available to ensure that the walkers have sufficient time to complete the course.

If you know someone who is not a runner/walker, Run For Water can use their help. We will need many volunteers to help make this happen. You can check the website for volunteer opportunities. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please feel free to forward this information to friends and family and help make this event a smashing success!

He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!

How do I even begin to explain what this weekend means to me, as a Christian? The sermon we had at our church last weekend by Jeff Bucknam puts it best. Unfortunately, to type it all out would be quite long. I'll try to summarize as best as I can.

Jeff talked about what the Resurrection means to Christianity and to Christians. First, he said that the resurrection means EVERYTHING to Christianity and then he gave some amazing facts. He told us to pretend that we are a jury and we are to decide after he's given us the facts whether or not Jesus rising from the dead ever happened. Things like:

1) a man named Jesus actually lived (there's more evidence that Jesus lived than Caesar Augustus)

2) the tomb was empty 3 days after Jesus' death and the body was never found

3) people claimed to have seen Jesus alive after His death (none of these people EVER changed their stories - even after being threatened with death and some of them were killed because of it). There were many other things that I had never heard before and I had never thought to investigate because of what I will sometimes call my blind faith. Very compelling things that I don't know how anyone could argue against.

After Jeff gave us the facts, he told us the theories that have come about to try to explain Jesus' body being gone.

1) The Swoon Theory - Jesus didn't die, he just fainted (Roman soldiers had been doing this for years and were threatened with death themselves if a criminal didn't die, so you'd think they'd make pretty sure about that).

2) The Conspiracy Theory - The disciples stole His body and made up the story (again, none of them ever changed their stories and usually people only do something like that to gain something from it and they definitely didn't gain anything by it).

3) The Hallucination Theory - the disciples were so sad that they wanted Jesus to be alive so they started hallucinating (hallucinations are usually private and 500 people don't "see" the same thing at the same time as well as hallucinations usually only happen once unless you are insane, but many people saw him over and over, plus there's still no body in the tomb).

4) The Myth Theory - the story grew over time (myths are quite general, but the Bible is very specific - Jeff also had some amazing time lines compared to other historical documentation to back this up).

Pretty much what Jeff said at the end is that if you can disprove the Resurrection, you can disprove Christianity. He talked about a man named Antony Flew who was in a debate with a Christian (being an atheist at the time) and every point the Christian would make, Antony would say, "You're right. You're right." The Christian said to him afterwards, "What happened? That wasn't a debate," to which Antony said, "Because I think I believe everything you said." He's now written a book called There Is a God (How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind). Our whole reason behind Christianity is the Resurrection. If there was no Resurrection, there is no hope. If there was no Resurrection, there is nothing after death, but if you go where the evidence leads, Jesus DID rise from the dead.

Of course Jeff puts this all way more eloquently than I ever could, so if you want to hear his whole sermon, click here.

This first part was all very important and directed at your mind, but then Jeff said, "Now let me talk to your heart for awhile." He then said that the Resurrection also means EVERYTHING to Christians. He said that because Jesus rose from the dead, one day so will I! That is VERY exciting and the whole reason to be a Christian is to one day live in Heaven with Him. Death is NOT the end! As a Christian, if I really believe that:

1) it would make me a pretty dangerous person because death cannot hold me. Life should not scare me because that's not all there is for me. Jeff says an amazing quote by N.T. Wright at the end of his sermon that you'll have to go listen to his sermon if you want to hear (sorry, I'm not trying to dupe you, but it's a really long quote). It talks about us as Christians being Easter people and that death has no hold over us.

2) it would change the way I see my present circumstances. How I live now is completely dependant on my belief in the future. There's a story from the 1700s of a man who was going to inherit a million dollars (which of course in that day and age would be about 10 million dollars now). On his way to pick up that inheritance, his carriage broke down. He had just been travelling with a smile on his face thinking about this inheritance and when he got out and saw that the wheel was broken and he would have to walk the last 5 miles into town, he cursed the heavens. The whole walk into town he complained, "My carriage is broken. My carriage is broken." A man mad at God and angry about his suffering is like a man on his way to the city to collect his inheritance while muttering, "My carriage is broken. My carriage is broken." Wow! What an amazing analogy. I DO NOT want to be that complainer. Yes, I'm still single at 35 and yes, I've been having troubles at my job lately and maybe someone cut me off in traffic yesterday, but you know what? I have an amazing inheritance waiting for me that FAR outweighs anything that can happen to me on earth. Why do I have this amazing inheritance? Because Jesus DIED for my sins and HE ROSE AGAIN to go and prepare a place for ME in Heaven. ME! Little old me. Now that's love and that's the God I believe in.

Final Days ... for real this time

We got home from Phi Phi Island pretty late, so Charlie didn't get picked up until the next morning. Everyone was very happy to see him.

The day before I left, I went and got my hair washed and straightened. It's super cheap (as are most things there) and of course the head massage feels wonderful. Can you guess what he's doing in the picture below?

He's washing my hair! As I'm sitting in the chair in front of the mirror. The thing he's holding above my head is like a little vinegar jar but it's full of water and he puts little bits of shampoo in one hand and pours little bits of water on with the other and then starts massaging it in ... and somehow, it doesn't drip. Not one little bit. In the picture below he's about to scoop off the excess suds and he goes to dump it in the sink and then comes back and keeps massaging. It's very strange but very fun.

In the end, you do go to the sink to rinse it out, but it's just so different that I had to take a picture.

Here we are having our last supper at Chili's.

This picture of Charlie and I would look a lot funnier if he had his tongue sticking out like he did about a second previously and a second later. I had just put on a wonderful smelling lotion on my legs, arms and face and all of a sudden Charlie was my best friend. He was following me around and every time I would stop he would all of a sudden be licking my leg. I didn't clue in right away that it was because of the lotion, but when I would pick him up (he is always VERY calm and sits like a child when you hold him) he would stare straight ahead and then slowly turn his head and start licking my neck. Ok, I know this will gross some of you out, but it actually was making us all laugh really hard. I think it might be one of those things where you had to be there.

The next morning was my departure date. I said goodbye to the kids in the evening before and luckily I know I'll see them again this summer, so it wasn't a teary goodbye. As we drive to the airport we pass the 13 km bridge that connects their island to the mainland.

Then we arrived at the airport. Jode and I said our goodbyes and were on our way. I'll actually get to see her again in a few weeks as she has to come to a city near me to take a course, so I'm looking forward to that. Goodbye Malaysia. Who knows if I'll ever see you again, but thanks for hosting me not once, but twice. You are a beautiful country.

I had the awesome privilege of stopping over again in Singapore to see my Bible School friends and this time I got to go to their place and see where they live. Almost all apartment complexes that I visited in Malaysia and Singapore have a pool and a workout room. Nice!

This was the Christmas tree that Lisa made for them. I thought it was so cute.

Roommates reunited. I'm so glad that we've stayed in touch and stayed friends over all these years, Lise. I'm praying for your health, work and school situations over there. Thank you for taking the time out to show me around and for letting me see your world. You are doing wonderful things over there. Love you guys!

I had a wonderful trip and it was extremely hard to come back ... especially when you wake up to this the next morning. I couldn't believe how many times it snowed here this year. Anyways, that was back in January and much has happened since then. Thank you for taking this tour of Southeast Asia with me. Back to the real world ... until my next trip! :)

Last days ... on Phi Phi Island (you thought I was finishing my posts of my trip? No, I'm not done my tour quite yet!)

Please bare with me for this post and one more and THEN I will be done my posts about my trip. Thank you for your patience. :)

So, after a long day of snorkeling, we went and showered and chilled in our rooms for awhile. This was a common scene in our room. Ashtyn really did sit like that quite often. Whatever's comfortable, right? And I just love her hat. She's so cute. Yesterday was Syd's 15th birthday! Happy Birthday, Syd. You have turned into SUCH a great kid. Thank you for not being too cool to hang out with your old Aunt. :)

Just a few pics of our last day on the island. We walked the alley below MANY times to go for breakfast, lunch, dinner, shopping, snorkeling, 7-11 trip or just to people watch if we'd had too much sun that day. :) I miss this alley and hope I will see it again someday.

Here are some pictures to prove that we went for Thai food and I ate it! Ok, maybe the look on my face says it all, but I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Craig said the Pad Thai wasn't very good, so maybe I need to give it another try ... maybe. Do you notice that my plate is empty? I ate it all (but also notice that my drink is pretty much gone, too. Always need something to wash it down. haha No, it wasn't THAT bad.)

I can't believe my sis has been married for 17 and a half years! Wow! Good on you guys.

Almost every day we went for a massage. My first day I just had the sunburn massage because, well, I was a tad sunburned, but after that I had a Thai massage every time. Have you ever had a Thai massage? Amazing. Seriously, pretty much the best massage I've EVER had. Ok, the hot stone massage at Spa U.top.ia at P.an Pac.ific was really nice, but can't compare when it comes to prices. This Thai massage was $10 for an hour!

They work you good! Even little Jack got massages and loved them. He didn't get the Thai massage because it's a bit harsh for little bodies, but he would fall asleep almost instantly anyways, so it's a good thing they were cheap.

This little guy was the only cockroach I saw in Thailand. For those of you who say you don't want to go to Asia because there are so many bugs, sometimes that can be true, but we were there for 6 days and this was the only one we saw. While in Malaysia there was one in my sister's car and the girls had a little squealing, freak out session, but Auntie to the rescue and it was all taken care of.

December 31, 2007 on Phi Phi Island. We saw these weird lights floating through the air and wondered what they were, so we took a walk down to a different part of the island. The picture on the top, right is of the lantern being lit and let go. It works kind of like a hot air balloon in that the heat from the fire makes the lantern fill up and float. It looked absolutely beautiful filling the sky with these floating lanterns, however, apparently it's been banned in some cities due to not knowing which way the wind would blow and it could crash and start a fire and also because they float quite high and could intercept with planes. Oops!

We hung out on the beach waiting for the fireworks to start, but at about 11:10 pm we started getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, so we moved the party indoors. Jackson really wanted to play charades, so that's what we did until the fireworks started.

Happy New Year! Bring on 2008. Although New Year's is fun, it was also a reminder to me that my trip was coming to an end. We only had one more day on Phi Phi Island and then only another few days after that and I'd be heading back to Canada. :(

On New Year's Day we all did our own thing. The girls stayed in the room and watched TV for awhile while Jode, Craig and Jack went kayaking. I hung out on the beach reading the last Harry Potter book and just vegged. I was really into my book and didn't even realize that there was music playing at a restaurant down the beach until ... I hear ... "All is quiet, on New Year's Day ..." I had to put down my book and stop and listen to my favorite band in the world. What could be better than sitting on a quiet, beautiful beach in Thailand listening to U2. Aaahh, good times.

Our last supper together on Phi Phi Island and the only picture of all 6 of us together (although you can barely see Jackson).

Yet another sister picture. :) Although my sister and I had a pretty good relationship while growing up, I was always the pesty little sister and was always jealous of my cool, older sister. Being 2 years apart means we were into the same things (mostly) and there were a few fights over the years. As we've grown into adults, we have learned the importance of a good relationship and I value that we are now friends as well as sisters. I am very thankful to have you for a sister, Jode. I love you very much and love that we can be honest and upfront with each other and that we can also almost pee ourselves laughing sometimes.

Jackson wanted to have a drinking contest. These were milkshakes and all of a sudden I realized I was going to get a brain freeze if I drank too fast and plus I wanted to savour my drink throughout the meal (although they're so cheap you can buy 3 or 4 for the price of 1 back home), so I stopped drinking. He kept sipping away and we all said, "Jack, you're going to get a brain freeze!"

He threw up his hands and said, "I win! No brain freeze, but I do have a little bit of a headache." Funny kid.

The girls and I decided to get henna tattoos on our last night there so they would last longer when we got home (they were supposed to last 2 weeks, but had pretty much faded out after 1 week). I want to get my next (for real) tattoo on my wrist, so I thought it would be a good idea to get a fake one there first to see if I like it. Ashtyn wanted hers on her neck (like I have) and Syd wanted hers on her wrist the same as me. We all wanted something similar so we picked out the suns. I actually really liked mine so I know for sure that's where my next one will be (sorry, to those who don't like tattoos - I hope you don't think any less of me). I've told my Mom that she gets to design my next tattoo. I wonder how she's coming along with that (hint, hint, Mom).

The next morning it was time to head back to Malaysia. Here's my sister again in her jeans. :P

The 4 of us took our spots out on deck and Jode and Ashtyn went below again.

As we were pushing off, I took one last look around. Goodbye Phi Phi Island. I hope to come back and visit again some day.

About 2 minutes after we set sail, a huge swell came over the boat and we were soaked. I moved up to higher ground, but still got sprayed little bits here and there throughout the hour and a half ride. I thought as I was sitting there soaked to the bone that if I was on a ferry to Vancouver Island right then, I would've been upset and wet, but here I am on a ferry in the middle of the Andaman Sea in Thailand and it's so warm out that I'll be dry in a couple of minutes. Aaaah, this is the life.

When we landed in Krabi, Craig's brother and his girlfriend were there to greet us. They actually live on Vancouver Island and have a Thai food restaurant there, but she's from Krabi and they happened to be there visiting, so it was perfect timing for us to connect, the kids to see their Uncle again and for Craig to spend a few hours with his brother.

After we had lunch with them, we started our 7 hour drive home.

We saw some interesting things on the way home (who needs to MOW the middle of the freeways when you have cows to do that for you?) ...

we made a few minor pit stops on our way ....

and of course saw some pigs being transported.

It was a very fun trip within my trip. Thanks to Jode and her family for taking the time out of their schedules to go away with me and take me to this beautiful place. I will always remember my first trip to Phi Phi Island.