Houseboating

So, I finally got photos back from our houseboating trip...I wanted to hold off telling any stories about that until I had some photos.

Basically there are a few events that really stick out in my mind. The most obvious of these memories was my attempt at jumping off the top of the boat. I was perched on the highest point, which must have been about 15 feet up, and as I pushed myself off my feet slipped on the wet deck and I plunged ungracefully, stomach first, into the water. Unfortunately, people were watching...and unfortunately, the fall resulted in many little bruises all across my rib cage.

As stated in a previous post, I have a slight allergy to bee stings...we decided to go for a hike one day, and all of us younger folk thought it would be much more fun to hack our way through the bushes rather than stay on the path. We were right...it was more fun, until Jake and I got stung at the exact same time, both on the leg. We both came screaming and running out of the foliage! Josh laughed heartily at this. He eventually got his own though...he sat down on a bee and got stung on his butt! Of all the people that got stung, I was the only one who swelled up...it looked as though I was sprouting another leg. There are still remnants of that sting even today...

This photo was taken "post sting"...maybe that's why Jake and I look miserable.

Glacier Cold

I just arrived home from Turner Valley late last night. I feel as if I have been gone for months! Well, I guess you could say that I have been. I've really only come home for a few days at a time between all my journeys around this vast country (or province).

I went to 'the valley' to do some studying and get some work done. Mission accomplished. And I received an unbelievable amount of encouragement in the meantime. I think in some ways I have forgotten how much I love the Bible and desire to be a woman who is founded in the Word. But there, in that school, being surrounded by people who delve deeply into Scripture everyday and who's lives have been transformed by it seemed to make me remember. I sat in on some classes and we went through the book of Titus. If you haven't read it recently take a look...it's only 3 chapters. Seriously...WOW...there is so much truth and revelation packed into those tiny chapters. I was so blessed by reading them and by learning again!!!

There seems to be something of 'relativism' creeping even into Christianity these days. We can't be dogmatic about truth because it might offend someone. We can't confront someone about issues in their lives because it's what they have decided to do and that's up to them. Well, I see Paul confronting issues all throughout the New Testament, and raging on people who were messing with the gospel truth! Amazing! And he sums it all up in 3 little chapters in Titus.

Why is it that we neglect to read the Word or don't take the time to know it or understand it? I feel like life has been breathed back into me and I'm excited about reading and studying and having Jesus lead me and guide me through it all.

Anyway, there is a whole new school on now and they will be spending the next 9 months just studying and immersing themselves in the Bible...I got to spend some time talking to these folks, and at one point, convinced them that it would be a good idea to go swimming in the river. Now, you have to understand that this river is all glacier fed. And it's the middle of September. And the summer there was not very warm. So, I'm sure you can imagine what it might have felt like. Our number one rule was that your head had to go under...you had to be completely submerged in the water. There was a girl from Taiwan, a guy from Louisiana, another guy from Winnipeg, and then two of us hearty Albertan girls. I nearly threw up it was so cold! We had an audience of people down by the river taking photos and shivering for us when all of our extremities had gone numb. I felt like I was running on stumps...like my feet had fallen off somewhere in the river and I was now left to run on the stumps of my legs.

Although I might be nursing a bit of a cold now I'm incredibly glad that I did it.

Worst Ever!

I currently am the worst blogger in existence...well, maybe not the worst (see Daryl's blog about teenage girls), but I am in pretty bad shape when put next to my blogging guru friends. Seriously, they always have something interesting and chuckle-worthy to say. I do all this stuff and strange things seem to always happen to me, but then I lack the time, or the ability to make the time, to write about it. I don't deserve the faithful readers that I have.

I have had some pretty awesome things happen to me recently, of which I will write about later (the #1 reason I am the worst blogger in existence-it's always later). Nothing like, I've met the man of my dreams and I'm getting married in 2 months, or someone gave me a plane ticket to Egypt and gave me money to spend while I'm there...but more like stupid awesome...the kind of awesome that people shake their heads in embarassment for another and laugh.

I am in Turner Valley right now being a study nerd, so my brain won't function in the "be-funny-in-your-blog" zone. Sorry folks...more to come.

Can't Sit Still

So, I know that I just recently got back but duty calls. I'm off the Shuswap to enjoy a week of houseboating...my first houseboating experience ever! I've become the honorary member of a certain family here and it's "grandma and grandpa's" 50th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we are locking ourselves on a boat together for 8 glorious days. It will have been a success if none of us are dead or have killed each other over the duration of the holiday.

Also, check out some photos of when Kyle and Dan were here. We were seriously only 4 feet from a feeding, angry lion.

The Creeps

Now I’ve lived in Alberta all my life, and I have lived in this particular part of Alberta for over half of it. I know the area pretty well. I know of all the towns in our district and how to get around without ever needing a map…or at least I thought I did.

The other day me and some friends went to look for this random door in a field. Seriously, it's as random as it sounds. Just a door in a field. To my dismay, we couldn’t find it…the directions we were given led us down this creepy road that freaked me out the most of anyone in the car, and sure enough, into a town that I didn’t even know existed. The problem is, this wasn’t just a normal town...it was a town that seemed to all of sudden "appear" out of nowhere, sort of like Narnia. We entered some secret portal that rocketed us into the world of the creepy and the strange, leaving all sense of logic and normalacy behind. This was a scary town. It was called Allington and consisted of about 2 houses and about 3 trailers. It was like leaving what I knew to be Alberta and entering this other dimension. Also, as we were trying to wrap our minds around this new and weird place Kyle thought he might have seen a woman standing in a field. Had it been the middle of the day that would have been one thing, but this was late into the night. No woman in her right mind would stand in the middle of a field! I was so creeped out so I sped out of Allington and back into Alberta as I knew it.

We never came across the door in the field, but we did stop and take some photos on the road. This was long after the creep session, so I had pretty much calmed my over active imagination down.