seasoned with salt

Beauty

2010-07-12T21:02:00.000-07:00

just a few pictures of things i've found beautiful in the past two weeks

white rose at the portland train station

politely being asked to ride the train again sometime

baby birds in the tree off our deck (okay, they are kinda creepy, but beautiful in a "new to the world" kind of way)

the empress on canada day

the legitslative buildings all aglow

hillary all aglow as she walks towards kevin with her father

a stolen moment

a cat in a university of oregon hat

a baby in the queen elizabeth park fountain

thoughts on comparative education

2010-07-08T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of my classes this semester at UO is Comparative Education taught by a prof named Spike (okay, so that's not his real name, but that's what he has us call him). He's the kind of prof that's so interesting to listen to that you can actually ignore the fact that he stands there talking to you for an hour and fifty minutes without stopping. The thing that I think I really appreciate about him is the fact that he challenges me to be critical of the lens through which I view the world.

For example...

Have you ever heard of the Bengali famine of 1943? I hadn’t until today. I hadn’t realized how influential Winston Churchill had been in instigating the mass export of rice from Bengal which resulted in a country-wide famine. The British needed rice, and so naturally Churchill set out to find it, but in filling his country's need he, in essence, caused the death of nearly 4.5 million Bengali men, women and children. Now I'm not a political history buff, so I do plead some ignorance in not having heard any of this before, but I just couldn't fathom how this significant piece of history has essentially been pushed aside in light of the devastation of the Second World War and Churchill's significant involvement in that. Even a quick glance through research on the 1943 famine would lead you to believe that an earlier cyclone and drought were to blame for the destruction of crops, but the way in which many of the studies are framed is deceiving.

Think of this in light of the holocaust. How do we know so much about World War II and the death of millions of jews, pols, homosexuals, gypsies and others over a period of 5 years, but the death of 4.5 million in less than a year is virtually ignored by the history books (or at least by social studies curricula)? We are quick to blame Hitler for the holocaust and the idea of concentration camps, and yet in Mein Kampf he wrote the he got the idea from the way in which Americans, and I would argue Canadians, treated First Nations people and the consequent introduction of reservations and residential schools. I am in no way meaning to downplay the evil of Hitler's character, however I realize now how quick we are to focus on some events in history and complete wash over or neglect others. Obviously the social studies curriculum could not possibly contain a complete overview of world history, but I believe a critical look at the events included in the curriculum is necessary to ensure that we're not sending students out into the world completely as completely biased individuals with limited critical thinking skills.

I guess I write all this to say that I realize now (well, maybe only a little bit more than before) the extent to which I have been indoctrinated with such a biased view of the world, its history and its people. In class my prof came to the conclusion that the Greatest Generation (the parents of baby boomers like himself) need to be told that, “you guys really f*&%#d the world up bad”. I don't know if I'd quite go that far, but I do agree with him when he said that, “all this s**t has been designed by men… it could be undone by men too” though I would argue that men alone would struggle to do just that.

So there you go. That's just a glimpse of my first week back at school this summer... we'll see how the next three weeks pan out.

two years later...

2010-07-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Now that school (well, teaching) has ended for the year, and I have a little more time to ponder

life, I find myself longing to put my thoughts into words. Now I can't promise that any of these words will be readable, or for that matter, interesting, but I figured it would be a bit of an adventure to update this blog with stories younger than 2 years old.

In the last two years I have learned much and loved much. I've fallen morein love with my fabulous husband and have finally begun to realize how ridiculously crazy itmustbe to live with someone so scatter-brained, yet particular as me. We've added a kitten, but no babies to our family (apparently Mia is a baby replacement tactic... though I've become wise to that game) and we've gained one of the cutest nephews you could ever have. I've added six or seven new classes to my teaching repetoire (french 8, 9, 10; science 8, 9, 10; psychology 11, 12; keyboarding 8; biology 11) and am beginning to consider myself a jack of all trades (certainly not a master, as I am far from that). In my attempt to become a "master", I'm now one year into my master's degree in Educational Policy, Methodology and Leadership at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. I've been able to take classes on weekends throughout the school year (the profs fly or drive up), but I currently find myself living just off-campus in Eugene, while completing 12 credits of courses in the month of July. It's a little crazy leaving everything behind toenter "university mode" once again, but next June (or possibly even April if my thesis writing skills prove savvy) it'll all be said and done, and i'll officially be a "master" (or so they say). I've started "practicing" what this might look like (as you can see... though truly it's only the local paper that I'm reading). It's hard not to be distracted by the beautiful buildings on campus and the gorgeous scenery (that's my education building - the Lokey building). School only just resumed today, and after 6 full hours of classes and a few hours of homework and reading, it's already become a little ridiculous, though certainly bearable. I laugh at the quality required of my assignments and the depth of my reading compared to the quality of the night table I fashioned beside my bed (two tupperware containers stacked on top of each other covered with an apple green plastic shower curtain from target and a picture of my husband next to two garden gnomes... yup, it's a beaut!). But I'll make due, right? Plus, college/university was never a time for being fancy, and I'm not exactly a fancy kinda girl. Hopefully, in spite of my ridiculousness, I'll learn a few incredible things that I can take back to Tsawwassen with me. It's a strange combination of courses I'm taking - Comparative Education, Educational Leadership and Technology in Education (yes, all education courses, but they are very diverse in their nature), but so far they've proven to be interesting (verging on intriguing) and I can't wait to see how they develop. One of my favourite moments of the day was when my Comparative Ed prof, Spike, told us to be "intellectual knights of the jedi order". I'm sure if I was up on my Star Wars trivia that would have made sense, but all I could do was write it down and make a note to ask Finch. So Finch, what the heck does that mean and how does is relate to comparative education??

wedding video

2008-08-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

here's a little slideshow that my cousin, graham ballantyne, put together for us for our wedding

http://animoto.com/play/qEtfso0ReFfW9XO2qvhaDA

enjoy!

wedding details

2008-05-05T10:23:00.000-07:00

by the end of this week there will be only two months left before the big day. it's hard to believe that the last few months have passed by so quickly. when i look at a list of things a bride should have done by now, i'm somewhat overwhelmed. i mean, there's only one of me and, more often than not, maybe only one of my five bridesmaids is in town to lend a hand.

that doesn't mean that it isn't coming together... it's just taking a little longer than i'd imagined

just this past saturday andrew and i headed off to yaletown for our engagement photos. yes, it seems a little late for those, but better late than never. and i have to say, if you ever want photos taken, you have to hire our photographer - she's amazing! it's strange to say that i found out about her through facebook, but it's true. janelle hildebrand had posted her wedding photos and i absolutely fell in love with them. when i went to her photographer's website i just knew that i had to meet her. a few days later and christine was booked as our photographer. now i just can't wait to get the engagement photos back. from leaping into rew's arms on top of a rock in the ocean, to playing leap frog on a grassy hill, to climbing up a playground, to posing against a myriad of brick walls, it was a fun day of photos

aside from that, the bridesmaids dresses are in the mail, my dress is almost finished with alterations (and the portuguese crisis has been averted), i bought my shoes and i have my veil... and just about all of the wedding invitations have been sent out! if you got one, or even if you're just curious, feel free to check out the blog that i created full of wedding info. the website is right here

if you're in town and want to do anything wedding-y, come find me - i need all the help i can get

handy andy

2008-03-12T17:37:00.001-07:00

handy andy is certainly no reference to my dad. no, my dad can be handy around the house with the gardening and the tidying and those sorts of things, but his building skills are somewhat limited (and yes, that may be an understatement). thankfully, i'm marrying the quintessential handy andy. i just figured i'd post a few pictures of the carpentry project he's been storing in my parent's garage. when all is said and done, he will have constructed our bed, side tables and an armoire/dresser. here's a look at the beginning of all of that... the bed is actually finished now and stained a deep chocolate brown (oh so beautiful). unfortunately it's heavy and tucked in the corner of the garage, but when it comes back out again, i'll post the finished photos. i figure what's a blog good for except to brag about the many talents of a fiance :)

here's the initial load of lumber... we're suprised the truck didnt tip over

here's rew and the beginnings of the bed frame...

here's the frame itself... it now has vertical slats covering the hole in the middle and the foot board is shorter, but is a similar style. don't let the blonde wood fool you - it's earned it's tan by now.

that kinda bride

2008-03-11T15:12:00.000-07:00

so i went to my church's website to look for the podcast from the sunday night service, and when i open up the page, i'm greeted by the loveliest of all photographs (see left). uhhhh.... i don't know about you, but if i was someone looking for a church and that's the photo that came up on their main page, i might be more than a little concerned. not that there's anything wrong with looking like a bride straight out of the 1908s, but... okay, no, there is something wrong with that. i'm just thankful that my own wedding dress doesn't even vaguely resemble this one - aside from the colour, that is. however, the wing-ed hair piece reminds of one of those little dinosaurs that ends up hissing and killing 'Newman' in the original Jurassic Park and i guess that's kinda cool.

so that's my two cents for this afternoon. at least this bride had her wedding all put together by the time this photo was taken. me, i'm no where near the end of the craziness. one of these days i'm going to have to start making some more decisions and have an idea of the overall look of my reception... one of these days...

our new house?

2008-02-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

it's hard to believe that we may have just bought our own place

we've been looking in tsawwassen and ladner for a two bedroom condo that might work for us. ideally we wanted a place that was move-in ready but not perfected so that 'handy andy' could do his thing and make it absolutely beautiful (i.e. increase the value with a little sweat equity)

we've looked at a whole host of condos over the past few weeks, and while some were nice, there was nothing that we were especially excited about. after praying about it at bible study last tuesday, a beautiful place came on the market the next day. this place was a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1400 square foot condo in a red brick building in the middle of tsawwassen. unfortunately it was listed at a price a little above our budget, but after checking out it's specs online, we wanted to take a look at it.

on thursday afternoon, we met our realtor, Linda, to take a look at the place. the building itself is gorgeous - there are plenty of common rooms, including a hot tub, sauna, gym, hobby room/workshop, card room, kitchen and the like. the lobby looks much like that of a hotel and there's a giant courtyard overlooking the 17th green of the beach grove golf course. the condo itself was incredibly spacious, though it certainly is in need of some work. walking in the door, i was reminded of my grandma. not only did it smell like her (you know, the sweet smell of grandma & grandpas soap mixed with the antique/slightly dated furniture) but it was decorated in a way that she would have loved.

andrew and i quickly became excited about the place because of the huge living room and dining room area which translates into tons of space to have kids over and entertain. we're not really looking to buy a condo just for ourselves, but a place where our youth kids would have room to come and hang out (though the idea of our own retreat is nice too)

anyway, yesterday night after touring my mom and dad around the place, we sat down with Linda and made an offer. we had to offer less than asking because we're certainly stretching ourselves to afford this place, but we were certain that if this was the place that God wanted to bless us with, then our offer would be accepted. that may sound strange to some of you, but when andrew was praying with ron on thursday, a price came to mind, and so when rew and i sat down to discuss and pray about it yesterday night, we decided that if we could get it for that exact price, we would know that it was the place for us.

this morning we received a call from linda - our offer had been accepted at our exact price! we're thrilled and scared and nervous all at the same time. the offer still has a number of subjects on it (inspections, reading minutes, and the like) but if all goes through, then we take possession of the place on april 1st.

so i'm fairly stunned at the moment... our first place...wow! here's a glimpse of what it currently looks like. we'll post the after pictures at a later date! :)

the view

the spare bedroom

the nook

the kitchen... eek, but it'll do

the living room again

the giant master with a walk-closet i could live in and a bathroom so big you could host a dance party

it needs some tlc and a little updating, so use your imagination

a little east coast...

2008-01-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

i just thought i would post a few pictures from my trip out to the east coast this christmas. it's not a terribly fantastic blog post, but i just figured i'd put a little something up.

andrew and i at his sdbc staff christmas boat cruise (just before we headed east)

dancing around the snow covered driveway in moncton, nb (yes, i'm aware that i'm a dork)

rew and i outside in the snow...

carrie (my soon to be sister-in-law) at her wedding to wayne - she looked oh so amazing! (i wish i could plan a wedding in 14 days!)

just married! carrie & wayne thomas

my east coast family - carrie, wayne, me, rew, blair , debbie (dad & mom macdonald)

rew and the retirement home kitty

me and santa

the city hall manger scene - who knew that there was that much snow in bethlehem! i'd figured i'd point out Jesus seeing as he was covered over in snow.

the macdonald farm in kouchibouguac, new brunswick (try saying that five times fast)

the things you show to students around christmas...

2007-12-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

i laughed when i found this clip on teachertube.com. sometimes i wonder what we're really actually teaching our students when i see clips like penguins singing christmas carols in french, but then i realize that watching animated penguins sing and dance is probably much more entertaining than watching me sing and dance (entertaining for the students anyway). let's be serious, i find penguins pretty cute and entertaining, and so i leave you with the clip (which i've yet to show to my students)

sitting, waiting, wishing...

2007-11-30T13:58:00.000-08:00

i am not too fond of sitting and waiting.

in about one week i'll know if i'm living here for the next few years or if i'm off to the hinterlands (a.k.a the middle of the country where there's only ever snow or giant bugs).

in either place, andrew and i will be starting our lives together, so i really have very little to complain about. i guess snow could be a good thing...and we could actually afford to live in the middle of nowheresville, saskatchewan, but the lack of mountains and ocean is rather unappealing.

so i'm sitting, and waiting (and trying to be patient) ... will i be here or there? does it even really matter?

Being sent

2007-11-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the concept of 'being sent'. It's a phrase I hear spoken by friends, by youth and all over the church. In Acts 13 you see Saul and Barnabas sent out to the uttermost parts of the earth (an early example of the 'sending church'). Yet 'sent' need not mean dispersed over all the earth, but rather being marked by intercession, caring for the needs of hurting people, hungering to teach the Word of God, and demonstrating a willingness to listen to & allow the Spirit to move (among other things).

I see the idea of 'being sent' also reflected in the words of Peter. His main challenge in 1 Peter 2:9-10 is that you must act on the privileges that have come to you through the grace of God (not remaining in the despair that holds so many nations captive).

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10

In looking for more insight on the notion of 'being sent', I came across an article written by Gordon MacDonald in 1981 titled, The Sending Church. Here's an excerpt that I thought related directly to the notion of being sent.

The mission

The mission of Jesus Christ was also part of the sending mindset of Peter. Recall again that incredible moment when Peter resists the notion that Jesus can use him. Christ said to him in what must have been gentle but firm words, "Peter, don't be afraid, don't be afraid." And when Jesus invades that group of men in those first days they have anything but a sending mindset. These men are relatively poor, probably uneducated, come out of the simpler professions and have a provincial view of the world and of history. Moreover, they are poorly organized.

There is a "Peanut's" story in which Linus, Lucy's younger brother, is watching television. Lucy walks into the living room, looks at Linus's choice of program and says, "Change the channel!" Linus looks up and he replies, "What makes you think that you can walk into this room and just say like that, 'Change the channel'?" She says, "You see this hand? Individually these five fingers don't amount to much, but rolled together tightly into a ball-like fist they become a weapon formidable to behold." Linus changes the channel. And after Lucy is comfortably ensconced and watching her own program, Linus looks at his own hand and fingers, and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?"

This could have been said to the disciples to challenge them to become apostles. I wouldn't have picked one of those men. Indeed, there must have been moments when in his humanity Jesus must have said, "Why can't you guys get organized?"

The answer is simple. In the earliest stages of their walk with Jesus they were like many of us. They loved him; they were following him, but they did not yet think of "sending." They had to grasp the notion at the very beginning that God the Father so loved the world that he gave his only Son; he sent him into the world that the world through him might be saved. Until they knew that Jesus was the sent One from the Father, and that they in turn were to be sent by him, they could never mature and get organized as they were to be. Jesus was drilling this deeply into their spirits month by month in experiences of discipleship, failure and success, slowly unfolding to them this enormous concept that we are trying to grasp that every person is sent.

John 4 tells the story of the woman at the well in which Jesus talks to the woman and her life is scoured and changed. The disciples come back thinking that Jesus would be hungry for food. But he said, "Look, food is good, but that's not the important priority today. My food is to do the will of the one who sent me. Look out upon the fields and see these people coming. They are the most important thing." That's the way we think when we are sent.

Slowly, rhythmically, like a sledgehammer pounding at the resistance of their innermost spirits, Peter and the men around him are taught what it means to be sent.

In John 17:18 Jesus says, "Even as you, Father, have sent me into the world, so I have sent them." And in John 20:21 he says, "As the Father has sent me, even so send I you." Over and over, each time he is in the presence of Jesus, this great consuming theme touches Peter's life. He begins to see it as the important issue.

oh mitosis

2007-11-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

mitosis...in synchro swimming form

this is how you know you're becoming one of those geeky teachers... sadly i sit here and laugh at mitosis. if only my students had studied for their tests.

ENGAGED!

2007-10-15T14:07:00.000-07:00

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!

andrew and i headed down to seattle for the weekend with 30 of the senior highs and i certainly did not expect to be coming home with a ring on my finger.

the drive down on friday afternoon/evening was absolutely horrid. andrew and chris drove the majority of the sr highs in the two fifteen passenger vans, and i drove andrew's truck with the luggage and three senior high girls. all was going well until we got to the border. andrew and finch were about twenty cars ahead of me and they made it through with very little trouble at all. when i got to the border, however, i was questioned about anything and everything by a very grumpy old border guard. he got mad at me for driving andrew's truck. he got mad at me because the forms that i had for the girls weren't formal enough. he got mad at me for having everyone's luggage (even though that's how we always arrange things and we don't usually have any trouble at all). he even got mad at me for the apple core in the garbage can. after getting as mad as he could, he wrote us up and made us pull over to be searched. that's where we met santiago. he was the equally disgruntled border guard who yelled at us and wouldn't believe that we just wanted to go to seattle to visit and shop with our youth group. after checking our passports for the 57th time, he headed out to the truck and searched everything. when he saw that we really didn't have anything explosive or illegal he reluctantly let us return to the truck and continue on down to seattle.

you can imagine the mood i was in as i drove down. yeah, i was happy that i was finally allowed to continue the trip, but never before had i met two boarder guards as tempermental and down-right mean as those two guys.

when we finally made it to seattle, we pulled up at the church where we were staying (mars hill - west seattle campus), unloaded the truck and the vans, had a quick tour of the place, then jumped back into the vans and proceeded to drive to the space needle for a late night view of the city.

walking up to the space needle andrew told me that he wanted grant and i to organize a surprise snack for the kids. he gave the two of us tickets and we headed up top before everyone else. on the way up grant was a little more serious and focussed than usual, and i questioned whether or not the proposal would happen that night, but i tried not to think about it and continued on as usual. once at the top, it was my job to find a place outside on the deck where all the kids would be able to congregate. i sat out there waiting and as i waited i took a few pictures of the view with my phone. when i turned around i saw one of the kids (geoff cotter) walking towards me with a huge smile on his face and a gerbera daisy in his hand. at that moment i knew exactly what was happening and i began shaking, crying, laughing and smiling all at the same time. as each of the senior highs and leaders passed me a flower they all said something encouraging/something that they loved about me. it was AMAZING. i am so blessed to have such incredible senior highs and friends.

when all thirty had given me their flowers, i stood and waited for andrew. he waited a minute or two after the last of them and then walked toward me with the last flower. all of the kids watched from inside the space needle, with their bodies pressed up against the glass. the first thing he said to me as i stood there smiling/laughing/crying was, "sooo... do you like stuff?" and i answered, "yeah...i like stuff". after that he proceeded to say some incredible beautiful things, then got down on one knee, opened the box and asked me to marry him. i can't remember my exact reaction, but i said yes! it was difficult for him to put on the ring as i balanced all thirty flowers and greenery, but he did it. now not only do i have a beautiful ring, but i also have a beautiful man that i'm going to marry next summer.

i don't think i could be any happier

everyday images

2007-10-08T16:56:00.000-07:00

writing a science test

one student's attempt at flattery

walking past a locker

staring at the overhead

marking a bird cell project

my classroom

a whole host of projects

lockers abound

my whiteboard

guarding against cheating

you stole what??

2007-09-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

i'm walking around my science classroom the other day when i notice that one of my students appears to have an uncontrollable case of the giggles whenever i pass by. i pause and check - no, my fly is not undone, i don't have anything smushed in between my teeth, and as far as i can tell i haven't sat in anything that could remain stuck to my butt. i continue walking around trying to think nothing of the giggling (afterall, i do indeed giggle a little myself) but after another minute or two i just have to ask what's going on. through her giggles she manages to get out, "ms. salt.... i stole something of yours....." Uhh... what?! I quickly attempted to brainstorm anything of value that i had with me in the classroom that she might want to steal. When I came up with nothing, I just stood there, staring at her, so incredibly puzzled. Why, oh why, would anyone steal something from their teacher and then tell them about it? Not too sure what to do, and slightly concerned, I checked around the table she was sitting at to see if I could find anything of mine. With no luck, I asked her again what it was that she took, but there was no response through the giggles. Thankfully, one of the boys behind her spotted my coffee mug amidst her things. Now, more confused than ever, I stood there questioning why anyone would want to steal my empty coffee mug of all things. Last I checked it was a coffee mug - nothing too lucrative. Yes, it's covered in pictures of my random adventures with friends around seattle, school, and camp, but it's nothing that I figured anyone would be interested enough in to steal. With my coffee mug returned, she giggled, "Who knows what it's going to be next time, Ms Salt?!" and I shot her a 'teacher glare' while laughing inside. What a strange start to my morning.

"ms salt, you're too peppy for me"

2007-09-18T21:29:00.000-07:00

it's certainly not something that i've been hiding. clearly, when it comes to teaching and chatting with kids, i'm the one you'll find singing and dancing around a classroom. i laughed the other day when one of my grade ten students told me that i was "too peppy for him". is boring supposedly where it's at when you're teaching? i hope, if anything, my classes are far from boring.

it's certainly been an adventure teaching in my old high school thus far. the one thing that i'm thankful for is that even though i'm spread out over five classrooms in seven blocks, i have five years of sdss under my belt already, so i don't tend to get lost (though i do not venture into the math wing - i may get lost in there as it was built after my time). there are, however, several new spaces that i'm discovering as i become more and more a part of the staff at south delta. there's the hidden french bookroom, the four different photocopy rooms that i use (though there are 8 photocopiers in the school - a random fact for you), the elevator (which i've now actually used), the conference room, the staff washroom (far superior to the other salle des bains), the conference room (which i've now conferenced in) and the staffroom (oh the joys of that place). i've yet to completely adjust to calling all of my old teachers by their first names, but it does make introducing myself far easier when i already know so many of the people.

the one thing that i do love is how excited some of my old teachers are about having me as a part of the teaching staff. just this morning cheryl (brasnett) was knocking on the window of the door between our rooms (i teach one block of french 9 next to her biology class) and giving me the thumbs up while smiling profusely. then there was suzan (olsen) who lent me some of her french immersion 8 students when she saw me carrying textbooks down the hall. she also pokes her head in my room from time to time, waves her arms, and shouts in french to encourage me. oh it's crazy. chris (yang) and i reminisced over how i schooled his science 10 class in his first year of teaching (funny that i'm now in the same position - teaching science 10 in my first year) and brian (outerbridge) and i have had chats about his newest move from braces to retainers and the 'happy summer' cake i and a bunch of people baked him many many summers ago.

i do also love that whenever i walk down the halls, i see someone that i know. i'm sure that it's absolutely bizarre for some of the kids that i know so well outside of school to call me ms./mlle. salt, but i think they're slowly becoming accustomed to it (as i am becoming accustomed to being called ms./mlle. salt). now with my seven blocks of students added into the mix, i'm beginning to know my fair share of people.

anyway, this teacher needs to finish writing the science quiz she's handing out tomorrow and decide more firmly on the keyboarding curriculum that she's going to implement. almost two weeks down and i haven't drowned in my school work yet...

and there's just no changing that 'peppy' business

south delta - what?!

2007-09-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

guess who's the newest teacher to be added to the staffing list at south delta secondary? strangely enough, the answer is me! i start monday in a full-time position teaching french, science and a wee bit of keyboarding. the peasants rejoice! (or at least i rejoice in the offer of a full-time job!) i'll certainly miss the grade 8's & 9's at north delta secondary who i've been teaching french to for the last week, but i have a bunch of new classes waiting for me a 10 min walk from my house.

how odd will it be walking into the staff room and chatting with the teachers who helped me make it through high school? VERY, but i think i'll get over it (let's hope anyway) and from what i've heard a few of them are excited to have me there.

okay, off to this morning's homeroom class i go.

hurray!

jenn is.... lost in a sea of french

2007-09-04T22:55:00.000-07:00

at the moment i'm TOC-ing full time at north delta secondary teaching french 8 and french 9 all day everyday. in the next few days there is a good possibility that the job will turn into a full-time contract so that i'm no longer only subbing. i must say though, planning for a full day of french is ridiculous - but in a good way. my grasp of the language is probably not quite what it should be, but i am in love with it. i can't even begin to count how many french songs i've listened to or chants i've chanted in the past few hours. my favourite song at the moment is the french version of the seven days of the week set to the flintstones song. clearly it doesn't get better than this:

Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, samedi, dimanche
Les sept jours de la semaine
Cinquante-deux fois pendant toute l’année
Cinq jours on apprend à l’école
Mes profs et mes amis sont si drôles
Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi, vendredi, LE WEEKEND, samedi, dimanche
Les sept jours de la semaine!

if only i could sing that song to my grade 12 homeroom.....

speaking of which, how crazy is it that i have a grade 12 homeroom? let's be serious, i don't look much, if at all, older than the bunch of them. i wasn't supposed to have a homeroom at all, but when i walked in the school this morning i was thrown a box of planners, magnets, picture forms and locater cards and told to go to a room in the far corner of the school (as far from my actual classroom as you could seemingly get) and tell the grade twelves what to do. hah. i didn't know how to get anywhere around the school let alone tell students who've been at the school for four years what to do. but i mean, who wouldn't want to be the new teacher in a school who gets lost and has no clue what to do? though i cannot truly complain as these grade twelves were far better than the gong show that apparently occurred at south delta today. those grade twelves adopted the slogan "masturbate for grad '08" and chanted it throughout their assembly and wrote that and various other slogans all over their clothes. eek. we raise 'em well in tsawwassen.

back to the french planning. if anyone has a better grasp of the language or the curriculum than i (which should be almost everyone), let me know what i should do to give these kids an amazing semester. for now, we sing!

new beginnings

2007-07-31T10:55:00.001-07:00

the next few weeks are all about new beginnings, and i'm not so sure that i'm completely onboard - not that i really have a choice in the matter, but i believe that's why i'm blogging

there are just under 6 full days of class left until i'm a certified teacher. it's a little scary to think that i'm so close to having a 'real job' but i'm excited all the same. jessi and i walked through superstore the other day and there were rows and rows full of school supplies. i took one look at those supplies and started jumping up and down - butterflies rumbling in my stomach. kids will soon be buying those supplies for my class! i'll be standing there, somewhere around the room, as they work away at whatever tasks i have assigned. it's crazy to think that i'm going to be given that much control. after all, here i sit in class right now typing away at my laptop paying very little attention to the comings and goings in this very classroom.

the end of school also means that rachel has flown back to south africa and kiki will soon be flying off to nicaragua. it's no longer difficult to 'think international' with my girls heading off all over the world. even those that are closest (leslie in winnipeg and jessi in victoria) are still far enough away that i don't and won't get to see them very often. is this what it's like being all grown up? your friends move away and your long distance bills increase? i'm not so sure that i love this new aspect of my life. i love having girls around to chat and cuddle up to and do silly things with. maybe that's just drinking coffee or dancing in and out of a movie theatre (oh hairspray, how i love thee), but it's something different than hanging out with the guys.

along with moving back to victoria, jessi and clifton are tying the knot in just over three weeks (the 24th). i am oh so excited for the both of them. in hanging out with them recently i've noticed how much they love each other and are in love with each other and i couldn't be happier to stand up for them at their wedding. i have a feeling that the day is going to be absolutely beautiful - that's if jessi and i can sort out everything that has to be done before then. anyone ever made marshmellow fondant before? yeah, us neither. with all of this stuff to be done leading up to the day, it will be a little odd when it's all said and done and they've moved on back to victoria. while vic is close, it's still a minimum 2 hrs in ferry dealings another 1.5 on the bus or 30 min by car and anywhere from 25-100$ to get over there for a day (though that's a heck of a lot cheaper than a flight to the other side of the world or to the middle of my own country).

there's a lot that i need to get used to in the next few weeks: my girls are coming and going (though mostly going), i officially begin my new career, and i get to see two of my favourite people get married. in the midst of all that i need to pick a district to work in and find a place to live. that might be easier if there were still people around to move in with, but there just has to be someone out there - i'm not too worried...yet. i also need to find a way to actually spend time with my lovely boyfriend. it's hard being out at ubc and in the pit of tsawwassen which are two places no where near his place in coquitlam or his work in south surrey. he's not quite sure what the fall is going to look like for him either, but here's hoping that saskatchewan isn't calling his name. if it is, well i guess i'll just have to get used to that, though the amount of long distance numbers that i need to call is already far too large for my liking.

now that i've officially lost sight of why i'm writing, i figure that i should just conclude. i think there are just some aspects of change that shake me a little, and i've certainly listed more than a few. don't get me wrong, i'm not crushed nor torn about the change that is happening, but until it all does occur, i'm not so sure where i stand. i'm excited to see change - it means that my life is moving forward and not just standing still, but sometimes change is so much easier to embrace when there are friends around to see it through

looking for a teacher?

2007-07-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

are you looking for a teacher?

this one is 23 (soon 24), with long strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles. she has just completed three grueling months of student teaching where she taught 100% for the duration of her practicum. for the most part, she came out of the experience unscathed, though a few bitter feelings still associate themselves with the dying days of her practicum. she learned how to teach science, math, planning, p.e., french and humanities to grade 8 students while coaching cheerleading & dance, track & field, and ultimate. the students responded to her well and their grades improved under her tutelage, but evidence such as "le tigre est un oiseau" (no, tigers are not birds) leaves us to believe that there is much more to be taught to these newly donned teenagers. she has recently been hired in both the delta and coquitlam school districts, but has still yet to hear back from all of the districts that she applied to. there is the potential that she may be hired on to a full-time job in delta, but the 'coming soon' status on the delta district website is annoyingly ambiguous about what is happening with that particular job prospect.

if you're looking for a teacher, this one just might be the one. she's a wee bit crazy and she sings off-key, but she giggles while she teaches and is absolutely in love with teaching. she would surely welcome any opportunity to be stolen away for an interview (or really an anything) during the six dreadful weeks of summer school that ubc has currently committed her to.

biblelicious def-

2007-06-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

why rachel and i re-wrote these lyrics at 1 in the morning, we're not too sure, but we performed it (actions and all) for the kids in our youth group and, for some reason or another, they loved it. so here you go...

Four, tres, two, uno

Listen up ya'll, Cuz this is it
The book that we’re bangin' ain’t fic-tit-ious

Biblelicious definition make us really holy
We want to be like Jesus, yes, that is our top goal-ie
You can read it, you can preach it
It’s real easy, It ain't sleazy
We got reasons to love Jesus
God and Spirit in all seasons

Biblelicious (not fictitious)
It really ain’t malicious
And if you was suspicious
Check the word it’s so delicious
We say prayers (action here….)
‘Cause he is our rock, rock
And he helps on our journey that we call our daily walk (four, tres, two, uno)

So biblelicious (It's hot, hot)
So biblelicious (‘Cause he is our rock, rock)
So biblelicious (Helpin our daily walk)
Biblelicious (J-J-J-J-J-Jesus, Jesus)

Biblelicious def-, Biblelicious def-, Biblelicious def-…
Biblelicious definition make Satan go crazy
But Jesus really knows me
Comin’ to Him call it Praise-y
With the B to the I, B, the L and the E
Ain’t no other book speakin God’s truth to me

We’re Biblelicious (not fictitiious)
Don’t mean to sound repetitious
But we be up in the church working on our spiritual fitness
He's our witness (oooh wee)
God is our solid rock rock
And he helps on our journey that we call our daily walk (four, tres, two, uno)

So biblelicious (It's hot, hot)
So biblelicious (‘Cause he is our rock, rock)
So biblelicious (Helpin on our daily walk)
Biblelicious (hold hold hold hold hold up, check it out)

God, Jesus, Spirit
Oh we really love you
We will sing your praises
Worship you alone
You have given us so much
There is no one like you
We thank-you for our life
You are oh so faithful

B to the I to the B the L the E, go BIBLE!
B to the I to the B the L the E, go BIBLE!
J to the E to the S the U the S, go JESUS!
J to the E to the S the U the S, go JESUS!

From the start there was Adam and his lady Eve,
Moses took the people, cross the river they did leave
Josh took the people into the promised land,
David slew a giant with a rock in his hand
Jesus came to the earth and on the cross he bled and died
three days later he rose and glorified
So what we’re trying to say is that Christ has come and saved the day
Now they say we…

Biblelicious (not fictitious)
It really ain’t malicious
And if you was suspicious
Check the word it’s so delicious
We say prayers (action here….)
‘Cause he is our rock, rock
And he helps on our journey that we call our daily walk
(four, tres, two, uno)

Don’t mean to sound repetitious
But we be up in the church working on our spiritual fitness
He's our witness (oooh wee)
God is our solid rock rock
And he helps on our journey that we call our daily walk (four, tres, two, uno)

It's biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
So biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
So biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
We’re biblelicious, J-J-J-J-J-Jesus, Jesus

It's biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
So biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
So biblelicious (aye, aye, aye, aye)
We’re biblelicious, J-J-J-J-J-Jesus, Jesus

B to the I to the B the L the E, go BIBLE!
B to the I to the B the L the E, go BIBLE!
J to the E to the S the U the S, go JESUS!
J to the E to the S the U the S, go JESUS!

the mess

2007-06-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting at my desk, in my classroom, under what seems like several hundred stacks of papers. looking at the clock i realize that my students escaped from this room over four hours ago and yet here i still sit. i've been in the building for over twelve hours thus far - cheerleading practice beckoned my 7:15am arrival and report cards have stalled my departure.

to say i've accomplished nothing today is an incredible understatement. i have coached cheerleading (they worked on their show trophy sequence to rotating split double base and their libs and hitched lib pyramids) taught p.e. (guided children as they ran up a mountain in the rain), math (3 blocks of algebra), and french (Le tigre.... comment est-il? Est-il vert ou orange et noir?) and observed a music class where my students performed their "pieces" (a la 'stomp' - banging on regular household items). I've also attempted to tackle to seemingly endless barrage of marks that i've collected and am still collecting from my students. all that being said, i now sit here having entered all 7 blocks of my marks (with work habits and behavior habits marks for each block).

all that on only an apple, a starbucks coffee, and a few bites of horvath's chicken souvlaki - not too shabby (albeit i'm beginning to fade and the 14 sets of report card comments that i have left to write are becoming more daunting an adventure with each passing minute).

oh me, oh my.

as you can see, instead of finishing up those comments and heading back to my port coquitlam hovel, i've decided to reunite myself with my blog and spend a few good minutes procrastinating. after such a long day, it's kind of nice. to say that i will not accomplish anything significant in the next thirty minutes is sadly not an understatement.

alas, i will return to my stacks in order to speed my arrival at my hovel. afterall, middle schools are eerily creepy at 7:45pm, and i don't want to remain here past the departure of the custodial staff.

My Sportscentre

2007-06-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

A look at the promo videos for young adult volleyball at sdbc. i'm not going to lie, they are pretty hot. the first one features mark clark, our college & career director/pastor and the second one features brett ziegler, the random promo & worship guy. enjoy.

My Sportscentre

2007-06-05T11:19:00.001-07:00

dear mister horvath

2007-04-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

to: mr horvath (a heart as the o)

my love for you runs so deep,
when we part my eyes they weep

you gave me your jacket,
i gave you my heart
but until i am single,
our love cannot start

the old ball-and-chain
andrew's his name
he has me as his rightful dame

oblivious to our passionate love affair,
i sometimes wonder if he knows i'm there

i'll rid of him if you promise you're mine
i like your choice of shirt - you look so fine

i miss the smell of your sweet sweet scent
in my heart you've left a dent

the ponytail, MAN that's delicious
when you sport that style i tend to get vicious

so follow me, Horvs, off into the night
where we are alone...and everything is right

all my love,
jenn (beh-beh)

in the last ten minutes of french class today, one of my grade 8's wrote this little love letter to the other student teacher. horvath had unsuspectingly lent me his zip-up jacket for p.e. in the morning (i was wearing a dress and was cold) and apparently that sparked our non-existant love affair. i do, however, give her points for creativity.

the down-side to all of this... my SA handed out copies to all of the staff. awesome

thirteen year-olds: the definition of random

2007-04-09T17:37:00.000-07:00

i don't know what it is about being thirteen that makes you want to blurt out whatever you are thinking in the middle of a class or a meeting, but it happens all of the time. here are just a few of the random comments, questions and statements i've heard in my last two weeks of teaching grade 8.

"ms salt, have you ever heard of air cadets? they still have rifles. those are old guns." - in the middle of capp class while working on an assignment about trips they would like to take

"ms salt, does your bf have muscles?" - in the middle of a meeting with my grade eight cheerleading team

"ms salt, do you drink beer? don't lie to us, we really want to know." - in the middle of math class while working on questions about commission

"ms salt, what's your phone number? i, uhh... want you to be my, uhh, reference for burger king" - by one of the guys in the middle of science class (and no, he didnt get my phone number) who clearly was not working on his lab

"ms salt, why aren't you married? aren't you getting old? i want to have babies before i'm your age" - one of the girls in capp class - eek, i'm not that old yet

a little like christmas eve

2007-03-25T23:47:00.000-07:00

i find that tonight is a little like christmas eve. i'm nervous, yet i'm giddy. i'm tired, yet i want to stay up all night. i'm hopeful, yet i have no idea what tomorrow holds.

tomorrow i get to be a teacher again. i get to wake up, put on my teacher clothes, throw my teacher bag over my shoulder and head to school. i get to walk into a class of 32 grade 8's and be ms.salt again (oh how i love being ms.salt!) . i get to teach p.e. to 120 kids, as well as 2 blocks of science and a block of math... oh and a block of french/capp.

i've planned and planned and planned waiting for tomorrow to come. now tomorrow is almost here and i am somewhat beside myself. i'm so excited to see what the next thirteen weeks of teaching will bring. i love my students, and i love being a teacher, but i don't doubt that the next thirteen weeks will be an interesting test of my skills (and my patience). i can't wait to see what i look like at the end of it all. for now, though, i just have to concentrate on tomorrow. oh, tomorrow! i'm just not quite ready to close my eyes and go to sleep yet....

less one loose screw

2007-03-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

it's been said that my boyfriend has a screw loose - both figuratively and literally - but today the literal loose screw was finally removed.

rew had acl replacement surgery in september 2005 after tearing his acl playing football. his rehab went really well and then sometime last year he realized the screw that was holding his new anterior cruciate ligament in place was coming loose and protruding from just below his knee (under the skin, not gross frankenstein style). rew thought and still thinks this is the coolest thing in the world. i think within the first five minutes of meeting him over a year ago, he'd mentioned it. when we were working at camp and meeting new people all the time, i would say that it was fairly common for him to introduce himself like, "Hi, I'm Andrew. Want to touch my screw?" (and i made fun of him constantly)

by december it was just getting gross. the screw was sticking out more and more and every time rew ran into something/bumped his leg, the opposite side of his lower leg went numb. needless to say, the screw needed to come out.

so this morning, after arriving home from albania late last night, rew finally had the screw removed. aside from having a gaping hole in his leg, he was left with the screw that formerly held his ligament in place - take a look, it's pretty cool.

rew and his screw

i am not your mother

2007-03-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

i love you, but i'm not your mother - even your mother wouldn't want to clean this up

i walked in the door to the pungent aroma of spilled beer. beer on the floor. beer on the walls. beer everywhere. i stood there frozen, not wanting to walk one more foot into the house. what would be behind the first door? certainly nothing i wanted to clean.

what the heck.

how can you create an entire landfill's worth of mess in one night?? such is the talent of geoff salt.

while i applaud his semi-hungover attempt to clean up, i often find that his cleaning makes more of a mess than the mess itself.

after pausing to suck in one deep and nervous breath, i began my tumultous adventure around the house. the first obstacle i encountered were the stairs up to the kitchen. at one point in time, namely saturday morning, the stairs were a shade of blue, but the masses of drunk twenty year-olds had turned them a shade of brown - maybe mocha. then there was the kitchen. two steps onto the floor and my feet were stuck. while the alcohol all over the tiles created an appealing lustre, it didn't do wonders for my desired mode of transportation. i thought about pulling off my socks and going barefoot (in order to avoid having the socks stick to the floor) but then my feet would have received a sickly goopy coating of left-over beer. needless to say, the journey continued in socks.

i must admit, the kitchen wasn't as bad as it possibly could be or as bad as it has been before. there were glasses littered all over the counter, and sticky beer residue all over the cupboards and walls, but at least the empties had been collected in the garage. i found the kitchen chairs outside in the rain, along with a few pairs of shoes (owners unknown), a few more empties, and some clothes. the broken glass that was littered along the floor had been somewhat cleaned up, but large remnants were still there to be found.

i could go on and describe every room in detailed horror, but i'll refrain for the sake of my brother. let's just say that the family room, laundry room, all three of the bathrooms and all three of the upstairs bedrooms need a bit of an overhaul. a drill and some screws may be required.

maybe i can't leave out the gory details of the laundry room. at first glance, everything looked okay - messy, but okay (my definition of okay had been adjusted after walking through the house. one might usually use the word 'disgusting'). it wasn't until i put in the first load of laundry that i noticed anything remarkably different. apparently in the midst of the chaos, the hose that carries the dirty laundry water was disconnected from the back of the machine. thankfully, the water from the first rinse just emptied into the large laundry basin. i was going to wait until the rinse finished to put the hose back into it's regular pipe, but i got caught up in all of the other housework and homework i needed to do, and so i forgot. at about 11pm i remembered. i didn't remember randomly on my own, but more because of the profanity i heard my brother yell and the way in which he ran to my room and threw open the door. sure enough, the hose had dislodged from its formerly safe position and had poured water from the washing machine all over the laundry room, bathroom, and family room floor. did i mention that the family room is carpeted? 12 ginormous towels later and the tile floor in the laundry room and bathroom were dry. i had to tackle the steam cleaner/carpet cleaner in order to clean up the family room mess. oh my. (shawn). i feel for my mother who has had to use this crazy device regularly in order to contain all the other messes that we've made.

needless to say, coming home to a post-party house is low on my list of favourites. not to mention that after doing all of the cleaning (and attempting to coerce my brother into doing some) i had to feed the dogs/beasts, finish my homework, go to school for 9 hours the next day (not including the 2.5 hours of commuting), shop for groceries, and cook two dinners (one for that and one for today - burritos and homemade chili) so that my brother, who works a 3-11pm shift, would have something to take with him to work for dinner today (and eat when he got home at 11pm last night). there was also more cleaning, more laundry, more dogs/beasts to clean and feed, and a few hours of homework.

i am not my brother's mother, though i definitely feel like i am.

shaving cream is never a good idea

2007-03-12T15:02:00.001-07:00

last wednesday we needed to come up with an activity to do at gap. we knew that we wanted to play some sort of a night game, but what kind of night game could we do that the sr highs would actually be interested in playing? chances are, regardless of the game that you create, it'll be somewhat similar to capture the flag. our extreme lack of creativity cause us to use capture the gald as a starting point, and then grant added in the glorious concept of shaving cream. let me just say that shaving cream is never a good idea. who really wants to get covered in the stinky dollar store shaving cream (you know, the stuff the smells like cheap men's cologne) on a dark cold night in the snow? (here's hoping that's a rhetorical question) apparently i wanted to... or so i was lead to believe.

when seven o'clock rolled around and we'd all ingested a handful of brownies, we created two teams and then headed out behind the church in the dark. the boys were supposed to be in charge of offense (gathering clothes hangers from the other team's base) and the girls were supposed to be in charge of offense (spraying the other team's boys with shaving cream). you would think that a game so simple in description would proceed without flaw, but if you thought that you're be way off.

i think it all began with a few of the girls and i plotting against the great red-headed finch. i mean , really, you cannot give me a can of shaving cream and expect me not to attack finch at some point. i don't know when it went downhill, but things certainly never looked up for me once the game had begun. at first it was a ball of shaving cream to the side of the head. then my arm was covered. then a leg succumed. my nose. my ears. my eyes. my mouth. i was coated.

the one saving grace? i wasn't alone in my strife. order quickly made way for chaos and we were all heavily coated. the back of the church was coated. the washrooms were coated. they foyer was coated. there was absolutely no escaping the shaving cream. even grant, who cowered in his office, had the pleasure of being coated by me. oh, and these pictures are from after i cleaned myself off. they dont even begin to do justice to my initial coating of shaving cream. but i couldn't completely clean myself off until grant had been shown some of the wonder of his shaving cream game. maybe it was just a little reminder for him about how shaving cream is never a good idea.

i doubt i could look any more unattractive, but the punishment inflicted on grant was well worth the hideousness of these pictures.

one lost key...

2007-03-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

so on tuesday i drove into school as per usual. i despise paying ubc parking fees, especially when i own a lovely transit pass, so i generally park at 41st and dunbar and hop on one of the 5 or so buses that take me directly to school from there. after parking, i hopped on the bus, walked over to scarfe and sat through a 'wonderful' l.l.e.d. class. oh how i love l.l.e.d.! (actually this was one of the only productive literacy classes we've had all semester and that's because we were lesson planning for other classes). when it came time for class to be over, good ol' shawny was kind enough to drive me back to my car. as i was exiting his vehicle, i went to grab my star caribeaner with my keys on it. to my chagrin, my car key was not there. it was not in my backpack. not in my pocket. not on the sidewalk. not in my car. my car key was absolutely nowhere to be found. thankfully, shawny was kind enough to drop me off at granville and 49th so i could catch one of the 6-0-whatever's home.

so there i was, waiting at the bus stop trying to pass time as i began to freeze (my jacket was locked in my car). when the 602 finally showed up, i hopped on it just as i heard a loud "Pop!". The driver wasn't quite sure what was up, but after walking around the bus he hopped back on and began to drive. 20 blocks later, however, he realized that the shocks on the bus were gone and so we all had to pile off the bus and onto the next 6-0-whatever we could find. thankfully, there wasn't much of a wait.

all of this bus hopping and key losing meant that i was going to have to wake up earlier than usual on wednesday morning to grab the bus and get to school by 8. when i poured myself out of the car door (thanks papa, for dropping me off) at the rec center at 6:30 in the morning, i was surprised to come face to face with danielle, one of my friends that i haven't seen in an incredibly long time. suddenly this whole 'key-losing' thing wasn't looking so bad. danielle and i worked on catching up all of the way into vancouver, and things were absolutely splendid until i looked out the bus window and realized that it was snowing. there i am in jeans and a cute little shirt, and the snow is pouring from the sky. when i hopped off the 6-0-whatever at 41st and granville, i had to hop up and down repeatedly in order to avoid freezing (remember, my jacket was locked in my car at 41st and dunbar and i hadn't brought another with me as it was sunny-ish in tsawwassen when i left at 6:30). by the time my 41 bus was approaching dunbar, the snow had really begun to fall. reluctantly, i hopped off the bus, trugged to my car (i now had my spare key), grabbed my jacket out of the back seat (along with an umbrella to shelter myself from the snow) and headed back towards the bus stop. i wasn't so thrilled to be taking a third bus in the morning just to get to school, but i really had no choice. as i walked towards the bus stop, i neglected to hear the honks of a silvery-grey sunfire. then the sunfire pulled over towards the curb where i was standing, and i realized it was shawny. i yelped with glee! saved by shawny two days in a row - not a bad record!

with all of the busing and key losing, i figured that tuesday and wednesday should rank as 2 of the grumpiest days that i'd experienced in a long time. fortunately, and surprisingly, that wasn't the case at all. in fact, tuesday and wednesday were two of the most amazing days i've had in a long time. of course i've yet to tell you about the rest of my wednesday, but i have to run off and do some painting. i'll fill you in on the rest soon.

a few formal pictures...

2007-02-26T15:35:00.000-08:00

just about everyone who was at the unvalentines semi-formal now has facebook and has seen the majority of pictures from the formal, but i figured i would just put a few on here for fun.

wherever we go we get our cammy & jenn picture

posing as i do

lindsay, moi and benjamin!

unfailing love

2007-02-25T21:48:00.000-08:00

And everything holding your hand
Still you make time for me
I can’t understand
Praise You God of Earth and sky
How beautiful is Your unfailing love
Unfailing love

And You never change God You remain
The Holy One
My Unfailing love
Unfailing love

I will praise You
Praise you God of earth and sky
How beautiful is your unfailing love

- an excerpt of "unfailing love" by chris tomlin

bitter & cynical

2007-02-20T14:23:00.000-08:00

two things that i never want to become: bitter and cynical

i was looking at a picture of two of my friends that i used to be really close with, and it hit me. bitterness and cynicism are not at all attractive. in fact, it's quite likely that those two attributes are what drove us apart. i'm not talking about the occasional dose of bitterness and cynicism but the perpetual pessimism that leaks from a soul. just like you cannot separate peanut butter and jam once they've hit the bread, i was unable to ever scrape the bitterness and cynicism off of these two friends. i cannot quite pinpoint what it is about these two attributes that makes me cringe, but i can picture how my body curls and squirms at their very idea.

i wish that i could sit down right now and type up a contract about never reaching a point where bitterness and cyncism have taken over my life. that i could declare in times new roman size 12 that i will not become old, withered and bitter, but i just can't seem to type those words. i'm not afraid of those words (you're sure to have noted their somewhat senseless repetition) but i just can't guarantee that those words wont ever be me. i don't know what i'm even going to be like tomorrow. for all i know my pituitary could suddenly release a cocktail of hormones that makes me the cruelest teacher my grade 8's have ever seen. or maybe i'll close up and become that shy girl for the second time in my life. or maybe i'll be crazed, angry, teary, or ecstatic. i just don't quite know what tomorrow is going to bring. but i can tell you one thing. if there is anything that i long not to be, it's bitter and cynical. there is too much hope, too much love and too much joy in my life for that. i never want there to come a day when someone sits down to look at my picture and chooses the words "bitter and cynical" as the most apt descriptors of my life.

because salt is supposed to add flavor, not bitterness.

from a mountain to a cliff

2007-02-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

Our idea of humor in an 8am science class... We had to create an assignment for grade 8's on the water cycle. In lieu of Valentine's Day we wrote a letter from Glacia (a glacier) to her former love Cliff (he has since eroded). Here you have it:

Dear Cliff (the range of my life),

You used to be hard as a rock, with many roots and trees on your head
Ohhh how my heart recedes as I sublimate away
Distancing myself from you
I know my peaks are old and weathered
But you didn't have to go and do something so drastic
Damn you, Cliff!
Leaving me for a younger river
You crumbled and eroded
And have made several boulders and smaller pebbles without me
We could have made something so beautiful
But now you are out of my range
You broke my newly hardened heart

Love, Glacia

grade 8s as stress relief

2007-02-09T11:44:00.000-08:00

thursday wasn't my favourite of days. at 8 in the morning i drove to the airport to say goodbye to rachel. she's off to cape town, south africa to do a master's degree and i'm so proud of her for going, but i hate it all the same. rach is essentially the asian version of me and now i'm lacking that other half. the worst part is that i don't know how long she's gone for (maybe a year and a half, maybe two, maybe forever). i guess this is just part and parcel of growing up, but it's certainly not my favourite part.

to take my mind off rachel leaving, i headed on over to my school to teach my lovely little grade 8s. i absolutely love my students - they are ridiculous! when i walked in the classroom, i was greeted by a chorus of "Hi, Miss Salt!" and i couldn't help but smile. I was immediately thrown back into the class.

"Can you help me with this?"
"How do I do this, Miss Salt?"
"Miss Salt, I don't get it!"

the highlight of the day came after lunch. my school advisor (i.e. teacher in the classroom) was trying to demonstrate what kind of hoodie he was looking at buying on EBay. apparently once a year he has the sutdents pick out one article of clothing that they think he should have. this year they picked a hoodie. you know, one of those ones that zips all the way up the hood and over your face. they are absolutely ridiculous, but he's oh so excited. one of the kids (let's call him 'joey') was wearing a similar type of hoodie. my S.A. figured he'd grab it off the back of Joey's chair and show me how it worked. he and Joey nodded to each other, seemingly having some kind of understanding. my S.A. then went to grab the hoodie of the back of Joey's chair. he tugged and tugged, but the hoodie seemed stuck so he tugged a little harder. the hoodie still wouldn't come free to he tugged even harder. this time, to everyone's surprise, Joey and the hoodie both went flying out of Joey's desk! you see, he had the hoodie zipped up about 5 inches around his waist, but his arms weren't in the sleeves. because he was attached to the hoodie, he went flying out of his desk with it. it's a peculiar event to describe, but i must say that i laughed so hard that my stomach hurt. and yes, i snorted three times (and my grade 8's got a kick out of that).

later in the day, as if i hadn't already laughed enough, 'Dan' had one of the best calls. We were talking about maps in math and how you need to decrease the size of a city or place in order for it to fit on a map that you can read (i.e. a map of coquitlam can't actually be the size of coquitlam because that won't fit in the palm of your hand). so my S.A. asked the kids, "what do you do to a city in order to have it fit on a map that you can hold in your hands?". With very little hesitation, Dan yells out, "You CIRCUMSIZE it!". the beauty of this comment is that Dan was actually dead serious. i think he might have meant to say circumference or something like that, but circumsize was the word that actually came out. once again i snorted and the whole class was laughing. oh deary me. my classroom is sure to be a gongshow when i take over again.

the way i see it #170

2007-02-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

there are many times when dancing is the most unsupportable, ridiculous, unexpected and necessary action. life should be spent finding those moments and tap dancing through them.

- christopher hermelin

where i am from

2007-01-29T23:27:00.001-08:00

i am from mornings spent curled in blankets
where no chorus of “good morning to you” or covers pulled
suceeded in luring me from my nest
but the saturday morning aroma of bacon
now that was a different story

i am from waffles topped with strawberries
french toast doused in syrup
and coffee mixed with cream
from giggles and tickles
and half hour showers

i am from completed crosswords
puzzles that don’t quite fit together
from where things aren’t “good” but “well”
because grammar always matters

i am from days overflowing with activity
soccer socks, baseball gloves
lego, science kits, and california barbie tapes
from dirty laundry littered everywhere
and more grass stained on the clothes
than left on the field

i am from spandex and sequins
lyrca and velvet
from hours of chalk dust and rope climbs<
team jackets and collector pins<
with mom hiding in the crowd secretly keeping score

i am from long drives to competitions
with mom behind the wheel
and little girls scattered across the back seats
from a hatred of shotgun that created mrs. fudgepot
who said mom’s couldn’t have imaginary friends?

i am from nights on the green turf
neon lights in my eyes
yelling words to sweaty men
as i flip, twist and turn
but the roar of the crowd somehow never drowned out
the swish of my skirt

i am from cats and sneezes
stories of pantyhose
and crazy old grandma who danced on a table

i am from tent-trailer adventures
nights under the stars
and cherry-flavoured gummy bear flurries
(that nauseated yet still always attracted me)

i am from nights of take-out
chinese, indian, white spot, mario’s
and managers that know my daddy’s belly by name

i am from reading by windows
while slurping mushroom soup
and watching the rain dribble down the panes
forming puddles for my gumboots and i to dance in

i am from a broken man on a broken tree
whose death bought freedom
and life to the full
i have been released from moments of incredible insecurity
into a new-found hope

i am from loud songs with actions
igniting my world and holding on
dancing in the son and in the river
i am from raised hands and voices shouting
whispered prayers and joyful tears

i am from days with kids spent cleaning, painting, digging
while dancing and laughing
and making up songs
all the while hearing so many hurts
i am from listening and encouraging
crying and holding

i am from summers of counseling
and semesters of textbooks
tuesdays of fellowship and wednesdays of youth

i am from a place where sunday isn’t just sunday
even though family pretends that it doesn’t mean a thing
i am from a daily decision
that calls me to follow
not to lead on my own

i am from loving and longing to be loved
with pecks and kisses, piggybacks and road trips
from the quiet and the laughter
a picture of us that really is you and me

i am from late nights at timmy’s and denny’s
and trips out to bon’s
where the security guard sings
and fills our coffee while on his break
from that place where the bright yellow paint
highlights the curling corners of old movie posters
and the 2.99 eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast
fill the plate
and offset the ramshackle assortment of dishes and cutlery

i am from closeness and cuddles
rooms filled with laughter
and a home that will always be home

i am from hudson, 8a and rawlins crescent
streets in quiet neighbourhoods
whose fences and families
remind me of where i am from

boo to lled

2007-01-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

language and literacy education.

boo.

if i was an english teacher, this class MIGHT be relevant, but i'm not an english teacher. if i was a socials teacher, this class MIGHT be relevant, but i'm not a socials teacher. if i ever had a fleeting thought about language arts, this class MIGHT be of some use, but i don't.

let's just say that laptops are MANDATORY for LLED. No, not because i want to type out all of the amazing examples of literacy, but because i need something to occupy my otherwise bored mind. eek. 7.5 hours a week of this is going to be painful. someone take LLED out of my schedule PLEASE.

a week's worth of investigation

2007-01-14T17:05:00.000-08:00

the first week of my practicum at scott creek is complete.

wow.

i can't even begin to count the hours of prep i did just to make it through the week. i would probably be pretty disgusted if i actually did count - it was crazy. but here i am, one week under my belt and i'm officially beginning to feel like a teacher.

i think i taught about 16 blocks during my first week. i guess i'm a bit of a keener considering that for the whole two week span i only needed to teach 6-9 lessons. but i'm telling you, you can't just walk into a classroom, teach a lesson and then hide in the corner till the end of the day. i love being at the front of the class - talking and joking with the kids is probably the highlight of my day. my grade 8's are absolutely nuts, but amazing at the same time. the crime scene unit i created was crazy, but it kept my zoo of a class entertained and on task (for the most part - let's just forget the times where they crawl under desks and hit each other with belts). i thankful that after teaching another three classes today, i have finished up the entire unit. a stack of assignments awaits my red pen on wednesday, but it shouldn't be enough paper work to drown me.

i'm so excited for teaching this second week. i feel pretty relaxed now and i don't mind teaching a lesson on a whim (in my class, that happens often). i'm most excited for starting up my cheerleading and dance team on wednesday! yeah, that's right, i'm coaching middle school cheer & dance. i've missed cheer a bunch, so it's pretty sweet to have the opportunity to combine it with teaching. who knows what the team will look like since i'm not allowed to make any cuts (if i get 75 girls, i get 75 girls) but i'll think of a way to make it work.

anyway, last week's three hour snowstorm commute has made me cautious, so i'm off to bed. here's hoping tomorrow's traffic is nothing like last wednesday (maybe it won't even snow? that would be nice!)

you have five seconds to come up with a yoga lesson....eek

2007-01-08T23:52:00.000-08:00

my first block of the day at school was team p.e. with four classes of grade 8 students. my sponsor teacher and another of the teachers had presumably had a brief chat about what they were going to do with this gong show of a class (120 grade 8's in one gym = an adventure). after dilly-dallying about, taking attendance and marking for p.e. strip, we sent all of the kids out for a one lap run while the 6 of us teachers tried to figure out what was going on. my teacher joked about how horvath and i should teach a yoga lesson in the mat room, so i ran around the gym laughing and doing a bunch of yoga-like poses. not that i really know what those are... i've never taken a lesson in my life. when the kids dragged themselves back through the doors following their run, misti numbered the kids off and the first 40 or so were sent with horvath and i for yoga. we just laughed. not only did we really have no idea what we were doing, but we had about a 5 sec walk to the room to plan it all out. however, if there's anything that i learned last semester at ubc, it's how to b.s. when i have no idea what's going on (it was something all of us p.e. folk became accustomed to in our social justice class full of try-hard elementary teachers and creepy secondary teachers - they would always come overprepared and we would come ready to make up any answer we could think of). needless to say, the yoga class went amazingly well. even the grade 8 boys seemed to like it.

if only my ridiculous crime scene unit required that little effort. eep. oh well, it's a sweet unit and my kids are going to love it. here's hoping it flies tomorrow!

practicum planning...uggh...

2007-01-06T19:15:00.000-08:00

i think i'm officially at about day fifteen of practicum planning. it must be somewhere near that. it feels like it's been just short of forever, but i'll continue on. in reality, i have very little choice. my practicum begins on monday and, like the good little girl that i am & always seem to be, i need to be ready to teach. that doesn't so much happen with the snap of my fingers. in fact, i'm covered up to my knees in papers for my crime scene investigation unit that i'm creating for my grade 8 students. why didn't i choose to teach graphing or subtraction or something? why did i think it would be fun to make up a whole unit like this? well, in truth, it's actually quite fun. sadly enough, i'm finding that i somewhat enjoy the hours creating worksheets and other handouts. i just need there to be an end to all this creating - an end that's less than two weeks away. of course i say that and then i sit here and blog and facebook and take the occasional peak at my myspace (www.myspace.com/jennsalt). ugh. i'm a renowned procrastinator and i can't seem to break the habit. here's hoping that i don't sit here drowing in worksheets and handouts straight through to monday morning. that would actually be quite tragic.

sadly, this diversion must end. back to my books and papers i go. i must say though, that i'm pretty ecstatic to teach on monday. two full weeks of teaching coming my way and then the day that finishes, i pick up andrew in seattle and he's visiting for two weeks (while i go to school). this next month is looking pretty good, if i can wade through these papers before monday.

saint-louis-du-ha!ha!

2007-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

i don't mean to be in a habit of posting dozens of pictures, but this photo definitely deserved to be posted. sarah and andrew were driving through quebec when they came across this town. since andrew was napping at the time, he opted to be the one to take the photo instead of star in it. that may have been a good move because sarah's expression is pretty priceless. enjoy saint-louis-du-ha!ha!

ridin horse

2007-01-03T00:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Kouchibouguac, NB

i have absolutely no horseback riding skills, but i was somehow convinced to climb on Molly and take her out for a ride.

christmas partying avec mes amis

2006-12-28T02:04:00.000-08:00

Ryan hosted what he called the City Scape Potluck in Keira's downtown apartment and we flocked from all over the gvrd to attend. I don't believe I've ever seen so many people squished into such a small space, and yet it felt as if there was still room to breathe (well a little anyway). The evening itself was pretty darn amazing - everyone looked great and there was tons of food. What can i say, my friends are so cute and there's never a dull moment when we're all squished together. Sometimes it feels as though we bring camp with us wherever we go (even though some of the below have never actually been on staff at Qwanoes - and by some I mean three). I've yet to actually decide if that's a bad thing. What's your verdict?

Anyway, here's a few pictures from the night. I feel as though I've been posting copious amounts of pictures lately, but I just can't seem to tear my camera away from my hand. One of these days I'll write an actual blog entry, but when I've got photos as cute as some of these, I just feel the need to share (even if it is 3am).

a couch full of cuties - complete with jonny mo, nathaniel, ryan, chris and doug

a group shot minus ryan but staring....
cliffy, jonny mo, nathaniel, chris, doug
dotto, elise, me, kiki, sheena, dominique
susan, jessi, rachel, leslie

when christmas photos go wrong: after wrestling with the camera we ended up with this glorious shot of kiki, jessi, rach and myself

and there was also this one of susan, me, and kiki with jonny mo, nathaniel, chris and doug lingering in the background

aww... jenn, kiki, sheena, jessi and rachel

nothing says love like rachel forcing jessi and clifton's faces together in order to take a photo. i think it looks pretty funny though, and i do really enjoy the squishy noses. oh how i love these two.

christmas train extravaganza

2006-12-26T18:49:00.000-08:00

the christmas train at stanley park is one of my absolute favourite things to do at christmas time. i cannot even begin to remember how many years i've gone on the train, and i was incredibly worried that all of the wind storms this year would thwart my ability to go once again. thankfully, in spite of all of the downed trees, the train was up and running again when we took the senior highs on friday night. i can't be sure if i had more fun looking at all of the lights as we rode on the train or while i was taking millions of pictures waiting in line, but it's pretty clear that i had an absolutely amazing time overall. if you've yet to notice, i'm a pretty huge goof, and when i bond with my camera, i'm even more so. i can't imagine that you need any proof, but here's some just in case:

leslie dared me to pose while riding one of the reindeer. maybe i'm not the most responsible of all leaders, but it made for a fun picture.

leslie 'barely' sneaking a kiss

kisses must have been the theme of the evening. here's finch trying his best to avoid having anything to do with me at all.

apparently dean snarls at the slightest hint of a kiss. leslie, on the other hand, appears quite thrilled.

triple j - josh, jana and jon. i don't think josh has a clue about what's going on behind him.

at first ash wouldn't even think of being in a photo, but then i grabbed my camera and pretended to eat her. who wouldnt want to pose for a pic like that?

mishy, linds and morgan give the reindeer a little lovin

cotter, jenn and cammy - these boys are ridiculous and i love it

tara and michelley - oh so cute!

i don't know why i needed to pose with the sign, but i did

funny photos on the train

a finchy photo shoot

2006-12-25T23:32:00.000-08:00

when finch grabs the camera and starts shouting out poses, leslie and i apparently listen. i must say, it was a ton of fun (and what else do you do when waiting in line for the christmas train).

BADGERS

TANGO

SHARK ATTACK

AFTER AN EVENING AT ELTON JOHN'S PARTY

"don't call me bald"

2006-12-23T01:44:00.000-08:00

we were three hours into the nine hour drive home from boston, ma to moncton, nb when we decided to stop for dinner. i was driving at the time, and rew suggested that we take an exit off the i-95 to downtown portland (maine, not oregon, for you west coasters like me). we both kind of assumed that a downtown exit would very quickly result in tons of places to eat a meal. i dont know if i was just so tired that i was somewhat hysterical or if i just didnt enjoy being lost in a foreign city, but i couldn't find anywhere that i wanted to pull over and eat at. after about twenty minutes of driving and then a sorry attempt to get back on the interstate, we stopped at the restaurant of all restaurants - Denny's. now i don't know about you, but i enjoy a cheap breakfast every now and then. don't get me wrong, Denny's does not rival Bon's off Broadway in East Van, but it's usual full of interesting characters, so i get my fill of people watching. while there were no old ladies with massive coifs circa Denny's on West Broadway, there were a fair share of american country bumpkins and they always make for a good time. of course, i also tend to amuse myself by making ridiculous comments to my boyfriend. here you see him giggling because i've once again pulled out my camera and i won't stop taking pictures.

then there's this next shot. the minute you begin to tease rew he tends to make this face:

and if you dare progress any farther, you might end up with this gem of a reaction. i call it the "don't call me bald" face because, of course, that's exactly what i'd done just seconds prior to snapping the shot. if there's anything you don't do with rew, it's make him more aware of the fact that he's beginning to bald. now really, he's not doing so badly at all, but he seems to freak out at the very thought of losing all his precious hair. i figure, meh, it's just hair. it doesnt really bother me at all. however, i will continue to bug/pester him because shots like this make it irresistable.

nevertheless, he's still pretty cute. yeah, that's right, he's cute (or manly/rugged/whatever term he would prefer). though i guess if i want him to stick around long enough to see him go bald, i'll be keeping my comments to a minimum (well at least i'll reserve them for when a camera is around)

boston, massachusetts

2006-12-21T12:09:00.000-08:00

here's a quick peek of our trip to boston...

andrew outside the l.l.bean store in freeport, maine. doesn't he do a good job of faking his excitement? (the bag is full of gifts for my fam)

jenn and leon leonwood bean. who names their child leon leonwood?

jenn and a robot at the museum of science at harvard in cambridge, ma just outside of boston

andrew and the breast imaging station at the museum of science. he thought he was soooo funny.

jenn and the frog at the frog pond in boston commons - it's a pretty nice park for being smack dab in the middle of the city

andrew and the other frog

i love the architecture in boston... this is the union oyster house in the northern section of the city

i love that this building had a giant christmas bow... it's so beautiful

scotia nova

2006-12-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

what's a road trip to nova scotia like in the dead of winter? i guess i needed to find out. one two and a half hour drive later, we landed in halifax. what the heck were we going to do? good question. we didn't quite know the answer to that ourselves. after meandering aimlessly for about an hour downtown, we headed over to the casino for a bite to eat (a little random, yes, but apparently andrew helped with the company that did the woodwork in the building). as we sat eating, i looked out at the harbour and saw little orange men clinging to the top of a sub. it's a rather strange sight, i must say. here are a few of the pics.

welcome to nova scotia... i may or may not have seen this sign from the highway and made andrew pull over. it's a good thing that he humors me.

a bunch of canadians on a sub. don't we only own two of these that actually work??

andrew and i at citadel hill. my professor, hayne wai, told me that i had to visit it if i went to halifax, so here we are. it was oh so cold and snowy, but what a beautiful view of the city.

me being me at citadel hill

andrew kissing a man in a skirt. i'm not sure if i should be worried.

downtown halifax. i'm beginning to have a slight obsession with picture-taking (especially when there are signs around)

we visited an incredibly ghetto mall in darmouth, ns when we were trying to find a theatre to watch a movie at. this sign was just precious, and i had to take advantage of it. clearly andrew didnt notice that there was an arrow pointing to him. i can't help but laugh whever i see this picture.

on the way back from halifax we stopped to fill up in stewiack, ns which is home of the famous mastadon ridge. clearly it was just about midnight and the park at mastadon ridge was closed, but that didnt stop us from finding a way to take photos. after hopping a large chain link fence, we were able to take a picture with Stu the giant mastadon. We're absolute idiots, that's for sure.

andrew and the flinstone car - i dont even know what to say.

welcome to moncton & p.e.i.

2006-12-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

if you know me, you know that i'm slightly obsessed with taking ridiculous pictures. here are a few that i've collected so far from my trip to moncton, new brunswick to visit andrew. this first photo is from the crystal palace in moncton (an indoor amusement park), but the rest are from our little day trip to p.e.i. on tuesday. there will certainly be more to follow.

jenn and the motor homunculus (i'm an anatomy nerd, what can i say). Wanna know what it is? Check out: The Homunculus

now on to prince edward island...

andrew and some small child's drawing of the city... why he looks like he's pretending to pee, we'll never understand

fisherpeople... in the welcome village just at the foot of confederation bridge

under a section of confederation bridge. note that andrew is holding his leg up because his shoe fell off during our ten second sprint (my timer was on for the photo) to the bridge and he waded through a large icy puddle. yeah, he's cool.

andrew on the new brunswick side of confederation bridge. it was a rather unimpressive day, in terms of the weather, so my pictures from the bridge aren't that beautiful. the bridge connects new brunswick to p.e.i. and costs a whomping $40.50 to cross. yikes.

east coast update

2006-12-08T07:35:00.000-08:00

i left early, very early, last sunday morning for the airport in vancouver. when 6:35am hit, i boarded my plane and began my little journey east. a number of hours later, after listening to what seemed like thousands of songs, and a little bit of napping/movie watching, i arrived at the toronto airport and made my way down to the east coast boarding lounge. originally, i was supposed to wait there for about three hours before boarding my flight to moncton, but the plane i was scheduled to be on broke down, and before i realized it, my three hour stop had somehow managed to turn into six and a half. As if it was any consolation, i was able to finish one of my two major projects that was due today, but i'd really rather not have waited oh so long to hop on a flight to moncton.

eventually, i walked outside in the snow, towing my luggage behind me (the littlest of the two suitcases i had with me) to the small prop plane that would take me the rest of the way to new brunswick. after de-icing the plane, and waiting until the cabin reached a more natural temperature (at first it was like a sauna) we took off and landed an hour and a half later in moncton.

there he was. he looked pretty cute, but then again he always does.

there wasn't any slow-mo, but i definitely giggled quite a bunch. i think i even had to pinch myself a few times to realize that i wasn't dreaming. i was actually in moncton with my ridiculously cute boyfriend.

in the past few days, we've been all over the city. we spent the first few hours after i arrived touring the house that he'd built and now sold. i've met grandma and bumpy, had lunch with his mom & sister (girls lunch out), gone out to dinner theatre with his mom and dad, made christmas cards, watched three one-act plays at his old high school, volunteered in the operation christmas child warehouse with his senior high youth group, shopped, watched james bond, and toured p.e.i. (which was fun, but it's definitely a summer province). tomorrow we're off to nova scotia because hey, i'm on the east coast, and why not. i'm not quite sure what there is to do in halifax, but knowing us we'll find something.

i would have to say that i'm loving the east coast. i'm perpetually cold and i often find myself wishing that the snow hadn't followed me east, but the snow is pretty, so i can't really complain. it's strange to me that there's only one starbucks in the entire city, that just about everyone speaks french all of the time, traffic lights are horizontal and each light is a different shape, no one uses an umbrella, walmart is the busiest store, a traffic jam is only two blocks long, and there are traffic circles galore, but it all just makes me smile. i really don't think i could be any happier. i've missed seeing my boyfriend for three months, and now here i am in his hometown, where i get to see him everyday for two weeks. i'm a lucky girl, what can i say.

three more days of school and then...

2006-11-28T23:10:00.000-08:00

well there are only three days of school left in this semester for me - though there are still hours of work ahead. i'm absolutely loving school these days, so i'm not sure if i should be excited about the month off or if i should be dreading it. thankfully, i have my fair share of amazing events coming up this december, so my month of vacation should be well spent.

event 1: the middle years night out
after class finishes on friday at 5pm, everyone in my cohort is getting gussied up and heading down to Lickerish on Davie. from what i've heard, the food is incredible, and i'm sure to enjoy every bite of my three course meal. after dinner we're heading over to the roxie to dance the rest of the night away. and i mean dance. i haven't been out dancing in so long and i just can't wait. the people in my cohort are ridiculously amazing which should result in a good night out.

event 2: flying out east
come the third of december i'll be hopping on a plane and headed out east. i don't think i could be more excited. i haven't seen andrew in almost three months now and it will be so good to spend two weeks with him while getting to know his family. i can't wait to make a ridiculous scene in the airport when i make my slow-motion sprint (could this be any more oxymoronic?) in his direction. i'm thinking fields of green grass, flowers all around, butterflies flapping their wings as the sun shines down on our faces and our hair blows lightly in the wind. you know, that kind of slow-mo.

event 3: joining up with friends who've flown out west
when i arrive back on the west coast, my favourite friend from winnipeg will have already made her way out here. yes, that's right, miss leslie. i haven't seen that beaut of a girl since march and i just can't wait for some good ol' coffees, cuddles and chats (that's pretty much all we seemed to do in our first two years of undergrad). by all means, it looks like it's going to be a pretty splendid week.

event 4: the annual senior high christmas soiree
i absolutely love this christmas party. this will be the third year that we've celebrated christmas with a trip to the spaghetti factory in gastown, the magical christmas train at stanley park and ice skating at a local rink to cap off the night. i don't know what it is, but the past two years worth of this tradition have been incredibly fun (even when things don't go quite as expected). here's hoping that this year will be even better than the last.

event 5: the engagement
no, no. not mine. ha. no. i'm thinking about the lovely jessi and clifton. now we're really not sure when event 5 is going to take place, but let me tell you that i'm waiting with bated breath. there is an inkling that this event might involve a cape or some other ridiculous prop, but that's all i really know. cliffy hasn't decided to let me in on things, but here's hoping that i'll get to celebrate the engagement before the end of the month.

event 6: staff retreat
what better way to spend new years than surrounded by a bunch of the incredible cit's that i love? yeah, that's right, there's no better way. i have no idea what the retreat at qwanoes will end up looking like, but i can say for sure that they're will be some polar bear swimming (i just can't break my streak) and an awful lot of good chats & worship. here's hoping a whole ton of cit's show up (if that's you, then come!)

by now you can't argue. this is shaping up to be an incredibly ridiculous fun-filled month. here's hoping i'll relax and drink a whole lot of nog (okay, maybe not too much, but i just love saying nog) and get to spend time with all of the people that i love. christmas is such an incredible time of year & i'm excited to share in the joy of it all.

just because i felt like making a fool of myself...

2006-11-26T18:13:00.000-08:00

here's proof that i must really love & trust my friends. for my birthday this summer they dressed me up in a hideous outfit (though you've just got to love the bright green spandex with stirrups) and drove me around crofton and duncan, having me pose at various landmarks. i don't know why i agreed to the torture, but part of me thinks that i didn't have much choice in the matter.

blending in with the totem poles in duncan

the good ol' welcome to crofton salmon. apparently it needed a tacky sidekick.

Miss Salt, did you ever have a crush on your teacher?

2006-11-24T10:18:00.000-08:00

I finished my last day of teaching until January 8th. I must say, this Tuesday was a bit of a hectic day of teaching, but I finished the day just absolutely loving my job. Here's a little of what happened:

The morning started off a little crazy. I was scheduled to teach a microscope lab for the first two blocks of the day to one of my grade 8 classes. This was the microscope lab that I had prepared to teach last week, but had to delay because the kids knew absolutely nothing about microscopes and it would have been too much of a gong show. I had arranged it with my sponsor teacher last week that he would collect all of the materials for the lab, including microscopes, slides, eye droppers and other materials, and I would set everything up before class began. When I arrived at school in the morning, 40 minutes early like he had suggested, the classroom was locked and my teacher was no where to be found. I tried not to start getting flustered, but I was definitely a little choked. To pass some time, I waited in line for the photocopier and made some copies of the lab handout I had created. When my teacher finally arrived (a good ten minutes before class was supposed to start) he had not yet picked up any of the microscopes, so I had to run around the school to quickly try and find enough for our class. While I ran around getting more and more frustrated cause I just couldn't find the materials, my teacher started off the first block by marking math homework with the students. Because of this, I was able to spend some time actually setting up the lab.

After taking a few minutes to let go of my frustration and actually get excited about teaching, I was set up and ready to go. After this, the lab went incredibly well. I had the kids looking at letters, hairs and plant cells under the microscope. We stained things with methylene blue. Clearly it was nothing too advanced, though you might not have guessed that had you actually seen some of these kids attempt to work a micrscope. It was pretty funny.

I taught this same lab for a different group of grade 8's in the third and fourth blocks of the day (between recess and lunch) and that went equally as well. I must say, it's quite exciting to teach for hours - I love it!

In the fifth block of the day I had the first group of grade 8's again and they had time to finish their lab and work on their math questions. Near the end of the block my sponsor teacher left to set up a project for a meeting he had after school. I love getting the chance to run the class on my own, and this was definitely no exception. For the most part, my students were incredibly well-behaved and actually did their work. There was one table group of six guys that kept calling me over to ask science questions. Once they got all of the science out of their system, they moved on to asking me other questions. Definitely the highlight of my day was when they called me over and one of the guys leaned over his desk to nudge another guy. He kept saying, "Dude, just ask her, just ask her. C'mon ask her. Just ask..." My curiosity overcame me and instead of walking away, I waited to see what the question would actually be. They'd been fairly on-topic all day, so I didn't figure it would be too bad. That's when I heard it:

"Miss Salt, did you ever have a crush on your teacher?"

I tried so hard not to burst out laughing. I think I giggled a bit to myself and tried to just slough it off, but it was probably the funniest thing I'd heard all semester. Heck, if my grade 8 boys have a crush on me, maybe they'll actually pay attention in class and I won't have to discipline them as much. This can be a good thing, right? If anything, I find it incredibly funny. I don't know how I didn't end up snorting for 5 mins, but apparently I can keep my composure when it's absolutely necessary.

I can't wait to go back to my school in January. Clearly I have some of the most ridiculous kids in the world and I love it!

my slight obsession

2006-11-15T11:48:00.000-08:00

so i do believe that i have a slight obession with buying music - specifically cds. in the last two weeks i think i've picked up nine new cds. nine. how in the world did i buy that many cds? or better, why in the world did i buy that many cds? i guess it's enough to deem it an obsession, though i seriously hope that my obsession is dying out because if it's not, my wallet will being dying out soon. i think i'm just in love with music. i absolutley love listening to good music while commuting to school every morning and night. i mean, what's an hour and a half in a car without good music? and when i say good music, i don't just mean the kind that you sing along to mindlessly, i mean the stuff the gets you thinking & contemplating. that's the good stuff. the kind of music that reminds you what you believe and how amazing God really is. that's the kind of music that i love. it's music that moves me - music that causes me to want to act out my faith. i love being challenged, and maybe that's why i'm buying all of these cds.

Shawn Mcdonald - Live in Seattle
Newsboys - Devotion
Chris Tomlin - Live in Austin
Newsboys - Go
Chris Tomlin - See The Morning
Adie - Don't Wait
Jeremy Camp - Beyond Measure
The Elms - Big Surprise
Shane & Shane - An Evening with Shane & Shane

hard at work

2006-11-12T23:56:00.000-08:00

welcome to science 8. here's a little glimpse of what it's like to teach science 8 at my middle school. on halloween we made skeletons out of milk jugs and then hung them around the classroom. we've begun to study body systems now, and hopefully we'll add a little more to these "brilliant" creations over the next few weeks. i spent four blocks supervising the construction of these beasts (two blocks per division) and while i can't believe that it constituted a science class, it was a pretty fun day.

take a look...

adding a paper clip spine - they just had to have those bonus marks

another group of students deciding where to place their plastic spine

me (dressed as pippi longstocking) hard at work explaining the inner workings of plastic skeletons to two of my students (oh how i love my job!)

A few must-haves for a good road trip

2006-11-06T02:01:00.000-08:00

There are a few essentials to a good road trip. I'd figure I'd list a few of the things I'd call must-haves after the road trip to seattle on saturday.

1. Every good road trip has to start out with a good cup of coffee.

2. Seeing a passport photo that's even worse that yours: Props to Brett for allowing the world to see his incredible passport photo. I don't know if i've ever seen anything quite like it. Even the American border guard giggled (and they never laugh)

3. A giant potato: clearly a road trip isn't a road trip without ingesting a giant baked potato. This thing was the size of a football - who knew potatoes could even grow that large

the football-sized potato

4. A little shopping action: Nothing says shopping like a trip to the outlet mall. I figure I'll just make my home at Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip, WA. I bought so much stuff I should just be shot.

Cam shopping in Old Navy - this was just after he paused to comb his hair in the middle of the store (i kid you not!)

5. Violent rain and wind: Nothing makes you want to walk the streets in downtown Seattle more than violent rain and wind that continuously flips your umbrella inside out. It just wouldn't have been the same without it.

All of that bad weather made for a beautiful picture

6. Another good cup of coffee: it's a long day, you need to fuel up

7. Getting completely lost at least 4 times: Yes, apparently I'm an inept navigator, but I was able to navigate my way back to the original route on all four (or more) occasions. What can I say, I got nervous and forced an exit off the 520 onto the 405. At least it spawned a useful come-back "It's not my fault, I have mono!"

8. At least one more cup of coffee: come on, who doesn't need three giant cups in one day?

the original starbucks at pike place market

9. A super duper mega-church with shuttle buses in the parking lot: The church that the concert was at (Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, WA) was absolutley huge! There were about 8 parking lots joined together and they had separate lanes for shuttle buses which would drop you off at the door of the church. Seriously, this church was HUGE!

10. A sweet, sweet concert: Adie, Hawk Nelson and Jeremy Camp were amazing. I couldn't have asked for a better concert.

11. A late-night dinner stop at Denny's: There's nothing sweeter than late-night country fried potatoes.

12. Leaving the door to the car wide open in the pouring rain while enjoying late-night Denny's: what can i say, Cam's a genius! Apparently he thought that Janine was following him out of the car, but that would have been incorrect. Instead of shutting the door it was left wide open until some random guy made an annoucement in the middle of Denny's. Boy did we feel like tools.

My four road trip friends - Cammy, Rach, Janine, Brett

13. Bringing back $300 dollars in goods and not having to pay duty at the border: Enough said

adventures in seattle

2006-11-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

a day in seattle is always an adventure, but it was incredible to top off a day in seattle with an amazing concert, and jeremy camp certainly didn't disappoint. i really don't know what i can say - it was just that good. i don't think i've been to a better concert in a long time, if ever. it was one of the most authentic concert experiences i have ever seen or heard. he wasn't there just to put on a show, but to sing, share and lead everyone in worship. i was definitely impressed - this man is incredible.

teaching, teaching, teaching

2006-10-27T23:38:00.000-07:00

So i've been teaching for two weeks now (well, two weeks worth of Tuesdays). I guess you can call it teaching, but it's more like mono-infected observation and interaction.

My first day of school was a gong show. I had to force myself to crawl out of bed at 5:45 in the morning, get dressed in my teacher clothes, do my hair and make-up and crawl into my car. Now this is a tough thing to do at the best of times, let alone when you have a high fever and all you want to do is sleep. Needless to say I was a wee bit late smushing into my car and I feared that I wasn't going to make it all the way to Scott Creek Middle School in Coquitlam in time to meet my teacher sponsor/school advisor (SA). After driving for an hour and a half in morning traffic, I finally arrived at the school. Yeah, I was a few minutes later than I wanted to be, but I wasn't late for class.

Here's my school: Scott Creek Middle School in Coquitlam, BC

So I made it down the hall to room A6, my classroom, found Mr.C (my SA) and a room full of grade 8 students (division 2). For my first class of the day, we took a class of students to the computer lab downstairs to work on researching the water cycle. Now this normally wouldn't be such a huge or daunting task, but my SA decided to use the period to deal with discipline problems outside in the hall. So there I am, falling over and wanting to faint, in control of an entire classroom of students that I don't even know the names of, desperately trying to prevent them from looking up disgusting things on the internet, and coercing them to actually do the work they are assigned. Yeah, gong show, but I survived... Back in the regular classroom the following block, I put on a microphone, much like a popstar (you know, the kind Britney Spears or Janet Jackson wears that wraps around the back of your neck and then rests on the side of your face, right beside your mouth), and stood in front of the class talking about myself (oh, we have the mic because there's a hearing impaired student in one of my classes - it's not just for fun, even though it is fun). Oh man, never put a mic on me, I just go nuts. I started by telling the students the basics about myself (i.e. where I'm from, why I'm there, what I've studied) and then had to open the floor for questions. Somehow I started talking about cheerleading, gymnastics and dancing and that progressed to dancing around the front of the classroom like Janet Jackson (if you've seen her music video for rhythm nation then you'll have some idea of what I did) and I taught them the "Let's Get Busy" cheer (where you slap and clap really quickly and throw your arms all over the place). The kids laughed and had a good time, so I guess it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Oh, did I mention that my SA left me totally alone during the fifteen or twenty minutes when I was standing up there? Yeah, that was a delight - apparently he wanted to see if I could hack it on my own (and I did).

For the next two blocks, I had a different class (which is my "actual" class - division 1). With them, we did two blocks of math, and I was able to walk around and help them out. Oh and don't worry, I stood in front of them and danced around like a fool too. My fifth block of the day was back with division two and I helped out with even more math (it was great to help because then i could kind of crouch down - walking around the class made me feel like fainting), and then the sixth block was Phys Ed with 120 students. Yes, that's right, 120. There were four teachers organizing this block and two student teachers (myself and Dominic) and we played Dodgeball with 120 kids. If you want to know the definition of Gong Show, this class was it. I, of course, felt like dying at the time, so I kept trying to find something to lean against or rest on. Dom was really confused why I wasn't joining in and winging balls at little kids heads, but I was surprised that I was even still alive. The drive home was just a mess, but I made it, and went straight to bed. What a strange first day of school.

This last week went a bit more smoothly. Yeah, I was still sick, but I was generally a little more coherent than the previous week. I didn't dance around with a mic on, but I did help out with four blocks of math (two blocks per class) and the 83 questions that my two classes of students were assigned. 83 math questions! Let's get serious here, I would NEVER do that many questions for homework (especially, the day before a test!). My fifth block was far more relaxing. We took division 2 out to the creek beside the school to watch the salmon try and swim upstream. I don't know if I've ever actually seen that in person before - it was amazing! The salmon just flip and flop and throw themselves all over the rocks and try and force their way up the creek. It's weird to watch them wiggle, but it was certainly refreshing to be outside. We followed that up with a few minutes of dodgeball in the mat room and that was just glorious! Then I was off to P.E. where I found that two of the regular teachers had left on a field trip so I ran an entire class of soccer on my own. That was fun, but running up and down the field in dress pants and heels was not quite what i thought it would be. But thankfully, I survived the day, and hopped in my car to drive home and take a nap. Yes, naps are my favourite things these days. If I'm ever going to kick this mono thing, i'm just going to have to keep napping. Not that I can really complain, but sleeping does get a little repetitive and monotonous when you do it as often as I have in the last few weeks. Oh well...

The gist of the story: I'm teaching and I absolutely love it, even when it's such a huge gong show. I can't wait for next week when I get to dress up for Halloween and then monitor a Halloween dance for two blocks. Maybe that gong show will top this one...

a world full of stop signs

2006-10-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

my neighbourhood has suddenly begun to overflow with stop signs and i'm confused. i mean, have you seen my neighbourhood? there's nothing really fancy about it, and certainly no streets with incredible traffic volume (or even significant traffic volume). i've lived in my house for eighteen years now and i've only ever seen one accident on one of the streets near me (and that's because the motorcyclist was flying down the street at like 130 km/h). i'm just so confused aboutt he sudden influx of stop signs. i mean, honestly, do i really need a stop sign at the foot of my cul-de-sac? At best, there are only about 20 people living in the cul-de-sac and we've all been living there for at least 15 years. I figure in those 15 years we've had enough practice coming and going out of our cul-de-sac. Seriously, there's only 5 houses, we're not that inept that a stop sign is warranted. Oh, and guess what's next? Speed bumps. Why on earth do we need speed bumps? Now that there's a stop sign every 12 feet, I can't achieve more than a top speed of 5 km/h. If anything, a whole whack of speed bumps is going to make me want to drive faster.

anyway, that's my rant. i really don't hate all stop signs, i promise, i just don't like the extraneous ones popping up in my neighbourhood.

goin' bowlin'

2006-10-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

so it's been weeks since i actually went on the white spot bowling adventure with my lovely friends, but i felt the need to post the pics now (i'm sick, gimme a break). so here you go - i hope you enjoy them

bowling shoes in all their glory

ry-ry and elise - are they dating? they definitely shared a salad and now they're looking pretty close? oh the rumors.... (welcome back to advance crew in victoria)

when i bowl, i bowl to win (yeah, i don't know why i have bowling skills, i just do)

susan and kiki's - smiles all around

a rather blurry shot of kathy, rachel and i - but it's the only one of the three of us i've got, so ha!

the joys of mono

2006-10-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

i wish there were joys to mono, but i haven't found any so far.

i have been imprisoned in my house for the last nine days, coming and going only when absolutely necessary. i don't know what to do about mono - it's taken all of my energy from me and i'm not handling it very well.

i'd write something huge, but i really haven't done anything incredibly monumental in the last week. actually, i did spend my first day teaching grade 8's at Scott Creek Middle School on tuesday, which was pretty darn sweet, but it was such a hard day for me because I was so sick (I didn't know I had mono till the day after).

when i have the energy, i'll type all about that. for now, i'd just love it if you'd keep me in your prayers. one of these days i want to get up out of bed and do something. hopefully that'll be a possibility soon.

okay, so i left you hanging...

2006-10-15T23:42:00.000-07:00

i really didn't mean to....it was never my original intent. in fact, when i first sat down to write that last post i thought that i was going to be able to write it quickly enough that i would have finished it before i left to go to road tour. apparently that was not quite the case.

so the man-hating moment is over. really, it was only a moment, or a collection of a few moments. it was nothing too drastic and it didn't result in me beating anyone up or breaking up with anyone. no, no, that would have been taking man-hating just a little too far.

let me just say this, if you're one of three guys in a dirty gross old van stopped at a traffic light and you see a girl waiting at a bus stop across the street, do not hoot and hollar at her - that's just gross.

so there i was, grabbing a bus to ubc. i put my backpack down on the bus stop bench, reached in and grabbed a thin hoodie (the blue one janine and cam bought me), and proceeded to put the hoodie on (that's what people usually do with clothes, when they're cold, right?). from across the street i hear the failing attempt of a few guys to get my attention. i mean, let's be serious, their whistling was just tragic. i didn't want to turn around and acknowledge them at all, but out of the corner of my eye I saw my bus coming. so i grab my backpack, throw it over my shoulders and look up to see three dirty gross men staring straight at me from a dingy old delivery truck across the street. all three of them were squished into that front seat so tightly, that they looked absolutely ridiculous. mistakenly i figured that if i then stood staring at my bus that the three dirty gross men would stop hollaring. oh man was i wrong. me turning around meant the sad whistling got louder. it actually got to a point that i felt sick to my stomach. i mean, come on, i was fully clothed, not scandalously clad at all, wearing a backpack waiting for the bus. if i'd been wearing a tube top and a mini skirt, i fully would have deserved it, but unfortunately that was yesterday's outfit (ha ha... if only that were true).

thankfully, the bus came to my rescue. as i quickly jumped on, the hollaring began to die down. the bus driver shot my a look of incredible pity, but he didnt bother to yell out the window at the man. i proceeded to the back of the bus, jammed in my head phones, and declared to myself that i despised all men. indeed, it was truly a man-hating moment.

but that moment has passed. i no longer despise all men - i just dont particularly enjoy men like those three.

the one thing i currently despise is the flu. i've had a fever for almost a week now, and i just can't seem to kick it. here's praying that it'll vanish in the next day or two - i have to teach in a classroom on Tuesday!

my man-hating moment

2006-10-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

so yesterday i had one of those "man-hating moments". i guess it's the type of moment that you might read in some lousy newspaper column or hidden in the back of some women's magazine.

stay tuned...

is it still september?

2006-09-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

so i'm struggling to believe that it's still september. for me, this is the longest september on record. i mean, i can't believe that at the beginning of this month i was working at camp (especially because i'm now so involved in what's going on at school).

this past week seems as though it's taken a month to complete. that's not necessarily a bad thing, but i just can't believe how much i've seemingly done in what is really not a lot of time. after an incredible weekend, i dreaded heading off to school on monday morning. thankfully i hopped myself up on coffee (i was a little stressed, so the caffeine actually had some sort of effect), picked up Beah from her house, and faced the dreaded morning commute. the day dragged on incredibly slowly from that point, but when school wrapped up at 6:30pm, I was excited to jump on the bus, get to my car and drive off into the sunset (technically away from the sunset and into maple ridge, but i'm trying to be poetic here). I definitely thought that I was going to get lost, but fortunately I found my way to Melissa's house somewhere off in the woods of Maple Ridge. It had been a long time since I'd seen her (not since the first week of August) and I was so excited to spend some time catching up. To continue our summer tradition, we chatted over a good cup of Starbucks (though this time i didn't brew it in the spare room beside mine). When we got back to her place we basically managed to gab ourselves to sleep (after i investigated her beautiful house - it's so cute!).

tuesday morning began bright and early at melissa's with the 6 of us females running all over the house (her momma, melissa, moi, megan, mackayla, and chelan). i've never seen a house so crazy (here's praying that i don't give birth to 5 girls - a house with that many females is just insane!) though it was also quite fun & cute. when melissa's mom had rounded up all of the girls and driven them off to school, it was my turn to head to school for the day. I was pretty excited - school was at Loon Lake camp just up the road (well a 25 minute commute behind one of the guys in my class driving 10 km/h up the logging road - man alive did i want to poke out my eyes!). Loon Lake is absolutley gorgeous - it's in the middle of a UBC research forest and it's relatively untouched. We spent the morning studying experiential learning and doing a bunch of silly activities and then we sat down to an incredible lunch. following lunch we went on a beautiful two hour hike around the lake (somehow i was compared to the two cheerleaders currently on amazing race - oh deary me) and then we went repelling. it was such a gorgeous day that repelling down a sixty foot cliff (plunger-style) was just icing on top on an incredibly beautiful cake.

at the end of the day i headed back to melissa's house to meet with a bunch of cit's from the summer. paul, phil, liam, melissa, dana, tara and i chowed down on pizza, chips, brownies and ice cream and caught up a wee bit. have i mentioned how much i love my cits? (cause i most certainly do!) we could have just sat on the grass picking our noses and i would have had a phenomenal time. hanging out with them makes me miss the summer so much - it was just that incredible.

the rest of the week proceeded amazingly slowly. wednesday was one of the longest days i ever experienced. when i finally finished class at 6:30 and headed to gap (which was a good commute cause i got to chat with my boy while i drove) i was just drained. thankfully with a little prayer God gave me more than enough energy for the evening. my small group went really well and i just can't wait to spend the next few months with them. i think there is a huge potential for growth this year - i just love the senior highs!

anyway, here i am on friday morning, with one of the most delicious cinnamon buns in the world floating around in my stomach, sitting in dr.lara khatib's adolescent education psych class. i really wish she was teaching me something new, but she's not. thankfully i have my trusty old laptop to keep me occupied.

i really cannot believe that it's still september. i've done so much this month and i've now become so comfortable with the idea that i'm a teacher. i actually feel like i now know the people in my classes (and what good times we've been having). it feels as though camp was so long ago - it must have been more than a month! nope. according to the calendar it's been 26 days since it ended, 24 days since school started and 23 days since my boy left.

what a long month

one glorious weekend

2006-09-25T12:32:00.000-07:00

i would have to say that i had a ridiculously fun weekend

what did i do? well, that i really can't be sure of. when i got home from school on friday night, i sat down to an incredible meal of butter chicken and naan bread (oh is it ever good!). i ate so much that i followed up the meal with a quick nap in an incredibly comfy blanket while i waited for rachel to finish her dinner. after that the two of us headed to starbucks (how i love that place) for a latte and then over to the video store to pick up a flick for the evening. we ended up grabbing the movie "philadelphia" - you know, the one with tom hanks & denzel washington - and then heading to brett & janine's to watch it on the five foot screen. i've got to say, it's fun watching a movie when the characters are actually life-size. On my dinky little tv, they would have only appeared about 4 inches tall! anyway, we watched the move and i teared up a little (it's a great flick, you should watch it again if you haven't seen it lately), but the real waterworks didn't arrive until we watched the last episode of the last season of gilmore girls. I didn't really expect to cry my eyes out, but rach and janine can testify to the fact that i did. Luke and Lorelai decided to split up and Rory had to say goodbye to her boyfriend, Logan, as he was leaving for England for a year. The combination of the two along with the airport experience I endured earlier this month when Andrew left definitely resulted in a big giant puddle. It was funny though, cause I was laughing the whole time I was crying (because I knew it was partially brought on by tv characters), but I guess I remembered crying from the airport all the way out to ubc and that just sent me over the top. Oh me, oh my - I'm just ridiculous, what can I say?

After my funny little sob fest, Rach headed home and Janine and I stayed up for a few hours and chatted. It was a good time, right Janine? Oh, I must add that at one point the three of us ran into Brett's room and woke him up. He was fairly unresponsive, but it was funny the next morning when he was utterly confused as to what really happened.

Saturday morning rolled around and Janine and I cooked up a feast of waffles (made from scratch) and strawberry sauce. I think Brett ended up eating 8 - 10 waffles and was full till dinner - just ask him about it. A few hours of home improvement shows later (one day Janine and I will flip a house and make a killing - we're that pro now!), we got dressed and headed out to the mall. I finally realized how old I've become when Janine drove us to the mall. She managed incredibly well too - I only thought we were going to die three or four times! (just kidding, Janiners). At the mall I was on a mission for long sleeved shirts - I didn't realize how successful I was until I arrived back home and proudly displayed 5 different sweaters/shirts for my mom. Ooops! Oh well, I look cute, so that's gotta count for something.

After pizza, starbucks and hours of shopping, Janine and I headed back to her place to crash. We watched a random smattering of shows - I can't even remember what they were - and enjoyed a nice 11pm snack of greek salad, chicken strips, and blue koolaid! I was so hungry and it was a pretty fantastic dessert if I must say so myself.

Sunday morning was a wee bit of a fiasco in that the dog, Ola, ran outside and got all muddy, then jumped on the back of the couch and walked it's entire length, leaving behind dirty paw prints. I tried to grab a pillow to throw at her, but in doing so I knocked the majority of my coffee into my lap. Thankfully, I was still in my pjs, so I didn't have to rush home to find another outfit. Instead I jumped into a new pair of teacher pants, heels and a pretty blue sweater borrowed from miss Janine (and yes, i'll return it soon - i promise!) and headed off to church (which was great, by the way). In the afternoon, I was able to chat with Leslie (in Winnipeg) and Andrew (in New Brunswick) and then I had a yummy roast beef dinner with my mom, dad, brother and bumpa. Following that, I headed to church to meet with the other senior high leaders and figure out small group structure for wednesday, and then I capped off the evening with some tea and a good chat at Tim Hortons.

That was my weekend... maybe it doens't seem like the most thrilling thing in the world, but I had an amazing time. If anything, I was able to relax and catch up with a bunch of people (and live in a really beautiful house for the weekend!) and that always makes for a good time!

goofy photos to pass the time

2006-09-22T15:23:00.000-07:00

yeah, i'm a goof - but i'm sure that you knew that already
kiki took these ridiculous photos of andrew and i

clean up the skunk

2006-09-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I don’t understand why they haven’t cleaned up the skunk

For three mornings in a row now, I’ve driven past the remains of what appears to be a skunk. Now these remains are so mushed up, that I normally wouldn’t be able to identify the former animal/current roadkill, however there is a huge difference when it’s a mushed up skunk. Yes, we all know that skunks absolutely stink, but let me tell you, mushed up skunk is the evilest of all evils. Regularly when you smell a skunk, the scent is strong, but that’s only really a squirt of its sick little smell. When a skunk gets mushed by cars flying down the highway, you as a driver driving by the mangled mess, get to experience the entire stink bladder full of stink (so maybe it's not called a stink bladder, but i don't care - it's gross!). I figured that Wednesday morning was the only time that I would ever have to smell something so foul, but apparently that lovely experience was saved for Thursday morning and this morning as well. Lucky, lucky me. Clearly I love commuting for an hour and a half every morning so much that I needed to experience smushed skunk to really start me off on the right foot.

Here's how this all relates to adolescent psychology (the class i'm sitting in now):

The one thing that I desperately desire with this whole mushed up skunk scenario is some negative reinforcement (which is indeed a good thing). If you were to remove the skunk (the negative object) then I would be positively affected (ie. my desire to continue commuting and driving would be increased). Yes, those are the golden pearls that I learn in class. Is it over yet? No, no, there's still half an hour. Oh somebody shoot me now.

reading and learning to read

2006-09-21T23:52:00.000-07:00

i never thought that i'd spend hours reading a textbook with this title. after all, i'm not going to be an elementary school teacher - i want to teach middle or high school. what the heck does reading and learning to read have to do with a teaching degree in physical education? i only wish i knew. i guess i can't complain that at least half an hour of my three hour literacy class was dedicated to reading two children's books (one was a picture book on immigration, the other was a short novel on poetry). it was the last two and a half hours of that class that was just cruel and unusal punishment. don't get me wrong, i strongly believe in the importance of reading, i just don't want to sit through three hours of chapter review from a textbook i already find incredibly dull. oh me, oh my. i guess i'm just quite the complainer tonite.

let's hope tomorrow goes well. friday is typically the poopy day in the middle years education timetable. last friday i spent the entire two and a half hours of my adolescent psych class (which should be sooo good) doing homework for my other courses. after that i have a one hour break before my three and a half hour class on exceptional children. that class is just a killer. who wants to sit and learn for three and a half hours on a friday evening? yeah, not me (or anyone else in my class for that matter).

if you see another post in the middle of tomorrow, that's just me trying to pass class time on my laptop. who knows, maybe i'll come up with an interesting little story to tell.

remembering camp

2006-09-19T17:28:00.000-07:00

my cabin of amazing girls - youth camp 2006

looks can certainly be deceiving. after a long night and a full day of puking, i managed to squish myself into a dress, do my hair and put on this smile for a photo. i wanted to go to the banquet with my girls so badly, but after about half an hour of hanging around for photos, i walked up the stairs with the lovely shawn ross as my escort, sat down at my table, and then ran off 30 seconds later with my tummy having a major panic attack (there was no more puking - thank goodness. I think at that point there was nothing left in my innards to expel!). so that was the end of my youth camp banquet experience. oh me, oh my.

they've discovered them...

2006-09-18T23:40:00.000-07:00

i tried to hide them. i tried so hard, but they escaped. there was just nothing i could do. now more and more people know all about them. what will i ever do with my snorts?

i figured i would try and hide my snorts as much as possible. after all, i was starting a new program, making new friends, and i just didnt want the snorts to be the first impression. while some people love my snorts (and that i'll just never understand), i know that others want to run in fear at the first hint of one.

thankfully, i made it through the first week of school without incident. then i started to get to know people... while that's always a good thing (no one really ever wants to be alone) it also means that my chance of snorting. Sure enough, it was last Monday's class on social issues that was the breaking point. Somewhere in the midst of acquiring way too much knowledge on chinese canadian history (yes, try and figure that out - the class is social issues in education - i just dont get it) i just lost it. i think it was round about the time that i won a canadian history quiz and for my prize i won a wonderful extra large pamphlet on...wait for it.... oh yes, chinese canadian history. i just laughed and laughed. the snorts tend to pour out the second i begin to laugh hard, and with the encouragement of all of the p.e. kids at my table (there's six of us in middle school) i lost it and snorted multiple times.

then there was the gym incident. in pe class, with the 5 other middle school pe people that i know and the 15 other people that i really don't know at all, i started laughing so hard (i still have no idea why) that i let out a huge snort - right as everyone else in the class was silent. i mean, this snort was so loud - you could actually hear it bouncing off the walls in the gym. as i just stood there cracking up, i heard all of the other middle school kids laughing their heads off too. glad to know i'm so entertaining.

today the snort count continued. i can't even remember how many times i snorted, but now that the pe guys are so aware of it, they do everything and anything that they can to make the snorts escape.

i had every intention of being the "professional teacher" this semester. of pretending to be grown up. now that they've escaped, i've thrown that out the window. oh well, at least i'm having fun laughing.

another rainy day...

2006-09-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day, and I sit here curled up with my laptop, a little Shawn McDonald, and a stack of homework. I just finished my Sunday afternoon mug of hot chocolate, and as I continue to try and type up all of my assignments, my mind wanders helplessly. As I look out the window and watch the rain, the sunny days of camp seem so far away. It's so hard to believe that just over two weeks ago I was running around with my cabin full of girls. So much has changed in these last two weeks. I'm now what professional educators would call a "preservice teacher". After two weeks of classes with the other 35 middle years education students, I have become not only swamped with homework, but stunned with the awareness that in only a few weeks I'll be entering a classroom as Miss Salt. I am so excited to teach, but the reality of the situation has yet to really hit me. As the moment approaches, I assume I'll become more comfortable with the idea of it, but until the moment is actually upon me, I believe it will remain something like a dream. I've also moved back home and I'm just starting to get comfortable again in my old room. It seems strange living at home while beginning an actual career, but that's where I am at this point. One of these days I'll have my own place, but until then it's nice to be taken care of.

Back to my homework I go. I'm sure I'll procrastinate and write again later (there's only so much "reflecting" that I can handle without going insane).

free stuff... sometimes you love it, sometimes you don't

2006-09-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

oh free stuff...

for the most part, i'm a huge supporter of free stuff. i mean heck, if you're going to go out of your way to allow me to have something for free, i'm usually going to jump at that opportunity. it helps that i'm a perpetual university student who works at camp during the summer so that on top of owing thousands of dollars to a big giant university i make close to diddly squat. generally, anything that costs nothing is a sweet deal. however, i'm beginning to rethink this paradigm. don't get me wrong, in the last week i have enjoyed the benefits of a free agenda/student plann and some coupons to staples (though nothing i can get with them is actually free), but i've also come across some free things that i just don't need.

take yesterday, for example. there i am, walking across the north plaza of the sub by the good ol' grassy knoll, when i'm handed a free information pamphlet. now i'm not really one for pamphlets, but it was free and i was distracted by the wonderful cup of starbucks in my other hand, so i accepted the pamphlet and kept on walking. much to my dismay, i hadn't earned myself any more coupons to staples or a free meal, but a piece of propaganda about how chickens are praying for me. Yes, that's right friends, CHICKENS ARE PRAYING FOR ME. Now you can imagine my reaction. Who hands out pamphlets that says chickens are praying for me? First off, I don't believe I've ever come across a chicken with the intellectual capacity to string together a coherent sentence, let alone pray for me. When I read the rest of the pamphlet I realized that I was being coerced into becoming a vegetarian or a vegan by a number of cartoon animals telling me that they loved me, they didn't want to be eaten, and that they were praying for me. Oh sweet mercy. Not that I don't love vegetarians, I think they're great people, but please... this is just poop! I really should scan some of the images from the pamphlet and put them on my blog - they were that ridiculous.

Needless to say, I need to pay far more attention to the free stuff I collect. The next time I'm offered a pamphlet that tells me the chickens are praying I will run, no, SPRINT, in the opposite direction. But I'd watch out... you never know where those praying chickens will end up next.

home again

2006-09-12T13:46:00.000-07:00

i'm home again, drowning in several piles of laundry and stacks & stacks of tupperware containers. the transition from camp to regular life is always an interesting one and quite often a messy one. as i sit here and attempt to organize my life i can't help but think of how incredible a summer i had. no, i don't say that because i returned home with a new boy in my life, but i say it because i was able to witness God at work this summer. does that sound cheesy? yeah, it probably does, but it is in fact true. not only was i able to witness God at work, but in several instances i was able to play a part in his transformative work. i'm constantly in awe of the fact that God chooses to use broken people like me to do his work. i mean, how often do we feel as though we're really standing in the way of whatever it is that he wants to accomplish? it would make far more sense for him to push us aside and do the work himself, but he doesnt do that. i think that's the amazing thing about God. he gives us grace when we don't deserve it and uses us in spite of how truly incapable we are. in the book of ephesians, paul writes extensively on the grace of God. in chapter two he writes, "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. for we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do." after a summer working as a counselor, i look at these verses and i am reminded that everything that was accomplished was God's work. there is nothing that i could have done to earn salvation for my kids, nothing to further their faith, but God poured his grace out as a gift, and through faith many kids were able to receive it. i don't know what else to say, but how thankful i am that i am his workmanship and he has prepared incredible things (like this summer) in advance for me to do. how sweet is that?!

just a little slideshow...

2006-08-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

I HEART CAMP

2006-08-15T22:32:00.000-07:00

So I am absolutely in love with camp! I realized today that I have one of the best jobs in the entire world (if you can actually call it a job). I hang out with kids all day and challenge them to grow in their faith. Sometimes that means I get to sleep out under the stars. Sometimes that means I sit and eat a chocolate bar. Occasionally I get to cheer. Whatever it is that I do, I get to be a part of these kids lives. There is nothing else I'd rather do.

You've just got to love camp...

2006-07-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

My boy - Andrew

Janine & Catherine - So cute!

Byron & Moi - I love this kid!

Katrina & Chelsea - So cute!

O Cammy!

The girls at the ocean

my loves...

2006-07-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

here are a few pictures of the kids that i love...

anj, richard, dan & jer - what a crazy couch

katrina & megs - lovely as ever!

chelsea my love - such a beautiful face!

cammy, andrew & andrew (counselor)

tyler

catherine, lauren, jana (cit 2)

worshipping in the hall - katrina, paul, richard, andrew, anj, crystal

posing - dan, phil, kim
richard and his melodica - oh man!

the lovely miss samone!

CIT #1

2006-07-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." ~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

I've been blessed with the job of hanging out and discipling 32 amazing kids for this first session of CIT (Counselor In Training) at Camp Qwanoes this summer. I'm one week into the program and these 32 kids have become far more than names on paper - they are real kids with real passions, desires and hurts. I've witnessed first-hand how God has been able to touch their lives in this past week and it's incredibly inspiring. Clearly, it hasn't been easy. If these kids want to become stronger, they need to be broken down. They need to stop living for the outside - the things that so often control and persuade, and live for who they truly are (placing their identity soley in Christ). This process brings with it a lot of pain and tears. I haven't cried this much in a long time. Thankfully I've also been able to witness the restorative work that's occuring in their lives. God isn't just leaving these kids broken - He's bringing them to a place where they are able to know him more completely & fully.

I don't think that I could have a better summer job. Hanging out with these kids and watching the transformation that's taking place is one of the most phenomenal things I've ever been able to witness.

Meet Gill

2006-06-29T15:44:00.000-07:00

Gilbert the fish - We call him "Gill" for short

Let's just hope this poor guy doesn't die after the first few days. I must say though, he's doing a lot better than our last office fish (Cali didn't make it past the third day - and she didn't swim around much. We figure she was already ancient and just kicked it naturally)

A few more pictures...

2006-06-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

Colin & Jonny Mo - a love affair on a double-decker bus

Blenkin - oh how beautiful

RyRy & Elise - If I show everyone this picture will the world think they're dating?

Stevie G - Oh how I love him! Watch out for that branch!

Brandon & Jayson - All smiles

A Trip to Victoria

2006-06-22T13:19:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd share...

Andrew, Kiki, Nathaniel, Dave

Kevin & Andrew..... and a poor bear

Ladies and gentlemen...Kiki Tegelberg!

Andrew, Kevin & Dave - I have no comment

Peeing with the bear...

Where's the beef?

2006-06-18T01:20:00.000-07:00

With each passing day I'm getting more comfortable with the nickname "Beef" and it scares me. I mean, what if I'm stuck with this nickname for the rest of my life? If henceforth I'm referred to as a slab of meat, I just don't know what I'll do.

Where'd this nickname come from anyway? I blame Jonny Mo and the G's in events (Stevie & Colin that is). Clearly they are the three that perpetuate this nickname of mine. If anyone should have the nickname "Beef" it's Jonny Mo & Andrew for the massive amounts of man-thigh they showcase every week. I don't show thigh, I don't have udders, and I'm not black & white - why am I "Beef"?

I laugh a little when I remember that two years ago I was quoted on the IVCF website as saying, "It's not good if you don't have beef" and "I have to go talk to the meaty people". It's as if I was being set up for this nickname.

I'd never have imagined that the name "beef" was in the stars for me, but I guess I'll learn to love it. There are worse nicknames out there, right? Heck, at least my name isn't "Mammoth"......

Bon's Off Broadway

2006-06-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

You've just got to love this place.

While on the outside Bon's may appear to be yet another cheapie brunch joint, it is truly in a class of its own. Maybe it's the dorm room-like décor, with its scores of cheesy movie posters and pop star album covers plastered all over the bright yellow walls. Perhaps it's the dude clad in security guard accoutrements who is not actually an employee but fancies spending his mornings wandering from table to table, filling coffees cups and kissing ladies. Or maybe it's the grouchy old lady who is definitely hard of hearing and looks like she's worked there for over half a century, but with a little bit of coaxing will go out of her way to grab you a new fork from the kitchen.

While a decently strong argument could be made for any of these hypotheses, it's the ridiculously low prices that cement Bon's as the best place in Vancouver to grab breakfast and a coffee. There's no way that you could show me another restaurant in town where five dollars will get you a bottomless cup of coffee, two eggs, sausage/bacon or ham, toast & hashbrowns with enough left over to leave a 20% tip.

All in all, a trip to Bon's makes for an incredible day off. The rest of the day was just icing on the top of a very large, very greasy, very cheap breakfast. Alleluia.

this week in brief

2006-06-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yet another week at camp and so many stories to type. Here's a glimpse of the week:

'Man-Thigh Monday' took on a whole new meaning. Not only was I witness to a whole lot of man-thigh, but man-thigh in nylons and plaster. Sometimes I wonder how I find myself in situations like these...
'Hairy Pit Hump Day' was a meaningless threat until I saw a little too much man-thigh. Now I'm not so sure how I feel...
Thirty guys dressed up in brightly coloured togas running around camp excited about football and beef is a sight that I won't soon forget
If I go 90 and Stevie goes 5... n'er the twain shall meet
Two gingers = one kid with a hand stuck on its head
Babysitting & retrieving 'our' deformed children and a fearful dog is more fun than you'd think
I remember random numbers - if you want to call Dr.King in Saskatoon, his number is 306-966-8089
Ryan doesn't take criticism of his yellow tie lightly
There are people in this world who break for puppies & deer - on the side of the road
Doing dishes for 1200 people in a room smaller than my bedroom is rather challenging, but oddly accomplishable
Everyone should be allowed to watch Emily play 'psychiatrist' or rake bark mulch in the challenge course - I've never been so entertained
Huffing banner paint is never a good idea (but the banners look amazing!)
CITs are absolutely incredible - I love hanging out with them - even in the bowels of the pit
Noses are both squishy and hard - when I think I often squish the end of my nose (or so the CITs tell me)

my hope is you

2006-06-08T16:03:00.000-07:00

My Hope Is You - Third Day

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
In you, O God, I place my trust
Do not let me be put to shame
Nor let my enemies triumph over me

My hope is you
Show me your ways
Guide me in Truth
In all my days
My hope is you

I am, O Lord, filled with your love
You are, O God, my salvation
Guard my life and rescue me
My broken spirit shouts
My mended heart cries out...

Psalm 25
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.
Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land.
The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
My eyes are ever on the LORD,
for only he will release my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have multiplied;
free me from my anguish.
Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
See how my enemies have increased
and how fiercely they hate me!
Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you.
Redeem Israel, O God,
from all their troubles!

trying to be girly

2006-06-06T22:31:00.000-07:00

tonight was girls' night and that meant one massive attempt at being girly. now i'm not usually the girly girl type. yes, i'll admit that i like a little nail polish on my toes and both shampoo & conditioner in my hair, and a little make-up never hurt anyone, but outright girly-girlyness just scares me. i don't know, but there's something about being in a small room filled with massive amounts of girls that just makes me nervous. for the sake of staff unity, however, i got over my fear, dressed up in a big hawaiian moo-moo (or mumu - how do you say that word?) with a cowboy hat and dove head first into a night full of girls. i guess i really can't complain. i enjoyed a whole lot of chocolate fondue and fresh fruit, and played stupid games with a bunch of incredible girls on staff. we even got to beat up a pinata.

while i'm a little choked that i didn't get to play a game of football or eat a giant steak, i can't really complain about the night that i had. every now and then i guess it's okay to be girly, as long as i dont have to sit around and tell people how beautiful they are in God's eyes. Not that they're not... the cheesiness of the moment just overwhelms me. but don't worry too much about me, last night i stepped up my floor hockey game. i even made an assist! unfortunately my team still lost, but it was a good game overall. it's nights like those that balance out nights like these. plus after that bus ride home last night, i think i was overdue for some girl chat.

oops - dead fish

2006-06-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Oops. Dead fish.

So I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but it was inevitable. I didn't think I'd make a good fish owner, and now we know that's true. I mean, the fish wasn't even floating in the bowl. It sunk. Maybe it got stuck under a rock and drowned? Maybe it really wasn't supposed to live with the plant. Maybe the chemicals we bought should have actually been used in the water. All I know is that today, for the first time in my life, I flushed a fish goodbye. I didn't cry any tears for Cali. No, the only tears today were for dishes. Now we know where my true love lies.

I guess if I really want another pet I could just catch one of those bunnies that always hops outside my window. You don't have to flush those.

the song in my head

2006-06-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Shawn McDonald - Take My Hand

Take my hand to the promised land
And on You I want to stand
‘Cause I cannot do it on my own
You're what I need and I need to be
Right by Your side ‘cause I cannot hide
Lord, I know that I need You
I need You
I need You
Without You I'm so alone
I am weak but You are strong
You pick me up when I'm falling down
And I am crying
Out to You inside of my heart
I need You, Lord, oh so, for the part
I want You to have my life, Jesus
I fall to my knees
And I'm begging You, please, oh, Lord
Won't You change me
Make me new from the inside out
I want to shout out Your name

So I basically love this song at the moment... I'm not sure that I can really explain why, but it just started playing on my laptop and now I can't stop playing it. It makes me want to sing. It makes me want to praise. Also, it's got a hint of our CIT theme for the summer (Inside Out).

Other random thought of the day: Andrew and I bought a fish for our office today. It's a little red and blue siamese fighting fish (Betta fish) named Cali (which is short for California Roll). She's pretty cute. She lives in a bowl and eats the roots of our peace lily. I've never had a fish before in my life, so i'm a little worried that i'll kill it quickly, but here's hoping that she makes it through the summer.

a week's worth of adventures...

2006-06-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

i've officially lived at camp for a little less than a week now (and by less, we're talking about just a few hours less) and it's been quite the eventful week. Check it out:

Tuesday:
The morning started out with an adventure to Duncan with my lovely sidekick/counterpart Andrew. We decided to purchase a few supplies for the lovely Green House. Apparently we think that a pound of Starbucks coffee and a plant that fish nibble on are essential components of our CIT ministry. Yeah, don't ask, we can't really explain it either. After lunch we started cleaning the Green House. I guess when I say cleaning, I mean screaming because the majority of what I did involved me shrieking. So I go to open the cupboard and take out cleaning supplies to scrub the toilets in our house. To my surprise, a furry beast of some sort scuttled into the corner of the cupboard. I just about lost it! I mean a big furry brown beast!! It could have been a hairy spider (and it doesnt help that Andrew keeps telling me about these crazy furry spiders - yuck) and I was freaked out at the possibility of it. Andrew tried to coax it out of hiding, and I screamed and screamed and screamed. Then he pretended to throw it (which we figured out was a little brown mouse) at my face. Ask Andrew about the reaction, but I definitely ran screaming onto a nearby stack of chairs and hid my face until I could calm myself down enough to realize that the mouse had indeed not been thrown in my direction. After chasing the mouse (which I named Peter to keep Andrew from squishing it) between the random stove and fridge located in our house, we finally managed to shoo him out the door. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done... I'd allowed Andrew to see me be absolutely petrified of bugs. Shoot.

Tuesday also involved a suprise party for Kim & Kim (yeah, they're married and both named Kim) and a trip to Nanaimo with Andrew, Ryan, Elise & Kiki to watch XMen 3. And yes, I did see Scotty Martens up on the screen - what a star!

P.S. Somehow I acquired the nickname "Beef". What the heck! I think i'm going to beat Stevie G, Jonny Mo and Colin with a stick... Beef! Who calls anyone Beef?

Wednesday:
What a glorious day for window cleaning and weed wacking! Or so we decided.... I must say, the Green House sparkles a little bit more because of our efforts. Heck, who doesn't want a shiny green house? P.S. Never throw egg like objects at a house and let the goop settle there for days and days in the sun. It makes it incredibly difficult to clean up... the bottle of Comet & I became quite close.

As for later that day, Andrew and I went for a little jaunt around camp, trying to track down all of the things we need in order to paint a banner. You know how long that took? Till Dinner! Ahhh. We worked till 9:30 at night (when most people quit at dinner) in order to accomplish something on our CIT Banner. Let me just tell you, it's one good looking banner so far. It was a good day overall, that was topped off with a little bit of the movie Rent.

Thursday:
So this morning Andrew and I started work at 10am up in the good ol' Green House. We meant to start off the day doing a whole ton of discipleship questions, but the internet connection was sketchy, and we weren't able to get much done. Instead, we poured our heart into designing our banner and planning a few things for the summer. Once again I must mention that the combined creative talents of Andrew and myself has made for one pretty sweet banner. I hope that it's appreciated by all of the CITs out there... plus the CIT staff shirts are going to be incredible. Oh just you wait - it's glorious! The day was followed up with a staff bible study on Gal 2:20,21. Good times...

So there's so much more that I could have typed, but I'm having the hardest time actually concentrating on what i'm typing. Bah... I give up and I shall head up to my room.

another day at camp

2006-05-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

So it's been another day at camp... another glorious day!

What made this day so glorious? Well I was actually able to sleep in today - to a whoppin 9:15! If you know me, you know that when I sleep in, I really like to sleep in.... but 9:15am is three hours later than the last few days, so it felt oh so good. Can I also mention that one of the best ways to wake up is to open your eyes to an upside-down version of kiki tegelbery. oh sweet mercy.

Today was a day off for me. I don't really know why I needed a day off, but hey, when you have a day off you just dont argue. Kiks, Elise, Emily and I headed into Duncan for some Starbucks and picked up a few camp essentials at Superstore, Walmart, and Save-On Foods (you know, those high-class establishments!). After lunch at Subway, we headed back to camp, but only for a few minutes. Yeah, Kiki and I realized that we needed to head back into Duncan and fill out our Criminal Records Searches, so we grabbed Jayson & my little black car and we headed on back in. I don't think the lady at the police station loved us too much, but hey, everything got done.

The rest of the day was a typical day off. I checked my email, chatted on msn, and hung out with a bunch of awesome people around the lodge. I helped contribute to the "I Don't Wanna Be That Guy" List that Jonny Mo was making for his blog. I think he's up to twenty scenarios. You know, like, "I don't want to be the guy who's just a little too nice to your girl friend" or "I don't want to be the guy that is way too competitive in recreational sports" - It's a sweet list.

After dinner, we headed back out to Duncan to play some floor hockey. Now, I'm not normally one for floor hockey, but I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed myself tonite. My stick-handling skills need a lot of work, but I can check Kiki Tegs into the walls like none other. Although anytime Stevie G would shout out "Beef" (apparently a new nickname... ahh!) I couldnt help but bust out laughing. The highlight of the night came when Stevie, at the end of the game (and yes, by the way, my team did win) came up to me while we were all shaking hands and put my head in his disgustingly sweaty pit. Flashback to that Basketball moment in the movie Along Came Polly where Ben Stiller checks the really sweaty guy in the game of street ball - eeww. Though, at least Stevie wasn't the one to put the pepper in my slurpee after the game. Bahh... Andrew's going to get it. Although maybe not... I think another 'not cool' chat may be coming my way. Shooot... I need to stop acquiring those.

Nonetheless, today was a great day. Happy birthday to my Daddy back at home - I love you!

Tomorrow I actually get to start working after Andrew and I go grocery shopping for CIT stuff in Duncan. I can't wait to work - I'm just way too excited about this summer to wait any longer. I've got a lot of work to catch up on, but it's some of the best work I could think to have to do.

at camp

2006-05-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

i've officially moved into camp, and i'm loving it!

i really haven't had too much time to sit and realize that i'm at camp - until now. I drove straight from work at the gym to the ferry and then to camp. When I got here, I unpacked everything from my car, took a little walk, ate dinner and then the weekend's meetings began. If you didn't already know, this weekend was Staff Leadership Orientation and involved millions of meetings about being a leader at camp. Unfortunately for the 8 CITs who came to work this weekend (or fortunately - you'd have to ask them) Andrew and I were in so many meetings that we weren't left with a lot of time to just hang with them. Late Friday night, after meeting for SLO, we were able to chill with the group of CITs. We headed up, in the dark with only one flashlight, to the Greenhouse to play wink (but not the wrestling kind), 4 on a couch, and "I've never". We shared a bucket full of cookies & lollipops, and it made for a pretty good time.

As difficult as it was to be scheduled for so many meetings (my brain shuts off too quickly) it was also such a joy to gather with an amazing bunch of leaders. The more time I spend here at camp, the more I know that this is truly the place for me this summer. I already know that it's going to be challenging, but I am more than up for the challenge because I know that challenge can bring strength.

I guess the weekend wasn't all meetings though. Saturday night we (all 39 leaders) headed to the park in Ladysmith and had a feast of KFC and played some old-school Qwanoes All-Star games. My team decided we'd excel at coming last, but we actually won a few of the challenges. The games were followed up with a round of tag, Kick the Can, and then Grounders in the playground. From there we hopped back on the bus and grabbed coffee & donuts at Tim Hortons and then went back to the Guest House for a fire, worship & prayer. It was an incredible end to the evening, and it left me feeling challenged to really live out my faith this summer. I don't want to hold back, but rather I want to allow myself & my heart to break for these campers. I don't know what that looks like, but it's my desire for this summer.

Anyway, I must be off for dinner. If you're back at home, keep me updated on what's happening there - I love you & I'm only a ferry ride away.

long weekend pics :)

2006-05-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

18 cits, 1 asst food services crew chief & 2 cit counselors

cabin clean-up... sort of

liam's pooped

uh...phil?

where's cam?

the long weekend...

2006-05-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

There's just so much that can be said about this past weekend at camp - I don't know where to begin.

Friday started out with a lot of caffeine, a little ZOEgirl and one sweaty trip across the ocean to Duke Point, Nanaimo. I can't even begin to explain to you how excited I was to jump on a ferry with 15 of my CITs. I was practically jumping up and down all day just waiting to meet them all. So I get to the ferry, and what's happened? I was so excited that I was sweating like a man. No wait, I was sweating like a beast. Once on the ferry I definitely ventured to both ends of the boat in search of a cold gust of wind that would dry out my pits. Cold wind = cold pits and that's just not fun. When we reached camp, after the long ferry ride & the bus ride full of children yelling the words to "99 Bottles of Beer", Andrew and I, and the 18 CITs made our way to the Staff Lounge where we chilled and played a few games. While the Chicken game and Move Your Butt were both fun (who knew phil & liam were so violent!) the highlights of the night occurred while playing the crowd favourite, Extreme Duck Duck Goose. Let me tell you, this round of EDDG was no chess match, it was as violent as they come. Maybe I didnt succeed at taking Andrew down that time (he threw me over his shoulder, what could I do?) but I certainly gave Cam a run for his money. Watching Cam leap through the air to try and tackle people is one of the funniest things I have ever seen - If you've never seen it, you're missing out! After the games finished up we all made our way out to the "designer" cabins in Huckleberry Hideout to sleep for the night.

Saturday morning began far too early, but I must admit that I was pretty excited to get up and spend a day with these CITs. At 6am, Britt N & Steve reported for Kitchen duty, and at 7am the first shift reported to the dish pit (Liam, Phil, Holly, Kim, Brooke, Melissa, Nina, Lindsay). You wouldn't think that scrubbing dishes at 7am would be thrilling, but even I didn't know what this shift had in store!

Stay tuned... I'll finish writing later

how i love camp

2006-05-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

Kim and Brooke - oh so cute!

Phil and Cammy - chattin away

Andrew and Lucky Liam - No, the nickname was not because of this picture

so i had a flippin fantabulous weekend at camp and i wish that i had the energy right now to tell you all about it. not only do i have great stories, but i've got great pictures to go along with them. i will post as soon as i find the energy (the one thing i'm lacking after such a great weekend) and the time away from work to do so.

to all of my cit's out there - oh how i love you. never in my life have i snorted so many times while laughing in one weekend. wow - it was phenomenal! you all amaze me and i can't wait to hang out with you again soon.

i'll post again soon.

love & hugs,

jenn

the joys of small group

2006-05-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

Last night was indeed a glorious night at small group. I prepped, I prayed and I showed up, but I didn't quite expect what I found. Sure enough when I walk in the door of the Harris' basement family room, I find a good solid collection of guys and little miss Morgy. Poor Morg had been left alone with not one, but 7 guys, and a plate of chocolate brownies. I don't know about you, but I find that a rather scary thought (especially when Dodds, Cammy and Cotter are swarming around the plate of brownies). Seconds after I walked in the door, Ashley followed, and I must say that I was incredibly thankful. It takes a few girls to balance out any small group, and this group is certainly no exception.

Anyway, after a few brownies topped with whipped cream, we dove into our bible study for the evening. We were looking at Simon Peter in Luke 5:1-11 and the idea of confidence in Christ and not in our own abilities. Things were going rather smoothly for the first little while, which is quite remarkable considering the usual state of our group (i'm sure others can attest to this) but then the brownies came back into play. Apparently Cotter dropped some brownie into his cup of ice tea. Instead of putting the cup aside, he showed the rather mushy mess to Cam, took a sip, and then couldn't stop laughing. Maybe "couldn't stop" isnt the right phrase to use because he did stop laughing when he started to choke. And gag. As I watched from across the room, Cotter couldn't seem to get the mushy brownie mix to dislodge from behind his epiglottis (what a glorious word!), and so he got up and darted down the hall to the bathroom. At first I figured he was just trying to spit it all out - that was until I heard the heaving. Can you recognize the sound of heaving/puking? I certainly can and it makes my stomach turn. There'd been a puking child earlier at gymnastics and now there was a puking Cotter just down the hall. Jer jumped up and grabbed Cotter a glass of water, and I didn't know what to do. How did we go from talking about collecting fish in a boat to hearing Cotter heave down the hall?

When the heaving subsided, the bible study continued. Cotter looked a little green (or pekid) and stunned for the rest of the evening, and the rest of us sat and tried to avoid the smell of his heaving (there's nothing worse than that smell - eew). When all was said and done, we wrapped up a fairly coherent bible study. Funny that, in spite of the heaving break, we appeared to accomplish more than on a regular small group night. Maybe we should make this a regular thing?

Ahhh... the joys of small group

Moral of the story: Don't laugh at brownies, they'll laugh right back at you.

44 Days till CIT #1!!

2006-05-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

This is my roommate Lauren holding up the big 44. Yeah, that's right, only 44 days left until the CITs arrive. Could life be any sweeter?

My type...oh dear

2006-05-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

So I caved and did one of those ridiculous online tests today at work (while waiting for the fall brochure i was creating to save - adobe illustrator takes forever). It's really not my fault. Jordan Simpson emailed the quiz to me and it was just sitting there in my inbox, willing me to do it. So I did it. It's a "Who's your type?" quiz. I probably could have told you the answer without doing the test, but really, that's just not as much fun. Plus, it's fun to feel like a giggly little school-girl every now and then.

So here's the quiz in case you feel like procrastinating too:

(http://uk.tickle.com/test/whosyourtypem/select.html)

And here are my results:

You must be havin' a laugh! You go for the clown type!

Laughter is the way to your heart. A man with a fab sense of humour is definitely the one for you! You want a Clown, someone who can laugh at himself and make you laugh, too. There's nothing more tedious than a man who takes himself too seriously. You know that if a chap is silly, he's generally self-confident and secure. Your man is a people magnet and everyone's favourite friend. There's never a dull moment with your clown nearby. You crave excitement and a bit of a laugh, and your clown enhances those things in your life. You probably think life is too short to spend it without a smile. Your witty lad will ensure that that doesn't happen - his light hearted and silly ways make everything a little bit brighter.