The Upswing of Things

Things have been rough on the inside this past month. There was and still is much to ponder and chew on as I continue to make the transition from student to a "grown-up". I think one of the issues amongst many was and is that on the outside I'm "here". I'm "grown-up" now. I have a job. I have my own apartment.

Letting that sink in.

I take care of me. But on the inside I still feel very much like a kid. I still haven't figured out life yet at 22. Devastating, I know. This is all to say this is why I have neglected this poor corner of the web. Too much going on inside to post it on the outside.

Things are on the upswing and God-willing they will keep going up.

Five Good Things

1. Anesthesia for dental surgeries.
2. Scrabble
3. Fresh flowers. The scent FILLS my room.
4. Tylenol 2
5. Mix CDs

Tired

Being on staff has been more exhausting than I had ever imagined. Actually I didn't think it would be this tiring. For the most part I've been brain dead by the time I've gotten home from campus. Thus no recent blogging. There's been SO much that's been going on though, and I really want to blog about it. But I don't think I can do it justice in my recent state of mind. I'm slowly getting use to the pace so hopefully by next week I'll be able to blog about something more substantial than being tired.

First Day

Good.

That's how I would describe my first day. A solid, deep 'good'. Not just a chipper, light 'good'. But good.

God is good. Very good.

More tomorrow. I am tired.

BIG Day

Tomorrow is my first day on campus!!!

Finally after all this time! I have no idea what to expect. It's almost as if I'm blindfolded and just walking into the midst of it all, taking it as it comes. I'm a bit nervous, a bit apprehensive, a bit excited, and a bit curious.

HERE WE GO!

Public Service Announcement

My photo blog on aminus3 has been revived. I needed a simple creative outlet and an incentive to keep at photography. The link is to the right.

4 Hours + 3 Fingers

4 hours + 3 fingers =
Jesus All For Jesus,
Leaving on a Jet Plane,
Brown Eyed Girl,
and any other song that only uses a combo of the guitar chords G, D, C, A.

Not that you'd really know which song I'm playing though. That's just how good I am. So good that you can't tell the difference.

Right now switching chords requires full mental concentration. I don't know if it can actually be called "switching". Maybe if you're switching tires because that's how long it takes for me to switch to another chord. Strumming is...well let's just say that I didn't think there was much talent involved with strumming, but apparently there is, and I don't have it...yet.

One day...I WILL wail on a guitar. And I don't mean the guitar from guitar hero.

New Year's Resolutions

I've never been a New Year's Resolutions type of girl. It was mostly because I never had changes that I really wanted to make in my life. But this year I've had a few swim around in my head already because of the transition from student life to "hey I'm a grown-up now, with a paycheck" life. A part of me thought they would just happen, but obviously they have not. Writing them down makes them more concrete.

I will...
1. Go to bed by 11:30pm on regular weeknights.
2. Eat at NORMAL hours. No more lunches at 3pm and dinners at 9pm.
3. Incorporate ALL food groups into my diet. Especially fruits and veggies.
4. Cook healthy, well-balanced meals. Poutines don't count.
5. Be well-watered.
6. Clean up my room every night before bed.
7. Figure out a plan to exercise regularly...somehow. Endorphins are good.
8. Stay within budget.
9. Put more effort into my relationships with everyone.
10. Not neglect breakfast.
11. Go easy on junk food.

Basically...live a healthy lifestyle.

Affirmation

Today I met up with a supporter who has known me since I've moved to Canada. He's a missionary himself and he's seen me grow from a rebellious teen who swore profusely to now, so I see him as a father figure. He said to me, "You've done good, kid. I'm proud of you." Those words meant so much to me.

One Person Duet

This person sang BOTH parts of "A Whole New World" from Disney's Aladdin. Blows my mind.

Eagerly Anticipating...

1) Visiting the four corners.
The four corners is the ONLY point in the U.S. where four states, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado come together. I've wanted to go since I was in elementary school. Geeky, I know. Two times I've been only 20 minutes away, but have never gone. This time the visit shall prevail!

2) Seeing my family over Christmas and dazzling them with my fantastic cooking skills acquired in the wilderness of city-living.

3) Winter Conference

4) New Year's Eve at Winter Conference

5) Staff training

Illusions of Grandeur

This year's theme for the New Year's party at Campus for Christ's Winter Conference really excited me. So much so that I spent about 3-4 hours researching a costume idea that I had online. Then as sleep lifted from my eyes this morning so did my illusions of grandeur. The headpiece itself takes at the very least a week of diligent work to make for an experienced costumer. With all the Christmas presents already vying for my attention and spare time, I doubt I'd have time to put it together to my satisfaction, but oh my soul yearns to tackle that project!

Humility Classes

Every Tuesday night I go to a class to learn humility. It's also known as a dance class. Whatever pride that I have in my fab self is in shreds by the end of the night.

No Filter

The elevator stops. We get out and walk towards Steph's apartment. Light shines from the end of the hallway. The door from her place is open. Someone is either coming out or going in. A person appears, but it's no one we know. It's a strange man. What the heck?

"Is this the sixth floor?" Steph asks.
"No, it's the fifth," He answers.

We walk by the man to the stairwell to climb the stairs to the sixth floor.
We pass him and I say:

"I was wondering why there was a strange man coming out of your apartment."

5 Good Things

1. Quaint Coffee Shops
2. Honest Mechanics
3. Family Dinners with Friends
4. Christmas Carols
5. Musicals

Royalty

This morning I had a chance to hear Queen Noor of Jordan speak at a health conference courtesy of my friend, Dan R at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. While she was speaking to an audience of health professionals and the like, the talk was very much development oriented or so it seemed to me. There was a lot of development ideology and jargon thrown around like micro-finance, empowerment, and etc. I was really thankful for my degree at this time. It definitely helped me to understand and analyze her talk to a deeper level than if I hadn't come from an International Development background. While I didn't agree with everything that she said, I do agree with this one line:

"Inequity, not scarcity is the problem."

According to Her Majesty about 1 Trillion is spent on arms a year where the expenditure for health and development is significantly less. I can't remember the exact numbers for those two, but no surprise there.

Her talk got me to rethink my cynicism in regards to development. The Queen was definitely inspiring in that she continues to persevere despite all the challenges she has faced in her humanitarian efforts. One could only imagine all the nasty red tape.

One-Liners

"I'm too old." ~A man's excuse for sitting down during our routine tonight.
"I don't have a ligament." ~My teacher's retort.

"That's not vodka, is it?" ~Elevator man's comment after I loudly chug the rest of the water in my clear 1L Nalgene bottle. (FYI: There was 25% left.)

An Ear for a T- Shirt

Yesterday I went to the most exciting Raptors game EVER against the Celtics. For highlights you can read it at their website because they'll definitely do it more justice than I can. I was on the edge of my seats in the fourth quarter and part of me could barely stand to watch. It was so nerve-wracking, but oh, so good. So many last minute 3 pointers.

The highlight of the afternoon that wasn't related to the game was when we were all going for the free stuff that they were throwing out during the time outs and everything else. The whole point was that the crazier you were, the more likely you were going to get something thrown in your direction although catching it might be another story.

So there I was, waving and screaming like a madwoman for the Sprite Zone guy to throw me the t-shirt he was holding. After teasing the crowd for a while he finally slings it in MY direction. What luck! I catch it, but I fumble and it slips out of my hands and lands on the ground in the row behind me. Anxious to grab it before the guys in that row gets it, I bang my left ear on the railing in an attempt to make the grab. Luckily J gets there first and she snatches it for me.

We sit down and everything is honky dorey except maybe for my ear. It's throbbing a little bit, but it's always been temperamental, getting sore at the slightest touch, so like...whatever. Then J tells me that it's bleeding.

The ring apparently ripped a bit in the back and punctured a hole in my head. Not a big one though. Most of the bleeding came from the piercing. The funny thing is I was debating whether to take the piercing out permanently because it still hadn't healed after a year. This decided it for me. It came out. Now I just have boring lobe piercings unless...

Five Good Things

1. Starbucks' Peppermint Mocha with extra whipped cream and the peppermint sprinkles.
Gosh, what a romantic drink. (And yes, by now you should have realized that I have odd definitions for the term 'romantic'.) It's like drinking Christmas.
2. Chinese pastries. Especially the ones with red bean.
3. Good, non-sketchy, funny, fluffy chick lit.
There's times when you just want to read fluff.
4. Extra strength Tylenol.
5. Eyebrow threading.

Get Your Groove On

Owwwww.

Just got back from a beginner/intermediate hip-hop dance class with Irene. 120% sure that I will be shuffling from place to place for the next little while. What an amazing work out. So much fun, but a lot of work. It was great to bust a move. There's just something about those beats in hip hop that just helps you to unleash and let everything out. Rawr. Like my instructor said, who needs therapy when you can dance?

Dancing's definitely a mental and physical workout. It takes so much mental energy to focus on the moves, the timing, and the style, and so much physical energy to execute them. Right now I'm having a hard time executing the right moves at the right time. No style whatsoever. We'll work on that later.

It definitely made me realize that I need to get in more shape. I've become such a couch po-ta-tooooooe. By the end of the lesson I just couldn't do the moves because I couldn't lift my limbs. But I love it. The instructor's awesome. Very upbeat and very patient. I don't feel like such a tool when I have to ask her to do something over. The teacher makes or breaks the experience. She's so pro.