Bruised and Broken

Finding February

February feels odd to me this year. I'm not sure why. I mean, perhaps it's related to my previous post about the sudden realization of change... but maybe it's also because I've just never really thought about it. 

This second month of the year doesn't really have a lot going for it you know. No big holidays. No change of season. And it's that oddly short month on the calendar. How many days again? 28? Wait, is it a leap year? How many would it have in a leap year again? Who decided on that system anyways?? It's still winter in February but it's not really known for its winteriness...at least not here. It's just chilly and wet and a short stopping off point on the way to spring I guess. 

We had sun this week though. And it's been uncharacteristically warm, though still cold enough to wear my new fuzzy boots and red mittens. It was rather pleasant, if I do say so myself. I was out walking and I was feeling sorry for this morose short month. The brief moment of sunshine made me realize that its rather grey most the time. Everything has a dull tone. Grey skies, grey-brown trees, the dead leaves have lost their luster, even the grass is rather dull. Winter has seeped into the heart and soul of the earth and it's just waiting for the uplifting fragrance of spring. 

And so I decided to capture this sunshine and search for the beauty I know is out there, the beauty that makes February, well, February.  

Tomorrow...

Well I had grand intentions of writing a few more detailed blog posts about my trip this summer but time, it would appear, has gotten away from me. Perhaps I will yet come back to the topic but for now, I am about to embark on a whole new adventure.

A train.
A big city.
A fast paced intensive course.

New people.
New places.
New challenges.

I've been waiting anxiously for this day to arrive and now it is only hours away. I am taking my first big step towards a career in journalism... I am tempted to dissolve into tears of anxiety; to drown in the dread of the unknown. But...

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7

I believe in God's promises. I can not thank Him enough for His provision and His peace and His protection. I am blessed beyond imagining. He has promised to guard my heart and mind in Christ and I believe He does and will continue to.

I know that He has lead me here. I know taking this course is my next step. Now I know I need to give God the little things that have me worrying. Because He is sovereign over them too!

I remember, on our trip this summer, being fascinated by the little things; the tiny details God has designed in creation. I marvel over the work of little caterpillars.

I stare in awe at the intricacy of a flower.

I study the tiny designs in the leaves.

God's glorious fingerprints are everywhere; the evidence of His care and precision and attention is all around me in the inanimate world. How much more will He give His care to the details of my life? Small things like getting a good sleep tonight, arriving at the train on time, finding parking, where I sit in class, who will sit beside me, who my professors are, and what they shall teach me...all this is in His hands and will follow according to His sovereign plan.

And so. Tomorrow is coming. No sense in worrying. I rest in Him. May His will be done, for His glory alone.

Would appreciate your prayers as I embark on this journey.

Thursday Smiles (No. 4)

I love this time of year. The fresh crisp air, the wet green grass, the taste of summer on the wind. I love the daffodils that sprout up in the highway medians, how their bright bobbing heads seem to dance to a rhythm only they can hear while the rest of us race on by consumed by our busy lives. I love waking up to a foggy morning, moisture beading every surface, every sound muffled and ever so slowly the sun peels away the mist to reveal a sparkling blue sky.

There's nothing like those first spring sunsets, the enchanting colours of the clouds and the immediate chill that chases the sun over the horizon.

You can't beat the smell of spring flowers, first to brighten the gardens and paths of an awakening world coming to life. They seem to pop up everywhere and bloom overnight, soaking up both the intermittent days of sunshine as well as the life-giving spring showers.

The rain, oh the rain. Nothing like spring in the Fraser Valley. It's definitely not the time of year to be planning picnics but how I adore those spur of the moment walks in the sun, stealing the snatches of warm weather we are given, dreaming of summer. And how high our hopes soar as we dream of heat and vacations and days without rain.

Oh spring. You make me smile.

Thursday Smiles (No. 2)

I did it!!! Bet you all are so proud of me...and probably surprised...but yes, I managed to actually do this twice in a row. I'm proud of myself. :)

So. Today is Groundhog Day and that is reason enough to smile, dontcha think? I mean, it's a rather ridiculous little practice: to observe the groundhog and hope it doesn't see it's shadow so that we can all look forward to winter being over. I mean really?? Firstly, I have to say, it makes no sense. I think if it SEES its shadow, spring should be coming because that would mean it has to be SUNNY...but that's just me and ALSO what if the groundhog just doesn't look in the right direction? Or what if something else causes a shadow that it sees? Too many flaws. Yet people show up to the festivals, people listen for the announcement on the radio, for goodness sake there are several rather famous groundhogs around North America who even have statues built after them. Soooo ya. People's odd fancies strike me as amusing.

In any case, I decided to celebrate Groundhog Day in my own way! How? might you ask... well I conducted my own little search for spring around my yard. I believe I can say without a doubt...spring is coming. ...of course it must be coming because it can't be going anywhere...

So here are some of the images from my little scavenger hunt.


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And here's my adorable puppy who always makes me smile!


Other smiles from the week came in various forms. I saw this earlier this week, a little note on Instagram which read:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

When I think of you

My writing comes out corny

 Now THAT cracked me up. I'm easily amused apparently... So in honour of that holiday of love coming up soon, there is a little poem for you to share with those you care about :)

This little cooking adventure my mom and I had...pork chops and apples. It looked great going in but...we have to work on it a bit I think. The end result wasn't my favourite dish to consume.

And finally, going to the grocery store...in slippers!!! yes!!!! Nothing quite like it. I've decided I shall do it any other time I have need to whip over there for something quick. It's too great.

And this concludes my second "Thursday Smiles"!!

Fork, knife or spoon?

Our trip was a one of new experiences for me and the world of food was no exception. As you can probably imagine, we ate out quite a lot being on the road for so long. Incredibly we stopped at only TWO places that I had ever been to before: Starbucks and Subway. The rest of the fast food places or restaurants were new to me, so I got quite a good sampling of American food. :) Those who know me, know that food is rather important to me and I can be quite passionate about it. I like a lot of different foods, LOVE to cook and try new things and just really enjoy eating good food. I'm particularly a fan of intelligence displayed in cooking and always look for creativity in making a dish go beyond your average chicken and potatoes. Of course, I wasn't expecting particularly awesome food on this trip as I knew it would be mostly fast food places, which are generally less than exceptional, but it was fun to try new places.

Early in the trip we went to a Steak and Shake which was pretty cute and quick with satisfactory food. The shake I had was a little disappointing as it was pretty much just ice cream which I had to spoon into my mouth or risk fainting from the exhausting task of sucking the sludge up a straw. (wow that makes it sound REALLY distasteful...it really wasn't that bad.) My favourite part of this place was just the setting. Little 50s diner-ish with happy music and lots of natural light. Arby's was also pretty good. I had a beef sandwich...kind of their big thing...with a beef dip. Nothing really to rant and rave about, oh except I REALLY liked their curly fries. Those were pretty fantastic. Mostly I was impressed that their food wasn't swimming in grease or flattened into a smushy mess. Also, there was quite a stack of sliced meat on the sandwich...which is important :)

I also went to my first Chick-fil-A! I had heard SO much about this restaurant and didn't realize it was only a fast food place. My expectations were pretty high as I walked in and I wasn't disappointed. I mean, not that the chicken sandwiches were anything really all THAT incredible but they were definitely good. They're fries were rather lovely tasting as well. Mostly I just had a lot of fun there with my friends.

doesn't it just look so yum!!

I must say, the giant fresh leaf of lettuce was pretty beautiful and the spicy cheese was delish. Oh and I must give them some points for having real LIVE flowers in those vases. That was nice to see in a fast food place.

bawk bawk bawk

ketchup, a must-have

cracking up because Cort was taking a million pictures

Our trip to Cincinnati for the express purpose of a meal at the Cheesecake Factory was pretty fun. Now THAT was a great restaurant. Jess and I shared a teriyaki chicken meal which was rather wonderful. The white chocolate raspberry cheesecake we shared was AMAZING. One bite and I pretty much melted. So creamy and silky and AWESOME. It was just a beautiful taste, exquisite...if that makes any sense. Suffice to say, I'm a fan.

Cincinnati as we were leaving. For some reason I like this shot even though it was taken rather spazztically out the window as we were flying over the bridge and is therefore just awesomely blurry. Just a happy memory I guess.

Drove the half hour back to the museum with Cort, Caela and I in the backseat. Pretty much my favourite part of the night as Caela and I spent the whole time giggling, while everyone took turns teasing, making ridiculous jokes and just having a blast.

The last place worth mentioning was actually at Silver Dollar City in Missouri. There were various little food places throughout the park that cooked their dishes in these HUGE skillets. Lots of great spices, flavourful meats and perfectly fried vegetables made this meal one of my very favourites on the whole trip! Simple yet impressively well put together and basically a party in your mouth. Loved seeing the chefs at work, hearing the sizzle of flaming hot skillets and the parade of happy smells delighting my nose. Eating under the shade of a million rainbow-coloured leaves added to the atmosphere making the experience sublime.

impressive right????

oh wow, I'm hungry just looking at this!

Oh and I have to mention Andy's, the fabulous ice cream place we ate at 3 nights in a row while we were in Branson. Pretty incredible soft serve there! Open late, made fresh every hour, tons of options, just basically a lot of fun to stop at. 

And so that concludes the food part of my journey. I encourage you all to head out to a new restaurant some time soon and try something out of your ordinary. Who knows, maybe you'll find a new favourite!

Sock tan, sore muscles and two blisters later...

That's right, I've been backpacking! :)

Despite the unhappy prospect depicted in the title of this post, our 2 1/2 day trip was fantastic! So, let me explain...we found out that the college backpacking trip that usually happens...well, it wasn't really legal because you aren't allowed to take groups of over 20 people into parks or "wilderness" areas, so the past few weeks has been a mad scramble to figure out what to do with the students this year. It was decided to take them in groups up into Grand Teton National Park for two nights, not ideal but it would get the students out backpacking and it would be fun to show them the back country Jackson Hole. So on Thursday the staff headed out to check out what the hike would be like...

What a hike it was! We booked it in there and out in high gear man! To avoid a novel-length post, I'm just gonna give ya the highlights:

- 3 miles in we spent an hour chillaxin at these amazing pools. SO awesome!

- finally at our campsite about 7 miles in (around 4ish), we set up our tents and ALL of us just crash and sleep for about an hour. BEST nap EVER!

- mange (which means "eat" in French for those who ain't bilingual) some MREs which really shouldn't taste that good! Seriously, just add water?

raspberry crumble...dessert anyone??

- about 7:30 we all head to bed because we can't survive the hordes of mosquitoes

"wilderness mocha"

- up half the night listening to a porcupine chew on backpacks, and shoes...

- day hike to Death Shelf = 3 miles to the shelf, 3 miles along the shelf...6 miles back (poor Jess's back almost went out at the end of the shelf making the 6 miles back to camp VERY long)

Tetons from Death Shelf

our camp was in this canyon, to the right

-blown away by the amazing views. It's unbelievable that THIS much beauty can exist in a sin-cursed world, devastated by a flood!

- awe-struck by God's amazing gardens up there!

- amazed at our bodies ability to KEEP MOVING. Seriously, it's like my feet were just programed to keep moving, they surely didn't want to at the end of that day hike!

- bed at 8 second night (again with the mosquitoes) and up at 6:45am ready to head back at 8:30

- 7 miles in 2.5 hours!!! we is beast my friends!!!

- SHOWER (it's amazing how great it feels to be clean after that!)

So there's the trip in a nut shell. The theme of the hike was "flat as Kansas". Scott kept saying it would be flat in the canyon, then up on the shelf...neither of which was flat AT ALL! (we began to wonder if he'd ever been to Kansas!) So many hilarious jokes and laughter the whole time. I seriously love these people and love hiking and LOVE God's creation! Being out in it, falling asleep to the sound of water cascading over rocks, waking up to the warm morning sun, walking through fields of wildflowers which smell like heaven...how blessed I am to have this experience!