A famous fence... (Look for the One-footed Mule Deer!)

Steph and Emily on the feel-good fence. People come from all over the world to sit on this fence.... Honestly! It's a good-feeling fence. Don't you feel good just looking at it? I feel good about it. I'm sure Steph and Emily feel good sitting on the fence. There should be more feel-good fences in the world. It'd be nice to feel good sitting on a fence. Maybe sipping tea. On the feel-good fence. "Sure I'd like to have some crumpets with my tea! Boy this fence feels good!"

Lake Louise 2008

Well, we did it: the somewhat spontaneous/crazy 3-day trip to Lake Louise. And it was awesome! It was great to see where Michael lives and what he does (although I'm not sure we got a very clear picture of that.....does he do anything?!?!) Just kidding Michael! The mountains were absolutely beautiful and definitely declare the majesty of our awesome God!

We managed to fit lots of things into our short trip. After being up a full 24 hours, we made it to Lake Louise around 3am Alberta time (5am Ontario time) on Friday morning. So we slept a little (which pretty much sums up all our sleeping over the weekend!) and then went exploring around Lake Louise. Michael was a great tour guide and filled us in on the grounds and showed us around the hotel. Then Friday night we went to Banff, toured around a little, bought the guys some sunglasses (to replace the goggles they didn't have for Saturday's adventures) and had dinner. We checked out the hot springs, but when we saw it was just a huge pool and we were quite tired we decided to head home.

Saturday the guys went snowboarding. They survived although came back quite sore! Emily and I had to put up with a lot of complaining that night! They had lots of fun (and falls from what I hear!). Emily and I went cross country skiing. After a bad start (a big hill, lots of falling, a faceplant and bloody nose--that was Emily) we made our way to a flatter terrain, the lake. We skiied across the lake to a frozen waterfall. We had fun and a workout too! Saturday night we made dinner, sat in the hot tub at the hotel and played a game of Ticket to Ride Europe (during which I fully admit that I was very tired, mean and grumpy! It had been a long few days!)

On our way to the airport on Sunday we stopped in Banff again, checked out a cave and natural hot spring and did some shopping. Then we spent the remainder of the day at the airport trying to get on a flight home. After not making it on the 4th flight of the afternoon I had to call my principal to let him know that I was stuck in Calgary and wasn't going to make it in the next day. That didn't go over so well and I'm still dealing with the consequences for that one, but it was all part of the adventure, right Martin?! After not getting on 5 flights we got a hotel for the night and returned to the airport at 5:30 on Monday morning and finally started our trek home.

It was a great weekend! And although tiring and crazy I would definitely do it again! We'll post some pictures soon (dial-up poses a problem when loading pictures!) and my captions will be nicer than Martin's (although he better watch out, revenge is great!....I liked that picture, but not anymore!)

Yes, I'm a Teacher, and part of being a teacher sucks...

Our lives haven't been terribly exciting this week. Mostly, just school work. Steph's trying to get her report cards finished before we fly away on Thursday night. (she would normally have Friday off to do her report cards, but she'll be livin' large in Lake Louise on Friday!)

We just recieved news that friends of ours just received a baby girl last night! Congratulations goes to Erica Danae who gets a wicked cool name and a breath of fresh air!

I, on the other hand, get to sit at my desk and work on papers that don't write themselves! But on the bright side... once I've finished these... That's IT! I'm done with papers! They can go write themselves! I'd like to see them try to make me write another paper! Not going to happen!

And then I get to teach a grade 5/6 class at a public school in Caledonia. Yippee. (I liked teaching high school... grade school might be difficult for me)(maybe not)(we'll see).

So...

I guess I'll just go back to the Bible Unit I'm writing. Stephen got stoned, by the way. Paul watched. Philip did a star trek transportation thing. and Peter learned that Gentiles aren't the unclean pigs that he thought they were. (That's my unit)(too bad I can't just write that, eh?)

Alright... (insert big sigh here)

well, That doesn't work...!

Last night, I caught myself walking up the steps to the our front door, 'habitually' trying to use the "Unlock" button on my key-chain...

When I realized it wasn't working, Steph said, "I know... I do it all the time, too."

Contradictions, Part II

My reading week has begun! Yep, starting right this minute, I have a full week off from school. They call it a reading week, but everyone knows that no reading will be done (unless it's for pleasure)(see the list of adult/children's literature on the side...).

Instead of reading, Steph and I are more likely to spend our time looking for and applying to various Christian School job postings that we come by. Our biggest question right now is whether or not we should both apply for the same job...

Ideally, we'd prefer for Steph to get hired into a full-time, permanent position before I do. But with the Christian School job market being fairly competitive, by necessity, we both have to apply and see what happens.

This is when trust in the Lord is such a great thing. 'Cause whatever happens is gonna happen, and we'll just trust that it's good for us.

Contradictions

So, one of my favourite songs right this moment is "I wanna marry you all over again," by Derek Webb. It's a song about the romance that accompanies first falling in love... Although, simply writing it out without the music makes it sound a little crass... this is my favourite line in the song:

"I wanna read the Bible, and I wanna make out..."

Whaddya think? Contradiction, or not?

Dignity in a Bible Story

I have to do a presentation today. Out of two choices, (1) a university level seminar; or (2) tell a Bible story, I chose to tell a Bible Story. Sounds easy enough, right?
Wrong!
I have to use drama and props and stuff. I have to get 'into' the story... Which is fine and dandy if you've ever taken a drama course in your life, or if you're good at being dramatic.
But I'm not!
I have a dry, sensible wit about me, that hasn't included wearing costumes or voice modulation since I was eight years old playing G.I.Joe and Cowboys and Indians.
So I don't know what I was thinking.
I decided to do the story of Saul's Conversion. With a background story that involves the stoning of Stephen. In these stories, both Stephen and Paul fall to the ground at some point in the story...
Now you tell me... Is it appropriate for a teacher, telling a Bible story, to fall to the ground in dramatic fashion in a grade Eight Bible lesson?
I don't. and I won't. I'm sacrificing my grade for my dignity!

Valentines Day is Thursday!

So I figured that if I created a post with this title it would be a gentle reminder to my husband, who checks/updates our blog way more often than a calender! Although I'm sure I don't have much hope...I have one of those husbands who thinks Valentines Day is a holiday created by the commercial market, after all we're supposed to show our love EVERY day! Excuses, excuses! I'm sure they sound familiar to more of the women reading this! I figure if I have to do something for it at work, why can't I get anything at home? In all reality, I really don't care, I just thought it would be fun to bug him "in front of" everyone!

Other than preparations for the "big day" nothing is really going on here. We're incredibly busy with school and work. It's crunch time for both of us: Dave with big projects and then exams and me with report cards (I feel like I'm always doing those dreaded things!). We're planning our 3-day trip to Alberta (and by planning I mean calling everyone else to see what's planned!) and maybe another potential trip to New York over March Break (although that one is in it's very early stages). So we have lots to keep us busy! And of course we're still on the job hunt. Thanks to those who are keeping their eyes and ears open for us, keep it up, we need all the help we can get! There aren't many jobs up for grabs, it's a tough market. But we just keep praying and hope that it will become apparent as to where we should be.

Anyways, off to do some more marking.... :(

A jewel of an article

This posting is targeted at women, but can be for men too. For the most part, you can skip the big words and you'll still understand what its saying. (a good strategy in university!)

Highly recommended reading, especially for dieters:

http://www.bodyessence.ca/Pages/Articles/strengthwomen/womenandmuscle.html

Yes, Dumbbells are for women too!

Explanation of Some Big Words (that don't really matter to the essay):

resistance training = lifting weights

Metabolic = metabolism = what happens in your muscle to burn energy

paradox + ideosyncratic = doesn't add up

the Hulk = a green monster with huge muscles (most men want to be him)

The Biggest Loser

As an attempt to provide extra incentive to lose weight, I'm proposing a Biggest Loser Challenge. If interested, please comment to this posting, or vote in my new Monthly Poll (on sidebar).

If enough people are interested, I will figure out some way to keep the game fair, and personal weights confidential (because I know it can be a touchy subject...!)

And I'll periodically start posting "Exercise Training Tips" from my 'extensive' expertise in Kinesiology.

*No family members, or friends, are allowed to kick David for proposing this*

il Neige! Non, il pleut! mais, il quoi?

It's Steph's 3rd snow day of the new year today! Yep, the prospect of slush turning into ice was enough to get the entire Erie board to cancel school today.
Redeemer cancelled classes too.
Which is all honky-dory to me! But, it really doesn't look that bad out there. I mean, the cars are still whipping by our house at 130 km/h like they usually do. Actually, I wonder if they get air off of the bridge a kilometer away from our house...? One day I'll have to try it. It's too bad I don't have my old oldsmobile anymore...
But this kinda makes for a boring day at home. Hence, I actually looked at my facebook page today, and realized it's still as boring and confusing and slow as it ever was.
I'd go for a walk, but the fact that the air on this farm is so thick with the stench of pig that you could cut it with a knife and have pork for dinner, combined with the fact that the cars are getting airborne off the bridge over the flooded creek at 150 km/h, and that it's wet outside, doesn't make a walk sound like too much fun.

I should probably set up a video camera at that bridge... (three cars just went by in quick succession...)

As you can tell, snow days that aren't really snow days, don't necessarily make for interesting days...

Pray

For those who know them, Melissa's mom passed away yesterday morning. Please pray for Brad, Melissa and her family in this difficult time.

Life Altering Decisions

Steph and I are going to go to Calgary with Martin and Emily this winter! This is a huge undertaking for us. But we're looking forward to it, with mixed feelings. On the one hand, its really exciting, and sounds fun, and we get to see Michael, and the Rockies, and an airport. On the other hand, it costs money. Money. It's a gas. Really, Steph and I shouldn't really be able to afford a trip. But combining the fact that Michael gets us a sweet accommodation deal, and Martin gets us a really sweet 'low-cost' ticket deal. How could we say no?

Can You Believe It?

Snow Day #2 of the week is currently in progress! I can hardly believe it! Today actually feels like a snow day though, it's snowing pretty good and the roads are covered. And you know it's bad when Redeemer closes as well, because it takes some pretty bad weather to do that!

On a side note, I just received an e-mail with some very horrible news from one of my good Redeemer friends, Melissa. Her mom has been battling cancer for a long time but has gotten considerably worse in the last couple of days. The doctor has given her 6-8 weeks to live. Please pray for their family and for a miracle! We have an awesome God and he can do awesome things if we ask!