a real May day

Today I walked home from work and it smelled like green grass and pine trees.
The birds were singing.
We ate raisin bran with the porch door wide open... and morning breeze flooded in.
I slept and then woke up and opened the windows..
Even ripped the winter plastic off one of the front ones-- freedom!
Washed the sheets, hung them out to dry
Cleaned and scrubbed and spring cleaned- hurray!
Lemon juice and olive oil soaking for a fresh salad
Bowl full of ripe tomatoes on the counter
It must be spring

It's a good feeling.

in which I update re: life

It's been over a month! A lot has happened in the last month....

Mom and Dad Claus came to visit. It was nice to show them our little end of the country again... we spent a lot of time chatting about life in general over delicious home-cooked meals. It's neat to hear how things are going for them in Terrace... they have relocated their bakery to this northwestern BC small town and so far things are going really well. That combined with plans for an orchard and a small-scale fruit farm mean that they have taken on a lot of new projects- it's pretty great.

Brian wrote his PhD comprehensive exam. He is now a PhD student, no longer just a PhD candidate. It's a big step in the graduate studies process and now means that he can devote most of him time to research, rather than reading  and studying for hours on end to prepare for such a big exam. I'm proud of him. He's got some exciting projects coming up in the next couple months, including a robotic sailboat competition down in Maryland and an ice island floating down the coast of Labrador that they might get to do some investigations with. He's happy and challenged so that makes me happy.

I also got to see Ashley- she was down here in St. John's for 2 short days prior to a conference up-island. We went on a really wet and windy walk to Cape Spear, went for coffee, played Scrabble, and just caught up on life in general. It was great. Some things never change.

I started doing triage at work. This means that I am stationed at 'the window' and when people walk into the ER, they sit in front of me and tell me what is/ what they perceive is wrong with them. I check their vital signs, maybe check their throat or listen to their chest or look at their cut/ item sticking out their hand (really, this happens a lot! nails, sewing needles, etc), check their "I-think-its-broke" ankle... Then I assign them a triage code. This is a number from 1-5 that determines how long they can wait in the waiting room/ how sick they are. (A 1 means they are pretty much dead. These people usually come in by ambulance). A 5 can wait for 12 hours without any deterioration to their overall health.
It's a very interesting and challenging role. I'm sure there will be many stories to tell...

Brian and I contemplated moving.... looked at a couple places... and decided we are going to stay here for the summer at least. We wouldn't mind a bit of a bigger place that is newer than circa-1903, and not quite as drafty/cold/ hard to heat in the winter. But there isn't much right now and this is a great place for the summer with its porch and big windows and downtown location.

That's life in a nutshell right now. 5 weeks from today I will be back in Grimsby getting ready to celebrate Lisa and Zach's wedding! Really looking forward to it. I love going home. It's always so good to visit everyone and catch up. My dear husband might not be able to come with me due to ice islands and such sort of researchy things, which I am a bit sad about... also, its sad to not have your dear husband with you at other people's weddings... but that's ok. I'll be alright. Mum and I can hang out lots, right Mum ? :)

today

i sort of wanted to go to work today
thought the phone would ring at six
bracing myself to face the world


instead i woke at seven
sleeping bear beside me
another day of my own


stocked up the cupboards
raisins and dates, oats and bran
baked a loaf, sipped some tea
sweet lemon fills the house


smells like spring out
birds chirping, warmer breeze
sky still dark and moody but such we have come to accept


pondered hopes, wondered what the summer might bring
spring puts such thoughts in the mind
ran along the shore
how blessed i am to be able to feel my heart
pounding in my ears
as the waves pound below and the rock towers high


husband's tomato soup, crackers and tangy goat cheese
fresh water, good music
time to be still


this is the good life, in all its ups and downs

tea and theology

Last fall a couple friends at church and I started thinking that we really wanted to start a women's small group. Our little church is really young and small, but it's still, as with any church, not really that easy to cultivate deep friendships with people beyond Sunday morning small talk. You need to get beyond that.

So we started to meet in January. We had a book, but as the weeks have gone by we've strayed farther and farther beyond the book into so many topics. And it's so good. There were 6 of us a few times, but there has consistently been 4 for the last 10 weeks, and these 4 women are awesome. We talk about the daughters of Eve, aka women of the Bible, which is the subject of our book. But this leads into so many other discussions..

love
marriage
the exclusivity of Christ
heaven
baptism
career choices
homemaking
birth control
pregnancy
weddings
engagements
dating
men
spirituality
worship
food
cooking
sex
books
childhoods
homeschooling

and more and more. I am so thankful for these ladies and the thinking that they have inspired in me, the ponderings as we discuss what it means to be a Christian woman today... in St. John's, in Newfoundland, in Canada, in society. Two grad students- one arts and one science; an accountant, a nurse, one dating, one engaged, two married, one pregnant.... there's a lot of ground to cover.

It's fun to walk this road together.

It's really special to have some kindred spirits in St. John's who share my faith and who I can have these deep talks with. I've been waiting for this. Praying for this.

May we keep growing.

weekend togetherness

I'm sitting here at our kitchen table quite content. It's raining outside, on top of the snow and slush.. it's grey and brown and there's not a speck of green out there on this April 2. But that's alright.

I am happy that it's the weekend. I'm glad that last night, after a failed movie attempt and some waffling around over plans, I ended up staying in with Brian and making dessert together. Bananas Foster. Yummy- it involves bananas, Dutch banana liquer, brown sugar and butter and vanilla ice cream... and lighting all of the above on fire (minus the ice cream). Fun!

Saturday mornings at our house involve crepes and jam, coffee and goodness. It's becoming a little tradition that I love. Even if Brian has to go in to school like he did today, it's still a chance to linger over steaming coffee together and bask in weekend relaxedness. Also makes me appreciate days off, since I work some Saturdays and a lot of weekdays.

Mom and Dad Claus are coming in 3 weeks and I'm looking forward to having some family time! Sometimes its a bit lonely on this island when our closest rellies are 3000 km away.

Looking forward to spring so very much. It's sneaking up on us very slowly. The days are longer. The furnace doesn't fire up quite as much. There's not quite as much of a chill in the air. Yesterday I walked for about 20 minutes without a toque (before it got too chilly again). It feels so strange to walk around bare-headed. I can't even imagine exposing my white legs in shorts! Haha. Or a T-Shirt- what does that feel like again?

I am thankful for the flexibility of my job right now and that I can avoid working a lot of nights and weekends-- a rarity for nursing. I'm glad that I can be in church on Sundays and in my own bed at night.

A very happy anniversary to my dear Mum and Dad today-- 28 years together. Love you both so much and so thankful for your marriage. I know you will have an awesome time roadtripping down in Arizona next week. Off into the sunset you go!

So there's a lot to be thankful for. I had a bit of a rough time recently. learning to be patient- what else is new.. I tend to be a bit impatient sometimes. And then get a whole string of events planned out in my head of how things might end  up being. Need to be reminded once again that it's not up to me.. and sometimes there's nothing I can do but watch and wait and learn and be still. Treasuring the here and now, while acknowledging the 'wait' and 'not yet'...

March days

Hello there.

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here. March has been full of snow, lots of working and studying, a bit of colds and snuffles and a stomach bug. Snowshoeing, long hours, yummy new dishes, good friends. A bit of missing people. Windy days. A birthday and cake. Lots of hot tasty beverages.

Feeling hopeful for spring. For flowers and buds and new growth and new life. Winter is long on the edge of the North Atlantic.

I'm not really feeling particularly inspired to write anything here, but I just wanted to let you know that I was still here. If anyone was wondering. :)

More to come.

In like a lion...

Yet in the swirling winds and blowing snow we still find grace.

Yesterday, as i walked through that muted light that comes just before dawn, the sun was rising. Amidst the cold and blue, that golden ball of light, surrounded by pink clouds, and rising above our hill overlooking the ocean. Glimpse of glory.

All of creation declares Your glory.

Recent hike- Maddox Cove, East Coast Trail

sometime soon, I will get up and take pictures of that glorious sunrise :)