its been great living with Aunt J+ Uncle J. But, the time has come to move out. They need their space again, to live a quiet retired life, without me and my crazy schedule of work and late nights and eating all of their bread and cereal. :)

so.. i must go. the time has come. but where?

well...

i have a place to live! i have a place to live!

with Elisabeth and friends.

Stockton Cres, Gordon Head- a yard full of trees, a comfortable couch, and a nice kitchen with mugs and a teapot- s'all I need, friends.

Victoria in summer.. here I come. Place to live- check. Need a job. Need to finalize my nursing job. Need a place to live in Vancouver. it'll all come with time.. trying not to worry bout it.

Oh, I suppose I never did fill you in on what the plan was. You faithful invisible blog readers, even if there are only a few. 'what?! she's staying in victoria? but i thought she was going to vancouver? wait wasn't vic the plan all along? stupid girl changes her mind like the wind.' sort of. sometimes. it depends. but this is fast and firm now, this one..

I want to begin my nursing career in Vancouver. But I don't want to leave Victoria yet. Hence, the express route of graduating high school, uni '04, '08 has been halted, somewhat. I'm going to spend the summer in Victoria. Study for the RN exam in my spare time. Go back to ON in June for a couple weeks- exam, convocation, Tara's wedding. And here, on the island- live it up. Lots of social time, lots of friends over and exploring the place and meandering along the beach and wandering downtown and biking everywhere... in the meantime getting a little job at a bakery or coffee shop of some sort. Then start, hopefully, at Vancouver General Hospital in August. Fresh and ready to go.

sounds good to me.

weekend musings

Easter sunrise service at Gyro Park. No sun. No rise. Just rain. But people, healed by the rain, the rain of the mercy and grace and miracle of this day. Singing praises with a banjo and some bongos. Umbrellas and hoods. And three wooden crosses, in front of an expanse of ocean. how wide and how deep....

Betrayed with a kiss. A sign of love, life. But now, a step down the road of suffering. Death.

A rugged wooden cross. Sign of death. Now a ticket to life. A sign of love unfathomable.

'how wide and how long, how high and how deep is the love of Christ Jesus our Lord'

Pooch

Spot- aka Pooch

July 11, 1998- March 21, 2008

I know she's just a rabbit. But it's amazing how animals carve out these little places in our hearts. Almost 10 years old- not bad for a bunny, I must say. Born and died in the same backyard. She was stubborn and crochety, but also really cute, and affectionate in a grumpy sort of way- especially once you managed to catch her and wrap her up in a towel like a baby.

I've always had a pet rabbit, or multiple rabbits, starting in 1994. 14 years! I guess that this is the beginning of a new era, and another time of transition, in that I probably won't be getting a pet again till I settle down a bit more. Hmm, maybe a litterbox-trained house rabbit? Now that would be fun. :)

just breathe

Then, after an awful pause, the deep voice said, "Susan." Susan made no answer but the others thought she was crying. "You have listened to fears, child," Aslan said. "Come, let me breathe on you. Forget them. Are you brave again?" ~Clive Staples Lewis

ever onward marches time

I only have 9 shifts left. This alone causes feelings of slight panic. I'm almost done. I've been here for only a little over 2 months and I'm almost done, and I have to decide what the next step is.

Looking back, I realized that I have mentioned more than enough times in this blog about how I have to decide what to do with my life. But it does seem like a pretty big deal. I guess its typical of finishing up school and moving on to the next step. I definitely go through waves in my feelings on the matter. Right now, it's more on the side of, "aaaaaaah!".

I got offered a job in Ottawa yesterday. I don't know what to do about it. I was pretty sure that I was going to stay in BC. (I still am, upon a deep moment of self-reflection and honest soul-searching). But then, its like I'm stepping into the unknown, because that job in Ottawa is for sure. My prospects here aren't even close to that point yet.

But, I will stay in BC. I am staying in BC. I like this place. I do miss people back home. Ontario holds many souls who are dear to me and close to my heart. I miss the familiarity of a place that I lived in for 17 years of my life. There's a lot of history there. I miss little things like the snow, and the down-to-earth conservative traditional family-ness of Ontarioans (how's that for a blanket statement? haha), and milk that comes in bags.

Here, though, I like it. The place is beautiful. The ocean and mountains. The opportunities to get out there and bike and hike and camp. The excitement of living somewhere new. Of learning so much more about myself and about faith and life and love and living as I go through more and more days on this other side of the country. And most of all, the people. There are amazing people everywhere. There are people I have met here who mean so much to me already. And I feel like this is only the beginning.

So for now, I'll just piddle around with some short term plans. Where I want to be in April, and probably the summer. After the summer... well, maybe back to ON I'll go. Or not. Things might be very different by August. Life changes so fast. Ottawa? Vancouver? Alberta? All in due time.

Goodnight.

if i was born in Ontario, does that mean i'm 22 now, or 22 in 3 hours?

:)