small things

3 weeks later already... time is flying here. Today is the official halfway point of September.
The air is crisp in St. John's and fall is definitely in the air. No leaves changing colour yet, but I'm sure it's coming.

It's been interesting here. This move has not been easy. If I look back, when I moved to Victoria it was difficult. When I moved to Vancouver a few months later it was also a big challenge. And now here, in St. John's, it has been no different. As I should know and expect. But it turns out that after I am nice and settled into a place, I forget the rocky time at the beginning as it fades into distant memory... hence, I kind of forgot what it was like to move. But, that will come again.

There were a couple sunny spots to this past weekend. On Saturday, Brianne and Robert-- Lindi's cousin/ my friend and her fellow- invited Brian and I over for a BBQ. It was just lovely. I have been aching a bit for that kind of fellowship and there it was. We sat in the kitchen with grilled chicken to perfection, golden corn on the cob (a rareity in these parts, such good produce!) and a splash of red wine. Good conversation and good fun was had by all.

Then, Sunday morning. Decided to try out a new little church, and it also happened to be the first Sunday that this church, Mosaic, was having their service in the morning instead of night. They are a small church which is held in the chapel on the Memorial campus.... and it was great. We walked in there, and people were SO friendly. They have half an hour before the service where you can just drink coffee and eat goodies and chat... met some really nice people. And it was authentic and though-provoking and reverent and worshipful and inspiring... and full of love. As someone pointed out to me, "Your heart was smiling there, wasn't it". Yes, it truly was. Looking forward to going back.

Sunday afternoon Brian and I went to the first introductory meeting of the St John's orienteering club. This involved being handed a map with flags on it, and running along the trails/ tramping through the underbrush trying to find the elusive (some of them) hidden flags. It was great fun. We'll do it again, thats for sure.

And its thing's like these that slowly help to make this quirky city poised on the edge of the north Atlantic more like home.

Unhindered

Today I was in orientation at work... it was pretty short actually. We started at 9 and then ended about 2. It's a nice break from the 12 hour shifts. Learned about all sorts of interesting things.

And then when we got 'let out', I walked home in the glorious sunshine... and glorious is not an understatement. There's something about this place when the sun is shining and it's not too hot. The sky is SO blue, the trees are SO green, the air is SO clean-feeling. I love it.

So I hopped on my bike. 25 km, to St Phillip's and back. What a spot! Winding road down to the ocean, lakes along the way. Blue sky dappled with white fluffy clouds. Waves crashing onto the round rocks, still powerful from the remnants of last night's storm. That salty spray, ocean-smell. Boats docked. Fish-and-chip place by the water. And of course nothing like a good hilly bikeride to get the heart pumping...

There is something about, when one moves to a new place, just embracing it for all it is worth. I think that this is something I've come to learn. Sometimes I feel so out of place here. At work when everyone is talking a mile a minute in the breakroom and I'm stuck trying to figure out what 'stunned' and 'contrary' and dinner instead of lunch and supper instead of dinner mean. where's ya to, 'bye? And everyone asks why i moved here- "oh you're from away then"- 'you're not a newfoundlander, are ya?" "must've followed your man"...which is usually followed by, "oh, just you wait till the winter". Yes, I will wait for the winter.. and enjoy summer while it's here, thanks very much. Ha.
While the above is all true, it is also said very good-naturedly, and Newfoundlanders are friendly people. Even if they drive crazily and their grocery stores have sub-par expensive produce and no fish sauce.
But I also do live on a giant beautiful rock, surrounded by the ocean, rich in history, wild and rugged and coastal and GOOD. and so i will continue to find little jewels such as St Phillip's and the rock above the meadow at Quidi Vidi Lake and the blueberries at Blackhead and the path beyond the lighthouse at Cape Spear.

of great change and ocean tides

synopsis:

Moved to St John's, Newfoundland

Now live on the other edge of this country, next to the northern Atlantic

Work in Emergency

Live with 2 other gals- soon to be 4

Overwhelmed sometimes, though that's getting less... quite enjoying it a lot of the time- this whole moving business. This time is different, though...

the best part is that now

I live in the same city

As my love

:)

june

well. I know its been almost 2 months since I posted. a lot has transpired since then. let me fill you in- in a nutshell. aka short sentences.
- Houston, BC is a very quaint town. Kyle the welder lives there.
- Grizzly bears and many, many black bears live in the wilderness surrounding Houston. I saw both.
- I am moving to the other side of the country in less than 2 months.
- I moved out of my old house a week and a bit ago. I still live in East Van.
- I am going to be a bridesmaid in about 26 days.. i think. The bride knows the countdown better than I.
- My brother is now a real pilot.
- My other brother is soon to be a high school graduate and will be attending my alma mater in the fall.
- Driving stick is hard. Mostly if you are worried about breaking your friend's car which has been driven ridiculous amounts to arrive at current destination. Also if you are just starting to learn.
- Weddings are beautiful. Jeremy and Anna are married!
- Gerberas remain my favourite flower though they are troublesome to arrange.
- Rice pudding cups after work are a small joy in life.
- I am doing my part to prevent varicose veins now by wearing compression socks to work- and my legs are thankful.
- I love taking pictures with an SLR. I feel artsy. See below.
- My parents are soon to see this province I love.
- I've finally been to Barkerville. It was great fun. There is gold in them 'thar hills. And it was a min-road trip with Brian aka superfun.
- I have 9 shifts left. Then a month off. Then I'm going to be an ER nurse.

life is full of changes and challenges and laughter and love and its GOOD.

april showers

Well it's been a while since I posted anything on here- over a month to be exact. Now I'm pretty sure that no one, or very few people at least, read this but it's still kind of nice to be able to look back and see the events of the past year.

I can't believe that we're already halfway through April. I came back from Newfoundland feeling that the next few months were going to go by really slowly.. but now April is halfway done and May is booked chock full of great activities. Such as- a road trip with Ashley! Jeremy and Anna's wedding with Brian... fun fun stuff that makes me very excited.

I feel as though I'm in a bit of a weird place right now actually. I'm trying to make the most of my time in Vancouver, but at the same time so much thought and time seems to be devoted to making plans for what's coming next. I guess it's all a balance. Living fully in the moment while making plans for the next steps, all the while trusting that God is in control. That is a lesson I need to learn over, and over, and over again.

well i was crazy about you then

and i'm still crazy bout you now

over ten years have gone by

you're still mine

locked in time.. lets rewind

do you remember when..

-jack johnson

East meets west

February was an eventful month. I went to Newfoundland for 10 days to visit Brian and in process got a nice taste of the east coast. It tastes like salty air and screech and fresh fish. Mmmm. It was a great trip. The east coast seemed to me surprisingly more rugged and rocky and ocean-like than the west- at least than Vancouver- I think it's because Vancouver is sheltered by the vast land mass of Vancouver Island. (I suppose Tofino compared to St John's would be another story).

One of the highlights of the trip, going with the wild ocean theme, was walking along and around the bottom of Signal Hill, the high hill that sits at the entrance to the St John's harbour. There we were, along the high rocky shores, still very snowy- with the cold blue deep north Atlantic roaring and swirling below. It was so unbelievably windy on the point- I really felt in danger of blowing off. Luckily that didn't happen. :)

My birthday was also a fun day- waffles and phone calls. strawberries and a great hike, ocean and sushi, friends and a movie. Very good. Very, very good. Plus a surprise visit from a friend from Victoria and then a pub night with the house on Sunday- it made the whole birthday weekend fantastic. (And I started the birthday week with Sunday morning fondue breakfast in St John's if you want to go back that far)

The next few months are going to be interesting. Vancouver is a great place in the spring. I'm looking forward to some more adventures. Will keep y'll posted.

February days

It's been ages so after a little prompting from some well-meaning individuals I am finally posting. Also I am on my days off now which bodes well for some pondering time. :)

What is going on in my life lately you may ask? Well. Our house is back to 4 lovely friends as Hillary has returned from her Indonesian-Singaporean adventures. I've been working a lot lately but work has been good. Something I've really noticed lately is the team spirit thing we've got going on up in ortho trauma.. I really appreciate so many of the people I work with there. Helping each other when the going gets crazy, starting IVs when veins collapse for one, going into a patient room two at a time so the crazy woman can't hit you with her newspaper while you try to take her blood pressure. Standing beside a dying patient as he takes his last breaths- making silent signals to each other about not finding a pulse as his anxious daughter stands nearby- that bonds people. We look out for each other. And at 4 am a lot of things become awfully funny.

Also of note lately is that a week from today I'll be in St John's, Newfoundland! So excited about that. It'll be so good to see Brian again... and to see his world out there. Context means a lot.

Vancouver is gorgeous lately and I am developing a deeper and deeper appreciation for this city. It hasn't been such an awful winter at all really. And now we've been getting sun quite frequently... Cypress, Grouse and Seymour look positively majestic. If you didn't know this already, I love the mountains. Had an amazing bikeride with Nancy to North Vancouver last week and oh, the sunset.... amazing. So amazing.

The Lord God is in His holy temple, let all the earth be silent before him.

(Habbakuk something...)