weekends are for wanderings

Scrabble in ON...

Had such a lovely weekend. Friday I finished my ACLS (advanced cardiac life support) course. Necessary for working in ER. It was interesting and challenging and I'm glad that I finally got the chance to take it. The heart intrigues me and now I feel more confident to deal with some of the stuff that comes through that ambulance door on a daily basis...

Then I walked home in the sunshine, cooked (new recipe- gingery chickpea stew with basmati rice, SO good!) and baked (crispy molasses cookies), went for a run, and had Brian over for supper... after which we sat and drank tea and dipped our cookies in same. Went for a walk around Quid Vidi (pronounced kiddy viddy for you non NFLDers! hehe) Lake... watched the stars. Saturday I worked but it was a good shift-- Sat night we had people over for Quelf. A really funny game, I highly recommend it. Sunday- good church, good fellowship, stew for lunch, then gallivanting over the southside hills with Brian and Carolyn. View of the city, then view of the blue north Atlantic... on days and at times like that I really do love this place.

My love of Newfoundland is a different type of love than I had/ have with BC. BC was more of a whirlwind romance, and it will be special in my heart for life-- probably will pull us back there eventually. Seeing as my in-four-months husband has British Columbian blood flowing through his veins, born and (mostly) raised on Vancouver Island and in northern BC. But with Newfoundland.. it's a slow, stubborn love that I have with this place.. sometimes a love- hate, sometimes I am in denial that it's there... but it is, and will continue to grow slowly but surely if I let it. Which I should and will and must, considering I will likely be here for a few more years.

Oh and the rest of yesterday= BBQ, biking, and then walking by the ships (Coast Guard is my fave!) Truffles and coffee at one of my favourite coffee shops. Sleep.

Also, 4 and a bit months until Brian and I get married!! Yesssssss.

checking in

It's been a whirlwind of a couple weeks.
There's so much to take in.
It's good.

It's been hard at times, I'll be honest. When one of the biggest parties of your life, aka a wedding, is approaching in less than 6 months, its hard not to get caught up in the planning- at least at first.

But now I can safely say that the big things are hammered out and the rest of it is just details. Little things which I can putter away on.

Sometimes I can't believe that I'm getting married. It's amazing how your world changes... things just keep happening and happening and all of a sudden, there you are- and everything is different. Yesterday I was on a plane to Victoria to do my final nursing placement there, wondering about living in BC and if I would really like it or not, wondering where it would all lead. Today I wake up and I'm here in Newfoundland and I've got this ring on my finger and a love so dear to my heart that I am ready to commit to the rest of our days together.

Amazing.

There is so much to learn. About communication and love and respect and honesty and compromise.. and trust. It sounds cliche but it's true. Where we will be in the fall (it's 'we' now, not just "I'- another amazement)- how long we will be here on the Rock- learning to appeciate the here and now and the wait and not yet and be patient and trust...

Adding to all of this, work has been taxing lately... and yesterday I couldn't give report to my oncoming nurse who was taking my patients without tearing up a little-- and cried on my way home. Combination of a super long hard day and the emotional drain I felt. Pray for the 35 yr old man and his wife and 10 month old baby who are dealing with the horrible monster of cancer. And the fact that it will likely snatch away his life in the next few days..... who am I to be their nurse? And yet I was... I only can hope that I gave them some small amount of good.

We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

it is with great joy that I announce...

that Brian and I are getting married!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010- the lovely wintery Newfoundland day when it all took place.
A drive out to Flatrock, hiking the East Coast Trail. Baguette, salami, spiced gouda.
Talking and laughing, him acting completely normal from my point of view. :)
Snow and scrubby trees, ice and surf.
A picnic on the bluffy cliff called Red Head... well chosen spot!
Blanket, more sandwiches, soup on the camp stove.
Then he's on his knees, cleaning up I thought- out comes a small wooden box.

He opens it- 'Jenny, I love you, will you marry me?'

I am speechless, then teary, then emphatically- "Yes, yes, of course I will!"
And there we are.

Mitten off, he puts the ring on- so beautiful, he picked it out all himself just the day before.
We drink cider, hike 3 km back to the car, so excited, so full of joy about all the dreams and hopes we have.
Back to the yellow house, time to call family and friends and share the good news.

August 14, 2010- with great anticipation we look forward to that day!!

January

Here I am back in St. John's- it's January, it's 2010, sometimes it's hard to believe that it all keeps going so fast.

I had a great trip out to Prince George with Brian. It was nice to see (all of!) his family and get lots of quality time in- as well as take advantage of the myriad of winter activities that Northern BC has to offer. We went ice fishing, cross country skiing, tobogganning, sleigh-riding, hiking, and downhill skiing- it was great. I've never gone ice fishing or downhill skiing so those two were firsts, and I very much enjoyed them both. Though having your first time on skiis ever be going up the T bar and then straight down the (albeit beginner level run but still big) side of a sizeable mountain is terrifying at times, but probably the best way to learn.

Now I'm back in St. John's and the freezing rain is pinging on my window... I just got up early to bring my car in for servicing as Rubee is due for servicing and is also making a funny noise when she starts- oh dear. Apparently one of the 'belts' might be loose- I'm hoping it's something minor, but at least it's still under warranty. Oh the joys of car ownership. I don't even use it that much, in comparison to most commuters I suppose, but it still is very nice to have wheels. Particularly for out-of-town excursions.

Saturday is Brian's 25th birthday so I am making an extravagant black forest cake... well it is turning extravagant because they don't have tinned cherries here that aren't maraschinos and I had to buy fresh ones.. in January... in Newfoundland. But it will be a good cake, and I am more than happy to make a good cake for him. :)

anticipation

December is here and with it all kinds of excitement.

I love the days before Christmas.

I am currently knitting, scrapbooking, soon to be baking, attending Christmas social events, and working in the ER in my spare time. It's a nice way to spend the days.

It's easy to get caught up in the flurry of overactivity, the materialism. Last night I was at the mall and it just made me feel 'slup' after a while- so many people rushing around, everyone looking for the perfect gift. Brian and I managed to escape unscathed and pick up a few things for the family in BC without too much trouble.

I think that there is a fine line between getting a little something for your family because you love and care about them and obsessing over what exactly would make them 'happy.' As my family always says, 'and then you'll be happy' in reference to obtaining more material posessions. There is a lot of sarcasm imbedded in that little phrase, though you can't really tell by reading it. :)

We had an advent service at church on Sunday night... and that is where the true meaning of Christmas lies, in that Saviour of all creation- rocks and trees, skies and seas- lying in the manger, under the stars and the angels. We passed along the flame through lit candles along all the people sitting, and this made my heart smile... here we are, in the dark and windy winter, but we have this Light, this wondrous light.

I'm excited to go to Prince George in 11 days, excited for holidays and relaxing and Christmas!!!! Joy.

At the top: pics from our hike last Saturday out at Witless Bay.. foggy, windy, wet Newfoundland, I am becoming more attached to your wildness.

Warm milk

(sunset from my back porch)

Content right now. Just sipping a mug of the aforementioned delight, with a bit o'sugar and a bitta vanilla flavoured-coffee cream. Just the thing to perk you right up before a night shift.. haha. Not really but the walk to work will wake me up. It's clear and crisp outside today.

Excited for a day off tomorrow after I sleep off my night shift... and also that Brian is coming home on Thursday and we get to hang out this weekend. And drink coffee and play Risk and walk along the harbour by the ships. 'Tis lovely.

I have a number of other people's blogs that I read and I must say, I really enjoy blogs. Although it may be an old passed-on-by fad by now, I think it's interesting. A little window into someone's life. Fleeting and sometimes downright inspiring. I think that it is human nature that we often find other peoples' lives interesting. Watching them in different stages of life- stages past for us or those we are moving towards-- or identifying with someone's same experience that they seem to put into words so much better than you yourself can.

In the words of a song that I was introduced to on my epic road trip to Northern BC with Ashley this past spring..

All creatures of our God and King

Lift up your voice and with us sing

Sun moon and stars rejoice on high

Praise to the Lord of Light Divine

Sing Alleluia, Sing Alleluia

Praise the Father above, sing Alleluia

Sing Alleluia, sing Alleluia

For His infinite love

Sing Alleluia

November days

Today was unseasonally mild (I think) for Newfoundland-- about 9 degrees. I somehow ende dup at the 'Irish Loop Fall Fair' in Goulds- purchased for myself some chocolate covered apricots, a piece of chocolate cake (both homemade, and do we see a theme? sweet? chocolate?) .. also some little glass bead earrings for the shockingly low price of only $1/pair. From a little girl proud as punch to be selling them, I think she made them herself- and a good job she did at that.

Brian is gone to Cyprus for an engineering conference until late next week. It's not until he's gone that I realize how much time we actually do spend together. I am slightly envious that he gets to venture onto the (uncharted for both of us until now) continent of Europe.. but I shall get there someday as well.

Working tomorrow and Tuesday.. oh the joys of being casual= yet another weekend off, weekday day shifts, and 3 weeks off over the Christmas holidays. If I hadn't switched over I would be absolutely guaranteed spending either Christmas, New Years, or both in the ER, with 5 days off maximum over the holidays. That alone is worth forfeiting benefits, pension, and overall job security for flexibility and freedom to work when I like. I am still putting in full time hours, actually a bit more than full time for the first couple weeks of November.

Not much else to report. Really excited for the Christmas holidays. Enjoying fall here as well though. Its quite beautiful. The weather has also been much sunnier overall lately which is great. I missed those golden rays.

Onward I go...