twas a glorious getaway with the girls when we escaped school wednesday night to travel up to pugwash in the rain. [the rain seems to be a recurring theme. fall foliage was wet too.] that was fun in and of itself. i just love driving to the sound of music, surrounded by friends as the world whirs past through the window. but we got to julie's cottage eventually. unpacked. modeled life jackets. played with swords. then piled into the car once more on a quest for candy! we stocked up on marshmellows. white chocolate. macaroons. popcorn. mike n ikes. etc. we visited the graveyard. and a high school... we also went to the wharf. blasted daved crowder. and danced. in the cold. the wind. the rain. we danced. it was sheer joyous abandon. a glorious moment. the rest of the evening unfolded in typical female style. a lot of talk. about boys. and deeper things. good discussion all round. oh and we built a fire. laura got the candle lit a la cigarette lighter in the car. i got the fire blazing. pretty much. i'm sure other interesting things happened but i can't recall them at the moment. in the morning however we rushed back [or as fast as we could rush behind that boat] for chapel and made it back just in time. i was glad. chapel was grand. that night we hung up coloured christmas lights all around our room. it is ambient lighting to the max. it puts me in such a happy state of mind and heart. i went to sleep between my flannel sheets with papers at my feet. woke up to a beautiful day and a beautiful breakfast. wrote my final midterm. and now the weekend awaits. joy!

"shirt mom"

these words are entirely dedicated to my dear grandmother (and grandfather) whom i love so much. it was during a church service that they were asking if we knew anybody who served, and i thought of my grammie and nearly started to cry. tears are welling as i think about it. i know she would wave it off saying it's nothing but i know how hard she works. actually i don't completely know. i've only seen some of it and that alone is enough to blow me away. i think it hit me that night just what a big heart that woman has! i hold her in such a special place in my heart. i talk and laugh with her on msn. i could hang out with my grandparents like they were my best friends, going to get ice cream, playing games and eating canned pears and pop tarts even though grampie shouldn't. i love it when he sings and cracks jokes. it makes me giggle. but i admire them both so much. i don't even know half the things they've done! but my grammie makes such good food and bakes such delightful treats for us to eat. i love holidays at their house. i love their house. but she'll whip up entire meals for her brothers and sisters. she'll help take care of them. she helps to lead a small group. she's taught sunday school and such for so long. i admire her christian spirit as well. she writes letters to missionaries and helps organize lots of things. so many people have been touched and impacted through her and her husband. she is such a creative lady! i'd like to think that's partially where i get it from. she scrapbooks and knits and sews and paints and writes and decorates and so on and so forth. and my grandfather is such an amazing singer and dabbles in guitar and woodworking as well. he is also incredibly talented. and they both go bowling every week! grampie has so many trophies. and grammie has her own laptop! not too many kids can say that their grandmother has a laptop and knows how to use it. my mom can't. and i love seeing her and grampie together. it warms my heart. 62 and still in love is pretty much how i would describe it. they hold hands and have their own camping trailer that they take all over the maritimes to go camping in. they go hiking and exploring. i'm sure they're both a wealth of hidden talents and treasures and stories. i could sit and listen to them talk of childhood memories forever. i love hearing about their history. it means so much to me. they have such humble hearts and will welcome you into their home and just love you and everyone. i always loved going to their house and playing nintendo and reading noddy books together. i still do. and walking to victoria park and barbeques on the back deck when all the family is together. i am just so grateful for all the love i have received. i am so blessed and so thankful to God for giving me such an amazing family when so many people never experience what true family is. and i hope to never take it for granted. i could continue on blabbering about the rest of my kin but i shall stop here. it just had to be said. i just want them to know how much i love and admire and respect them and i hope i too will learn from them. i wouldn't mind if i grew up to reflect a little bit of my grandmother. i wouldn't mind at all.

IItimothy 1:5

twas a night of tea cups and knitting needles. there was a shared feeling of sheer contentment. of quiet happiness in the company of friends. while many of the others escaped residence we few who remained, namely gill and i, took complete advantage of the eerie, desolate and deserted dormatory. my room tidied and put back to order after the first week of midterms we listened to our mellow melodies and simply relaxed. it was wonderful. we talked. we knit. we ate candy and cookies whilst sipping green tea. we also learned the incredibly important skills of the game of backgammon. blot! i enjoy that game very much. the compact suitcase with the roll-a-dice-cups make me happy. even if i lost. and to only add to the feeling of coziness was the drip of rain dropping outside our window blending and swirling with the streams of music. and the thunder and lightening sent shivers of excitement down me spine. the thrill of a storm. while safe inside.

gillian: "you cannot pervert a brain."

i also feel it necessary to comment on my most recent field trip for canadian literature to the tantramar marshes. it was like i was revisiting my homeland. yet seeing it with a greater depth and appreciation. it, too, was another rainy day but we were undaunted in our excitement of reading sir charles roberts' poetry while seeing the very landscape which he was describing. we barely felt the cold. we read his poems in the barn, on the dykes and in the church. his life and lines were inspiring. through his sombre, grim portrayal of the canadian landscape his words still emanate a love towards this tough sort of beauty. and not only were we being given this guided, narrated tour of the marshes with dr. mantz but we had the honour of being his guests for supper that very evening. we had a most intersting casserole which i managed to eat while his sweet english wife served us tea and tarts and told us stories of when she was a little girl living in scotland. it was a glorious day.

-here on the hill-
here on the hill
at last the soul sees clear
desire being still
the high unseen appears
the thin grass bends
one way, and hushed attends
unknown the gracious ends
where the sheep's pasturing feet
have cleft the sods
the mystic light lies sweet
the very clods
in purpling hues elate
thrill to their fate
the high rock-hollows wait
expecting gods
~sir charles g. d. roberts


[sparklers in illinoise. raindrops in michigan]

"pawn!"

perhaps i am merely prolonging the procrastination of papers...but i believe it is time to blog. it has been a while and much has taken place. grade twelve ended. a bit of bittersweetness ensued yet the fun of summer quickly took its place. we worked, we played, we went to scott's bay...ok so that rhymed, we also took frequent trips to visit mr. darcy. and then i moved to miramichi, well, oak point to be precise. it sounds much better. i miss the valley but i love my cape cod house. reasons i love it are as follows:
-it is down the road from the ocean in whose waters we swim and upon whose beaches we build our bonfires which toasts our marshmellows as well as our buns
-along the back is attached a rather large deck where i like to laze in the sun and read a book or lay under the stars and drink a cup of tea...
-it is surrounded by a multitude of trees and bushes and other such forest foliage...which means between two towering pines i can swing in my hammock in happiness
-i get to share it with my family
two downsides equal a. the water smells and b. eels
it's also closer to abu, which is where i am, right now, in residence, in my pod, in my room with laura, at my desk....
(however i am going to interrupt this thought stream with another injection of summer. my family also voyaged down to the states to attend the annual kingdom bound. it was even better the second time around. four days of roller coasters, waterslides, and concerts all the time. with such musical groups as leeland, sanctus real, the silent, the afters, kids in the way, spoken, kutless, audio a, newsboys, etcetera all adds up to sweet sweet stupendousness.)
...back to university. we're already into the second month and it's been a blur of work and memorable moments with people i've already come to love so much. crazy times consisting of concerts, illinois, soccer games, movie making magic, res worship and such, shopping excursions, fall foliage fun, puddle jumping, adventures to magnetic hill and beyond, dance parties, frosh week, midnight movies, chicken noodle soup and board games, kandy kafe, field trips, laying in the sun whilst listening to the sweet sound of guitar melodies...and so on and so forth. needless to say i'm enjoying myself. minus the work. food's fabulous though.
i like it here....pretty much defffinitely.