Locks of Love

Today my friend Kimberly Schroeder came and cut my hair off. I have been wanting to cut my hair so I could donate it to make a wig and I finally got up the courage to do it. I was talking about it over Christmas and she said she wanted to cut if for me. I haven't had my hair cut short in years!! I was mainly excited but a little bit nervous. I told Kim that she could do whatever she wanted... apparently this is her favorite request... so she went nuts. I really like it actually and I didn't think I would.

Zachary and Heather

Just thought I would let you all know that my brother, Zachary, proposed to his girlfriend Heather today and she said YES! I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited!

Well, I'm home for the holidays and it's not as exciting as last year. I kind of miss the thrill of going home for christmas to see your family because you haven't seen them in four months. But this is good too. My entire family (including significant others) is going to be home for Christmas! Actually... they are all here as of really early this morning. I like it.
Here's Christopher and I playing together when I was babysitting a couple weeks ago. I'm pretty sure we played Junior Monopoly for a solid four hours and he cheated the entire time so I lost royally! I was apparently never allowed to buy anything and I never got any chances.
Still babysitting.
This is my little brother, Justin, and I at the youth Christmas Snowball party thing. I volunteer with Gateway Christian Community something something churches youth group. I love it!
My little cousin Jeremy (avec moi). He was at the thinger and it was so fun! This is my unit decorating Tasha's door because she got married! Yay!
We moved a couch in, got a Christmas tree, and constructed a fireplace to make it look like home.
This is Shanna, Candace and my roommate Bethany.
This is Charlene, Brittani and I. We were the last three left in our Unit.

FINALLY!!!!

I just thought I would let you all know that my brother, Anthonie, finally got engaged to Jenn! It's about freakin time!!!

I'm currently babysitting at my sister's house. All the youngens are asleep so I got bored. Here are some cute pictures I found of the fam.
Z-money was Scooby-doo for Halloween

Christopher was a Lion The two of them all bundled up and playing in the snow.

Adventures in Abbotsford

The last few days have been quite eventful. The Lower Mainland was graced with a rather substantial dump of snow and it has been the gong show one would expect from the rather unequipped area. The snow began falling on Saturday and when I woke up on Sunday everything was absolutely covered! I was supposed to be driving to Langley to go to church because my good friend Lynn was to pronounce her faith. I did not want to miss the opportunity to share in this experience with her so I called my mom and dad and asked if it was safe for me to take my brothers 2 wheel drive truck all the way to the other side of Langley. I ended up going and the drive there was decent. There were about 8 cars in the ditch along the way, but I made it safely. The drive back, however, was a little less decent. The roads were so slick and there were cars losing control everywhere. I was attempting to drive up a hill at Old Yale, right by my school, and the car in front of me started sliding back into me. I was like... uh oh. So I threw the truck into reverse and backed into a side road. Yup, I got stuck. So I sat there for a minute and this truck drove up beside me asking if I needed help. It ended up being two guys from CBC and so one of them drove while the other one and myself pushed the truck. I was sick fo driving so I just jumped in the passenger seat of my brother's truck and let Graeme drive me home.
I ended up going to my brother Anthonie's house over night because Jenn was stuck there. That was an absolute disaster! Let's just say the water in his toilet was frozen, there was no running water because the pipes were frozen, his furnace wasn't working, his gas fire place was on high in one room of the house and all the doors around it were shut, snow was coming up the vents, we couldn't see outside because there was ice frozen on the windows, we couldn't see even when we were outside because the wind was so strong, and we were boiling snow on the gas stove to put down the drains. We decided to drive a couple blocks down the road to friends of his because it was ridiculous at his house. When we got in the truck we could barely see where we were going. It was insane! At the end of his driveway we couldn't see so Jenn opened her door and the wind just took it! It almost pulled her out of the truck and it she couldn't close it. Anthonie has to get out of the truck and go help her close it because the wind was so strong! There were cars deserted on the road and we had to weave our way through them. Apparently no one but residents were being let into the area because it was so bad. Anyways, we got to the Kielstra's safely and Mrs. Kielstra fed us and let us use her bathroom and warm up. At one point Anthonie went outside to retrieve the BBQ that has blown over and when he opened the door we heard a shatter. We looked at each other stunned and saw this thing fall to the ground outside the front dooor. The skylight had blown off their roof! There was a gaping hole in the top of their house! It was ridiculous! Only the tinted layer of glass had shattered but the inner layer was still intact so the boys climbed onto the roof with it and drilled it in from the inside.

I should be getting back to my homework though.

Yeah Baby!!!

I just thought I'd let you all know that my volleyball team, the Columbia Bible College Bearcats, beat UCFV in 3 sets today. It was pretty much awesome and I am pretty happy right now. They slaughtered us in pre-season, but we played some sweet defence and... we won!

What I hope to be a new beginning...

Today has been wonderfully painful. Actually, probably more painful than wonderful, but it has brought hope. The hope of restoration and reconciliation is proving to be a wonderful thing, but pain is most definitely not absent.
I have had the opportunity to experience the beauty of the Prayer Room connected to the lounge here at Columbia Bible College. This morning it was absolutely silent as there was no one upstairs. It was lovely. I had a good long talk with God down on my knees. I knew I had things to deal with today and I decided that it was about time I turned to Him instead of relying on my pitiful self. Let me tell you, it's a good thing I did.
I had a much needed conversation this morning. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I was sick to my stomach before having it and I still feel quite ill, but I am glad it is over. I am still surprised at my ability to maintain relative composure. I prayed the entire time and God gave me the words to say although my translation of them was probably less clear.
I am sorry for being so evasive but I would rather not delve into my deep personal issues over the internet.
We'll keep this short and say that much needed conversations do not get easier if you avoid having them. When you have them, problems don't instantly go away. It still sucks, and I am sure that it will for a long time.

Unproductive

So not much has happened lately, but I thought I would give a little update anyways.
Fraser Valley Christian High won the BCCSSAA for the 16 time in the last 17 years... that would be the Christian Schools tournament. My little brother, Justin, got the MVP. They beat out MEI in the final and I was pretty excited watching them, I'm not gonna lie. I was getting a little choked up. I was the proudest big sister there!!
Shoot... I have class right now... but LYNN came to my volleyball game last weekend!! I was so excited!! I love her! Lynn, I love you!!!
I'll write more later. See ya!

Pictures from Edmonton - Family Time

Oma Jansen

On Saturday my Oma Jansen got Pneumonia and she passed away on Monday, October 23. She was 83 years old. My entire family flew out to Edmonton for her funeral. My parents and all my brothers and sisters were there to support each other yesterday at her burial and memorial service. It was so intensely wonderful - a true testament of love.

Seasonal Foods

I went on a picnic with Cale, Andrew and Renee Kuyvenhoven yesterday. We had a delicious meal full of much food of many varieties. It was splendid. We somehow got to the topic of seasonal foods. We were munching on apples and caramel dip and Renee made the observation that caramel and apples is definitely a fall food. She really only eats the treat at fall. Thus spurred on a conversation about seasonal foods. I'm not gonna lie, we were having a hard time coming up with foods for every season. We kind of had some ideas for each, but we are searching for the optimal food for every season. Some of the ideas we came up with were:

Fall - Apple's and Caramel Dip

Winter - Gingerbread

Spring - didn't really come up with anything

Summer - we went with Ice Cream... but it's shady

So, because we are really actually interested in finding the greatest food to represent each season, I am asking for your help. Discuss it with your friends and see what you come up with. When you have any ideas, feel free to leave a little comment and help us out. We are confident that you can come up with something more appropriate.
Thank you!

Edmonton!

My volleyball team up and headed to Edmonton this weekend for a tournament at MacEwan. It was sweet. There are 8 of us on the girls team and 8 guys on their team so there was tons of room on the bus. I'm not gonna lie, we're a pretty sweet bunch.
Anyways. It was a pretty typical roadtrip. Lots of talking, lots of laughing, lots of good ol' bonding.
My favoritest thing was seeing my friends! I was so excited when they came to my game on Friday afternoon. They walked in and I just started grinning. I wasn't even embarrassed to be playing middle. I was just happy to be there. I missed them so much and I realized it all the more when they came in and I got to see them. It was so good!
Laura - you are awesome! I absolutely love you!
Jodi - It has been way too long!!! I'm so glad you came!! Oh how I have missed you. I can't stop thinking about our goodbye last year. Haha... gong show.
Jennifer - Oh Roomie of mine. I miss you so much this year. It's weird sharing a room with someone else. My roommate is super clean and neat... uh oh.
Teresa - Oh my dearest. I wanted to start fire dancing with you. I sometimes do it with my keys... but that usually hurts in the end when I hit my face. I miss talking with you and frequenting the Highrun.
Jackie - Yay! I got to see you!!! I'm so glad! I was worried that you wouldn't have a chance to make it out. I am so thankful that you did, even if you did have to leave right away.
My sister also came. We were in the middle of a game and my teammates were like... "Hey Ash, is that your sister?" and sure enough it was. I started crying on the court and Laura was blowing my eyes so I could see. I was so happy to see her! My sister is beautiful and amazing and absolutely incredible.
My sister and I went to watch my little brother, Justin, play volleyball in Spruce Grove after my game. He is so good! It was awesome to all hang out together for a bit.
I got to see my team from last year too! It was so good! Man... I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that. My friends from Edmonton are awesome!

Summit

Well, I was at Chad's house and we needed a bit of a reading break so we jumped into Ted and made our way to Summit. My good friend from King's, Neysa, is attending that Bible school so I thought, because of it's close proximity to my own educational institute, that I would pop on over and surprise her. So, Chad and I embarked on our endeavor and safely made it to Summit. Having never been there before and having absolutely no idea where I would find my long lost friend, we walked through a couple buildings before entering one that appeared to be the residence. We followed some people down to the dining hall only to find that she wasn't there. I saw this man in an office and asked where I might find Neysa. He told me her room number, but before he could finish his sentence the lady herself walked through the door and we jumped into each others arms. It was so much fun! I didn't stay for long.... like 5 minutes because I had to get back for my own dinner... but it was good to see her and we are planning on seeing more of each other.
That is my exciting, yay I saw Neysa story. Hurray!

Good News, Better News... and GREAT News!

Good News:
Yesterday was my Oma's 80th birthday and so we had a nice little party for her. I went after dinner and had great difficulty finding the place as my brother gave me the wrong street... I made it though. My little cousins were doing a fashion show of all my Oma's old clothes and they somehow managed to convince me to model off some of the outfits... it was really quite hilarious actually. I love seeing the family!
When I walked in my brother-in-law was all shocked that I was there and he came and gave me a big hug and kiss. He asked what I was doing there... He apparently though I was living in Edmonton and going to King's again. Needless to say my entire family was laughing at him.

Better News:
I went to physiotherapy here and the man was a miracle worker! My ankle has been screwed up since I sprained it last November so my coach here at CBC brought me to the physio here. The guy was massaging my foot and after only a few minutes he informed me that my talas was stuck up in the talar joint... between my tibia and fibula. He told me he was going to pull it out and so he massaged some more and then proceeded to yank on my ankle and it pop it out. It didn't feel too good, but it moved a whole lot better and it now feels alright. All I have to do is these calf exercises, put three pieces of tape on it, and practice balancing and it should get better. He told me that if it goes in again then I just have to come back and he'll pull it out. At practice I could jump a whole 5 inches higher or so that day so I was quite happy about that.

Great News:
I'M COMING TO EDMONTON!!!!!
My volleyball team is coming to Edmonton for the Grant MacEwan tournament on thanksgiving weekend. We are driving up the Thursday and I'll be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. AKA Let's hang out! I've already informed my coach that I want to hang out with you guys so it's all good. I will have a curfew... but I get to see you! Hurray!!!! I'll give more details when I have them!!

A Week in...

Well... I'm a week into my time here at Columbia Bible College. I'm not gonna lie... it's a thousand times different than King's. The first, and probably the most difficult difference to overcome, is that my dorm room is pretty much iny. Well... the room is a decent size, but I have no drawers and only half a closet that doesn't have any shelving in it. I guess it's alright though as clothes are way too over-rated. The thing is... it's not really the clothing that I was worried about. It's all the little miscellaneous objects that you really do need, but don't really have a place for.
We'll move on though because I would like to save you all from a death due to boredom. Another difference is that dorms are 100% not co-ed in the slightest. The exception is Sundays. Girls are allowed in boys dorms and boys are allowed in girls dorms on alternating Sundays between 2 and 8. I don't mind this, but I kinda liked being able to walk into Mikey's room whenever I wanted to hang out and talk and such. I am aware that Mikey isn't here with me, but I think you can understand what I mean.
The cafeteria only serves hot breakfasts on Monday and Thursday... that means I don't get to have my bacon and eggs every morning... :(

I've actually been having a lot of fun. The girls in residence have been a bit more difficult to get to know, but that may be due to the fact that our doors don't stay open but automatically close. This kind of puts a damper on building relationships, but people have now started to put their chairs in the door to keep it open.

In terms of highlights thus far:

- We had a Chai Tea party in the Residence Directors room in the Guy's dorm one night. Sheldon and Stewart decided to treat about 10 of us to some fantastic Chai Tea. It was definitely a good time.
- Ultimate Frisbee in the back field and beach volleyball.
- The Amazing Race (my team definitely did not win by any stretch of the imagination, but it was so much fun).
- Meeting tons of new people every single day.
- The co-ed 4's beach volleyball tournament that we had yesterday. I'm pretty sure that my team won. It was such a beautiful day and all the teams were a lot of fun to play against. We were just out there to enjoy ourselves, and enjoy ourselves we did.
- Dale shaving the top of his head and leaving his beard and lower head hair area sort so that he looked like a friar.... sketchy, but so amazing.
- Matt making a bunch of us dinner last night. It's been a week and I'm sick of cafeteria food already... uh oh.

Well... I'm hanging out at my brother's church so I should probably go.

Packing

So... I'm packing up my stuff and moving off again. This time it's only to Abbotsford though so it's a bit easier because of the close proximity to home. And by easier I mean that iI don't really have to worry about forgetting things at home. This is a blessing and a curse, however as my motivation to pack is relatively non-existant. It's good because I can come and pick things up or drop things off later and I don't have to worry about space and things like that. It's not so good though because it makes me not really care to pack and to organize my stuff. This whole packing thing has taken far too long this time around and I'm still not nearly done.

I was reading Laura's blog and she was talking about all the girls moving into the apartment in Edmonton. It makes me sad because I want to be with them! I don't think I'll ever miss the location of Edmonton, but those girls stole my heart. They are the biggest sweethearts and I miss them quite terribly. Laura, you guys have to send me pictures on a regularly!!!

I was cleaning out my closet today - not Eminem style - and I found my bridesmaid dress from Lindsey's wedding. I was quite intrigued to see if it would still fit me so I bravely took it out and tried it on. Now, for those of you who don't know, this wedding was just after grade 9... I was 15 years old... that was 4 years ago!!! I'm pretty sure, but I can't guarantee it... but the dress was still just as loose on me as it had been back in the day. The skirt sits a little higher than it used to, but only I would be able to tell that. I guess that can't be avoided after one year eating cafeteria food. I didn't know if I should be disappointed or excited. It's a bit discouraging to know that my body hasn't become more womanly or voluptuous since then, but I guess I don't really have much to complain about.

I should recommence packing though. See ya.

Living in the Present

"To live in the past and future is easy. To live in the present is like threading a needle."

Walker Percy

I read this quote yesterday and it really made me think. It is easy to live in the past and the future. It's safe. You can appreciate and enjoy thae things that have happened. There is no real vulnerability in recalling events and evoking memories. Things have already happened and although there may be regrets, nothing unexpected happens in things you've already done. It is likewise easy to live in the future. You can dream and hope and make plans that you never really intend to keep. There is no harm in thinking of the future. Your dreams can be as large and idealistic as can be. You can plan things way in advance and perfect your goals for your life. There is nothing overly frightening about living in the future and living in your dreams.

Living now, living in the present, is much more difficult. There is an uncertainty in the immediate consequences and repercussions of our current actions. We are living out our dreams and hopes and plans. We risk failing because we are actually putting our plans into actions and trying to make them a reality. Our current lives actually affect us. This is exciting and mysterious, but also extremely frightening. We have plans, but you can never plan for the unexpected and the unexpected may cause us to drastically change the dreams of our future. The present is active and dynamic. Now, in the present, we simultaneously strive for our future and create our past.

I'm used to things happening the way I want them to. I'm used to preparing for things in advance and being certain of what the outcome will be. I'm used to my parents making the decisions for me. I'm used to biology questions and factual examinations. I'm used to things happening as they are expected to. I haven't had too many curve balls in my life, but this summer I was waitlisted on all the nursing schools I applied to except Prince George. Who wants to live in Prince George for four years?? Not me.

Up until... well yesterday actually. Yesterday I sent in my confirmation deposit to Columbia Bible College. Up until then I wasn't sure of what I was going to do next year. I decided not to go to Prince George because their program is non-transferable and so I had three weeks to decide what I wanted to do this year. Let me tell you, I could do anything... well except what I'd planned on doing. I have so many dreams and there are so many things that I would love to do and that I would be fully capable of making into realities. I didn't know what was best for me or for my future and my parents couldn't tell me. I still don't know what would be best for me and my future and my enjoyment, but I have decided to go to Columbia Bible College for the year and I am looking into an internship in a hospital in Africa for 2-3 months this summer. Both of those would be beneficial in helping me attain my goal of becoming a missionary nurse in either Africa or South America. So that's kind of what I'm currently planning on doing. We'll see if it actually happens. I could go more into the reasoning behind the decisions I made, but that would be way too much writing. I'm sure I'll talk about it sometime later on.

In other news: Today was my last day of work. It was so sad. I love the people there. I'll have to write an ode to Schneiders.

Happily Dating Matchmakers

Ever notice how people who are in a good and happy relationship want to hook you up with every Tom, Dick and Harry? And if none of those work, then they go with every Mike, Joel and Steve.... Just an observation I've made.