into the wild.

It was a pretty silly idea to begin with. It's been cold outside. And just because it was 70 degree weather at the time, doesn't mean the water warmed up after the first freeze and regular 50 degree weather. I had already changed my plans for the event so I wasn't willing to back down. Even know the two guys that were with us decided it wasn't something they were up for, whether it was becuase they didn't have clothes to swim in or there was a sign that specifically said, "No Swimming." It wasn't until we were about half way acorss the frigidly cold pool that we realized that it was probably the stupidest thing we've ever done. I couldn't feel my legs by this time and my adrinaline was the only thing keeping me moving. Though the spashing strokes I hear a paniced, "I'm not getting back without a boat!"

We get to the island and run up the smooth shore. It was lucky it wasn't rocky because we were both so out of it that there's no way we would have been able to get our ballance to get out of the water safely.

We climb the slope up to the mainland.The first thing we get to is a garden of poison ivy, which, I am prone to catching just by the sight of it. Staci dives in, and after some slight hesitation, I pray to Jesus that the freeze we had a week before killed it for me. About 50 feet in we get out of the patch of leaves of three and let them go back to being. It is now that we realize that the line across the map of the island that we had seen back on the other shore was not a trail.

No trail. And no GPS. What are we looking for again? A hunter green ammo box. Hidden about 2/3 into the island. More North than South. And fortunately someone posted a picture of them holding the cache. They were standing in front of a fallen tree. This is our only lead. 

We weave our way through brush, trees, and disinigrating trees. Literally, I grabbed trees for ballance and they would fall over without a second thought. Dinosaur birds were screeching as we leap frogged through fallen logs, looking for the box. We had to find it. We hadn't suffered through the needle like sensation for nothing. Our adrinaline was rushing. There was no thinking or the dispair and disheartened thought that there was no way we would be able to find what we were looking for would set in. 

After about 20 minutes of looking I see Staci behind me to my left scoping out yet another fallen tree. I forgot what the picture looked like since I've seen so many which all look the same. But as I stood there, I looked back at the "ravine" that we were calling the "trail" and looked in front of me at the row of logs in front of me and thought "this is too perfect." As the thought settled I look at Stac who had met me at the line of trees. 

"Guess what I found..."

No way. It was miraculous. Literally. I could have cried. We opened the box and picked out the best of the goods. Left our Canandian signature and made our marks in the log. Victory.

Ha! This was about the time we came to our senses. We were on an island. We swam across the lake on an October day. With no GPS to the cordinates of the hiding spot. We sang"We are the Champions!" on our way back. We also ran into a sticker bush vine thing. This is about the time that I realized that I was barefoot. And hurting. Staci had worn socks (because she didn't want to feel the pond goo at the bottom of the lake) and the thought of going into the wild without shoes didn't cross my mind.

We finally made it back to the shore, swam across the seemingly warmer water into the sunset. Showed off our loot. And headed home for a hot shower and some barbeque beef brisquet. 

The poison ivy was worth it.

<3

true transformation.

"Transformation that interrupted my entire life. Not in the form of a brilliant teacher showing me the original language treasures of the Word. Not in the form of another Bible study that finally cured my spiritual glitches. Not through writing another book or reading someone else’s. Not from speaking at women’s conferences and meeting exceptional believers all over the country. Not from a single second spent on a church campus.

Transformation came in the form of dirty homeless men and abandoned orphans. It came through abused women and foster kids. It came through lost neighbors crying at my kitchen table. Transformation began with humility, even humiliation. It started with conviction and discipline. It increased through loss, not gain. It grew through global exposure and uncomfortable questions. It was born out of rejection, replanted in new soil. It was not found in my Christian subculture but in the eyes of my neighbors, the needs of my city, the cries of the nations. It was through subtraction, not addition, that transformation engulfed me, and I’ll tell you something: I am not the same."

                                                                                       -from Jen Hatmacker's book Interrupted 

<3

back in the hatt.

Drive cross country.

Surprise a friend.

Visit the family.

Interviews the next day.

Lease signing.

Unpack into a new apartment.

Canada flag on one wall.

Snowboard on the other. 

Finally got internet.

We live in the projects...

Which is keeps things interesting.

But Staci's front bike tire got stolen off of her bike

which was locked to our back porch...

Used up the last of my first roast today.

Going to my brother's house for a grill out!

Gonna take my roasting box.

Thanks to Radina's for some green beans!

I'll keep you posted.

<3

my first roast.

gather the supplies.

 measure out the beans

roast the beans once roaster is toasted

patiently wait for the "second crack"

cool them quick!

observe their beauty.

and seal the deal.

before and after

roasted perfection!

word.

<3

roasted at midnight.

I'm walking inside the back door and see a semi-familiar figure walking through the hall way and out the door. The silhouette is distorted by the two big boxes that she is carrying, but I'd know the God perfected curls from a mile away.

She's practically out of breath as she scrambles out into the cool dampness of the night.

"It's an emergency!" she lets out. And I know exactly what she's in need of.

"...I can give you some coffee..."

"Really?"

"Yea, please. It's above the microwave."

Steph. She roasts her own beans in a popcorn popper. Thus, she carried her load downstairs at the stroke of midnight so she would have coffee for the morning. I admire her dedication, and I know the feeling, but I'm glad I was there to save her the lack of sleep in which she almost had to endure.

 "How much does a hipster weigh? 

An instigram. Here, take my picture!

Boom! Am I me or am I my mom!? 

...I don't know."

<3

squamish.

This weekend marks the half way point of my summer at CanIL. By tradition, this is when they have their annual summer camping trip at Mt Squamish.

What did we do!? Slept in tents (or in my case, a hammock), hiked a mountain (in my case, a lake and two mountains), sang lots of songs, ate lots of food, and enjoyed lots great company!

Here's some pictures for yah!

 This was the lake at the end of our long hike up to Garibaldi Lake on Saturday.

There are these crazy jays found up in higher altitudes that eat straight from peoples hands! They just sit around and scope out hands in the air with food in them and they swoop down, grab em and take off!

There were five or six crazies, me included, that decided to go for a swim. This picture is all you need to know how it felt...

On Sunday, a couple carloads decided to go up to the other mountain called Chief. It has 3 peaks in which you climb up tons and tons of steep rocks and stairs to get to the top of:

The stairs looking down.

The next four pictures are a panoramic of the golden view that you get when you get to the top!

Definitely worth all the work! Though we just decided to do one of the 3 peaks, whereas a lot of people yesterday went to the top of all of them to get a view from each vantage point!

And here's one of the carloads at the bottom! We were 3 of 5 that hiked both days! Lets just say that I will be taking stairs as little as possible for a couple days!

God is Good guys! And he speaks through all of creation!

<3

international festivities.

  Last week was one for celebrating! First thing in the morning Steph comes out and exclaims in her usual fashion, "We have to eat poutine today. It's Canada day. We're having it." Ha! So we go to church, ask around, and The Fort Pub has it. We load up the car and head there to find that they have original and loaded. Original is just fries smothered with gravy and cheese curds, which we found out is way better than the loaded impersonator.  

(Steph, Amy, Me, Sarah, and Andrew)

After the tasty meal, we trekked down town to the actual Fort Langley, where British Columbia originated! There were displays and a band and just celebratory things happening. We took a picture with an unmounted montie:

We met up with some friends and decided to go get gelato! Haha! But, to our demise there was a lady cooking bancock (another Canada Day food!) on the sidewalk! So our Canadian friend, Steph, once again took the honors of helping us naive Staters out.

Then we went and got gelato! (Yes. Lots of food.)

We went to a concer that evening where we saw a sweet band called Dublin 2 Delhi, a mix of Irish and Indian music! Followed shortly by fireworks! Greatest and only first Canada Day ever!

Three days later! Us Staters got to do the honors of introducing a Canadian to the wonders of the 4th! We crossed down to Washington and went to a fireworks show on the harbor. We ate potatoe chips and raw cookie dough... its seemed like "American" things to eat haha!

(Back: Rachel and Adrianna, Front: Jordan, our Canadian, Me and Sarah)

It was a late border crossing and my first night of little sleep. The next night I was up working on the some crazy last minute homework. (Crazy as in it took hours!) BUT! All in all, it was a great week of sharing holidays so I can't really complain!

<3

opening doors.

This is Fraser. My summer home.

The front door:

 To the left is another door which leads to the stairs:

Up the stairs there is another door:

Down the hall and around the corner, are yet another set of doors:

Oh hey! More doors down the hall! And my lovely roommate!

Through those doors, and at the end of the hall, is... *scrolls up to count how many doors we've been through...* Door 6?

And finally, right off the lobby, is our room. <3

It's interesting going through so many doors to get to one lovely destination. That was from the ground up right? Haha! I go through 6 other doors just to get to the kitchen!

Going through all these closed doors got me to thinking one day...

What if we miss opportunities to go through closed doors just because we assume they're locked...

<3

white rocks.

So I'm kinda behind on my updates. There are several things I'd like to share with ya'll but I'll just update you on what's been going on a bit, and leave some for a later day.

Right.. What's been up? Lots of homework and studying!
I had a Mimicry Test yesterday. We had a file of this lady speaking another language and we had to mimic her. We got graded based on timing, intonation, and the correctness of sound! It was kinda fun, but I am wondering when the phrases are going to get out of my head
[unsai ino panihapon aronabi'i']
[gusto kong mokaong ogista']
[un saoman pagluto angista']
[la mi ka'aio angista']
....
Then!
Today.
I had a Phonetics theory exam.
Which didn't have too many surprising things on it.

So. Ha. No fun right?
Maybe not...
Here's some friends and fun

My roommate Lindsey! She's awesome! I'm glad to have her as a roomie. 

As you can see, she's fun ;) It makes for some good late night chats.

This is James. He's a lot of fun! He heads up the Monday Movie Classics (procrastination) Nights. So far we've watched Alien, and Aliens, East of Eden, and Maltese Falcon. Ha! He also has pretty much talked me into most of the things I do that keep me from my homework.

Grace is a sweetheart <3 And I want to record everything that comes out of her mouth because it's always seasoned with Salt. She's just a lot of fun!

Andrew. The main man. Literally. He's the only guy that's brave enough to venture to the girls floor and he's not afraid to accompany us in our we-swear-its-not-a-girls-night outings.

All these pics were taken at White Rock Beach. As you can see, it gets its name from the white rock.. on the beach. Our group decided to climb it! 

So we got back from the dorms to find that the power was out...

This is one of many missionary training sessions we've been through this summer. The water has been shut off twice. The power outage. No hot water this weekend. And to top it off, the fire alarm went off last night at 2 am. We all groggily stumbled outside, sleepy eyed, yet in good spirits and waited for the fire department to give the all clear.

It's been an adventure to say the least.


I'd love to hear from you.


<3

[wik w∂n]

Week one down! ...

Canada is kinda cold.. for a Kansas girl. 

Averaging about 60 all week. 

It's also sunny 1 out of 7 days... total.

Ha. Like really, I think the sun comes out from 5:30-6:30 three times a week.
With a sporadic half day in there somewhere... 

One day (after dinner around.. 6:30) the sun came out!

And in the enjoyment of my sunny splendor, I made a friend:

He landed on me and flew away, so i went to see him and he just let me hang out with him for a while! (This is news to most of you, but I really like dragonflies! And they never let you touch them!)

My cooking crew cooked this week!
Chili, chicken noodle soup, quesadillas, gouache, and breakfast for dinner!

I survived classes the first week and was pretty eager to enjoy the weekend!

So eager, that I managed to jam my pinky within the first 2 minutes of volleyball on Friday!

We had brunch on Saturday mid-morning and then a crew of us decided to hike Golden Ears despite the fact that constant rain was in the forcast.

It was a beautiful hike.. and really wet. Ha!
Most of us tried to dodge the massive puddles of muck but one girl just tromped through it saying that we'd all give in eventually...
which we did.. ha!

This picture is the only one that can remotely depict our wetness....*

 The waterfalls were amazing! 

Unfortunately it snowed so much, thus so much gushing water, that there wasn't a good way to get a shot down the falls but... use your imagination ;)

Church was fun. 

Went to the most expensive coffee shop on the planet to do homework.

I've been going to bed at like 10:30 every night.

Brain overload.

I had my first phonetics test today!

My TA in passing said I did well (but not perfect)

Haha! I'll take it.

It's 10:24.

Time for bed.

<3