Mosquitoes and Culture Shock

I'm going to start off this post by saying, Kamloops spoiled me!!  I honestly can't believe how spoiled I've become, and how there is so much that I find hard to handle now!!

In the half of a week that I've been here, I have seriously seen MORE mosquitoes than I had in 9 years in Kamloops!!  It's crazy!!  I don't have any bites to prove this, but my youngest sister sure has!  When we open the door, we tend to hear lots of screeching and "Get that mosquito!!!"  I HATE mosquitoes.  I can handle spiders and flies, and almost any other small bug, but not mosquitoes, so it sure doesn't help that I've moved to mosquito central! 

I have definitely been hit with culture shock when it comes to the weather and bugs here!!  The other thing that I found surprisingly shocking is the shopping here.  We went to the mall today and I was overwhelmed with the size of the mall and the number of people shopping there.  I thought it would be somewhat similar to Kamloops, just rearranged differently, but no! 

The mall was HUGE!  (At least compared to Aberdeen mall!!)  The line ups were very long, which again shocked me.  I guess I have a whole lot more to get used to than I was expecting!  (The only store that was familiar was Walmart!  It is layed out exactly the same as Kamloops, and for a second I forgot where we were!)

Life is different here, and it will take awhile to get used to, but I'm learning to be thankful for this opportunity I have to evaluate where my life is at, and where I'm headed.  I've already learned a lot on this journey, and for that I am grateful!

He's Always Here

On the trip here I was listening to the song "As The Sun" by Stellar Kart.  I found the song very comforting and encouraging in this time of transition in my life, and so I wanted to share it with you!  It reminded me that God is always with us.  He is holding us in the very palm of His hand! 

Enjoy!

We've Arrived and The Dangers of Unpacking!

We're here!  My sisters and I arrived at the new house yesterday afternoon.  We met up with my mom, dad and brother who came here on Friday.  The house is different than we expected.  Some of the rooms we thought were big are smaller than expected, and some of the smaller rooms are bigger than expected!  We're all slowly adjusting though. 

Seeing all my earthly possessions in this house really hit me yesterday and all of a sudden I no longer felt like this was a dream.  I guess that's a good thing, but it's just really tough when it all hits at the exact moment.  Needless to say, yesterday was a day full of many tears! 

I did have a nice break though before I came here yesterday.  I was able to stay at my dad's youngest brother and his family's house for an extended weekend!  It was a blast!  This is the third August that I have stayed with them, and it's so much fun to be able to see my cousins grow up and change from babies to little kids!  And, I love the opportunity it gives my Aunt and Uncle and I to visit, play some games, and just enjoy one another's company!  I'm so blessed to have such an incredible extended family who loves to spend time with one another! 

Like I said, my sisters and I got here yesterday, just after the unpackers had left, leaving us with a lot of organizing and unpacking left to do!  I am sharing a room with my youngest sister, and so we were trying to figure out how to take our possessions that once filled up two bedrooms and fit it into one.  After much thought we decided how we wanted it, and started to move the bigger furniture around.  My sister has a dresser with shelves on the top (that we discovered isn't screwed down very well) that we needed to move about 4 inches.  In order to move it we took everything off and started to move it (carpet is WAY harder to move things on than my laminate was!!).  Little did we know, but there was a heavy clay dog on the very top of the dresser that we could not see.  Well, it ended up falling right on my head leaving a horrid headache and a couple pretty sore bumps on my head!  Needless to say, I have not done too much since then (much to my sister's dismay!) as I have been trying to recover from the very bad headache I have!  Who knew unpacking and organizing could be so dangerous!!  Haha!  I am going to be extremely careful from now on!

I'm sure there will be more stories to come in the next few days, but for now I must go ice my head again and try to get some more boxes unpacked!  Have a great day!!

It Feels Like Winter...Already!?!?

We made it safely to my grandparent's house.  Throughout our nine years in Kamloops, we have taken many holiday's out here, but those trips never seemed to take as long as this one did!  One hour felt like an eternity...and we had to drive 12+ hours! 

We made it here safely though!  When we arrived here we reached a "heat wave" of NINE degrees!  Nine degrees in the middle of summer!  We were shivering so bad that my grandpa had to turn the heat on for us!  What made it worse was that we found out that day was a whole 34 degrees in Kamloops!  I sure am envious of them! ...But, I don't miss the thick smoke they are currently experiencing!

While on the drive here I had a lot of time to reflect on my time in Kamloops as well as where I am headed in life.  My current university application has not been processed yet, and I am not sure I will get accepted.  After months of searching for what Math B30 means, I finally found out that it is Math 12.  So, I have a feeling that will prevent me from getting in... I shouldn't have dropped it in high school!

So, now I need to think of other options for the fall.  There are a lot of things rolling around in my head right now.  I will probably end up working this fall while upgrading my math and building my business.  Then in January I will hopefully be going  to school... what I will take is still unclear, but I may end up going in a completely different direction than I have been going in.  I'll just leave it at that, and when I know more specific details I will let you all know ;) 

I think that is all I have to update you on about our trip!  I still feel like I am on holiday's and will be going HOME soon, but I guess if/when all my schooling gets sorted out, I could be HOME sooner than thought!  It could be 4 months, or it could be 4 years.  Sooner is better, but it all depends what God has in store.  I suppose I'll know the when aspect of it a little better when I find out about my schooling. 

Have a great day and God bless you all!

The Princess!

I have very talented siblings.  Some are good at drawing, others are good at baking, others are good at sewing...they succeed at pretty much anything they "put their hand on!" 

This past weekend my "oldest" younger sister participated in the British Columbia Ambassador Pageant. 

She did AMAZING!  I am very proud of her!  She did things during the weekend that I know I would probably never be able to do! 

The weekend was incredible to watch as nine young ladies and one young man did two speeches, one talent, an impromptu question, and had a community table on display.  They all did well, and I am sure their friends and family were all very proud of them.

The last "performance" involved the crowning of the 2010-2011 BC Ambassadors. 

I am super excited to be able to say...

My sister Alicia is one of the three new BC Ambassadors!  Congratulations ALICIA!! I am so very proud of you!  You did AMAZING!

It's Coming To The End...

As I sit here in the kitchen writing, packers are putting all my earthly possessions in boxes.  I honestly can not believe it!  I have gone through this process several times, but I honestly thought we would be here forever...or at least my parents would be.  Never in my wildest dreams would I ever imagine them to pack up and move once again. 

So, today is the end of a journey, and tomorrow begins a new one. 

Tomorrow we leave the house we have turned into a home.  Tomorrow we travel 13 hours to my grandparent's house.  Tomorrow everything changes.

I am not going to pretend this is easy for me.  As you have probably seen in my other posts, this move is extremely difficult!  But I am trying to work harder at not being so terribly upset about it...  It's tough, but I am trying! 

Okay, enough of the rambling...

My mind is everywhere right now, and it seems like my blog has taken on the same lack of organization :( 

As a closing note, I want to share a song with you.  It is a reassuring song that reminds me that God is always here.  He never, ever leaves us or forsakes us.  No matter what we are going through, God is standing by our side... 

Beautiful British Columbia

When I was around 11 years old, my parents announced that we would be moving to British Columbia. 

I was not impressed whatsoever.  In fact, one of my sisters and I were determined to hold on as tightly to the furniture as we could, since we thought that would keep us from leaving.  When we were told that wouldn't work, we wanted to move in with our grandparents...anything to keep us from moving to this so called "beautiful province!"

While I was so upset about leaving, one of my closest friends wasn't really.  She was so excited that she kept telling me "You're moving to Beautiful British Columbia!!" 

That was not the best thing to tell me at that season of my life, but too late...she told me more than I can count. 

Yet, here I am, 9 1/2 years later and I have to say, I agree with her.  

This province is BEAUTIFUL!  There is so much more to it than I have seen during those 9 1/2 years!

Like all our provincial commercials say, this truly is the "Best place on earth!"  

And, if I could say one thing to my friend "K", I would tell her...You were right!!  This truly is "Beautiful British Columbia!" 

So, "K" thanks for believing things would be great, even when I didn't... Your friendship has helped me get through the rough times in life...and I pray we'll continue to push through what currently looks helpless and impossible.  You are loved! 

Theme Song

A few months ago I heard a song called "Blink." by Revive.  I had not heard of that group before, but the second I heard the song, I fell in love with it.  Little did I know what life would bring and how the song would become the "Theme song" of my life. 

Take a moment to listen to it.  I can't even begin to write about it, because the words describe everything I'm feeling.  And this song is my prayer...

M.O.V.E.

It feels like forever since I last wrote a post!  I kind of feel like I've been neglecting it :(  It's not that I've been trying to put my blog to the side, I just haven't had anything much to write about.  I guess it could be classified as "Bloggers Rut" or whatever you more full time bloggers call it! 

I think awhile ago I wrote about feeling like I'm living in a dream.  Well, surprise, surprise...I STILL feel that way.  It's a horrible feeling.  I don't like how I feel like I'll be here forever, yet in the back of my brain, I know time is really quickly slipping away.

I haven't done everything I've wanted to do.  I haven't seen everyone I wanted to see.  I haven't lived here long enough...

When I was younger my sisters and I were in a Cantata that was about time.  There were orphans in an orphanage and the lady that took care of them made them fix clocks for a living.  Anyway, there was a song we (the orphans) sang about how they disliked "time."  During that time we found out we would be moving to our current city.  My sister and I changed the song...  This is how it went:

Move is a four letter word, and it's all that we've heard since the day we were born.  Move, the idea is absurd.  This four letter word called move....

There's more to it, and it may seem a bit cheesy, but that's how we felt.  And, as cheesy as it seems, I feel that way once again.  The only thing that is different is that this time I had to choose...  But I figured it was best to stay out of debt and go than get in debt and stay.  I'm really regretting my decision now. 

The closer I get to next week, the more scared, nervous, broken, and sad I get.  I never use the word hate, but honestly, I HATE this feeling!  The worst part about it is that I feel like we're just preparing to go on holidays like we do every year and then we will get to come HOME.  Unfortunately, we won't get to come home ever again...  That hurts. 

I wish I had a good reason to stay here...but maybe one day I will and I can come HOME!  But for now, I must go some place I never dreamed would be my parent's "home." 

I guess I'm ranting now.  Sorry for that :(  It's just this is how my life is now, and since this blog is about my journey of life, I guess it's fitting for me to share about this journey.  This journey that's going to take me 2 provinces away, and I PRAY back again.