I know I was overjoyed to leave home. A month has gone by, living away from those who raised me, shaped me and loved me, and I have come to a few very important realizations.

I don't miss living there. I don't miss living at home, with my family. Most of me was ready to get out, flutter my own wings, persay. Write my own story (not that I hadn't been doing that already..). The idea of not having my parents looking over my shoulder and telling me how to live my life was ideal. More than ideal, that was a Utopia to me. Even though I don't wish to live at home, I do miss a few things.

Most imporantly and noticably is my sister. I miss her like crazy. I miss her laugh and her smile and the deep sister conversations we would have about everything after school on the days mom would be working. I miss curling up in my favourite spot on the couch in the den. The one where I can see out the window and watch the birds and the bunnies. The one where I can see the flowers in the garden in our backyard. I miss cheddar cheese. It's not that they don't have cheddar cheese here, it's just that one girl has a severe dislike for it.

I have also realized that my Mom and Dad have taught me well. Two things that drive me crazy: a messy bathroom, and a messy kitchen. I think the kitchen here is a lost cause. Something tells me everytime I go home this year, I will see the nice clean kitchen and look at it longingly, somehow hoping the one in my dorm could look the same. The bathroom isn't too bad. Lots of mosquitos getting in from the door, but we have found a sufficient way of getting rid of those; the vacuum.

I miss my fast home internet. I miss my church family, and I miss hugs from Mom. As much as I love RUC, all these things just creep into my soul sometimes and I think and smile, that home can still be home.

If only my own bed was as awesome as the one here...and that's not sarcasm!!!

Meet Travis

Most people have 8 people living in their dorm. We have nine. Meet Travis.

Travis is the honorary house member because he is always there. You wake up, and you see Travis. You go to bed and the last person you see is Travis. You eat and Travis cleans up your dishes. You play euchre, Travis is your fourth. You have to study, Travis is always the first to interupt your thought progression.

Despite the photograph to the left, Travis doesn't actually sleep at our dorm. No, he just lives there in all other aspects. The RA next door made a good comment. He suggested that one of the girls in our dorm should just take the hint and start dating him.

The only problem with that, is that we all know specifically what girl in our dorm should date him...but won`t.

Like him or hate him, he is the honorary nineth member of our dorm. That is Travis.

The Call

"Within the inner recesses of my spirit, God seemed to be speaking-directly, personally:

Carry my cross. It is an instrument of death. You must die to yourself in order to be a servant of this people.

For unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. If it dies, it bears much fruit. This cross command absolute authority over all people, all history, all cultures.

Preach the cross! In it is salvation of this people: from drunkenness and despair, from broken families and oppression, from poverty and desolation. In it alone is their hope.

Remember, it is a rugged cross. Do not return to a tinsel cross. Take up my cross and follow in my footsteps, for I too chose poverty."

from, Companion to the Poor by Viv Grigg

Running as a way of life..

Okay, so Phys Ed class...as in a University Core Course I have to take..sucks. I am unathletic. I am lazy. I am open to admitting that. I am not, however, keen on running, or exercising, or sweating. Sweating is icky. Sweating is wet. I would rather not sweat.

The strange thing is, since I have been on this (please don't laugh) 2 hours of exercise per week plan, I have actually enjoyed it. However, I have a few rules I abide by.

1) I will not go running with a fellow girl at night. I tried this once. Apparently, the boys in the Hammer (ie, Hamilton) are incredibly perverted. We went running, and it was about 9pm, and we got hooted and whistled at a few times. And by a few times I mean about 5. Now, I have resolved to go running with guys. Locals will not whistle if you are with the boys. I also am forced to stretch myself more when I run with the guys.

2) I run at night. Running at night is so..refreshing? There is something about running in cold weather that both makes you less hot, and makes you sweat less. I count the less sweat to the less hot.

3) I talk when I run. It makes time go faster. Plus it makes you breathe. A lot.

So, if you feel like running could be for you, take my advice and just do it. You will feel better. But don't forget to stretch afterwards...I learned the hard way just how sore you can be the next 3 days...

The Joker

There has been discussion about whether or not Heath Ledger should be nominated for an Oscar because of his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

Why should an actor be nominated for a character portrayal that actally led to his death?

If you have seen the Dark Knight, I commend you. You will understand the accusations I make of this film, and the criticisms I make of Ledger. Don't get me wrong, I think Ledger was a wonderful actor, and his portrayal of the Joker was phenominal. I don't however, agree that anyone should be nominated for such a dark role.

The Joker's character is nothing but pure evil. I realize, and understand, that this film is a visual parallel and challenge on Terrorism. But you cannot deny the Biblical underlying of a character such as the Joker. The character of the Joker is described as an 'agent of chaos'. The Bible also describes Satan as an agent of chaos. The Joker kills for no other reason than to kill. He is a reckless character with no morals, no conscience, no soul. He acknowledges the existance of order, but his entire being is one of a literal shit disturber. Of this we should be terrified.

If we look at most villians, they have some ethics, some moral, and some character traits which allow them to consider even the slightest the option of changing sides. They are offered the grace of the good guy and at least think about taking it. What is most terrifying about the Joker character in Batman, is that he doesn't even blink. He is an agent of chaos. Pure evil. He is a character which took over Ledger's entire being. You can see that, radiating from the performance. Evil such as that cannot be simply acted, but must be felt, and drawn from within. It is that knowledge that scares me.

I think about our society, enthralled with Ledger's performance, and I am outraged that the church would pick on a series such as Harry Potter, but allow this through the gates. What is this teaching us as we ooh and awe over Ledger's performance? Teenagers are awestruck by the graphics, adults are dumbfounded by the shear genius of the film, and we sit, quite unaware that someday, this could be the world. The Joker used nothing but weapons which already exist. He was strategic in his planning, and he was the one leading in the game of cards.

So my insight is this. We can watch this movie and realize how the devil is moving. Look at our own society, our own weapons, our own laws. God put the 10 commandments in to guide us, so that we would not be harmed. Satan is out to harm us. Or, we can watch the movie for enjoyment. Either way, the task is left up to us to decide what we think. Do we ooh and awe over a great acting job, or do we acknowledge the insights that have been revealed to us?

I would also like you all to note, that it is never directly made clear if, at the end, the Joker does indeed die.

So, should Ledger be nominated for the Oscar? I think the answer will be an insight in and of itself unto our world, what its values are, where it stands, what the ultimate Agent of Chaos has up his sleeves.

Lament of Food

We need groceries. As in, we NEEED groceries. This morning, there was the whole pancake fiasco. Roommate decided she wanted to eat pancakes. Problem was, we had the mix and the milk...but no eggs. So off we went, next door to the boys dorm and took one large egg. And we made our pancakes.

Then we went to eat our pancakes.

This provided a new problem...we had no syrup. So, back we went, trudging across the porch into the boys dorm to see if they had syrup. They did. The only thing was, all of them were either in class or sleeping. So Roommate and I decided to leave them a little note on their whiteboard.

I guess the guys smelled the pancakes, because they woke up and trudged on over to our dorm for breakfast. So now, we have no food. Well, we had no food to start with. I think its time to groceries. LOTS of groceries. :)

Home sweet Home

Welcome to my humble abode. Well, my half anyways. The second picture is of my roommate and all her stuff. Her stuff is much in numbers.

We also took a trip the Walmart in Meadowlands one night which was a pretty fun time. These are two of my dormmates being the amazing people that they are :)


Frog Olympics were pretty cool. We got dirty, we had a tug-o-war in the mudpit.

And then we did the amazing thing of getting dressed up for the Decade Dance. This is my amazing Dorm. We all looked pretty fantastic. I really do love Redeemer. I'm hoping that this place becomes as much of a home to me as anything. I'm praying that this year God will open my eyes and teach me how to live. I'm looking forward to all the new friends I'll be making, the struggles that I'll have and the fun times that will make University life so fun. Home sweet home is what this is. A pretty amazing group of people all living for one God. The God.

I pray that we will have a safe and blessed year.

The End of Summer.

Today is September 4th. I am awaiting my second class. So here I sit on my front porch enjoying the view of the hill, trees and school building. It's really very beautiful here. Kind of secluded, but wonderful. I'm making a lot of great new friends! I guess that means that summer is over.

School is fun. I really do love it. It's going to be a little strange to go back to class after having 8 months of no homework, no teachers, no textbooks. (Don't even get me started on how expensive textbooks are. I feel saddened, knowing I have spent a good chunk of my money on books I cannot write in (no, actually, will not. I have a thing against writing in books. I don't know why. One of my many idiosyncrazies?). I had to buy sticky tack because I lost the stuff I bought originally. But the good news is, my doormmate Brianne and I found a job! Redeemer CRC in Meadowlands is looking for help with the coffee-break program! So We get to babysit children from 9-11 on wednesday mornings for 10$ a morning! I'm kinda excited about that!

And now, for the count you have waited for all summer. How many MarineLand commercials were there? 108.5! Good year. Sad, that we spend so much money on advertising. However, it does give me something to do all summer. If you are interested in starting your own Marineland commercial count, I suggest watching the evening news. AChannel, CTS, CityTV, Global. These stations show it regularily. You also may luck out with the CBC, but this year, it was all about the Olympics. The moral? Yes, I watch too much TV. :)

Redeemer

Okay, so I am here! I love it! And I have a fantastic story.

Today was my first class. Sociology. Lots of people in the class. My prof didn't show up. :)