I appreciate dogs.

EVERY DAY I'm like, "Yo cat, get off my bed." 

And the cat's all, "mrow."

Then I pet her head and realize it's probably encouraging her to stay on my bed, but she's just SO SOFT and I can't stop and I look at her face and see her eyes close in that happy little squint cats get, and the purring starts OH NO. Too much cute.

After a moment of petting, I come to my senses and the spell is broken. I'm like, "GET OFF MY BED."

And the cat's all, "mrrrrrrrr."

I glare at her and gesture wildly as I tell her off. She don't care. I resort to desperate measures and grab her in all of her fluffy glory and carry her out of the room to deposit her ever so kinda-sorta-gently in the living room. 

Those eyes which were so recently closed in the happy-cat-squint are now narrowed reproachfully; spitefully even. She blinks as though she doesn't care, but once my back is turned.... She sneaks back onto my bed.

So I'm like, "Yo cat, get off my bed." 

Every. Single. Day.

This is not a recap of my entire existence.

So... Of all the times I could have written a blog in the past five months, I pick right meow. My first midterm is on Friday, I have two projects due next Wednesday, along with another exam. And a lab exam next Thursday.

But s'cool, guys. I'm cool. No worries, no sweat.

... I want to drop out.

NOT because I have exams and I suck at studying due to the fact that I have the attention span of a very mature three-year-old.... It's because I don't particularly care about school right now. Maybe the root of that is exams after all.. Huh.

I wanna do a YWAM! I want to trrrrraaaaavel... I shall now refer you to a previous post of mine, because I don't need to go over THAT again. But seriously. YWAM, guys. Here's the deal: I shall apply to the Kinesiology co-op program at UVic for next school year.... If I get in, I'll do it... If I don't... I'm outta here.

Sound fair? If I get in, I'll finish my schoolio-ing before I do YWAM. Or travel. Or whatever happens. Yep. Ballin'. Maybe I should keep this more updated... Good ol' bloggy blog. Should I? Comments are appreciated. I still don't know who reads this. Next post will be about some sort of entertaining topic. Mildly entertaining, at the very least. Hah, who am I kidding. "kinda funny" is about the best I can do. We'll see what I can muster up, folks. Haaaaave a great burrito.


.. Day. I meant day. I'm hungry.

Profound lack of photography.

Alrighty. So. I forgot my camera when Rebecca and I went out today. Yeah. I would've gone back to get it, except for the fact that the apartment was locked and nobody would be home until 4 PM. So I shall use my words instead! 


For those of you who don't know, right now we're halfway through our big European adventure! Today was spent wandering about Hamburg, Germany. We saw a lot of the city last night, when Gregor drove us around while Soren explained a lot of the history of the city. Apparently Hamburg has the most bomb bunkers of any German city. HUH. Also, there was a massive fire in an artillery bunker here during the war, and people on the streets nearby suffocated due to the fire sucking all the oxygen out of the area. Unreal, right?! There was this amazing church called St Nikolai as well, it was bombed during WWII, and only the bell tower and some of the outer stonework are still standing. It's all blackened from the smoke, and just standing there knowing a bomb hit that spot was pretty incredible. Also being in Germany, the bomb would've been dropped by the Allied army, which is kind of a weird thought. 


Know what else we did today? No? Well. We went shopping. Mom, you should be proud of me. I bought TWO pairs of shoes. TWO! Europe has the sweetest shoes, no word of a lie. And I bought other stuff. Which is really stupid, because now I have to carry it with me for the rest of this trip. DANG IT. I also don't know if it will even fit in my backpack. Sigh. It's a tough life. 


There's this place here called Miniatur Wunderland. And it was SWEET. All these miniature railways in different countries. And PEOPLE. AND THINGS! We went there too. It probably sounds kinda lame, talking about miniaturized people and places, but the details in this place were so cool! It's actually the world's largest model railway exhibition. Yeah. So rad. Google it. 


Okay, that's all for now. And uhhhh yeah. My bad.

Blabberblubber

Really, you never know what could happen. You might be in Italy, and you could meet a random person who lives 2 hours away from where you live. And he could possibly be an atheist, and you could be a Christian. And he could start asking questions. And you may or may not have answers to some of those questions.

It's just exciting to meet someone who is searching for something more in life, and to possibly be used by God to bring them closer to Him. So sweet!

That first bit was actually from like the 5th. I get so easily sidetracked sometimes. Most of the time. Usually. So here I am in Switzerland, and I haven't blogged in eons. I just don't care enough to bother with this lately. Buuuuuuut now I'm in a chillin' mood. So here's a blog post. About nothing in particular. That kinda goes to show what's going on in my mind right now.. Nothing. NOTHIIIIING. Being here and listening to Braeden's YWAM crew talk about snowboarding and how much snow there was and all the sweet mountains to ride around here seriously makes me want to snowboard. Even more than that, it makes me want to get better at snowboarding. I got a whole three days of riding in this season and I was stoked, because that was three more days than I got last season. I'll have my time though, JUST YOU WAIT. I'll be able to.. Go through trees without fearing for my life every time. That's all I ask. And to be able to do a jump and a few tricks and a rail or two or three or a million. Dang it, I need more time to ride.

I think I want to do a YWAM as well. This year I'm at VIU again, next year... Africa? YWAM? UVic? Golly. Who knows!

Concerning Kony

For those of you know don’t know who Kony is or what he’s up to, I’m going to briefly outline the biggest fad coursing through our generation since.. Well, since skinny jeans I suppose.

Starting in the 80’s there was a group against the then-president of Uganda, called the Holy Spirit Movement. There was some support of this group, but when its leader was exiled, a man named Joseph Kony took over. He renamed them the Lord’s Resistance Army, and promptly lost all of the support the group had in the area. This led him to begin the raids and thievery he is now well known for. He stole goods to feed his army and abducted children to BE his army. They travel at night, which means nobody feels safe at home in their villages anymore. In the 26 or so years that the Lord’s Resistance Army has been in action, it has abducted over 30,000 children from Uganda. This was never stopped because nobody knew about it, but now there’s an organization called Invisible Children, who are campaigning to raise awareness about Kony and get enough government support to find him and put an end to his reign of terror. For more information, here’s the video they put out, which is ALL the rage these days: http://vimeo.com/37119711

Since the recent dramatic increase in awareness of the KONY 2012 campaign, I have decided to look into this further, just to be sure I’m supporting a worthy organization. There has been a huge influx of new supporters, as well as doubters of the Invisible Children group and the validity of what they are fighting for. When I saw that such doubts were being brought forward, I wanted to know what was really going on, and NOT just by looking it up on Wikipedia. First off I would like to address the issue people have with the LRA not being in Uganda anymore. This is TRUE, their presence has moved north and west. Why is this an issue for some people? I don’t know. The Invisible Children’s campaign first started with a focus on Uganda, but that doesn’t mean that since the LRA are no longer as strong there that the problem is dealt with. It does not matter where they are, because what they’re doing is still wrong and needs to stop.

 I would also like to talk about the rumour of the LRA’s disbanding and the dramatic decrease of child abductions. As far as I can see in my research, both of these are also TRUE. From what I’ve read, it seems that the foundational support of Kony has shrunk to a much smaller core group than there was before. They have divided into smaller factions and continue to raid and terrorize villages across four African countries. Again, although some people find this decrease in presence as reason enough to not worry about the rebellion anymore, the fact remains that there are still people being killed, children being abducted, and it’s gone on for over 20 years. This needs to stop. Add to this the issue of Kony regaining followers throughout the four countries if pursuit of him is slowed. Every political group and movement has its times of strength and weakness. This may be a time of regrouping for Kony’s supporters, not a permanent decline of his presence. The LRA is still dangerous, now more than ever in my opinion. What have they got to lose? There is almost no chance of mercy on this organization’s members, so they are fighting for their lives at this point.

In my opinion, this is still a rebel movement that needs to be put to an end before it can regain its strength. I have yet to find any solid proof of Invisible Children being a fraudulent organization (which was yet another accusation brought up). I still see this as a cause and group worth my time and effort. Researching news on Joseph Kony and the LRA has probably brought this campaign closer to my heart than it was before. I encourage everyone to NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT and actually go find out the truth for themselves. There are articles and government sites that hold plenty of information that you can use to make up your mind. This entire post is simply my opinion based on knowledge I’ve gained from a small amount of research. I’m just as prone to bias as the next person. Now, that being said, I would also like to encourage you who have taken this campaign to heart, to not let it become a trend. Yes it’s on facebook and twitter and all the big celebrities are behind it and so are your friends... But don’t bother pretending to care if you’re not going to do something about it. Those are real people out there whose lives are being changed and even ending because of Joseph Kony’s rebel group. If you find something you become truly passionate about, then it’s worth your time and effort to help make a difference.

 C’mon now, help make a little history.

I want I want I want

At this moment in time, I'm sitting here wondering why I'm in Canada. SCREW CANADA. I want to be in a mud hut somewhere drinking chai, listening to stories being told in a language I absolutely cannot understand, without a single person I know around me. I want to swim in every ocean and sea, and to try eating crickets. I want to live in New Zealand, or a tiny Asian village, or a slum or all of them. I want to have nothing but a backpack of things I suppose I "need" and wander between countries, continents, and cultures. I want to be bold in discovering myself and my faith, I want to meet people I will never meet by staying in one place, I want to experience new things and see new sights. I want to hang-glide, parasail, skydive, and take a trip in a sailboat. I want my life to hurry up so these things can happen, and slow down so I can enjoy them all thoroughly. But right now I want to have a good today, and have a great tomorrow, and be thankful that I can live in a country not ravaged by war, famine, or disease. I have time for these things to happen in my life, I just need to be patient. And overall what I really want is for life to not pass me by, carrying all my regrets of yesterdays where I didn't quite do what I really wanted.

34 Days Laterrrrrr

This past weekend I was blessed to attend the UCM Emerge conference held in Hope BC. I was super undecided the week before it was supposed to take place, because I felt really guilty spending money when I'm already planning a big Europe trip in May. Oh, did I mention.. I'm planning on going to Europe in May with Rebecca! It's going to be epic. And fun. And I really want to be able to bless people as we travel, and just be absolutely transparent when it comes to our faith, so everyone we meet and interact with will know that we are set apart for a higher purpose so they will desire that same purpose with all their hearts and be drawn to seek out Jesus as their Saviour. AMEN! 

Back to Emerge. I met some awesome people, for sure. And had some crazy midnight snowball fight madness. YEP. IT HAPPENED. That mostly means I got soaked, laughed a lot, and was laughed at for my lack of skill when throwing snow. So did Jordan though. The next day, when we were meeting new people, we were actually referred to as, "The girls who couldn't throw." True story. We throw like girls. Like pansy LITTLE girls, not like major league baseball girls (if there is such a thing.) Extending your network of friends and family of Christ is such an important thing as a Christian. Fellowship has so many purposes, the foremost being to encourage others, and likewise to be encouraged. I'm never sure how much of an impact I have on others when meeting, I really hope that I am encouraging, buuuuut who knows. I'm an inherently selfish being, there are lots of things I need to work on. One thing I do know is how encouraged I was this weekend! That's sweet fellowship for ya.

There was also a huge concept that was brought to my attention that I would like to share! Our speaker's name was Joyce Somethingorother (I think that's right) and she did a terrific job. She spoke over the weekend about rest and work in Christ. Joyce explained to us the importance of taking your Sabbath seriously, managing your time wisely, and working hard. She pointed out that many people claim that "Because of Jesus, the law isn't as important anymore." If that's the case, then how about that little 6th commandment, "DON'T KILL OTHER PEOPLE, YO." There is a REASON God wanted a day of rest to be in the ten commandments. It wouldn't be there if it didn't matter. If I took one thing away from this weekend, it's to take notice of what I'm doing with my time, and to be intentional about how I spend my Sabbath. The 24 hour period of my choosing, that will consist solely of things which add to my appreciation and enjoyment of our Creator, moments which remind me to be thankful of the life given to me by my Saviour, and the time to reflect and listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling me. 

Also: Here's a shout out to everyone from the UCM Emerge weekend who may or may not read this. Thanks for making the weekend an awesome one! Or.. Should I say crisp? </endinsidejoke>

Also also: My bad for not posting in over a month. Don't hate. It just happens sometimes..