Oh College Days

So last night I got invited over to Rae's for tea (since I'm not actually moved in yet...I'm still farmsitting) because she had 8 people from Canada and the US over at her place staying for a few nights. It was great...they all spoke my language!

They were really great, and you wouldn't believe it...but for all you CBC/AUCers, I met Rachelle Driedger's cousin! It's so weird - a few weeks ago I met Adam Dueck's cousin and last night when I said I went to AUC in Calgary, one of the girls said her cousin goes there and so I asked who...and she was like "Rachelle Driedger"...it was SO weird.

When I said I knew her, she freaked out just like Rachelle would..."YOU KNOW MY COUSIN?!?!?! OH MY WORD!!!" haha it was cute.

So we hung out for the evening and went to church and watched a cheesy movie on Disney channel about a kid's Jewish basketball team or something...it was lame. We made fun of it.

It was really great to have people there my own age (sort of) who are still in college mode and having fun (and making "your mom" jokes!). I really enjoyed myself. They all go to Capernwray or however you spell it, and are touring the south island on their break from school. How great!

Ok well that's my story for now. The dogs have been eating a dead sheep in the field and I have a really sick story to tell about it...but not now coz I'm doing laundry and about to have a shower.

Oh yeah and then study for my exam that I'm writing in an hour and a half.

Yikes!

A Shout Out

A shoutout to some very special friends back in Calgary! You know who you are!



Miss you girls soooo much!

Wow I can't believe it's been this long since I've blogged. Well here I am, back at the Murphy's farm - house sitting for a week this time. So I'm going to be doing a lot of relaxing, as well as a lot of studying. I'm writing my midterm on Monday (for my Briercrest course), writing a paper and whizzing through the second unit in a week and then writing the final on the next Monday. Crazy huh?

So anyways I've mostly been painting a lot. And I think it's about time to officially announce that I am moving out of John and Fiona's house within the next couple of days. I'm moving for the sake of my professional relationship with them because they oversee my job, partially, and therefore, I shouldn't be living with them because it could cause tension and discomfort.

So I'm moving in with Rae and Neil Wilson and their son, Donald. It will be a good situation, I think. Rae has been much like a mother figure to me, and we get along well and have the same opinions on many things. She knows that I am a child in many ways to live with and that she will have to be very clear if she wants me to do something. We have made the choice to communicate and do as best as we can. And in 3 months when there is a review of the accommodation situation, she is free to say "get her out of here" and I won't hold it against her.

Anyways, this entry has taken me over 2 hours to write between talking to Jen, reading up on old friends blogs and reliving memories. I can't believe how time flies and how much people change. How much I've changed.

Anyways, things are fine. I'm spending a week here relaxing and doing some homework and not concentrating too much on getting the youth centre done up...I've spent 5 days straight in there and I'm getting sick of painting...smelling like paint and washing paint off my arms and hands.

And it's almost tea time, so I should go figure out what I'm doing for that. Byeee. Next time I write, it will likely be when I've moved.

Ready for Painting

Well today was a scrubbing day for sure! We cleaned out a lot of the rooms just of the dirt and grime that's built up on the walls and floors. We've used a lot of bleach and (ohhh man I just realized that I left the pail of soaking wet gross rags in the centre...blah I just don't want to go back there tonight) a lot of water but things are looking good. We've got at least 3 rooms prepped to be painted, and either tomorrow (probably not though) or Monday Iain and I are gunna head in to start painting around the trim and hopefully painting the rest of the walls shortly after.

At this rate, the main couple of rooms should be painted by Monday evening, or Tuesday afternoon at the very latest. It's really exciting!!!

We have a great blue colour for the main room, a deep purple for the resource room and an "Egyptian Red" for my office...it'll be interesting to see what that looks like...the red, I mean.

Anyways, I'm super tired and really hungry and Vanessa is gunna be home in a bit so I should make an attempt to look (and smell) more decent than I currently do coz I think we're having a really nice sit down tea tonight.

Yay for Youth Centre!

I have way more pictures to put up but I can't be bothered right now. Ha.

"This is it? Talk about your fixer-upper!"

Okay today has been SO great! We got into the youth centre after our Good Friday Service and there were 5 kids to come along, at first, to help out with cleaning and moving stuff into storage.

When I got in there, I was overwhelmed by what needed to be done and I had no idea where to start. So a lot of the day was kids asking me what to do, me giving them a small job and then them getting bored of it and goofing off instead.

However, we DID get a lot done. We were there from 1:00 til about 5:15, and only about 3 hours of that was full-on hard work, but we hung out, we had a feed of chips, I had to already have a talk with them about respecting property and reminding them that we are parked right beside the business that is giving us the building...and one single complaint from them about our behaviour can send us packing before we even open the place.

It was kinda funny, the look on their faces when they knew I had to talk to all of them about something...they knew they were in trouble. I've posted pictures on my site from today, mostly of the youth centre itself in each of the rooms and whatnot. But Iain managed to capture a few of me and the kids - even during my "Tell Off" session, as he calls it, when I had to gather the kids and tell them that the kennels behind me are now "off limits" because of them already locking eachother in them and fooling around where they shouldn't be.

Anyways...in that 3 hours time, we made a HUGE dent in the work that needed to be done. I was absolutely blown away by the help that some of these people were offering. Iain came along and took down half of one of the giant shelves we had to disassemble and put away...then the chairperson of the Vet Clinic came by and took down the other half AND moved the giant icky fridge AND moved the dog food display unit. And then two of the boy's dad came along - his name's Bernie - and took down a HUGE caged-up shelf thing and helped with our last shelving unit int he main room that needed to get taken down.

See you probably are reading this going "okay yeah, so you got help with this stuff, what's the big deal?"

The big deal is that we weren't planning to even TOUCH those shelves until we had all the "guys" here...all the men involved in the trust and the strong guys to pitch in together...but all these nice people showed up unexpectedly and did it themselves! How great!

So the new pictures in my Youth Centre Renovations Album are of the rooms after about 2 and a half hours work...I forgot to take pictures beforehand so you could see how much it really needed help.

So we're going back tomorrow afternoon to finish up some of the rooms and get them ready for painting...which should probably happen on Wednesday or so.

I'm STOOOKED!

Ok. Sleepy time.

AAAHHH!!!!

WA-HEY! Things have been wonderful today and it's not even 1 pm! I honestly can't describe how God has provided for this youth centre in a matter of 3 minutes this morning at church. I got up telling people that there was now a youth centre for the kids, but now we have to work on cleaning it up and filling it with stuff for them to keep entertained and to hang around...

So I asked for things like furniture (couches, chairs, etc), a television/gaming system, a whackload of paint, and even a pool table even though that was a very big dream that I didn't expect to come together right away...

And immediately after the pool table mention, a couple raised their hand and said "We have a pool table."

I was SHOCKED! Absolutely mind boggled, and I forgot what else I was going to say...it was the first thing I actually had mentioned! How amazing! And then a lady who owns the local hardware type of store said they would supply the paint. And another couple mentioned that they might have a television! Like this is WICKED!

And on top of it all, when we finished with Sunday School (most of the Edge kids come to that) they all asked if they would be able to come help out with cleaning the place up during their holidays! Their school holidays start at the end of this week and go for almost 2 weeks...and they all suggested it to me that they come help with cleaning up!

I LOVE THESE KIDS!

Okay so they drive me nuts sometimes (I've always said young boys are the hardest to handle) but they've got hearts of gold. They really do.

So...that was my wonderful day. This week God has provided a youth centre and office free of rent (oh yeah and someone also gave some money towards the power costs today), a pool table, the materials to redecorate the building, a possible television and a whole lot of support and interest in making this work!

It's so encouraging to have people showing such enthusiasm! I'm really blown away right now, honestly...it's great to be reminded that no matter how hard I try and no matter how stressed I get, I'm not the one in control here. And I have no need to be stressing as much as I do.

YAY!

Sick

So I've gotta say that this week has been hectic. And in ways it feels like it was all for nothing. I've spent all week trying to get things together and planned for the start of two separate youth nights.

Last night went really well. The younger kids always enjoy themselves, as long as I keep it high-energy and fun. So easy to amuse. And they show up coz it's not like they have lives other than school and homework. We had an Easter Egg Hunt in the dark...I hid about 100 little foil eggs around the park and they went out looking for them. It was really quite good, though very hard. And in the end they only came back with about 40 or so because it was too dark. So this morning I met up with them again at 9 am and said that they could go nuts finding the rest. It was a good time. I talked about the Easter message and it seemed to say something to some of the kids, though it didn't get them coming up and making big dramatic life changing decisions in front of everyone. But that's not what I was going for. So it was a good night.

All day today I've had a terrible headache and waves of nausea...I felt completely inadequate and unprepared for tonight for the first night of having the older teens at their own program. I didn't want to go, I felt too sick. Plus there's two weeks off now so what was the use in starting it for one week before giving them a massive break? Anyways...I gritted my teeth, prepared a mellow, more personal set type of night...with coffee and less flash and more talking and interaction and relationship building...

And two of my hopeful 3 leaders showed up. Not too bad. And one youth showed up. Wonderful Nina, who has always been a really great kid, supporting the youth program even when she was the only older kid surrounded by 12 year olds. Anyways, she was the only youth to show up tonight and to be honest I wasn't surprised. It was only a TAD disappointing...I wasn't upset that it was "only" Nina because I think it was a good opportunity to build a stronger relationship with her.

But it was slightly discouraging - which I think is different from disappointing. I wasn't upset at the time but it makes me wonder if offering this program for them is even worth it if I can just take Nina out for a coffee once a week and build a better relationship with just one kid.

Anyways, it was still a decent night. We had a cuppa, played a small little game. I told a story about Easter Saturday which had a bit of a serious message to it so it wasn't very fun but it was a good reflection for all of us.

And now I am still feeling sick. My headache went away for a short while until we played the game and were laughing really hard at our inabilities to keep a steady rhythm going. Then it came back. And when I chugged the rest of my cold tea at the end of the night, the nausea came back. Good job, Jacquie.

Anyways, that's my rant for the night. Youth has been going well, though at times I get a little worn out and discouraged. At this rate I expect a burnout before the end of the year, sadly. I need to change something otherwise this isn't going to last long.

I wish I had more man power. I wish I had someone to run games, mostly. That takes a lot of time and energy when I'm already having to spend a few hours a week preparing two messages and putting together announcements...games is a lot of work but if we have no games, I have to once again try to fill MORE time with something else. It's just a never ending cycle.

I think I'm just tired. And a little frustrated. And I should get some sleep if I'm going to run Sunday School in the morning.

Goodnight.

P.S. Have you checked out Johanna Sillanpaa or Sillan & Young yet?

You Want Some Good Music?

Okay so I'm going to use the fact that my blog reaches a good amount of people to do some cheap advertising and support for a very talented musician.

For those of you who know about my last year in Calgary before coming out here, you will probably be well aware of a certain band that my friends and I discovered at JazzFest in September of 2004. The band's name is Sillan & Young and I'll say right now that if you have an appreciation for music in general, you will love this band.

Immediately after the JazzFest, I got in touch with the lead singer of the band, Johanna Sillanpaa, and from there we built a pretty good acquaintance relationship, and perhaps even the base of a friendship. In any case, I don't think we're close enough to be considered friends, but we do email eachother and went out for coffee and had a quick chat after every show.

For the most part in that 3rd year of Bible College, my CD player was consistently pumping out a steady supply of Sillan & Young, and my closer friends will tell you that I was an absolute mess anytime we went to a show because I was always a little star struck (even though they certainly aren't world-famous) and nervous about talking to such a talented group of people.

Anyways, check out the Sillan & Young website and get a dose of their music. If you're in the Calgary area, you can pick up their CD at Megatunes, which is on 17th Ave...honestly just walk down 8th St SW down to 17th and turn right...you can't miss it.

But now I have discovered, after an email from Johanna to the Sillan & Young contact list, that she has released her debut solo album. Honestly people, this is not something you want to pass up checking out, at least. I do understand that not a lot of people have an appreciation for the mellower, acoustic, jazzy sorts of music, but at least check out Johanna's Website and test drive some of the music. That cd is also available at MegaTunes, or you can buy it online at CD Baby. Hey, while you're at it, buy the Sillan & Young CD as well!

If you're into this kind of music, you will not be disappointed! Check out the sites and familiarize yourself - if you're a friend of mine, there WILL be a test.

Take care!

Wow this whole thing makes me sound like a freaky little fan. Ha...yikes.

Double the Fun!!!

Okay so lately those of us involved in this youth ministry have been praying for quite a few things to happen - one is that things would get smoothed out for me to be able to find a more suitable accomodation situation because it is a bit of a conflict of interest living with two people who oversee my job. The other is that we would be able to get our hands on an office space for me so that I'm not working out of my house, wherever I end up living.

So things have been moving along quite nicely. In fact, they're better than nice! Because now it turns out that not only do I have a nice little space where I can set up an office, but I have been offered a fair-sized building that has office space AND enough room to be able to run youth programs and have a hang-out centre for them!!!

I mean, this is certainly something that was not necessarily expected, but yesterday when I had the lady from the Fiordland Focus (local newspaper) come and do an article about me, she suggested to Karl and I that the old Vet building (a new one has just been built beside it) was vacant and they might be willing to rent it out to us. So Karl gave them a shout and he found out that not ONLY are they willing to let us use the space, but all that they've asked us to pay for is the power we use!!! How amazing! I didn't even want to go as far as asking for a youth space for the kids to come - I was just going to dress up the shed in the back of the church and make it a nice comfy place but now...this is SWEET!

So I just found out this morning...and I'm going to go check it out early in the week (probably Tuesday) because today is super busy for me with two youth events to now plan. How crazy am I...

But at least now I'll have a place to set up and concentrate on my work! YAY! And the kids can come over during their lunch break at the college (high school) coz it's not even a block away from the school!

So things have been looking up quite nicely the past while! Well now it's back to work. Lots to do before tonight...see ya later!

What Not to Wear - Jacquie Edition

Okay so to update you all on what's been going on lately...

Things are really getting good around here as far as my attitude and a lot of the circumstances go. I'm feeling less helpless and less lonely and tension is dissolving. So all in all, things are looking up.

However, this week coming up is a busy one. Fusion AND The Edge are being run starting this week. I have that exam still to write, and a bunch of other side things to take care of - meeting with the boss about setting goals and all that stuff - having meetings about my living situation and probably moving into Rae's place by the end of the week (if things aren't too busy).

But yesterday was a great day. I went into Invercargill (big city about 1:45 away) to do some shopping for work clothes. I figured that I certainly have to start dressing the part if I'm going to feel like a working lass. So I spent way too much money but got a decent new wardrobe that certainly is not anything I'd typically wear, however it does suit me, I think.

So the new items in Jacquie's closet that have never before made an appearance...
A blue dress shirt - with a modern pattern and an asian-style collar. Elbow length sleeves (ideal for Jacquie who hates anything past her elbows)
A white button down dress shirt with a funky print down the right side
Two sleeveless shirts - one dark green and one black - for the basic "under the button down shirt" feel
One pair of classy jeans - black with a bit of shiny white
One pair of basic black dress pants (a must-have for any girls wardrobe)
One pair of punk-ish pants - black with green, brown and beige asian embroidery down the right leg (goes well with the right-side-patterened button down shirt)
One skirt (!!!)...hard to explain but very popular these days
One black leather-ish purse (classy indeed)
Three pairs of shoes:
- black and white canvas (came as the "free" third pair of shoes so I figured I'd buy something not work-related)
- brown chunky-heel sandals - very cute
and finally...the item of clothing to set me on the hypocrites list for life...
- one pair black, cowboy-flavoured POINTY TOED BOOTS

Yes, my friends, I do believe I've gone mad. Yikes!

So that's my shopping story. I also picked up a few other things that weren't clothing-related. But then I also decided to spend the night in a motel because I was out all day and had a meeting in the evening that wouldn't get out til well after 9 and then I'd have to try to drive home at night after a long tiring day out. So I went to a classy little motel (or an average little motel) and treated myself to a relaxing night and an over-price hot breakfast in the morning.

It was a really great day, I'll say. Gave me a good chance to just get away and have a bit of fun trying on clothes - though I spent an hour or more in the shoe store with a sour look on my face. I hate shoe shopping with a passion. And I avoided the pointy-shoe aisle for nearly the whole time I was in that store...but in the end I buckled down, because I could hear "Clint and Stacey" in my ear, reminding me that every girl needs a classy pair of pointy shoes...

So that's my story. It's been a good week, and th coming week is going to be busy. That means I'm a little behind in getting my newsletter out but I'm sure that at some point during this week when I feel like procrastinating, I'll do that by working on the newsletter.

Talk to you soon. Maybe sometime I'll put some girly pictures of Jacquie up here in her new clothes....

Yikes.

Fishing

So we went out on Thursday to check out "Borland Lodge", to see if it is an ideal setting to put on our own Youth Conference in September/October. They've got room for about 100 people to sleep, a brand new kitchen/shower/laundry building being put up, AND a brand new hall being built as well. It's amazing. The only setback is that it IS fairly remote - but I guess anywhere apart from Invercargill, Queenstown and Dunedin in this part of the country is fairly remote. Even Queenstown is already.

Anyway, my hope is to put together a smaller scale Youth Conference than what I'm used to. We surely wouldn't get anywhere in the 700's coming, so Borland Lodge seems wonderful. Lots of things for the kids to do in between rallies and whatnot. It's an exciting prospect.

Then we went to try to fish in the Monowai River (I love the names of these places. I'm thinking of naming my kids after some of the towns or lakes. ha) but it was a controlled area, and we were not allowed to fish in it. There is some heavy research going on in the Monowai River and Lake for Didymo - an introduced weed of sorts that looks REALLY slimy but is actually quite wooly to the touch. Anyways, it's a big problem in a lot of the waterways here and apparently it will kill off the fish and waterlife. So that particular body of water (The Monowai) doesn't have didymo in it, so they are doing a controlled study in it on how to destroy it, I think...

So really, we had to go back to the Waiau, I believe, to fish for a bit in the afternoon. It was way different than what I'm used to. No worms. No boat. Shallow, clear, rocky bottom, moving water...certainly not the conditions I've fished in my whole life. We've always gone for the deeper water or the shallow weedy waters for our fish - and never in a highly moving area. So this was odd. A rocky river where you could see or not see the fish if the glare wasn't on the water.

Anyways, I didn't catch anything. I casted a bit, but I'm certainly not as patient as my uncles for that kind of fishing...my arm was tired after only about 15 minutes or so...

Plus we couldn't stay very long because a lot of our day had been taken up by travelling out to Borland and then trying to fish right nearby there (the Monowai is close by)...but since it was closed we had to drive quite a bit back towards Te Anau to find a place where we WERE allowed to fish.

It was a good day, but I was completely stuffed by the end of it. Okay so not stuffed but...tired. Which is stuffed. Which is...worn out. Get it?

I had a dream last night that I came home for a visit and I brought only 4 packages of Tim Tams. How sad. Haha.

Ok I've got a meeting with Karl in 15 so I should go get ready for that. See ya.