Cherry blossoms

I'm a little late posting my weekly update, but I was busy procrastinating from making lesson plans for a new class I am going to teach next week. Then I was busy making lesson plans for that class. Now I am procrastinating again, so I thought I would give you an update.

Last Wednesday was election day here. To encourage everyone to go out and vote, it is a national holiday. Not wanting to waste a day off in the middle of the week we decided to go for a car trip to see the cherry blossoms in bloom. We went to a nearby national park called Naejansan.
Of course it rained on our mini-vacation, but we went anyway. There were fewer people in the park that way. The rain made the mountains look really cool because the tops were covered in mist.

There was a little babbling brook going through the park. I took lots of pictures because it was pretty.As the whole purpose of the trip was to see cherry blossoms, and to have a barbeque, I thought I would give you a few cherry blossom pictures. We didn't have the barbeque. The rain didn't let up all day. This is a close up of the cherry blossoms.

And now a road lined with cherry trees. I have to say that cherry trees are very photogenic so all the pictures I took look good even if some were fuzzy.
I think I have done enough procrastinating for now. I should make some more lesson plans so I will know what I am teaching next week.

High School

Well, this weekend was my 10 year high school reunion. I couldn't go, as I'm in Korea and it would be a little expensive to go for a weekend. Instead, I did some thinking about high school. I don't have very many happy memories of high school. I never understood the people who thought that high school was wonderful. It sure wasn't wonderful for me. In Warman I was the quiet bookworm that nobody talked to. It wouldn't have mattered if they had talked to me, as I was too shy to talk back. I was determined that when I went to Western it would be different and I would do everything. I tried out for dinner theatre. Didn't make it. I tried out for Sonshine. Didn't make it. I tried out for traveling chorus. Didn't make it. I tried out for musical. Didn't make it. Do you see a trend here? I did play soccer, but I was not an integral part of the team and I knew it. How could I not have? The coach and other players never let me forget. The first few months at Western only served to push me further into my shell. That was not what I had planned. Why is it that our plans don't work so well? Grade 12 was a little better. I was student council president, I was an integral part of the soccer team and I made traveling chorus. I didn't make Sonshine, and yes, it still bugs me. That was something I had really wanted to do. I still didn't really talk to people and they didn't really talk to me. I remember at the end of the year when Mrs. Muller had us all write notes to each other and then she typed them up and gave them to us. The only thing that my class mates said to me was that I was smart. It made me sad that after two years with most of these people the only thing they could say about me was that I was smart. They didn't bother to try to learn any more than that, and I didn't have the courage to let them see any more than that.

I'm glad high school is over. I am also glad that I am not the person I was then anymore. I have changed a lot since then. I talk to people, and I hope that most days I let them see that I am more than a smart person. In some ways I wish I could do high school again as the me I am now. Maybe it would have been a lot more fun. Maybe I would have had more friends. Maybe I would have more good memories. The thing about the past is that it is in the past. We can learn from it, but we don't get to do it over. We just have to live with it. I was who I was then, and I am who I am now. I like who I am now. I will make happy memories now and give up the sad memories from then. I am a different person now, and all that happened to someone else.

I'm not sure if I am disappointed that I had to miss my 10 year reunion. It would have been nice to be home and to see everyone, but I don't know how much I need to relive high school. Once was enough for me. I am disappointed about missing the alumni chorus. I really like that. Oh well. Next time.

14,000 things to be thankful for

No, I'm not going to write 14,000 things to be thankful for. That was the title of a book I came across this weekend while in a bookstore. It was essentially a list of nice things. I don't remember the list, but I have been thinking about it, and I thought I would make my own list and see how many things I can be thankful for today, or just things I like and would like to be thankful for today. Really, it will end up being a list of stuff I like. This is a change from stuff about me, yet it will still give you insight into me.

1. the smell of the linen closet.
2. new sheet day
3. the snap of the taekwondo pads when you get the kick just right
4. the 'ding' of my oven timer. I just love it. It means the cookies are ready.
5. the sound of rain on the roof
6. the smell of rain. You know the smell. Kind of like wet sidewalks.
7. Big worms on the sidewalk after the rain. It rained this week okay.
8. a well stocked bookshelf.
9. the smell of tomato vines
10. raspberries
11. laundry fresh out of the dryer. I would really like to be thankful for this.
12. a glassy smooth lake with the sunsetting over it.
13. ham
14. pretty shoes
15. stepping on crunchy leaves
16. stepping on that cool ice with the air bubbles underneath
17. marching bands
18. playing in the flour container
19. new notebooks or stationery
20. chocolate
21. blankets to wrap up in when it's a little chilly
22. floor heat. Got to love it.
23. when the trees are starting to get leaves and there's a kind of green haze all over
24. hoar frost
25. the smell of snow when you get up early in the winter to go to Grandma's house.
26. the smell of fresh bread
27. eating fresh bread with butter and cheese
28. sitting around doing nothing with friends
29. nintendo night with slurpees and lots of giggles
30. licorice
31. the northern lights
32. loons on the lake at night
33. hot chocolate at camp
34. wild blueberries
35. stepping on grasshoppers
36. heavy blankets on you feet when you go to sleep
37. waking up to your alarm and then remembering that you don't have to get up so you can just turn it off and go back to sleep
38. flowers
39. bamboo windchimes
40. stained glass windows
41. old church buildings
42. church family
43. singing with everybody
44. potluck
45. small groups
46. sitting around after church and visiting for a long time
47. church in English
48. God's unfathomable love
49. when you can feel God's presence
50. hope

Okay, I think I will stop there. I'm sure I could think of more things to be thankful for, but I will let you continue the list.

He is risen!

Praise the Lord! He is risen! We have so much hope because the tomb is empty. Jesus died so that we could have eternal life. I look forward to that. Eternal life with God will be wonderful. Praising God forever. Wow. Sounds great. I hope it's lots of singing. Singing with other believers always makes me happy, and I'm sure it will be even better when I don't worry about getting a note wrong. I am so thankful that Jesus took my sin so that I can be with God forever. What a wonderful gift. I should be thankful everyday, but sometimes I forget. Today is Easter, so it's easy to remember to thank God for the gift of his son. Easter is my favorite holiday. I always look forward to it. I could try harder to get that Easter feeling everyday. Imagine how cool that would be.
He is risen indeed! (C is for cookie)

A momentous event!

It had to happen some day I suppose. I knew it would. I couldn't put it off forever. Saturday was the day. I bought shoes. Not just any shoes. Shoes with laces. Running shoes. Yes, it's true, I now own sneakers. Isn't it amazing? This is what they look like. They look a little out of place surrounded by all those pretty heels, but that doesn't seem to bother them too much.
I bought them because I had to borrow shoes from a friend when we went hiking, and then so I could go play Ultimate Frisbee. I decided that I could have my own shoes. Yay me!

I think I have procrastinated from my homework for long enough now, but I'm sure I can still think of something else to do. Some of you will probably get an email tonight. I can always think of something to do other than homework.

A mini vacation

The residual happy effects of my vacation are fading, so I thought I would revisit it a little. These are some of my favorite pictures.
This is the beach we went to in Malaysia. I got a very bad sunburn at this beach, but I think it was worth it. We had the whole beach to ourselves for the whole afternoon. I could do that again. With a little more sunscreen. I did have sunscreen, but I wasn't careful enough applying it. My burn looked very funny because you could see exactly where I missed. I was striped.

When I came to my senses I went to sit in the shade. I found shade under this palm tree. That is not something you get to do in Saskatchewan, or Korea for that matter. I got to sit in the shade of a palm tree. I took a picture of the shade. You could see the shape of the leaves. It was cool.

This is another kind of palm tree. I thought it was very pretty. This was in Singapore. Singapore is absolutely beautiful. If you ever get the chance to go, you should. I would go again.

We got to go swimming with dolphins. Another thing you don't get to do in Saskatchewan. They were pink dolphins. After swimming with them we stuck around to watch the show so I got to take some cool pictures.

After the dolphin show and another stint on the beach we headed over to the aquarium. I love this picture. Jellyfish are pretty. We also saw sea dragons and unicorn fish.

This mini vacation was nice. I should do it more often.

Random ramblings

• Well, I was going to revisit my vacation and show you my favourite pictures and try to get back the vacation good mood, but for some reason I can't put pictures on today. I will try again later. For now I will just ramble on and give you some random thoughts. I had mashed potatoes today. It was very exciting. I know, who thinks mashed potatoes are exciting? I do. Last week I was teaching and there was a picture of a family eating dinner and they were eating mashed potatoes and all I could think of was ham with buttery mashed potates and peas. Unfortunately I can't get ham here, but I can get potatoes, so I made mashed potatoes for lunch today. They were really good too. Someone will have to eat ham for me and tell me all about it. I will be very jealous. I promise.
• I called Diane's house today because I knew Joyce would be there so I thought I could talk to Diane and Joyce at the same time. I discovered that there was a baby shower. I got to talk to a lot more people than Joyce and Diane. It was a lot of fun. Xavier even let me talk to Patience. Nancy talked to me for a minute but then the baby started fussing so she either had to give up the baby or the phone. She gave up the phone. I got to talk to Monica then. Nancy did talk to me again later. If I didn't get to talk to you today, hi.
• I have been very lazy today. I haven't really done more than making potatoes. I still haven't washed the dishes from making the potatoes. Or the dished from yesterday for that matter. I'll get to it, but as I said earlier, I hate washing dishes. When Samuel visited last weekend he washed the dishes for me. Wasn't that nice of him? He must like me or something. No, I didn't have dishes from several days sitting in the sink when he got here. I cooked. Real food. It was good too.
• I'm listening to country music right now. Isn't that weird? I even like it. Carrie Underwood. I thought I should broaden my music collection.
• I'm out of random thoughts for now. I will try to post again later this week.