by popular demand

okay, so if you haven't heard about my latest addiction, here it is. scrapbooking. i've been scrapping my pictures since high school, so this isn't really a new fad for me. but really, my high school and bible school scrapbooks are a mash of as many pictures as i could squish on a page, with magazine cut-outs for quotes and stuff and it was all pretty fun and crazy... it suited my dorm life! but life has changed. lately, i've been really trying to make my pages look better. and still.... me. i'm not going out and buying all that overpriced crap [if you're into that, good for you... it's just not me at all]. i make all my own letters and getting pretty good with the scalpel i must say. and i tend to scrimp on paper where in can (for an example of my 'thriftiness', check out the last 2 pages. they're just made with 2 pages of white card stock -and 8.5x11 is way cheaper than 12x12 - and one 12x12 patterned sheet). supplies are so expensive! but on my reading week, R encouraged me to go shopping, i bought a bunch of new, very fun stuff and was instantly inspired. however, most of my very fun paper is going to have to wait until summer/camping pictures.

i've been asked by a few people to post some of my scrapbook pages. here are a few of my new ones. this was christmas 2005. and i've blurred out the names of the kids on here since i didn't really ask any parents if i could paste their kids on the internet. .....so these may be not the best you've ever seen, but i had a blast making them. so there.

icky yucky nasty sludgy

i woke up this morning and there were huge snowflakes falling and the ugly, ugly city was laden in a new white coat. it was wonderful. let me clarify something first before i go on. spring is probably my most favorite season, even more so than summer, because of the anticipation feeling in the air. i can't wait for spring. but oh, was i happy when i saw the new snow.
a) if you've ever seen winnipeg in the spring, you know how nasty it is. if it were a crayon colour, and i was allowed to name it, i think i would simply name it "icky yucky nasty sludgy winnipeg-in-the-springtime greyish brown". it's an gross, drab colour and it coats everything. and everything was getting to be this nasty colour as of lately. so i was glad when i could enjoy the beauty of whiteness again.
b) even the little snowflakes are afraid to come out when it's -47 degrees. so in other words, it is no longer -47 degrees outside. hallelujah. it's more like -7.

i went back to classes yesterday after the break. man... it's hard to get back into it. and i just found out that i've got a test next monday. ho boy, i better catch up on the work that i didn't get done last week.

well, i'm gonna go scrapbook. oh... umm... did i say scrapbook? i meant.. uhh... study! ya, sure...... study.....

my brain is all over.

my valentine's day was unique... i spent it dressed in my white scrubs, line-dancing to 'achy-breaky heart' in gym full of elementary school-aged girls and eating fruit kabobs dipped into a chocolate fountain.

the girls' club at our church was doing an evening all about our hearts - physical and spiritual - and they asked a bunch of nurses to be there to help out. so i had girls come up to where i was sitting and i'd ask her if she knew of some ways to keep her heart healthy [eat fruits & veggies, exercise - hence the line-dancing] and also her spiritual heart [talk to God, read the Bible, go to sunday school]. and then i checked her pulse and let her listen to my stethoscope too and gave her a little certificate. it was actually quite fun. a lot of girls recognized me from day camp. thankfully they all were wearing name tags. "oh hi..." (glance down) "...alicia! how are you doing? are you coming back to day camp this summer?"

so.... speaking of day camp. what to think?? i really don't want to be a counsellor again. so i won't be. however, there is an option that i'm exploring. last year we had leaders-in-training (high school kids) to help us out. they did a good job of helping out and observing and reading off of scripts for the 'skits' ... but not a lot of learning how to be a leader. so they want to develop this program further. so this is where i come in. suddenly i have this idea that i could make this program. i could be the LIT coordinator... we'd have daily meetings to help the LITs focus and plan and grow and stretch and see how they're doing each day. we'd have daily goals to challenge them to grow and to take initiative (something that was lacking last year). i'd get to know them and encourage them and support them. i would make them teach a bible lesson to their team once a week. they would receive guidance and then they'd become the GREATEST LEADERS THAT EVER LED....

oh ya, and they could have really used a drama coach.

no seriously..... i don't know why i really want to do this. i just do. i don't know.... i was going to take this summer a bit easier. and you know, i really really really wanted to go on a family vacation with R this summer, drive to the mountains and go camping or something, BEFORE i graduate next summer, since it sounds like a lot of students are getting hired on to the wards where they do their senior practicum [in other words, this is my last summer 'off'].

and the other thing plaguing my brain lately is scrapbooking. i worked almost a full day today at the PO (i'm on my reading week) and i think that i made almost the exact amount of money today that i've spent this week on scrapping supplies. i'm getting disappointed and bored with my style and so i set out and bought a LOT of new paper (it was 50% off at one store) to inspire me. i shall post some pics in the future, but first i need to put in some hard work. i'm really not into a lot of stickers and crazy things that some scrappers pay thousands of dollars for... i mean, when you have a huge page, and tons of papers and stickers and rub-ons and thingies [apparently i'm also not into the lingo] but only 1 picture.... what's the point? i want to show off my pics!

anyways. it's bedtime. and i work again tomorrow. its sooo slow at work since its on-campus and its reading week. today i read a book. a coworker told me to bring my scrapping stuff to work tomorrow.
i told her not to tempt me.

i am so blessed.

so blessed!! i was recently reminded of the situation we were in when we both first moved to winnipeg 5 years ago. we didn't really have good friends in winnipeg (well, i had some friends but R didn't). we really really wanted good close couple-friends. and i remember us praying that one day we'd have close friends that we could hang out with and be comfortable with and have stuff in common and have crazy fun times again now that bible school is all over and our bbi friends live all over western canada.... not just acquaintances that you chit-chat with at church on sunday mornings, but people you can have a blast with even when you're doing nothing at all.
last night we spent the evening with these friends, these amazing people that God has given to us in answer to those prayers over the years. we just hung out, enjoying each other and celebrating the new life of a little baby that has entered this world. God is good. oh, i love you guys.

the blue blueness

the sky outside is so blue. so gorgeously blue. this is one of my favourite parts of winter. the endless blue blueness, brilliant against the blazing, sparkling white landscape that surrounds me.... a full sun blazing down, telling me that it's trying its hardest to warm the earth.

...of course i can't really see it because the gap between the bottom of my toque and the top of my scarf is so very narrow and just my little eyeballs are peaking out. and all that i can see is my white frosty breath billowing up in front of me, up inside my scarf, swarming around my face, condensing and instantly freezing in layers on my eyelashes, allowing me to see only big white chunks in front of my eyes.

Of course this temporary blindness doesn't help the fact that i'm busy staring at my feet, as i avoid stumbling over a chunk of snow on the plowed sidewalk, the sidewalk that is plowed so well that i also now need to watch for those slippery-snow patches. i could walk through the field, but then i would need to make sure that i stay right in the middle of the path, lest i lose my balance and step into the deep, deep snow.

alas. i can't even look at the sky as a i walk. but even if i looked, i wouldn't see it anyway. no matter how beautiful it is.

*sigh*

will this ever end??

let me clarify: i am selfish

as all these compliments come in, about how brave i am and how i like to make friends with everyone.... well, i feel that i need to explain that that whole episode with the people downstairs was mostly out of selfishness. they were invading my personal space with their sound. when i started to hear their voices in the evening i would get uptight because i knew that i was going to have trouble falling asleep. i didn't want to be her friend... i wanted them to shut up. that is the truth.
and yes, they've been quiet. and yes, i do feel good that we're on better terms. and like my mom pointed out, it's harder to be angry now that i see them as a young couple, rather than as the enemy.

it's been a busy week with school, as you can tell from my absence. i had a very frustrating 2 days at my clinical this week. it felt like my instructor was quizzing me more than she was teaching me. much more. apparently i wasn't prepared enough and it was frustrating. i'm not going to go into the details because i've ranted enough about it and i'm over it.

...well, i thought i was over being frustrated with myself, until yesterday when i was craving fruit perogies, and i thought i'd make some. well, i had forgotten that i had attempted to make them on 2 other occasions, both times failing miserably. so now it is written across my recipe card "DO NOT EVER MAKE THESE AGAIN." [but you know, i didn't throw the recipe away..] from now on, it's lazy-man's for me only. ....okay, here's something to make you laugh.... let's see if i can find it..... it's a pic of my very first attempt of cherry perogies that my roommate and i made when we lived in canmore....

hahaha! yes, they were supposed to be all the same size and shape...
check out the one on the right!