The Swan Princess.

Best fairytale ever. Gives me butterflies everytime. :)

Footprints.

After running around the streets of downtown Vancouver, I realized that this is what I want.
I want adventure. I want to be free, with nothing tying me down; no strings attached.
I want to see the world; explore every corner cafe, dip my toes in every ocean, ride every city-train, and run down every dirt road with my arms stretched out to the sky.
I want to meet the locals, eat what they eat, and live how they live.
I'm too young and free to not take every opportunity I can.
I'm absolutely in love with God's creation and I want to leave my footprint all over it.

This dream of mine also made me realize that the man in my future has to be 10x more adventurous than me. No, I'm not implying that I want to get married on the summit of Mount Everest and bungee jump off into my honeymoon...
I'm just saying that together we'd be the ultimate travel companions; in the dead of night we'd lie side by side on the middle of the interstate, the following morning we'd play tag in an Italian vineyard, in the afternoon we'd ride the world's scariest roller-coaster, then in the evening he'd take me snowboarding in the Alps.

Sounds like a plan!

PROUD TO BE CANADIAN  : )

Sleep sleep sleep.

Ever feel like you "slept" the whole night with your eyes half open? 'Cause last night was definitely one of those nights. Before my head hit the pillow I sort of told myself: by the way you've been procrastinating and lacking highly in the time management department, you don't deserve sleep. You deserve to toss and turn all night worrying about that J.R.R Tolkien book you've been putting off, and to have nightmares about the Thomas Aquinas quiz tomorrow, and to be forever haunted of humanistic consumerism's effect on education, ALL NIGHT LONG.
Hmm... I think I'm being too hard on myself. Maybe? Yes, no?
But despite this restless sleep I suffered through, I found myself air-guitaring and head-banging as I got dressed. And despite this restless sleep, I went absolutely crazy at the gym; never have I felt so excited to be on a treadmill. And after I wiped the sweat from my forehead, I found myself sprinting back to my dorm. Who does that??
Then I decided to watch Carrie Underwood's music video: Temporary Home. Which is when I unintentionally cried my eyes out.
Seeing as how eventful and bipolar my day was, I should just forever be an insomniac. It's good times for sure...
Anyway, this 2000 word essay worth %70 of my grade is beckoning me on over. Can't wait!!

Sunshine!

Now really, is that not THEE most beautiful thing you've ever seen in the middle of February?

Oh how I love the West Coast.

Happy Chinese New Year!

"You will continue to take chances and be glad you did."

Thank you, dear fortune cookie, I completely agree.

What does Love mean?

I found this in my inbox, and it warmed my insides:

What does 'Love' mean? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds. The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined:

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too.. That's love.' Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissie - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mummy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mummy and Daddy are like that, they look gross when they kiss' Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.' Bobby - age 7

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,' Nikka - age 6

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.' Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8

'My mummy loves me more than anybody, You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.' Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mummy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day' Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mummy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.' Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8

A four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry'.

When there is nothing left, that is when you find out that love is all you need.

Blind.

Valentines Day is coming up. And usually I feel pretty apathetic to the whole idea, the same way I feel about New Years Eve; I've never had a good Valentines Day. I've been alive for over 19 years, and I haven't even had one decent Day of Love. How ridiculous is that? Most of my Valentines Days have consisted of me sitting at home with my parents, having no one special to share my chocolate hearts with, while all of my "not-so-single" friends are being shmoozed and pampered by their significant others.

Tell me this: why is it always the girl who is enchanted by fairytale love stories and gets instant butterflies from every romantic movie ever created, who's also the one who's Valentines Day is nothing short of an empty black hole? It's kind of like the saying, "always a bridesmaid, never the bride."

BUT, this year, I'm actually excited! There are so many great events planned with so many great people. Baking sugar cookies, cutting them into hearts, stars, and cupid's arrows, icing the cookies with pink frosting and sprinkles, sleepovers, seeing the movie "Valentines Day", and one more thing... It's absolutely crazy, and it's never been done before (by me)... I'm going on a blind date!! CRAZY!

Ohhh the perks of university life. ;)

Hearts.

Tonight, I spent 3 1/2 hours in my room. By myself? No, not at all.
At different times there would be girls coming in, one after the other. Some arriving, some leaving. And you know what's so great about that little fine fact?
We all had our own stories. We spoke, we listened, our hearts became filled, and then our hearts emptied: pouring onto each other.
Never have I witnessed or felt so much encouragement in my life. Sitting here now, I feel so blessed, so close, so loved.
It's truly... amazing.
I'm saying the words I want to say; everything that's on my heart is never hesitantly said. Nothing's hidden. Vulnerability is vital, and trust is evident.
With all of this said, I'm confident that this is the life God's intended for me to live. This is all in the story he has written for me, a story that I'm not afraid to tell, and a story that I'm excited to keep on living.
Therefore, a lacking amount of homework has been done today. But what's homework compared to the joy in counting your blessings? :)

Dear Dale,
I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. I can't believe you'd be 21 years old!
I wonder what you'd be doing right now... probably playing on the NHL or something cool like that.
And you'd probably be married to the most amazing woman. I know 21 is a little young to be married, but you most likely had more than enough girls lined up at your door not to be married by now.
And as for me, I'd probably be dating one of your best friends, cause that's just what little sisters do.
It's been 15 years without you, but 5475 days with you in my thoughts.
Happy birthday big brother,
I'll be seeing you.
Love Jenny.

The Bachelor.

So, I was watching The Bachelor... (50 girls & 2 guys all crowded around one TV screen, good times.)

And on the show there was this girl named Corrie. Not only was she absolutely gorgeous, but she was the only contestant who actually had morals:

She's a virgin. She believes in no sex before marriage. She told Jake (Mr. Bachelor) that she thinks moving in with your boyfriend/girlfriend before marriage is wrong.

We were all saying to ourselves, Jake for sure won't take Corrie off the show, otherwise he'll look like a disgusting pig!

And you know what happened?

He kicked her off the show. He kicked the only virgin off the show!!

What kind of a world do we live in?!

Whatever, girls like Corrie deserve so much better.

And even though I'm still bitter about the whole situation, I'm pretty darn excited for the next episode.

Decisions.

Lately there's been one question running through my mind; possessing me, conflicting me.
With every decision I make, how do I know if I'm honoring God's will? How do I know if I'm making the right decision?
In all honesty, I have so many opportunities coming this year, so many different things I could be doing by summer and into fall, and I don't know what to do...
The thought of putting my future in God's hands will definitely take a load of stress off me, knowing that he's guiding me every step of the way, but at the same time I can't seem to decipher God's voice from my own thoughts. My impatience is getting the best of me. I feel like time's running out, and I feel like I'm in desperate need of an answer right now.
I just don't want to make a mistake, choose the wrong path, or make the wrong decision. My over-dramatic side is telling me that these decisions will effect the direction of the rest of my life, like there's no turning back.
I'm afraid that whatever I do decide to do, regret will come easily. I'm afraid that I'll always be wondering what my life could've been if I had done this, or if I would've have taken that path instead.
And that's not what I want, I don't want to regret any of these future decisions.
This feels like a repeat of last year; I was scared to death about leaving to go to school three provinces away. But you know what? I can't even explain how glad I am that I did it. I feel like I'm exactly who I'm supposed to be, where I'm supposed to be, and with the people I'm supposed to be with, and that's comforting.
Maybe that's something I need to remember... God always has a way of making things turn out, somehow.

Yes.

I went to the store to buy drawing pencils this morning, and if there's one thing I concluded about myself it's that the word "No" is very seldom in my vocabulary.

"Would you happen to have 3 quarters and a nickel so that I can give you this crisp $5.00 bill back in change?"
(-lie- No! Do I look like I have time to dig around inside my purse?! Geez.) ABSOLUTELY! Who needs quarters anyway, right?


"Would you like a bag to carry your purchases?" 
(No thank you, I do have hands you know.) uhhh... YES.


"Would you like your receipt?"
(Another piece of garbage I have to worry about? No thanks.) err... YES, of course!


"Are you a pushover?" 
(Pfff... you've got the wrong girl.) Yeahhh...


I never ever want my receipt, EVER. But for some reason, while I'm about to walk away from the till, this impulsive thought always tells me that if I do say Yes to the receipt taking, that it's gonna make the salesclerks' day. (Yessss! Just WAIT 'til the boss hears about THIS!)


If only days could be so easily made.