Highlights of My Busy Life.

I have missed blogging SO much. I miss logging on, typing in that password which every time I hope and pray I did the correct one, and seeing a fresh & new blank page in front of me. Yes, I have missed this.

I have excuses though. I really do. Good ones!

Excuse #1; I work two jobs (sometimes I work up to 52 hours a week, I have a family, a boyfriend, friends, a condo to clean, and laundry to do. I could just stop there...but that would cause for a very short blog post!

 [this was my last load of laundry, it took months to finally conquer... wow thank goodness I'm so funny with my lies and all!]

Excuse #2; At the end of August I flew to BC. Correction; my brother and I flew to Calgary where we met up with our siblings, and then road-tripped it through the mountains to BC. This was an awesome, awesome trip! I realized that when my siblings and I are together in a car, all sense of maturity is thrown out the window. Needless to say, I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time.

Beautiful British Columbia was where my Freshman year of University took place, waaaaay back in 2009. (You can read all about this experience in the archives of my blog!) Geez I'm old. So, my first trip back to BC finally allowed for me to be reunited with one of my bestest friends in the whole entire world, Charmaine! (!!!!) She was both my roommate and soulmate. We had pretty much every class together, always ate our cafeteria stir-fry together, watched Seasons 1-10 of Friends together (with Ben & Jerry of course), had pillow-talk together, and no big deal...went to Israel together. But most of all, together we transformed each others lives. For instance, when I arrived at that school as flighty and a little too open-minded, she kept me grounded in my faith in God & morals. And when I saw her again, just a few weeks ago, it was as if we never left each other. I love her so much and I can't even express how amazing it was to see her again!! They say it's during your college years during which you make your bestest life long friends. Well whoever "they" is, "they" were right, totally and completely right.

[This is us in Petra, Jordan on our Holy Land Tour. Our next trip will be Paul's Footsteps in the West one day! :) ]

Excuse #3: The day after I returned home from BC, two of my friends (Sarah from big-city Toronto and Jessica from Calgary -or "Smokatokes", whichever you prefer-) flew to Winnipeg (the heart of the continent) just to come see ME! I am blessed. I mean, how many people can say they have friends who would spend hundreds of dollars on plane tickets just to go out and visit them for a few days?? :D

The three of us met at Bodenseehof Bible School in Germany back in September of 2010. We arrived at the school around the same time and henceforth, hung out the rest of that entire day. People say you rarely stay friends with the people you hang out with during the first few weeks, but the three of us were like glue for the rest of that school year. Pretty much everyday we'd sit on the floor in the corner of the Dining Hall and just talk and pray for each other, because there was alot going on. And even though we all live far away in different provinces, we are still best of friends! :)

[This was our very first photo together EVER!]

Sarah and Jessica were here in Winnipeg for five days and it was an INCREDIBLE five days. I was so terrified there would be nothin' to do. I mean, can you blame me? These girls are from the big cities of Calgary and Toronto!! But surprisingly enough, there was ALWAYS something to do :)

[This is our first photo together since our dreaded goodbye in April of 2011--aren't we cute??]

[Technically my bedroom is actually supposed to be an "office room" so between my bed, my dresser, and a queen inflatable mattress...there was absolutely no floor space. It was actually SO much fun. It felt like we were 10 year olds at a weekend sleepover party!! (it pretty much was that way haha!)]

[Watched The Lucky One, of course. You KNOW how I love Nicholas Sparks movies!]

[Their caption for this photo was: "Jenny, in her natural habitat". True enough!]

[We even met up with Janessa (another Germany student) and took the two hour drive to Grand Beach! Loved the white sand!]

[This is what happens when you work outside all summer!]

[My sweetie pie & I at Chapters]

[Where are all these hands coming from??]

[Bodenseehof reunion at the Old Spaghetti Factory! Our awkward family photo. haha]

[Jarryd and I decided to show these city kids what really goes on in the country!]

[It was their first time fourwheelin' and they were naturals!!]

[We found a cute little dead snake!]

[At the gravel pits!]

[Mmm :)]

[Near the water of the gravel pits there was this crazy sinking clay/sand stuff. It was like a giant waterbed of clay. SO cool!]

[Took them to the turkey barn. They were amazed at all the turkeys! And they were even able to handle the smell. Impressive!]

[Breakfast at McDonalds is the best kind of breakfast!]

[Our hyperness landed us underneath the inflatable mattress...somehow]

[On our last evening together we got all dolled up in our flowery summer dresses and hit up The Olive Garden. Sarah is so beautiful!!]

[My gorgeous Chessica]

[ :) ]

[We look way too good together!]

[Hugging goodbye at the new Winnipeg Airport!]

[It felt too soon to say Goodbye]

[We were sad...until we remembered our potential 2013 reunion in Toronto!]

I wish I could express in words how incredible it was being with those girls again. It was as if we had never left each other. But I think we left each other that weekend being closer than ever before. At the airport it was fine and just dandy. But as Jarryd and I were driving home from the airport, in the middle of talking about who knows what, I just start bawling my eyes out. Like out of nowhere I'm suddenly crying like a baby. I was absolutely dreading going back to my condo and sleeping alone in my room that night (during that week even though I had a bed beside the inflatable mattress, I chose to sleep on the mattress with them--practically a cuddle puddle every night!). I was so incredibly sad that the three of us wouldn't be together again for a long, long time again, but at the same time I have realized that having a sad goodbye is actually a blessing. Having a tearful goodbye means that that person meant so much more to you than any regular person would. I love those girls so much, and they have influenced me greatly in who I am as a person and as a Christian. (They were also right then and there when Jarryd and I started dating in Germany, so that's pretty special) :)

So there you have it--my excuses for not being the faithful blogger I wish I were. It's been an amazing summer and I'm looking forward to Fall...sort of...minus the gross cold weather. :)