#28: Words

#28: What is your love language? 

What are they again?
words of affirmation/encouragement
quality time
gifts
acts of service
physical touch

I actually had no idea what my love language was until this year. Whenever we talked about this in church, or wherever, I always just kind of guessed. It switched between a few of them.

What I discovered is that you'll find out pretty quickly what your love language is if you don't receive it.

My love language is words of affirmation/encouragement. I don't necessarily need people to tell me they love me (because honestly, that actually makes me feel a bit uncomfortable), but I need to hear that I'm doing a good job. I need to hear that I'm doing something right. I need to hear that someone's proud of me. That's when I feel the most loved.

I think people often mistake my love language for acts of service. I'm always so surprised and very appreciative if someone does something for me, but that's not my love language. (In fact, most of the time, I like to do things myself anyway because I'm one of those people that likes things done a certain way.) Actually, I think acts of service is probably #4.

My #2 is definitely quality time. I think that surprises people sometimes because I'm very introverted. But I can definitely tell that quality time is up in the rankings of love languages for me. For example, I haven't hung out with my best friend since her wedding two months ago and I'm going absolutely crazy.

If you know me at all, you know that my very last love language is physical touch. It's funny because I used to love hugging people and stuff like that, but now it just makes me uncomfortable. (It probably has something to do with trust/intimacy issues that I have, but I can't believe I just said that, yet I'm gonna keep it on the post anyway because I want to be open and honest. Change of subject now...)

As for gifts, I like giving them and I like receiving them, but it's not really a huge thing for me. Like I would be fine if I didn't get any gifts for Christmas or my birthday, I'd rather spend time with the person.

That's that.

Until next time,
au revoir mes amies

#27: Hair

#27: What is your favorite part of your body and why? 

This is such a random question.

I think I'd have to say my hair.

Yeah, it's kinda frizzy. And it's curly, so it's sometimes hard to manage.

I don't even remember what my natural color is. Somewhere between brown and blonde and orange.

Why do I like my hair?

Because it's the only part of my body that I can easily change if I don't like it?
Don't like the color? Dye it!
Don't like the length? Cut it!
Don't like the way it's styled? Restyle it!
(I just realized how weird of a word "style" is.)

It's the only part of me that I can cut off and donate to charity. That sounds a bit weird. I like that I can grow it out, chop it off, and donate it to Wigs for Kids. I'm gonna keep doing that.


Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone!
Or Happy Holidays!
Or Happy Winter Solstice!
Or Seasons Greetings!
Or Happy Belated Hanukkah!

Pick one that applies to you.      

#26: Soul Mates & Singleness

#26: What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong? 

This is a good question. At first, I had no idea what to say. I spent some time googling what other bloggers have said and nothing really resonated with me. Some people wrote about politics, religion, and other stuff like that. I can't tell you how many blogs I came across that used this question to rant about homosexuality, but it was quite a few. (I actually lost count after about 15.) But then it came to me. I have no idea why this didn't come to me earlier, it certainly seems like an answer I'd have right off the bat.

My answer: SOUL MATES

I think the notion of soul mates is absolutely ridiculous. I, maybe, believed in soul mates for about 5 minutes. When I was 15. And stupid. Maybe "stupid" is too strong of a word. Naive.

I don't believe in soul mates for these reasons...
1) I don't like the idea of the person I'm going to marry being picked out for me already. This seems selfish, but personally, I'd like to have a say.

2) It's kind of cruel when you think about. So, basically, what the world is telling me is that God plopped me and some guy somewhere on this earth, and we're supposed to find each other? This notion causes way too many 'what if' questions in my head. What if I got plopped in Canada while my so-called soul mate got plopped in China? What if I never make it to China? What if my so-called soul mate thinks he's gay? What if my so-called soul mate has already gotten hit by a bus!? (Mine probably has, if he exists.)

3) The belief in soul mates kind of implies that one of your major life goals is to find said person. I can't speak for other people, but finding a marriage partner is not a top priority for me. And honestly, I don't think it should be for anyone. (Some people must be just going crazy right now after reading that.) Finding salvation should be higher than that. Living life in the present instead of dreaming about the future should be higher than that. Your goal in life shouldn't be to go out searching for that perfect person, nor should it be to sit around and wait for that person to come to you. Yes, go out and live. But don't do it for those reasons.

4) That inevitable "maybe he's the one" attitude. I'm pretty sure every girl has experienced this at some point in her life. Every single guy you meet that talks to you or is even remotely nice to you, there's always a little voice in the back of your head that says "maybe he's the one and we'll fall in love and live happily ever after". (I love fairytales, but I also really hate them.)

5) The belief in soul mates implies that there is somebody out there for everybody. I hate to break it to ya, but sometimes people stay single. And do you know what? That's okay!!! Bold, in italics, underlined and exclaimed! Another popular notion that I think the world (especially the Christian world) has all wrong is that marriage is something that everyone's destined to. Have you ever been to a church service when the pastor is giving a sermon series or stand-alone sermon on marriage? They seem to always wiggle this statement into their opening words: "And for the singles in the congregation, you can apply this stuff when you do eventually get married." When, not if. Eventually too. Because it's so tedious that you're not married yet. *Sarcasm Alert* (Confession: I purposely don't go to church for a few weekends when there's a message series on marriage happening. Does that make me a bad Christian?) Sorry for the mini-rant.

6) The belief in soul mates implies that there is a chance you could marry the wrong person. I'm not married, so I don't really know anything. (And I often don't hear marriage sermons because I purposely don't go, so I apparently really don't know anything.) But I could foresee this being a problem: You get married. Everything's great. But then maybe you change, or your spouse changes, or the novelty of marriage begins to wear off. And you begin to think: "Maybe I didn't marry my soul mate." Or you meet someone else that you're more compatible with and you think: "Maybe this person is my soul mate, not the person I'm married to."

I like what one of my church friends said once: the person becomes your soul mate after you marry them.

So that is my answer to said question in a nutshell. There isn't some guy out there waiting to find me, nor is there some guy out there waiting to be found by me. Some people are called to singleness. Stop treating that calling like it's taboo. Like it's a bad thing.

Marriage is not the only place love is found in.

Before I go off on another rant...
au revoir 


If interested, here are some additional blog posts to read by other bloggers on the topic of singleness and stuff of that sort...
Surviving Church as a Single by Jon Acuff
Singles & the Church: Why It Sucks to Be Unintentionally Overlooked by Kate Hurley
Single & Not Waiting  by Rachel Selinger
My Husband is Not My Soul Mate by Hannah @ theartinmylife

#25: Historical Wing Night

#25: If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

I love this question. But it's hard to answer. There's so many great people to choose from.

I can't choose.

There's Jesus. But the thing is, I will get to have dinner with him one day, I believe.

There's my favourite Beatle: John Lennon. I'd love to talk to him about his music, and his life, and his mind, and his relationship with McCartney. He was such a funny and interesting man.

There's Jonah. Who doesn't wanna have a conversation with this dude!? He was a whale/fish for 3 days! And I suspect we won't be eating seafood, that's for sure.

There's Abraham Lincoln. Because, yeah? He's a cool dude.

There's Ronald Reagan. Because he was interesting.

There's Tolkien. Duh, do you guys know me at all? I'd love to talk to him about his writing, and Jesus, and his relationship with C.S. Lewis. Heck, I'd just like to sit at a table with these two and listen to their intellectual conversation. I don't even need to be in the conversation. I probably wouldn't be smart enough anyway.

There you have it. People I'd love to have dinner with. I'm sure there's many more that I can't think of.

Oh, and what would we eat?

Wings.

Just wings.

Lots of wings.

"Historical Wing Night"

I really want wings now.  

#24: Taste Some Fiction

#24: Describe the 3 best books you've ever read and what you like about them.

Yes, I know. I changed the question. Sue me. I didn't really know how to answer the previous question, so I decided not to. And in light of the fact that I'm currently reading like 5 books at the same time, and I will probably be reading LOTS over the Christmas break, I decided to share with you the best books I've ever read.

1. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Ignore the "Motion Picture Trilogy" at the bottom of the picture. It's hard to find a nice-looking cover picture for this book, so this is the movie poster. Janessa can't talk about books and not mention this beauty. (Did I really just refer to myself in the 3rd person!? It's been a weird week.) In my opinion, along with many others who share this opinion, this is the greatest story ever written. It is the ultimate good vs. evil tale. It has everything: love, war, passion, wisdom, endurance, humor, imagination, etc.. Everything everyone loves about a good story. Tolkien nailed it. I also must add that I have great respect for Tolkien, as both an author and a human being. He was a very wise individual. Also, yes, I am aware that this is actually three books, but it was really meant to be just one.


2. Adam by Ted Dekker 
I am a huge fan of Ted Dekker, he is such a good writer. If you haven't read any of his books, you are doing life wrong. (I'm kidding. Okay, maybe not.) But I must warn you: it's probably a good idea to read his books, especially Adam, in broad daylight. Meaning, do not read it before you go to bed. His books are thrillers. He writes with such honesty and such realism that it is actually scary. His books are so life-like. Adam is no exception. In a nutshell, it's a story about a serial killer and the man who is trying to track him down. Here is a review: "We have to keep telling ourselves that this is fiction. At the same time, we can't help thinking that not only could it happen, but that it will happen if we're not careful." (the authors of The Dark Sacrament)






3. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
It's been a couple years since I've read this one. I used to read it at least once a year. It is a brilliant book. And I believe it should be among the books that every single person should read in their lifetime. Confession though, I really disliked the movie version. It didn't follow the book accurately enough for me. Anne Hathaway, in my opinion, didn't do a very good job portraying the essence of Ella's character (boy do I sound like a geek). I also don't think it captured the 'reverse fairy-tale' vibe that Levine implied in the book. And don't even get me started on the 'prince'. Anyway, don't watch the movie if you want an accurate perspective of the book. (I apologize to anyone reading this that happened to like the movie.) It's your typical fairy-tale, with some trolls and things added, along with a dash of feminism. I love it.



So there you have it. Those are probably my top three favourite books I've ever read. Although, it is extremely hard to pick them out. These are also the three books that I've loved the longest probably. I'm thinking of doing this book thing more often (kind of like what I do with music). It might encourage me to completely read through one book, instead of reading five books at once.

Until next time,
au revoir

#23: Hobbies

#23: What are your top 5 hobbies and why do you love them?

These are in no particular order.

1) Listening to music
Is this considered a hobby? I literally can't go anywhere without having my headphones in. (Which probably isn't a good thing, very anti-social). Even when I'm just walking to the store, which is 5 minutes away, I listen to music.

2) Reading
I love to read. Sometimes you wouldn't be able to tell because it seems to be something I do less and less, but really... I love reading. And I usually read like 5 books at a time. I have a serious problem of starting books and then starting another one a week later. And then soon I have 5 books on my "currently reading" list on Goodreads. What!?
In fact, for curiosity's sake, here are the books I'm currently reading:
 The Sweet Far Thing - Libba Bray
 The Two Towers - Tolkien
 Inches from America - Andrew Unger (fun fact: he was my high school English teacher)
 The Scarlet Letter - Hawthorne

3) Following TV shows
This seems incredibly dumb, I know. But this is actually one of my favourite things to do. I love getting all excited for the next episode and the anticipation of waiting a week to see what happens next is insane. I tend to lean towards medical dramas and fantasy stuff. Don't know why?

4) Cooking
I've always kind of liked cooking. I started to like it less when I started doing it as a job, but it's still probably in my top 5 hobbies. I like cooking for other people. I don't really like cooking for myself.

5) Writing
I have a blog, this seems like a fairly obvious one, no?

I guess I didn't really describe why, but hey, whatever... haha. It's late.

#22: Plot Twist

#22: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?

Honestly, I hate this question. And I'm not going to answer it.

Why do I hate this question so much? Because I don't have a 5 year plan. Or a 10 year plan. Or a 15 year plan. And I find it utterly ridiculous when people do. You can't predict the future. And having it all planned out isn't going to help it along. Future plans are like cardboard boxes. If it rains, they'll just get destroyed.

Does this make me irresponsible? No. I don't feel the need to plan out my life because it's no fun that way. Life throws you some curveballs... and you gotta be prepared to just run with it. This is really cliché, but life is gonna throw you some lemons, and you gotta be prepared to make some lemonade. You can't just sit there and cry because you wanted to make orange juice instead. Life didn't throw you oranges, it threw you lemons. You gotta continue on with what was handed to you.

I love the expression: "Wanna hear God laugh? Just tell him your plans."

I believe that God does get a good chuckle from the things you and I plan. Five years ago, I didn't have a clue that I was gonna go to Capernwray in Quebec. I certainly didn't have a clue that I was gonna work on kitchen staff at Cedarwood. (Or be a counselor, that's an even bigger stretch.)

People are always telling you to "never say never", right? Because, apparently, as soon as you say you're never gonna do something, it's pretty likely that you'll end up doing it.

Well, after I quit working at Smitty's I said I'd never work in a kitchen again. Bam. Cedarwood.

I go around telling people that I'm never gonna marry someone with a Mennonite last name. Do you know what? I'm probably going to, just because it seems like that's how it works.

God probably laughs every time I make that comment. "Look see here... Janessa's gonna marry a Reimer. Or a Penner. Or a Plett. Or whatever other extremely Mennonite last name you can think of."

And honestly, I'm okay with that.

I saw this great thing on Pinterest (the ultimate study-procrastination website) last week. It said...

WHEN SOMETHING GOES WRONG IN YOUR LIFE

JUST YELL "PLOT TWIST!"

AND MOVE ON.

 

Good advice, good advice.

 

It's 2 o'clock in the morning, I'm sorry if this made absolutely no sense at all!

#21: Superpower

#21: If you could have any superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?

I thought for a long time about this. I always thought that my answer would be invisibility because I think it would be cool to be invisible. But I realized today that, as a first-year university student, I feel I already have that power. Haha. Just a random face among 40,000 other students...

Teleportation. That's the superpower I'd want. The main reason: travelling is expensive! I love travelling. I haven't gotten around nearly as much as some others have, but I've gotten around a little bit. (Enough that when I talk to people, they often have to ask where I am. Are you in Steinbach? Are in Quebec? What, you live in Lac du Bonnet!?!? That kinda thing.) I am only 20, there's still plenty of time! But, the point is, travelling is expensive. I wanted to go to Ottawa in April to visit a friend, but it's looking like I probably won't make it there (because university is very expensive too). So, I'd like to have the superpower of teleportation.

What would I do with it first? Visit my friends in Germany! I miss them like nutso and it's so expensive to get there! Travelling anywhere in Canada is at least probable, whereas Germany, you need lots of money and lots of time. You can't just take one week off to go to Europe, you would never be able to fit everything into a week. Gotta be at least two. Or like two months. I'll make it out there someday!! (And when I do, I'll bring back an excessive amount of German chocolate... nom nom nom...)

Possessing the superpower of teleportation. That would be awesome!     

#20: Childhood Crazy

#20: Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.

I know what you’re thinking: “What??? She’s still doing the 30 things series!” I am well aware that it’s been at least a month since I posted question 19. What even is considered a significant memory from your childhood? I’m not entirely sure, so I’m just gonna give you the first three memories that pop into my head!

1) I remember when I got my first woodtick. Eww, gross! We hadn’t moved yet. I think I was probably, like, 3 or 4 years old. I remember that I was watching Saturday morning cartoons in our basement. And I remember that I was wearing my Little Mermaid night gown. (I was kind of obsessed with the Little Mermaid, I think I even had a backpack too.) Anyway, I was watching cartoons in my night gown and I felt something crawling on me. So I looked, and there it was. A gross little brown bugger with legs. I screamed and ran upstairs to my mom. And that’s the extent of my memory regarding that experience.

P.S. I should really be working on my Bloom’s taxonomy essay…

What time period is considered “childhood” anyway? Psht.

2) When I was in elementary school, I lived a double life. (I don’t mean, like, one good and one bad. I mean, like, one real and one make-believe.) I pretended that I was this really popular girl when I was at home. I had quite an elaborate imagination back then, I wonder what happened. Anyway, I played this girl, and all her friends, and even her teacher. I played pretend-school. Now, I’m sure that lots of kids did that, but I was weird. I taught myself French, ELA, science (all about animals) and math. I even had a cooking class… (which is actually where I learned how to cook for the most part). I wrote myself tests and I took them. I was crazy. But hey, you’re not interesting if you’re not a little bit crazy somehow, right? (Maybe this is why I apparently have a decently high IQ…)

3) In grade 3, our teacher gave us a spelling assignment every week. We had to choose words that we didn’t know how to spell and then use them in a sentence and draw a picture of what the word meant and stuff like that. I remember that one of my friends (who is actually still my friend, I hung out with her on Friday…) decided it would be hilarious if she picked really simple words. I remember she picked the word ‘the’ one time and our teacher totally yelled at her. Anyway, because I was a really weird kid, possibly borderline special, I went through the dictionary and picked really hard words. I was kinda clever though, because I remember I’d pick words that were above my reading level, but not words that were so hard that my teacher wouldn’t let me use them. She was always so surprised by my word choices. This is when I learned the word “ambidextrous”. (I had a similar assignment in grade 6, except the teacher always picked half the words. And I remember one time she picked the word “ambidextrous” and she was very surprised to find out that I knew what it meant and how to spell it already.)

There. Now you know why I’m a little crazy. ‘Cause I was one weird child!

#19: If I Could Live Anywhere...

#19: If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

I have two answers for this question, actually. Surprising, I know. So many people probably thought they knew this one.

My first answer is… Amsterdam. I am IN LOVE with this place. It’s a beautiful city. There’s lots to do. It has such a rich culture. I am in love with it, and I’ve only spent a total of three days out of my entire life there… and half of one of those days was in the airport. But still. I fell in love with it the moment I walked its streets. Now, I know what you’re thinking (I say that a lot, don’t I?)… when people think Amsterdam, they think of two things: pot and prostitutes. But this city is so much more than that! Let’s just say that those are the only two things about Amsterdam that I don’t like.

Here’s some pictures:

 
I swear this city’s main form of transportation is bikes. They have special lanes for bikes and everything. (I mean, we do too I guess, but it’s very different!) This is a picture of a parkade for BIKES!

 

Canals everywhere! When we were there, we took a canal cruise and it was beautiful. It was such a sunny day and the canals go all over the city!

 

I love this picture. First, because my friend Joel was being annoying which makes it funny; second, because I’m sitting in a giant Dutch shoe! Dutch culture is so rich and I love it. I’m sitting in a frickin’ giant Dutch shoe. Man, I wanna go back.

 

There’s ducks everywhere! There’s also tulips EVERYWHERE but unfortunately I don’t have a good picture of all the tulips.

 

There’s a playground/park right in the middle of the city with a huge landmark that reads “I Am Amsterdam”. Unfortunately, I don’t have a good photo of the whole thing, so you’ll have to settle for the one with Cooper on the D.

 

I had to show this picture because it’s frickin’ hilarious. We went to a Ben & Jerry’s down one of the pedestrian streets (yes, they have those!) and had these amazing waffles with ice cream.

 

So that’s my first answer.

 

My second answer is far less interesting and there’s no photos to show because I’ve never actually been there. But it is… the East Coast. Pretty vague, but I’ll explain. You know those movies where someone’s running away from something and they end up in a cute little fishing town on East Coast. (Maybe I’m only thinking of Safe Haven, but I swear there’s other movies like that, right?) Anyway, I always thought it’d be cool to live in one of those cute little fishing towns. And there’s just something about the East Coast that appeals to me, especially the Canadian East Coast. It’s a part of our country that no one ever really talks about, nobody from this side of Quebec has really ever been to, and everyone kind of forgets about. I love it. I wanna live there someday… even if it’s just for a little bit.  

 

So there you have it. Notice how neither of these places are in Manitoba? Haha, how on earth did I get stuck here!? (I’m kidding… okay, only a little bit.)

#18: Forgiveness is Hard

#18: What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?

Honestly, there’s no easy way to write this post. I haven’t been procrastinating because I can’t think of or decide on the most difficult thing I’ve had to forgive. I’ve been procrastinating because I know precisely what it is, and I’m not totally done the process of forgiveness.

Many people would say the process started about 3 years ago, but that’s not where I’m going to begin. It really only started when I was at Capernwray. The reason people would say it started 3 years ago is because that’s when it happened. I got hurt. Someone hurt me. Someone that I was really close to. In fact, I don’t think they’ll ever fully understand how they hurt me, but they did. Actually, I shouldn’t be pinning it all on them; we equally hurt each other, I believe. But that’s not the point. There’s no reason to divulge what the situation was, or who the situation involved, because that’s not the point either. The point is: we both screwed up, and we both ended up getting hurt somehow.

The reason I believe this process only started when I was at Capernwray was because that’s when it finally hit me how incredibly stupid I was being and how stubborn I was. Have you ever heard the quote “Unforgiveness is like you drinking the poison and expecting the other person to die”? That’s how I was being stupid. I was the one that drank the poison.

Anyway, at Capernwray, in March, we had a week of classes about love and relationships. One of those days, the people giving the lectures taught us all about forgiveness. Man, I had never heard forgiveness explained so clearly in my life! We as Christians are experts at forgiving people intellectually (as in, in our heads). And that’s what I did. I forgave with my mind, but I put up a barbed wire fence around my heart so that no one could get in to see that I had actually not forgiven. (And honestly, I think that that’s where a lot of my insecurities, fears, and trust issues arise from, but that’s a whole other dog-and-pony show.) I, for one, along with other Christians, suck at actually forgiving people in our hearts. And it makes sense. Forgiveness is hard.

When you think about it, it actually takes trust in that person in order to forgive them. You’re trusting that they won’t hurt you again, even if you know that they probably will.

Unforgiveness also puts us in a rather dangerous place. If that person’s asked for forgiveness from God, God has granted his forgiveness, but if we are still too stubborn to forgive them, that essentially means that we think our standards are higher than God’s. Do you seriously think your standards are higher than God’s? It also says in Matthew 6:14, 15: “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

Chew on that for a couple minutes. Dangerous ground to be on.

Notice how I transitioned from talking about my unforgiveness to giving a lesson on unforgiveness? Let’s swing back. I’ve learned that in order to forgive someone, you need to give up two things: 1) the hope that the other person will understand the hurt and pain they put you through, and 2) the hope that the other person will one day pay for what they did.

I’m not gonna lie to you. I still hold onto those hopes sometimes. Instead of hoping in these two stupid things, I really need to put my hope in Jesus. I know that. I’ve been a Christian for a long time, and my hope is not in Jesus nearly as much as it should be. I haven’t arrived. I haven’t reached perfection. I’m terribly flawed. But at least I know I’m learning.

I’m gonna leave you with something that Paul said in my favourite book of the Bible:
“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus made me his own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14)

#17: I Wish I Was Great At...

#17: What is the thing you most wish you were great at?

There definitely are many things I wish I were great at. In fact, I can't even narrow it down to one. So here's a few...

1) I wish I was great at communicating with people. I have a stutter. I get nervous. And I hate confrontation. (Even with people I feel comfortable around... it's a problem.)

2) I wish I didn't have stage fright. Because if I didn't have stage fright, I would love to act in plays. It's a weird kind of dream, that I don't share with many people. I've almost convinced myself to take a minor in Theatre in university. (Like that's ever going to happen...)

3) I wish I was great at painting. I can paint a room, I can paint a fence, and I can stain furniture... but I can't artistically paint something. Believe me, I've tried. I can't even do abstract art. That's how much I suck. The best I can do is a Jackson Pollock type painting... but who can't do that??

There it is... things I wish I was great at.

#16: Greatest Accomplishments

#16: What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?

Golly, what have I accomplished in my life at all? Well, let's see... Honestly, as I'm typing this right now, I don't even have 5 in mind yet.

1) Graduating from high school
- Yes! I think this is an accomplishment. I know some people that haven't been able to accomplish this, therefore this is an accomplishment for me. I even managed to graduate with a laureate, a merit, and an honours in biology. (Which surprised me a little.)

2) Getting good grades throughout my life
- Now, I'm not gonna lie, I'm definitely not a straight-A student. But I always got a few A's, a lot of B's, and a few unfortunate D's. I think those are pretty good grades. (Let's see what university does to this track record...)

3) Saving up enough money to go on a school trip to Europe
- This was quite something. It wasn't that I actually saved it up, but I made monthly payments, which is still really hard to do when you only work part time and you're in high school. It was the best trip ever, made lots of close friends, and it was the funnest week and a half of my life.

4) Being a camp counselor
- Whew! Is this ever an accomplishment! Last summer I was a camp counselor at Cedarwood and it was, hands down, the best summer I've had in my life. It was challenging and incredibly stretching. I got to share Jesus with teens who didn't really know much about Him at all. It brought me out of my comfort zone more than I've ever been. I also got to do worship sometimes in the evenings, which also brought me out of my comfort zone a lot, but I very much enjoyed doing it.

5) Getting baptized
- Okay... this actually hasn't happened yet, but it will be happening in 3 days! I've wanted to get baptized since I was in grade 7. But being an immature Christian, I didn't really understand what baptism was or why a person gets baptized. Until after Capernwray actually, I thought that you had to have all your crap together in order to get baptized. But I realized that if I waited for myself to have all my crap together before getting baptized, I would never get baptized.

So there. I came up with that all on the spot! That's an accomplishment in and of itself!

#15: If I Were An Animal

#15: If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

I really, truly despise this question. Mainly because I think it's stupid. Like why would I want to be an animal? Am I allowed to say 'human' or is that Christian-ly incorrect because we don't believe that humans are animals? I've thought about this question a bit in the last few days, trying to think of any animal that I would feel comfortable putting down here, but I just couldn't. So I'll share a story little totally-related blurb...

One of my co-workers at Smitty's asked this question to our boss once. His response was this (and I'm not lying): "I'd be a cow in India. 'Cause I'd be the safest son of a censored in town." A little bit racist (or religion-ist?), but still a little funny. You have to chuckle just a bit.

And that's that.

#14: Strengths

It has been an awfully long time since I've posted something in the 30 things series. I have to admit, it was completely intentional... I was procrastinating. I really need to stop doing that.

I hate it when people ask me the "What are your biggest strengths?" question because I can never really answer right away. I always have to think about it. Sometimes I don't even ever get an answer. There's always default answers I give people, like in job interviews. Things like, "I'm a hard worker" and "I react well under pressure". Both of those are true, but the truth is, those are things that could be true with just about anyone.

So I realize that some of the following strengths probably will sound stupid, and you'll think... "Those are her strengths? Yeesh." But, do you know what? I don't care.

#14: Describe 5 strengths you have.

1) I'm passionate. This isn't something I came up with on my own. I went around and asked a few people what they thought my strengths were, and this one came up several times. I'm passionate about the things I do and the things I believe in. For example, I love Jesus Christ with every little ounce that's within me. I admit, like everyone, I have my doubts (not so much in Jesus himself, more with the way the western Church is, but that's another thing for another time) and my life doesn't always glorify Him, but one of my greatest desires in life is to love people the way that Jesus loves me. It's something I'm particularly passionate about. (There are other things I'm quite passionate about, although I think you'd probably be able to guess them.)

2) I'm a good driver. This is one of those stupid ones, right? I don't care. I think I'm a good driver. I've never gotten into an accident, never got a speeding ticket, haven't even got a parking ticket. (I did knick a deer in the legs this week, but it's so minor and totally not my fault. Cedarwood pre-season, stop laughing.)

3) I'm a thinker. I'm sure that everyone at some point in their life has taken a Myers-Briggs personality test? This is what I'm referencing. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it's a weakness if you're a feeler. No, I'm not. For some people, that's actually a huge strength. But not for me. I make decisions rationally. I use my brain, not my heart/emotions. Personally, if I used my emotions and feelings to make my decisions in life (even the small ones), it would be catastrophic. My emotions are all over the place most of the time, that's why I don't put too much stock in them. I used to. Believe me, I used to. But I underwent a little bit of a personality change after I made a very stupid decision based on my emotions.

4) I'm a good listener. I think other people would agree with me on this one? People often come to me just to have someone listen, I've noticed. In my opinion, I often give terrible advice and I'm about as sympathetic as a brick, but I listen. I'm not the kind of person you should come to if you want someone to cry with you, but if you just wanna talk and rant, sure. That's all I've got for that one. (By the way, my advice isn't always bad.)

5) I'm a skeptic. The question "how can you be a skeptic and a Christian?" comes up sometimes. I was skeptical about Christianity at one point in my life, I admit. But I've come to realize that the world just wouldn't make any sense if God wasn't who the Bible teaches us He is. All the other theories in the world don't make sense and you'd be a fool to believe them. Take evolution for example... it's based entirely on assumptions and falsified evidence. Seriously, really look into it and you'll see. (So I guess I didn't really explain why or how I am skeptical, but I guess I don't think it needs any explanation. It's just the way I am.)

There it is. The post I've procrastinated for almost 2 months.

#13: Weaknesses

#13: Describe 5 weaknesses you have.

1) Stutter
- I know what you're thinking, I shouldn't have this down as a weakness. But I do. And it's a huge weakness for me... why? Because my stutter has hindered me in doing things that I'd love to do in life. It's also just a nuisance, especially when the one word I stutter on the most is my own name. Like how dumb is that?

2) Allowing my past to define me
- I've done some pretty stupid things in my life, things I regret. And one of my hugest weaknesses is that I allow the things from my past to haunt me, and even worse define me. It's something that God and I are working through though, but it's taking a while...

3) Not trusting people
- Anyone who really knows me, knows that I don't like to open up to people. I don't trust people easily. It's really hard to earn my trust, but it's incredibly easy to lose it. I put this one under weaknesses because I haven't quite decided if this one is actually a weakness or if it's a strength.

4) Pessimist, right here
- Okay, I'm not totally a pessimist, but I'm somewhere in between being a pessimist and a realist. I tend to be a wrost case scenario kind of person, but I also often view things in a very realistic way.

5) Obsessive Comparison Disorder
- I have a problem with comparing myself to every one else. Not in a superior way, but in an inferior way. Like I'm not as pretty as her, I'm not as knowledgable in the Bible as him, I'm not as interesting as her... etc. It's a problem.

#12: Typical Day

#12: Describe a typical day in your current life.

I'm going to be honest with you... my current life isn't terribly exciting. And it's difficult to have a "typical day" when you do shift work. Therefore, I will not share this with you.


But here's a really good song:

 

 

 









#11: Pet Peeves

#11: Describe 10 pet peeves you have.

I realized today that I've always kind of known what pet peeves are... but I've never really looked up the definition of it to see if my thinking is correct. So here's the definition of a pet peeve: a particular and often continual annoyance.

1) People who don't like country music
- I'm sorry, but these people annoy me simply because I absolutely love country music. I understand when city slickers don't like country music, but when you grow up in a rural town, in the country, in the boonies, and you don't like country music... there's gotta be something wrong with either your DNA or the way your parents raised you. (I'm only mildly kidding.)

2) When people don't put a new toilet paper roll on the bar when the previous roll is done, especially if they just place a new roll on the sink counter beside the toilet
- Like seriously? It takes like 10 seconds... you can literally do it while you're still on the can! And if you just place it on the sink country beside? LIKE SERIOUSLY? You just couldn't muster up enough energy to put it on the bar too? (Note: sarcasm)

3) When men don't clean the sink after shaving
- My brother does this all the time at home! I go into the bathroom, wanting to brush my teeth, and there's a billion little tiny hairs awaiting me in the sink... gross

4) Surprise raisins
You know what I mean. You're about to eat a really delicious-looking muffin and you bite into it and... ugh, a raisin. (Especially when you were expecting a chocolate chip.)

5) Referencing a book in the Bible called Revelations or Psalms
- It's Revelation. It's one revelation. Not multiple. And you're often only quoting from one psalm, not the whole book of Psalms. If you're quoting from more than one psalm, then go for it, say Psalms... but if not, it's Psalm. Don't pluralize what ain't pluralized.

6) Your and You're
- Oh just please... it's only okay to get those two mixed up if you're in elementary school. If you're 20 and still mixing those two up, that's just not acceptable. (It's okay to mix them up from time to time because everyone makes mistakes, but every single time... not okay.)

7) pEoPlE wHo tYpe lIkE tHiS oNlInE
- It doesn't happen much anymore now that I'm not in junior high and MSN is no longer popular, but it irritates me beyond belief. Plus it takes like 10 times the amount of effort as just typing normally does.

8) People who only listen to people like Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha and still claim to be "into music"
- Like seriously? That ain't music. That's just noise. It's not even nice-sounding noise.

9) Bitter singles
- Like seriously? Enjoy life! I understand that it's hard sometimes, especially when it seems like every other person your age is getting married, but please don't tweet about it and don't put it all over FB. Other people don't want to hear about how you'll be "forever alone" or about your never-ending relationship with a wine bottle and a pint of ice cream.

10) People who tweet every 5 minutes all day long
- It's okay to take a break from tweeting to have a life.


Well, that's a side of me you probably haven't heard before...

#10: Most Embarrassing Moment(s)

#10: Describe your most embarrassing moment.

It was way too hard to pick just one. I have a lot of embarrassing moments! It's not even that I get embarrassed super easy, it's more like I do embarrassing things, then end up finding them absolutely hilarious five minutes later. So I'm going to share with you my 3 most embarrassing moments of the past 3 years...

Embarrassing Moment #1: This happened at Christmas. So I was Chapters, just looking at a few books and stuff. This song came on and it was John Lennon's "The War is Over", but it wasn't Lennon singing it, it was some random girl. So I say out loud "wow, you just shouldn't cover John Lennon". What I didn't realize was there was a woman standing beside me and she started laughing at me. She then replied with, "I agree." I couldn't have walked out of that section of books fast enough and I avoided her the entire time I was in the store. I was embarrassed! Now I think it's just funny.

Embarrassing Moment #2: I have to admit, I still feel slightly embarrassed about this one. So at Capernwray, we had these themed evenings occassionally (usually accompanied by a talent show). Anyway, so in winter term, the evening was a Western theme and the host of the evening dressed up as a cowboy. The host was this guy I went to bible school with who was very blonde (not in smarts, but in looks). To make his character seem more gross, he put mascara on his skimpy little mustache and blonde eyebrows to make them look blacker. At the end of the evening, I overheard a conversation where he was joking with the girl who lent him the mascara that he was going to keep it so he could do that to his mustache and eyebrows every day. And basically by the end of it, I had ended up telling him that he should just Just For Men it because it would look much better. Gotta love that awkward moment when you both think that the other person doesn't understand that you're both joking...

Embarrassing Moment #3: So I'm in grade 12. We're all at youth. Just hanging out, having a good time. Someone makes me laugh mid-drink. I started choking so hard that I have to run to the bathroom because I think I'm gonna vomit. I get to the bathroom, I don't vomit. Good news, right? Wait for it... I washed my hands because I coughed all over them. I leave the bathroom and walk back into the living room where all of us girls are sitting (thankfully I don't think there were any guys sitting there at that moment). I realize that my shorts feel wet. I look down, and sure enough, I peed my shorts. Quickly after this realization, I announce that I had peed my pants. Everyone laughed. So did I. (Thankfully I just changed into my gym clothes that were in my car.) Not sure that I'll ever be able to live that down... I also really enjoy telling people that story for some reason.

There you have it. My most embarrassing moments of the past 3 years.

#9: Influences

#9: List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

I'm not gonna lie, this one was really hard. There have been so many people who have influenced me, it was really hard to pick just 10. The thing about my influences though is that I'm just as easily influenced by famous people as I am by people around me, so I'm gonna do a little mixture of both. These are in no particular order:

1) My father
I mean, how could he not influence me? He's my dad. Just watching him live has influenced my life. He's an extremely hard worker, which has influenced me to be the same at my jobs. I guess he's taught me to work hard at my jobs, even if I don't like them. Sometimes you have to pay your dues before you get to where you wanna be, but it's all worth it in the end because you're not working for men, you're working for the Lord. Which brings us to the main influence my dad has had on me. He's just totally in love with Jesus, and you can tell. Jesus is his life. He just sets such an amazing example of what being a Christian looks like.

2) Jesus Christ
I think this is self-explanatory. Jesus is the reason I live. Quite literally.

3) Joylyn
She is the most amazing friend in the entire world. She's my best friend. We've known each other since grade 6, but we only became best friends in grade 11. I'm so incredibly thankful to God for her. She's always been there for me, even during those times when I felt like no one else was. She laughs at my jokes, even if they're really bad. She listens to my rants, even if they're super long. She comforts me when I'm upset, even if it's over the stupidest thing in the world. She's the greatest friend in the entire world. I love her so much.

4) Abby
She's so much more than just a Sunday school teacher. She's a friend and she's a mentor. Regular Sunday school teachers only really care about one hour out of the whole week on Sunday morning, but Abby… she did life with us. She endured those awkward junior high years. She listened to us complain about boys. She answered incredibly awkward questions about things that a 14 year old shouldn't even know about. She tried her hardest to stay up all night just to play Guitar Hero with us. She always beat us at Dance Dance Revolution. I admire her relationship with God. I admire how she never gave up on us girls, even though I know sometimes it would've been really easy to. I also admire her mother-ness (if that's a word). She's a natural.

5) Adam Young
I know some of you just laughed, but it's true. I'm a dreamer, I like to daydream. And I'm pretty sure that it was Young's music that influenced me to be a dreamer. As he says... reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't wanna live there. He's also just such a positive person. He views life in a way that no one else does. Like every cloud has a silver lining times infinity. As he says... I'd rather waltz than just walk through the forest. Because just walking through life is boring, so dance your way through it instead.

6) Missy (Melissa)
She was my youth leader for so many years. And now, after all those years, she's turned into a friend. (Or a proud mother when it comes to Capernwray.) I think the way she's influenced me the most is she was the person that first introduced me to the concept of loving singlehood. She's married now, but a couple years ago, she had a conversation with us girls about how wonderful it is to be single. And how God has such special plans for you when you are. I absolutely admire her relationship with God.

7) Taylor Swift
I give you permission to laugh. There are some things that I don't agree with that she does, like bouncing so often and so quickly from guy to guy, but there are some ways in which she has influenced me. Don't care what other people think. Be yourself. Speak out. Stick to what you believe is right and don't waver. Be strong. Be fearless. When you fall down, stand back up. Keep trying.

8) J.R.R. Tolkien
This might be a strange one, but whatever. I really enjoy his books and I really love the kind of person he was and represented. His books have influenced me. I really love fantasy books (among my favourite genres), but the thing I love about Tolkien's books is there will, out of no where, come the most profound thing you could read. So real to reality. For example, in the Fellowship, this appears: "Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." Like how profound is that? Other influences: Be adventurous. Don't be afraid to take a risk. Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, you never know the things you can learn when you do so.

9) My grandfather
Before he died, he taught me a lot of stuff about God. To my recollection, he didn't really ever sit me down and teach me about God (like bible school did), but he taught me by his life and by his love. I was pretty young when he died so I don't remember much of him, but I just had to add him to my list.

10) Steve... Steve... Steve...
Steve Thiessen. He was my favourite lecturer at Capernwray. I love how crazy he is and how absolutely ridiculous he was, but I love how much he loved Christ. When he taught, it was like he was teaching us stuff that he was just learning himself. He was real. He was learning about Christ and applying it to his life just like we were, and it was cool to watch. (Not to mention, those crazy intense blue eyes that just kinda pierce into your soul...)


So there you have it. This took a long time to compile and to pick who I wanted to add in there. So no one feels left out, here a few more people that have influenced me: my mother, Mo, Karen, John Lennon, St. Peter, Matt Mclean, and whoever else that I can't think of at the moment. If you're following this blog, or have taught me anything ever in my life, consider yourself on this list.