need space? have books!

I always need more space on my bookshelf for the books which are growing in stacks on the floor in front of the double-shelved bookshelf. Here is the solution I came across today:

i can only imagine

Post no. 1 for the new year - it's only a week late.

No, this is not about to be a review of the past year, as it was rather quite eventful. Although, I do have to mention a few things which have had an impact on my life: England (obviously), the passing away of my oma, ending a long-distance relationship, and beginning my final year as an undergraduate student.

These holidays have been filled with all sorts of delightful things: skating, visiting many, many friends, and generally spending time with family, (although I didn't do any of the baking I said I would…). Grad school applications are almost completely finished, and I am on the brink of a new semester.

The challenging task of this year is to put all concerns in the hands of the One who controls all things, and not getting caught up in the cares of tomorrow. Here's to putting all things to prayer.

falling in love with poetry

As Kingfishers Catch Fire

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;

As tumbled over rim in roundy wells

Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's

Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:

Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;

Selves - goes itself; myself it speaks and spells;

Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

I say more: the just man justices;

Keeps grace; that keeps all his goings graces;

Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is -

Christ - for Christ plays in ten thousand places,

Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his

To the Father through the features of men's faces.

- Gerard Manley Hopkins

haunting the halls

A lengthy silence.

A filled summer.

A new school year.

A final year, begun with a vengance like the blaze of a summer sunset over the Atlantic ocean.

A year which promises long days and full evenings, but brightly coloured patches in all of the work which sometimes seems to overwhelm.

A year which will result in growth, carefully crafted, though it sometimes takes the evening light to appreciate the delicate lace of a weed.

a collection of images

Here is where I would like to share images and memories of the trips I have taken. Despite, or in addition to, being an English major, I share my mother's love of (though perhaps not passion for) photography, and try to capture the memories in order to share them through pictures.

England: January-April 2011
In 2011, I was given the opportunity to study in Oxford, England for a semester with a whirlwind visit to Scotland for six days. Below are links to various photo albums to commemorate the trip which range from Charlbury, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, London, and more. 
overseas and faraway [i]
a pair of fine eyes [ii]
topsy turvy tower of london [iii]
all the world's a stage [iv]
pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there? [v]
to be or not to be [vi]
bridging the gap [vii]
dancing with daffodils [viii]
food for a rambling fancy [ix]
not all who wander are lost [x]
you'll take the high road, and i'll take the low [xi]

Halifax, NS: August 2011
Options for ending a summer delightfully: a) end it in holidays, b) have the holidays on the east coast, or c) know that the year of a long-distance is over. My summer: d) all of the above.
on the bonny banks

the fruit of the field

Today, the kids and I met up with a friend at the local strawberry festival in Stouffville. The day started off grey and looked rather threatening, but the sun came out just as we were about to leave. For such an active and well-established festival, we had never heard of it before, and so we (well, for sure I was) were really excited to go see what it was all about. Imagine a small fair, all along one street, with various vendors selling their wares stationed along the sides, all calling and beckoning for your attention.

The boys weren't entirely convinced that this was a good place to go to until we came across a slide - the bouncy castle type of slide - where rides were unlimited. Yes, the free activities at this festival are definitely a perk: a slide, bouncy tree castle, wall-climbing, obstacle course, a cookie in the shape of a strawberry which you could slather with icing and sprinkle with red coloured sprinkles to satisfy the sweetest of sweet teeth, and, the pièce de résistance, a free pony ride. The only free item which I hesitate to be entirely enthusiastic about is the whistle, given by our neighbour across the street who was at one of the booths.

Of course, you can't leave a strawberry festival without having a bowl of ice cream with fresh, locally grown strawberries.

A quick stop on the way home at the local fresh produce stand brought home plenty of strawberries to feed an army of kids. 16 cups were made into pies, the remainder is sitting in a bowl (rapidly diminishing), and a quart is safely stashed away.

(we sort of, kind of, matched on purpose. i started the trend, though ... just for clarification)

Pie for dessert tonight. I think, after this weekend, I'll have satisfied my craving for strawberries. At least, for the time being.

to the third and fourth generations

newbie. probie. green. wet-behind-the-ears.

Yes, the training of the next generation of highly sophisticated and skilled weeders has begun as we make plans to finally remove once and for all those perma-dirt stains.

They will be us.

How easily we are replaced.

gettin' to the church on time

What a weekend, surrounded by family and friends. Sad tears, happy tears, laughing tears ... they were all there. My good friend Emily, the other half of the LLC (Lonely Ladies' Club), got married this weekend to the man who has been made for her. Both Joel and I were able to be a part of their special day as I was a bridesmaid and Joel played for the ceremony.

theme for the day

Nerves, calm, joy - they were all scheduled in after a frantic morning of the last minute flurries (ie, setting up the hall and teaching the groomsmen how to fold napkins) to create a beautiful day.

Music, laughter, dancing - all elements of a celebration. Congratulations to them!

Also: where has the summer gone? The end of June is speedily approaching, July will pass by quickly, and then August will fly by with the summer breeze. Yes, I am aware that there is still much time between now and the official beginning of school (which marks the end of summer), but the past month and a half have slipped by. What has happened to the time for those extensive book lists? for that anticipation for this wedding which seemed to be eons away? for wondering if the weather was ever going to warm up? for that last visit to Ontario before the final two months which will bring long distance to an end? We thought twelve months was absurdly long, and that any who told us differently was selling something. [Side note: it's time to watch the Princess Bride again.]

And yet here we all stand, on the brink of making large decisions we never thought we would have to make. We claim to be old, wondering what has happened to the carefree days of 'youth'? We are passing from adolescence into adulthood, some kicking and screaming along the way while others fall into it naturally and gracefully.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.
The young lions lack and suffer hunger;

But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing.

Psalm 34

one weed, two weed; green weed, brown weed

Life has slipped back into its natural rhythms of the summer; the cold mornings, the warm afternoons, fluctuating temperatures which can be frigid and damp one week while being scorchingly dry the next. People are coming and going, friends are moving on with their lives, graduating, marrying, working, traveling, writing a thesis . . . I see them for a time, and then they wisp away again.

This all sounds rather melancholic. I guess part of it is the constant farewells and the anticipation of saying goodbye.

However.

This coming weekend promises to one of epic proportions. Well, maybe not quite that drastic, but it does promise to be one of the highlights of this summer. A good friend from Redeemer is getting married this weekend and Joel is in Hamilton. What's not to look forward to?