All of the fall feels...

After the past 5 years of being gregarious and loud, my body's decided that it's tired of such shenanigans. The result is that I'm reverting back into the painfully shy and introverted homebody that I was whilst growing up. It had been so long since I've been this way that I honestly thought that it had gone for good, and that I just had to accept having been an introverted teenager, and then an outgoing adult. There were a few times over the years that I wanted my introverted-ness back, but those times were few and far between... mostly when I was doing new and scary things, but the feeling passed so quickly that I hardly even remembered it.

I wonder if my outgoing self will ever come back. At this point, I'm not sure if I want it; I like having my select few people and sticking to them. If I'm ever placed (thrown?) into a situation that I'm forced back into being an extrovert again, I'm sure it'll take much less time for me to adjust, and it'll be a much smoother transition. Until then, my extrovert side will hide, dormant, in my brain. Until then, I'll cherish the memories of being silly with no shame; I'll embrace the quiet time I have, with only my books and myself for company.

There's precious magic in feeling so free and unjudged by the world that you can just be spunky and exuberant and bright all the time. There's also a rare magic in being a people watcher, a book reader, and a quiet individual. I wish I was in an environment that I felt safe enough to be convivial again... more than almost anything else in the world. But, then again, I wish a lot of things these days.

"Forgiveness liberates the soul. It removes fear. That is why it is such a powerful weapon. Forgiveness starts here." Invictus (movie)

Until then, God is good. All the time. God is good.

So this actually just happened:

Scene: We're having pancakes for breakfast, and I'm at the grill flipping pancakes like a mad woman. As service time approaches, I'm delegating the set up of the serving line to my (sometimes not so helpful) kitchen helpers.

this girl: "Helper 1, could you go into dry storage and get the syrup, please? It'll be on the same shelf as the salad dressings."

Helper 1 goes into dry storage, and I look over to see her rooting through the cooler that's back there.

this girl: "No, Helper 1, it's in the back, not the cooler." (This bit isn't surprising, as that seems to be a common mistake around here. Do 'dry storage' and 'stand up cooler' sound the same to you? Yeah, heaven knows why it's a common mistake.)

Helper 1 comes out of dry storage with a bottle a couple minutes later.

this girl: "No, that's red wine vinegar, not syrup."

Helper 1: "Oh, haha. Silly me. I guess I didn't read it right." (Really?! Do 'Pancake and Waffle Syrup' vs. 'Red Wine Vinegar' look or sound the the same?? They're not even the same colour!!!)

Helper 1 goes back into dry storage and comes out with the syrup a couple minutes later.


Seriously. And it's beyond me as to why it took so long for her to find it, too. Our dry storage is only 15 shelves (so tiny by commercial kitchen standards), and I had made sure to put it at the very front of the shelf the last time I organized. Out here, words fail me sometimes.


But through it all, God is good. All the time. God is good.

The Great Canadian Roadtrip of 2013!

And we're off!

About 30 seconds after we realized we were in BC, this happened.
BC is certainly living up to my expectations at this point.

Rogers Pass in the rain!!

Armstrong with Albert!

Steph had seen a sign a few km before this that read: "Don't follow GPS routes as roads have changed."
As you can see, the GPS doesn't think we're on the road, but we most definitely ARE still on the road.

We saw someone transporting a missile!
BC sure is a weird place.

And a hovercraft lane?!
Kelowna is AWESOME!!

Butt Road. I couldn't resist.
It should also be mentioned that at this point in our trip,
both of us were fairly loopy so giggles were abundant from Kelowna to Princeton.

Then suddenly, everything disappeared right outside of Kelowna!
I'm glad Amber wasn't there, too. We never would have made it out alive!

PRINCETON. PRAISE THE LORD!

Our first morning at The Retirement Home (as I call it) aka RockRidge Canyon,
Steph and I drank free lattes while reading on a beach in front of a lake and a mountain.
"Life sure is sweet this morning." was a common phrase in my head.

So this is the top of their zip line, and the end is at the other side of the lake.

...I walked back down the hill.

The next day, Jasper (suspended closest to me in the picture)
and Steph (the other one just "hanging out") went zip lining.
(Is zip lining even a word?)

This was the morning Emily told me that when she looked at the mountains,
she pictured me running through the mist, hair flying, with a bow and arrow chasing a white stag.
Um, thanks?

As Steph and I knew we were staying in the room that was set to be Emily's for the next year,
we decided to leave a few surprises around for her to find after we left.
There is a little green army man on each of the blades of this fan.

"Wait, what? WHY DID WE TAKE THE LONG WAY AROUND?!"
The story behind this one is that at Camp Evergreen, River's Edge Bible Camp is just down the road from us,
and this River's Edge is just outside of Princeton, and right across the street from Evergreen Motel... in BC.

This is a Frosty Nipple. Jasper and Em are trying to make it a "thing."

The trip home was still rainy, but much prettier!

"BC is such a weird place... putting up signs telling people where the fields are? Geeze."
It's actually a town called Field. Still weird.

Bye bye, mountains!

Aaaaand cue Alberta Bound by Paul Brandt.
("...and I'll be Alberta bound until I die.")
I love this place almost as much as I love Jesus.
Yup.

God is good. All the time. God is good.

The happy return of Ryan Stevens

Harvest 2013!