Starting Again

Well, I haven't posted anything in a very long time so I decided to start making this more about me than my travels and such. I have posted on tumblr for a while but that didn't really stick so I'm back on here.

A lot has happened recently. Last September I got engaged to my boyfriend of 4 years and we got married this past May :). I was very excited for this and although I didn't expect it, it still turned out awesomely.

I have also gotten back into photography. While I was in Sweden I would very often explore the woods and paths by the school and take pictures and I miss doing that. So I got myself my first Digital SLR camera, a Nikon D5100. I have been learning how to use it properly and how to take awesome pictures since I really don't know anything about lighting or composition so I have a LOT to learn yet, but it'll get there. I hope to post pictures of landscapes I've taken and other things happening.

Here's some of the pictures I've taken recently:

The top two are the countryside of Niagara-On-The-Lake

This was taken while driving over a bridge in Welland Ontario. We drove over it many times and one time I finally decided to take some pictures of it.

Below are pictures of the Canal Days Festival which happens every year in Port Colborne Ontario during the August long weekend.

Top: One of the boats in the boat light show that happens right before fireworks.

Bottom: The Empire Sandy that comes every year for cruises you can take. Has canons on it that use to scare people (not actual canon ball just the noise of it)

Below: Some of the fireworks. Port Colborne always puts on the most amazing fireworks show and this year didn't disappoint.

Below: During the Canal Days the street that parallels the canal (where ships go through) is shut down to cars and vendors line the street, these are some pictures of that street during the evening.

This is a picture of our dog Sheba that I took while watching the sunset over Lake Ontario.

A picture taken in the backyard of my in-laws. One of my first pictures with my DSLR camera.

I'm still working on taking pictures and editing them (takes me a very long time to do) so I hope to post more pictures soon.

Canada

Well the school at Holsby is done and i've been back at home in Canada for almost a week. Thankfully my jet lag is wearing off :). Things are going good though. It is very weird to be back at home in the "real world" since i've been living over seas in a bubble for the past 8-9 months of my life. I will never forget my time at Holsby and am very thankful that I got the chance to go there, even if it was only for a short time. Now being back at home im not used to having nothing to do all day. I have to plan my own day which im not used to at all. So i end up cleaning and doing things around the house which my mom likes! Im in the process of looking for a job so hopefully I will get something soon, so far i've had no offers.. however it has only been a few days. So hopefully something will come along very soon. This "real world" living is going to take a while to get used to. So far the transition isn't too bad. Im missing everyone from the school a lot but im thankful I got to spend the time with them that I did. Now that I'm back I have other adventures and exciting things to look forward to. Such as going to school for Psychology in the fall. Im really looking forward to that. I've still got lots of time.. the whole summer first which will hopefully be a fantastic summer. I've already seen a lot of people from around here but can't wait to see family when they come as well this summer :)

Spring

Well its been quite a while since I last posted anything and a lot has happened. Winter school ended March 17 with commencement for the students who were going home. This was a sad time at the school cause we know that we most likely won't see most of the people we met here. We've become like a family, since we basically live and do everything together, so it was hard to say goodbye to people. We also had our "last supper" this evening where we did the passover meal. Our head cook directed us in the passover that the Jews normally do with a few differences of course because we know Christ has already come, it was really cool to do that and to experience it. 

The day after I left on Spring break with two other girls, Tanya and Meagan. During the two weeks of Spring Break we travelled around Italy and Malta. Our first stop was Rome where we saw a lot of sights including the Vatican and Colosseum along with the Trevi Fountain, some ruins. We also had great pizza on the street... we made sure to get pizza as much as we could afford in Italy and it was so good most of the time. They have some very weird toppings though such as potatoes or cream cheese!

From there we went down to Naples. When we got out of the train station at Naples we were scared, it looked like we had arrived in Mexico or something like that. There was a trash can on fire and vendors everywhere, we were quite uneasy about it. But when we got to our hostel we felt better, it was an amazing hostel and we were in a better part of town that wasn't scary at all. We walked around and saw some castles from the outside. While there we went to see Pompeii, the city of ruins, it was so cool to see. Everything looked like it would have thousands of years ago when it was buried, the only thing was the paintings were faded because of air and sun but you could still see them which was really cool. 

Then we went up to Florence where we had a lot of fun. One day we were walking around trying to get somewhere i think, but ended up finding a street market. There were so many cool things, we all got a few things from there for decent prices. It was so nice that we even went there again the next day. We also went to Pisa while there to see the leaning tower of Pisa, it was really cool! 

Then we went up to Venice which was super nice. On the way into Venice we didn't realize that the city had 2 train stops, so we saw the sign and it said Venice so we got off. Only when we got off the train we realized that it wasn't the right stop. We tried to push the button to make the doors open again but it was too late. So we had to buy a ticket  for another train to get to the next stop 10 minutes away. We ended up getting to the city fine and the owner of the hostel we were staying at while there met us at the train station and led us to the hotel which was super nice. We went on a gondola ride which was possibly one of the biggest highlights of the whole trip, so much fun and definitely highly recommend it for anyone going there. 

After that we flew out of Italy and went to Malta where we met up with 3 other students from Holsby. It was fun to hang out with more people. We went around the island one day and went into the city that is surrounded by walls, it was fun. We ended up just sitting on the wall talking and just hanging out. That week was more relaxed and we spent most of it just chilling. We were staying at a 4 star hotel there which was cool, and it was cheep enough for us. We felt so out of place cause everyone else was dressed nice and it was a really nice hotel. 

Then Spring School started April 4. There are about 10 new students then a whole bunch of new interns here but its nice. Its sad to be here with the other students gone, but having new people is fun. Its nice to have new faces and to get to know more people. 

Recently the staff ladies on campus put together a afternoon tea for the ladies with a devotion and food. It was very nice, we all took the opportunity to dress up in spring dresses :) 

This past Sunday we focused on the persecuted church so in the evening we had worship together in our pavilion by our pond. We had dinner there of sandwiches and afterwards walked around a sort of "cemetery" they made. There were a bunch of crosses set up and on each cross was a story of a persecution of someone somewhere around the world, all of which happened in the past few months or year. It was very humbling and solemn experience, it at least made me think a lot about my life. 

Then monday was my birthday which was a lot of fun. I got cake during lunch, got a package from my mom, a letter from a friend, and flowers from my family group here. In the evening me and my roomies had a fake fire in our room and had cold smores which weren't too bad. We were going to have a fire outside with real smores but it had rained so everything was wet :( but it was still lots of fun just hanging out with them. 

Spring in Sweden is wonderful, april was the warmest april they have ever had so we took the chance and sat outside a lot and tanned while reading. It was very nice for a change! The days are definitely getting longer and longer, its weird having the sun go down at 9:30 p.m. so late in the day compared with what we're used to. And now everything is green, the trees are budding and flowering and its absolutely beautiful. My new room looks over the front of the building and we have a deck which is nice for tanning. And every night we get to watch the sunset from our room (something i have yet to get pics of but definitely will!). 

That's most of what's been happening around here. I go home in 3 weeks and I can't wait! So excited to be home and see everyone... but at the same time sad to leave because ill probably never see many of the people here again, at least there's facebook :) Ill see you all soon... and ill be sure to keep this more updated in the future :)

Back at School

I just realized that it's been a while since I posted anything so here goes. Everything has been good at the school since I've been here. Lectures, for the most part, are very interesting. I like the apologetics course the most, it's very interesting. Everything is really busy right now. In a few weeks we're all going on an outreach week (small groups to different places). Im going to a placed called Habo about 2 hours away from here with a group of 7 other girls including the leader. We'll be doing things like English classes, confirmation groups, youth groups, and hanging out with the kids. So we have been having meetings twice a week for that. On top of that there is also the homework, which isn't too bad but im still trying to keep on top of it. Last week I had a photoshoot with one of the girls, so we could get a picture for the yearbook. It was a ton of fun and they all turned out really well! Also I got Tim Hortons coffee on Sunday night! :) My RA, who is also in my family group, got some of it sent here for Christmas. Not having it for a while makes me very thankful for it and realizing how good it really is. Even the germans, americans and swedish people liked it! I've been having fun. Miss home and such a ton, but still having fun out here. We've been having more and more days with sun and blue skies! It is very exciting cause our winter consisted of hardly any sunshine, grey cloudy skies, and hardly any snow. Now that the days are getting longer, the sun is coming out makes me very excited for spring. 

Back in the Grind

I made it back safe and sound to school here in Sweden last night. My first flight out of Toronto was delayed by 2 hours. That made me miss my connecting flight, so i had to book a new one. And it also made me miss my trains that I had paid for. So I had to get new tickets for that :( But I made it safely. Thanks to the delay I met up with a friend from this school at my transfer in Frankfurt, so we travelled the rest of the way together. It was nice to have someone else that I know with me, and he carried my bag!! :) That's always nice, especially since it would have been too heavy for me alone. One of my roommates came today so I'm not all alone in my room anymore. Its nice to be back. I miss everyone back home like crazy, and im very happy I got to go and see people. Home was amazing, no regrets and I wouldn't trade it. The best decision i could have made. School starts again on Monday with the new guest lecturer, so we're getting back into the grind of things. Its really nice seeing everyone again, and everyone is excited to see each other. I miss home, but I'm happy to be back. I will see everyone soon!

Almost Home

Its crazy to think that in 48 hours I will be on a plane to Toronto. At the same time it is very exhilarating! I am very excited to go home and see everyone. I definitely feel like I need the break from things. All of our homework was due this morning so now I have nothing to do really. Our things are packed up and moved out of the rooms so that they can be thoroughly cleaned tomorrow during work day. Basically all I have left at the school is workday, moving into new rooms, unpacking, Christmas banquet, then the next morning i get up nice and early and head home. A full day of travelling, I am going to be very tired when I get home. And it will all be fun with a little added jet lag to go along with it :( Not exactly looking forward to that part, but at least I'll get to sleep in and hang out with friends and family. Very much looking forward to it. My friend and I can't wait, we think it's crazy that it's actually here already. I does seem weird to go home, only because I feel like I've been waiting for it for so long. Now that it's here and I know it's gonna happen it almost doesn't seem real. But none the less in about 50 hours I will be comfortably in my own home and in my own bed. It will be an adjustment not having 20 other girls around and not waking up with other people in the same room. But it will be a good change for a while. 

Christmas Concert

This past Saturday was our Christmas Concert that we have been preparing for for a couple of months. It was awesome, the entire bottom of the church was filled with people. We sang in a really old church that is older than Canada. It was gorgeous and big and the acoustics were just amazing so we sounded amazing. Preparing for this we had a lot of choir practices. Everyone had to be in the choir, and on top of that you could choose to be in an ensemble as well (which students organized). Everyone worked really hard and it turned out great. We sounded great and it was just loads of fun. But the actual concert was so short that many of us want to do it again and are sad that its over already. We even got filmed and it is going to air on TV here in Sweden next year (they don't have enough time for editing to show it this year). We are also in the newspaper, it's really cool. The choir sang a total of 2 songs, one was a "choir piece" that the choir sang on its own which was Come to Us. As well we had a band that played Who Am I, and then the choir joined them to sing Mighty to Save. There were all sorts of ensembles as well being singing and the Everything skit which went really well. There was a small devotion right after the skit. After the concert was over we invited the guests back here to the school for Fika, so we got a chance to meet some people and talk to them, it was a lot of fun.