a Christmas Halloween.

I would have to say that Halloween is really not one of my favorite holidays. at all. I do love to dress up, and I love the cute kids, and there's always plenty of candy and chocolate bars to be had. I love carving pumpkins and I like the smell of autumn in the crisp night air. I think that carmel and apples make a lovely couple. so I must say that I do like Halloween. it's just really not my favorite. I like what it could be..... but I very strongly dislike the obsession that is clearly evident with all things... icky. why must people take a perfectly good chance to have fun and make it so.... un-good.

ugh.

anyway. I just wanted to say that I had an especially wonderful Halloween this year... I did the whole dress up thing last night and went to a friend's Halloween party. it was splendid. we carved pumpkins and got TWISTERS (ohmanohmanohman. SO good. we have a local convenience store here in town that sells these little gems. you may have heard about them... or even had something similar.. and enjoyed it!.... but I can tell you right now.... what I have experienced is even better. better than anything you can imagine. soft ice cream+lime slush=joyful delight.) and ate carmel apples and such. it was a good time.

BUT TONIGHT... tonight was also very grand. maybe the same level of grand, only with more depth to it. I went with a few friends and got Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes and took them with us as we went shopping! after buying heaps of fun things, we came back to my place and listened to some chill music and pieced everything together. it all fit so perfectly and was such a fun way to spend the evening. tonight, we made five children's Christmases better. they maybe just don't know it quite yet. I just feel so blessed and I want to make sure not to take that for granted and I also know that we are blessed to be a blessing.

or maybe I'm just selfish and I liked doing it cause it gave me warm fuzzies.

whatever the motivation..... it was a good night, and a most excellent way to spend this, two-thousand-ten's, hallows eve.

http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/occ/

elect.

today, I worked the election. it was a pretty long day, but a good one. and I've even got a couple of highlights that I thought just might be worth sharing.

it was "just" a civic election. no biggie. BUT they have these crazy new big machines that you feed the ballots into and it reads your ballot and swallows it and then... at the end of the night, it spits out a sort of tally sheet. and BOOM, just like that, we know who got voted for and how many times..... well, at our own station anyway. the machine is pretty sweet. but it has an uncanny resemblance to our city's new garbage cans. hm.

so I apparently developed habit, as the day wore on.... it went like this: I would put people's ballots in the bin and then wait for it to "go through" the system... and then I would say, "alright! you're good to go!" or "perfect! all set" or something chipper and final to let them know that they could now carry on their merry way. only, as the day wore on even more.... I grew mildly tired... or foggy-brained.... or ..something. and this one gent comes up and we chat and I go through the whole simple and short process with him, and instead of saying one of the options mentioned above, my mouth decides to say, "okay! you're perfect!"

sigh.

it did happen more than once, BUT most people were gracious enough to pretend that it hadn't. not this fellow. as soon as the words departed from my lips, I knew. he chuckled and said, "well, I'm a lot of things. but perfect isn't one of them."

*smile* "a.. haha... aha." sigh.

ok. new story. this very old.er man comes up and has one of those things that makes your voice sound sort of like a robot. and he was so smiley. I liked him. then... he made me like him even more. I pop his ballot into the box (which I only just now realized that I did not even name through the entire course of the day. oh, that is sad. how fun would it be to insert Ballot Box's name into my story right here?!) and it all works just slick as can be. then he says to me, "did you hear the story about the two peanuts?" I like these sort of jokes. the ones that make your sense of humor groan. so I smile and say, "why no. I haven't. what about the two peanuts?" He says, "they were walking down the road... and one of them got assaulted." (get it? a-salt-ed) and my response is something like... "oooh! ba-doom-chhhh" then, right after I appreciate his joke, he burns me! ya! I know right?! I'm a super great sport and so he says.... "well, for a blonde your pretty.... " and snaps his fingers! like he's surprised at my quick understanding of his joke.

honestly.

nothing exciting.

I tried to think of something exciting that happened to me today, that I could share with you. but.... I didn't really come up with a whole lot. it wasn't a terribly bad day... just not that exciting. well, not exciting for you.

but, I've managed to scrounge up a couple tidbits that may be of a mild sort of interest to you.... and a photo..... cause photos are fun. also, if you are a millionaire, I would not be opposed to accepting a gift or two from you. a gift that came in the form of a new and fancy camera. (the kind that is so fancy, I would still discover new things about it months from now... that fancy. like a rubix cube in a toddler's hand. and a rubix cube is so fancy I can't even spell it.) and you could also feel free to throw in a lens or two or three. and could one of them please be a fisheye? thank-you. also, if you wanted to do this... I would make you a homemade thank-you card. honest.

anyway.

the air is feeling chillier and more brisk these days. but I've noticed that that only makes the sunshine feel that much warmer and sweeter. I like that.

today. I had juice poured in my hair. but only a little. I found out it only takes a little and I feel a lot mad. mad is a strong word. it fits. but I drove and brushed it out and everything was right with the world once again. tonight we played taboo in tim hortons. it was a good choice. a girl who was playing was trying to describe the word "agony".... and she talked about cancer... until she had her team on a throughly wrong track. then, she said..... "it rhymes with a-pony". go ahead. try it.

now, I'm going to share only a few too many pictures with you. and explain them. how exciting. oh drat. now I should change the title of this blog. should, but won't.

I like collecting things. but I really, mostly like collecting sand. (also, buttons and marbles, but

only because those look nifty)I collect sand from every ocean-side beach I've been to, and I put it

in a jar. it's becoming a very fun collection. I moved almost two months ago, and this was the beginning of one of my boxes. I just liked this picture.

and next up, we have.... horseback riding day. as you can see, it was a perfectly swell day for that adventure. if you're considering going riding... I highly suggest you wait until the weather is

exactly as depicted in these two photos(I know, two is not enough.. I am sorry. sorrier than you could know. you see, in all my on-the-drive-out-there photo taking, I ran my battery all the way to empty.)

then, I went to San Diego. that was pretty great. and once a year, when I am in Old Navy, with a few friends, we have to take one of these..... this is sort of like Where's Waldo... only it's called... spot the real people. can you tell who is real and who is plastic?

whilst in San Diego, we got

to see "the star of India". she is a very, very old boat. ship. sea faring vessel. whatever the kids are calling it nowadays. and I think she's maybe even the oldest one that still goes out. feel free to try to read the lil info

sign.

I'm afraid to say that that is all I'll be giving you for tonight... as I am getting a wee bit fed up with trying to make my photos go into the places I want them to. any helpful hints?

oh wait. I would also like to leave you with this quote I heard today:

"Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory.

Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition.

We live for what we believe."

-Donald Miller

and they are very wedded.

my room is a mess, yet here I am. it's just been toooo long.

I'm not going to catch you up on everything. lets just pick up where I left off. if thats what you call this which I am doing.

last night, two of my friends got wedded.

last night, I proved that you don't need to drink an ounce of alcohol in order dance like a fool.

last night, I threw the bouquet.

let me expand.

the wedding was very nice. two beautiful people with hearts of gold who love each other very deeply and truly and who both love God with a steady passion, melding their lives into one. one that is stronger together than the two would have been apart. how could a wedding like that not be nice? and then... they went and wrote their own vows. I hate it when people do that! it's so much more sweet and real an... un-cliché. and suddenly your nose seems to be sniffaly and your eyes are hard to see out of. I also very much like getting to see people who I haven't seen in far too long. I think that weddings are something like a family reunion. the only difference being that some people are getting married and there are many people who aren't in your family, but really should be because they are that cool. and you may say, "sooo... not really at all like a family reunion." perspective people, perspective.

anyway.

there was no alcohol at this wedding. and if there had been, I wouldn't have drank it. I'm just not into that so much. and by so much, I mean at all. but... I'm sure that there are some people from off the farm in MB that wonder about us. you see, I went away to San Diego a week ago, and couldn't help but dance. it's like.... I caught a dancing fever. I tried to explain to my friend who was with me, that I'm not usually like this. I'm not ordinarily so crazy as this. but then, I came home. and you see..... at the wedding.... there was... this dance floor. all shiny and wood-looking. and there were little fancy Christmas lights all draped up in sheer fabrics. and then. there were two disco balls. not one, but two. this, in itself.... would be enough to get me up offa my thang. but it gets better. I have a couple girlfriends... and...well, they are.... crazy. and my one friend, I haven't seen in a coons age! sooo.... we had a dance party. that went on for... hours. and.... well, for the most part, no one else was dancing. there were a few tables of older people just visiting and sitting and chatting and drinking coffee. and watching us. and laughing. or judging. I'm not sure. we were even creative enough to be able to incorporate the table runners as ribbons to wave around we glide with grace and ease and much style across the dance floor. three of us alone. well.... alright.... maybe I'm not that grad of a dancer. maybe not even a little. but it sure as heck was fun!

and now we come to the flower chucking part.

you see, traditionally speaking, the bride does a "bouquet toss". and my dear wedded friends are fairly traditional. but... well. they left. and when we were tired and mildly sweaty from our dancing we wandered. we found more delicious juice to drink and looked at the view out the enormous windows.... and as we wandered, we just so happened to wander past the head table. and there were all of the bouquets. and there, in the middle of the long table, lay the biggest and most beautiful bouquet. so... I picked it up, and with little encouragement, meandered to the dance floor once again, where two lovely, and single, young ladies prepared to catch it. and, luckily.... I have a good behind-me sort of aim, and the bouquet was caught! victory! I will admit that it did feel a bit odd to be the one to carry out this ancient tradition, but it's one of those things that just had to be done. it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

and now, they are married.

I'm working at Starbucks. again. you know what they say.... third time's the charm..

.? I really do enjoy it though. and it's good. because I need to save the money. because the big news I had to tell you is that I'm going to Australia in the new year. just to hang out and explore and maybe work a bit along the way. I plan to read and lay on the beach and journal and take photos and maybe paint lots. I have been there once before. but I'm looking forward to this because I know that it will look very different. this is the city that I plan on spending most of my time in, but my plans are the opposite of being set in stone.

today was Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for. this, I know to be true. and so I'd like to share, just a few of these many things. I'm so thankful for grace. I'm thankful for a family that cares for me and loves on me... even when I'm difficult. I'm thankful for the good friends that have come into my life at just the moment when God knew I needed them. and moved on in life when our time together drew to a close.... but I know that in these friends... even the ones who have gone on, I have a longer-than-life-long companionship that I can count one. they will be there for me. and I, for them. I'm so thankful for sweet, sweet memories of the precious time spent together with my friends and family. I'm thankful for stolen summer days, and glowing warm october sunshine. I'm thankful for a motorcycle ride with my dad into a blazing sunset with the frigid wind blowing in our faces. I'm thankful for a brother who makes me proud to be related..... a brother who is fun and smart and so very considerate. I'm thankful for a big, wonderful meal made my mom.. and thankful for her listening ear and understanding. I'm thankful for work and fun people to work with. at all three jobs. I'm thankful for answers to prayer. even in the little things that I too often forget and overlook.

and oh so much more... but right now... I'm feeling inclined to be thankful for a cozy bed and sweet slumber....

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