I am a Roadrunner (but a happy one!)

It's summer, and I can only keep track of things at the moment with my calendar!
Here are "snapshots" into my life these days (you do not have to read them, but glancing at it may give you an idea of the breathless feeling I am sometimes left with!)

Last week:
- went to Altona for the weekend
- went to "Can I get a Bus with that" (fundraiser for a bus for Cambodian kids my sister worked with)
- booked our U-Haul
- made Jon and myself a few appointment
- had a wonderful going-away dinner hosted by dear family friends
- volunteered at Siloam Mission Wed. morning, then headed straight to Liam's for the afternoon, then cleaned the house like a mad woman and prepared for dinner, and had Kara over
- hanging out with friends/family
- got Capo a carrier for our trip!
- did some major organizing of papers/teaching stuff etc.
- went to Cirque du Soleil! Incredible.
- packing

This week so far consists of:
- last time with my kiddies (well, that was today) and we went to the zoo--very fun. My camera was used a LOT! I love taking pics of those cuties.
- practicing for music (last time at FW before we leave) and then of course doing the music
- Siloam Mission again
- hanging out with my university girls
- orthodontist apt. and doctor's apt.
- our party!
- more packing

Here are a few stand-outs for me from the past while:

Altona Visit:
The Hildebrand parents, Jon and myself went for a country drive and had a nice time last Saturday. Here are a couple shots:

Cirque du Soleil:

This was like a dream! Jon and I gifted this outing to one another to celebrate our 3-year anniversary (which is actually on the 24th). It is incredible what the human body is capable of! Well, some human bodies, anyway. We were seated on the floor, row 2, just to the side of the center--completely amazing! I had my mouth hanging open with a smile the whole time! A great gift to share with my lovey. **by the way these photos can be credited to the Cirque website--they're not mine!

Siloam Mission/"Can I get a Bus with that?"

These two are connected, because they resound with the same message, one that has been calling to me a lot lately: "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!" - Jesus, Matthew 25:40

As I was helping out in the kitchen at Siloam (I'm there by the way because my mom has been going once a week in the morning and since I'm not working now, I am now accompanying her till I move) and as I worked, and met people (volunteers and those in need) I kept thinking to myself how these people were representing the face of Jesus, that in serving them, I was/am serving Him. It was really profound to be conscious of this "in the moment." Anyways, it is so easy to love myself first in life, but I'm not called to do this. So...using the words sung by Matt Epp at the "Can I get a bus with that" event (a fundraiser Janessa helped organize), the essence of what I've been thinking about lately can be summed up nicely. It's from a song called "Religion of Sand."

Is my faith a religion of sand?

Did i help You when you were hurt?
When You were naked did i give you my shirt?
Did i bring water when You had thirst?
Did i serve You or did i serve myself first?
Lord Lord what i have done for the least of these, for the least of man?
What is my heart in the eyes of the Son?
Did i glorify You or did i pretend?

I hope to be able to ask myself these questions daily and be honest with myself. I want to completely, truly, honestly, love my neighbor as myself. And if I'm to see the 'least of these' as Jesus, then more.

Hello July

Well, despite the lack of posting, things have not really died down for Jon and I.

My last day subbing was on the 24th of June--can't believe it! I had a great time subbing, with not too many days leaving me too worn out. Times when kids would do something like, oh, you know, throw tacks at another child, or put someone's gym clothes in the garbage...those are not times I miss as a sub! But being called the "cool sub" by the older kids and getting little pictures and picked dandelions from the little ones..those made it fun! Now I'm looking for jobs in Hamilton/Brantford/Burlington for the fall...

Jon received some stuff from McMaster letting him know the options for courses, and his TA duties, which include leading tutorials, marking, maybe teaching, and he will have his own office space. He's pretty excited for the upcoming year!

I'm glad for a break now. Jon and I leave on the 1st of August, so our time here is wrapping up! So far I'm mostly excited for the move. The last time I had my kiddies, though, really hit me. I'm going to see them a few more times before we move, but knowing that I won't be seeing them every week anymore, which I have for 6 years now, makes me sad. I've really seen them grow up--Liam since he was 3, Katie since she was a couple days old, and Kyle since he was born. It's been a blast! I love those kids. For those of you who have Facebook, there are some new (adorable, of course) pictures of the kids to be seen!

Another sign that move-time is coming up fast is that I got a whack-load of boxes from Laurie (the kids' mom) yesterday...which means it's time to start packing! I'll be doing most of this, as Jon will be working right up until we leave.

Other than that, Jon and I have been catching up with friends such as Alicia and Rob (who are getting married in 23 days!), Nils and Melissa, who just came back from Europe, Kurt, Jon's old roommate, and hanging out with family. Parties have been in abundance lately, too! Funnily enough, the camera has not come along much! Here's a picture of Ayii, dad, and Jon playing basketball, Jon and Ayii, me and Janessa playing some duets..somehow my mom didn't make it into the pictures..next time!














I have been reading a lot, which is what I want to do all summer--read! So far, in June, I've read I am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis, When Heaven and Earth Changed Places by Le Ly Hayslip, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I am currently reading A Wind at the Door by Madeleine L'Engle. I plan on reading the whole "Time" series this summer..it's been a long time since I've read those books and I am loving them! I also got a book called Vintage Jesus from Faithworks as a grad gift and I will starting that soon, too. I just read Ian's blog about the books he's been reading..maybe I'll take some of his as ideas for future books! Yeah for reading.

On a completely unrelated note, I got a new pair of summer comfy shoes...with peacocks on them! I've always loved peacocks...looking for their feathers at the zoo as a kid etc., and now I have them on my feet! I needed a pair of shoes that I would allow me to walk around in comfort, and these are just the pair.

Onto the packing! Until the next.

Father's Day Marathon

My dad has been training hard a good portion of this year to run the Manitoba (full) Marathon, and he did it on Father's Day! The whole family is very proud of him for doing this. So far, he has completed 3 half-marathon's, and now, a full marathon. (By the way, this passion for running has in no way been passed down to me!)

Jon and I slept over at my parents' so we could wake up bright and early with my mom and Janessa to cheer on my dad at a few spots on his run. About 16 miles into the run (it's a 26 mile run) my dad's knee started "acting up" and so that slowed him down. Still, he made it in 4 hours and 54 minutes! He told my mom to slap him if he ever thinks of doing another full...and he's already thought about it--no slaps yet.

Here's my dad with his Running Room running group...the man with the bunny ears is the group's "pace bunny."




This man was hilarious! (Guess which one?!) He had a huge speaker
set up and was blasting classic rock tunes as the runners went by.
He also sang along to them...songs such as Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" were particularly entertaining.


The sign + the ladies. I love my mom's "shoot 'em up" banana pose.





Here's my dad crossing the finish line...there was no triumphant smile, mostly pain!








Janessa and Jon being the crazies they are... And me unleashing my crazy.

And these are the beautiful flowers as part of Jon and my grad gift from my parents! I love lilies--they are so beautiful, elegant, yet wild looking! LOVE them.

Our Hamilton Home

We have an apartment! It has taken a lot of searching--Jon can take pretty much all the credit for that. Our apartment is in a great area in Hamilton, on Pearl Street in the "antique district," where there are parks, antique shops, coffee shops, and other neat places to explore and enjoy. It is also relatively close to McMaster University. It seems just perfect for us! We have a relative in Hamilton who was kind enough to check out this apartment for us, and he was very impressed with the place...as are we! By the time we move in, it will be newly renovated, too.

One funny story about this place is that the application form said "no dogs, cats, or any pets" and so of course I investigated about whether or not guinea pigs are ok. When I had asked the receptionist of the agency, I guess she only heard the word "pig" and asked her boss if a pig would be ok...we all had a good laugh about that one. Turns out little Capo is allowed. Yay!

Our new place is a one bedroom apartment on the 3rd floor of the building with a balcony. It has a kitchen with nice counter space and a separate dinning room (attached to the living room). I haven't seen it in person (obviously) but I do know that it is larger than our current apartment so we're not too concerned about fitting in our desk (which was one of our concerns). Here are some pics of the place from the advertisement, to let you see what we've seen of it! It's quite the relief to not worry about finding a "Hamilton home" anymore.

The Party

Well, when you're in Education, you not only get to go to convocation, but also to a Grad dinner dance! On Saturday, Jon and I headed off to the Delta Hotel for this very occasion. We decided to go in style, and so we took out 2 bus tickets and hit the road! We were hands down the fanciest Winnipeg Transit riders that evening! For our trip home, however, we hashed out a whopping $7 and and took a taxi.

I wasn't (and still am not) feeling that great, as I have a cold. But despite this, I had a great time; being with Jon and my friends, eating, and dancing. Going through my last 2 years of school were made extra fun because of the girls see in this picture: (from the left) Laurie, Megan, Melissa, and Arlee! Last night was no exception (although Melissa wasn't there as she is in Europe--she was missed!). It was fun to meet each others' significant others and be dressed up together. We've seen each other in all forms: from sick days, happy days, grumpy days, crazy days, to gym clothes, interview clothes, cap and gown, to formal! It's been fun.

Well, here are some pics from the evening (the hair is thanks to my mom and dad!) The group picture has most of my classmates from the last 2 years.

Well, back to my kleenex box and night cold pills.

Two New Grads!

We're done! Jon with an Honours Bachelor of Arts and me with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education! So now you must all call me "Mrs. Hildebrand" because I'm a real teacher. Ok, not that I think you all believed me, but that was a joke.

Both Jon and my graduation ceremonies were yesterday (June 1st!) It was neat to graduate on the same day...but it also made for a long day, as my convocation was at 10 am and his was at 3 pm. We went to each others convocations, and by the end of the day, were quite tired! The day ended with a nice dinner at the Nayler household and Jon's parents joined us as well. It was really nice to have our families celebrate with us. We've both worked really hard! Here are some pictures from the big day--one of them is me with the pretty flowers Jon gave me! I'll be adding some pictures later as I had some taken with my teacher buddies but not with my camera...
ConGRADulations to us!

Subbing etc.

Before I write anything else, I have to announce that Janessa, my little traveling sister, will be arriving home tomorrow night! SO excited for that.

Well, last week marked my first subbing experiences...and I quite enjoyed them! I was unsure as to how things would go, but now that I've had my first experience, I feel much more confident and excited about subbing.

My first day subbing was with 2 inner-city Nursery/Kindergarten classes (morning & afternoon) and they were so fun! They were the cutest little kids and it was great to have them for the day.

The next 2 days were spent subbing for my dad at the Colony, which is a class with grades 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. It was nice subbing for him because he gave me a wonderfully detailed plan for both days, and the kids were fun. It's really interesting going to different schools and interacting with different sets of students!

Tomorrow will bring new adventures--grade 8! We''ll see how that goes! Hopefully they don't think I'm a new student! ;)

Here's a picture of some pictures that kids have drawn for me...

On a different note, Jon and I have been continuing our apartment search and are interested in one in particular. They said "no pets" but when I asked about a guinea pig (yes, we are planning on taking the pig) the landlord said it would be no problem, and actually thought it was cute we wanted to bring him along! That just made the apartment that much more awesome--I hope we get it!

I couldn't resist putting up some Capo pictures--wouldn't you take him along? He is just the cutest little animal there ever was. (As Jon rolls his eyeballs deep into his head...)