Roam for the Gnome!

So for those of you who don't know, the Edmonton Journal just finished it's wicked contest called "Roam for the Gnome," in which they hide gnomes all over the city and give clues in the paper as to where to find them. If you find a gnome (1 per household), you get to go to a party and draw a number for wicked prizes. Now the new edition of the paper comes out at 1 in the morning, and that's where you get the clues the fastest (basically by stalking the first cars that leave the depot, until they stop). So I went with two of my friends to go pick up the paper and realy the clues to home base (where our dispatcher is.. as we have several teams of two or three waiting to travel around the city and pick up the clues)And you wouldn't think it, but there are tons of people waiting at 12 at night to get this thing (we're not the only crazy ones apparently!), and then we all drive as fast as we can to the far reaches of the city to riffle through bushes and trees in the pitch black until we find either the gnome, or the green slip of paper underneath the gnome that says someone found it. Last night/ this morning was my second time on this infamous hunt. Yesterday my team of four was unsuccessful (there's no birthday luck attached to this girl.. but ultimately I blame it on the difficult clue), but we found one this morning.. yay gnome! And although i didn't actually find the gnome, my other two friends had already found one each, so they let me register this one (apparently you have to answer a skill testing math question in the registration process, and i'm going onto day number four with going to bed at 2 am or later!). Wish me luck. Here's me and my buddy!

An Excuse

Jorn Barger, who coined the term web blogger, also discovered the "Inverse Law of Usenet Bandwidth," which describes how the more interesting your life becomes, the less you post and vice versa. So apparently my life was extremely interesting this summer... yes, that's it....

A Summer Spent in Vermilion.

Alright.. update. This is an account of one, Stephanie McAuley, and her summer adventures in the thriving metropolis known as Vermilion, Alberta. And yes, summer is basically over, as it's well known around here that summer is over after the fair (on the last weekend in July).. yet another thing that is wierd in Vermilion.
So what did i do? Now there are several conceptions as to what we do out here. One is that we cow tip. I did not cow tip this summer or any summer or any day of my life. Number two is that we shoot gophers/chickens/whatever moves. I did not shoot a gopher/chicken/whatever moves this summer (I have shot gophers before.. i'll admit it). So since i didn't do these things this summer.. some may wonder what i did indeed do. Here is an "abbreviated" list.
1. WORK, work and more work (even some 14 hour days which = pure torture) Now i would just like to take this time to say that i HATE IT when people say,"You're young, you can handle it." Gr. Just because i'm young doesn't make it any less easy, though i suppose i've never been old. It is DANG hard, either way. Maybe i'm just subconsciously looking for pity.. i don't know. ANYWAYS.. oh.. but i do have some pretty wicked awesome stories for the enjoyment of those who have strong stomachs!
2. Went to the most awesome band ever (OLP) TWICE.. and touched Raine Maida... and got hit in the head with a drumstick (from one of the opening bands.. the girl beside me caught it after it ricocheted off of my head).. and got about 30 body surfers chucked at me.. on the hottest day of the year (37oC).
2.5 This one actually has a connection with the previous number 2, as to go to the second OLP concert we had to go to Capital Ex (formerly Klondike Days) , where i rode the coolest ride in my life. I have never ever been scared to go on a ride (minus when i was little), but i was PETRIFIED to go on this one... i only went because i was dared.. It is 165 feet high and it's basically an arm with two seats at the top that flings you around a 165 radius circle at 140km/h. So basically.. very fast.. so fun.
3. Aquired a CONDO! Woot woot! Actually my parents aquired a condo for me and i am living in it! (there's still room for one more girl if you all know anyone who needs a place in edmonton).
4. Bought a keyboard! Which is probably one of the most exciting things because i almost DIED of so little musical stimulation over the [past year of school.
5. Tried to teach someone to waterski. Which after several attempts.. further confirmed that i am meant to be in the nursing and not the education profession.
5.5 Yet another addition to the previous adventure... i would like to go on record saying that i have VERY RARELY been knocked off a tube by someone else in a tube war... and i was knocked off.. as well as knocked someone off.. twice... in a span of about 10 minutes...we didn't even hit any waves... a true "archival" moment in my life.. as it will NEVER happen again.. at least the part of my being knocked off in a tube war.
6. Broke into the wading pool. Which means i jumped over a less than 5 foot fence after hours to wade in a pool on a blistering hot evening, that is free of cost to go into. Big rebel i am! Actually i almost got into trouble by this old guy that was sort of guarding the pool.. but i hid behind the tree while all my dry friends laughed at me...chickens.
7. ALMOST beat a team of firefighters in a game of walleyball (for those of you not aware.. volleyball in a raquetball court.. off the walls).. the score was 25-22 (me and Jay were on a team)
8. Went to the Vermilion Fair with some friends from various places of the globe (Quebec and Cold Lake) and introduced my father to the ride the "Zipper," where we almost broke my personal record of 12 flips in a row (we got 9!).
9. Counselled a week of jr. teen... where i got scratched by a barb wire fence.. and was unable to defend my winning cabin status (we got second.. ) So in conclusion I like to say that i had to go back to work to rest from my week off (my co-workers are still baffled as to my reasoning for using my week off in this fashion).
10. Went or was invited to more weddings than i can count or even remember, for that matter.
11. Drove, by myself, more than an hour away from Vermilion.. to another thriving metropolis.. two hills.. which i won't even give the dignity of capitalization too. (it was for a first aid course for work.. which needs to be updated every two years.. even when i'm a nurse?.. go figure)

And that was my summer.. and as everyone knows in Vermilion.. the summer is always over when the fair is done... though i somehow think my adventures aren't quite done yet!

SICK...

of being half hearted in my walk with God... of being a hypocrite... of being a coward... of being a detriment to the kingdom... of feeling useless... of pretending that everything is okay.

Flavors! (am i spelling it the American way?)

I've been having very serious thoughts lately about... flavors. Have you ever really considered them? Do they EVER taste like the real thing? Im pretty sure that banana flavoring does NOT taste like banana, or that they even have real banana in banana flavoring (probably all chemicals) Who had the nerve to make up a cheap imitation of banana and call it banana flavoring? Why don't they just name it something else... like fanana (fake-banana). Seriously.. Also... flavor is a dumb sounding word. Now i know that most of you will go to bed disturbed by this very deep blog.. i know i will... so for this i apologize.

Alright already!

Seriously guys, all i have new in my life is that i'm writing exams, and i got two nursing jobs in Vermilion (which means yay! im going home for the summer). Besides that i despise everyone who's going on an adventure this summer, as i am being VERY boring and staying home and working. And that is all. So anyways...this next little blurb is my idea of trying to be creative in (Above is the McAuley Coat of Arms) a very uncreative and boring environment.
So i was having a very serious talk about origins with a Mennonite friend of mine, who will remain unnamed (*ahem.. Tyler Fehr*). As you all must know by now, and especiallly if you've been to my grandparent's/my Edmonton home, i am quite Dutch. And when i mean quite, i mean exactly half, which is a seemingly large proportion these days. Now if you've seen ME before, I am not the typical blonde hair, blue-eyed, wooden-shoe wearing Dutch person. I am probably the exact opposite with dark everything and plastic shoes. Up until about 10 minutes ago, i thought i looked like a hungarian, until i was informed that Hungarians are short, and "not good looking." (This news was crushing as i always thought that hungarian women were tall, beautiful and exotic... not so.. now all i picture is short hairy men and women that smell like stinky cheese.) Well since i for sure do not fit into at least one of those categories, i am now quite convinced that i do not look (or smell) like a hungarian (if i did smell like cheese it would be like spiced dutch cheese, which we have an abundance of in our house, and although it has a VERY cheesy smell.. it does not stink). Now the other part of my ancestry is English and Irish. Now English people don't really have a signature 'look' persay, except for being distinguished by bad teeth and a British accent, also things that i don't have (thank goodness), so that leaves me with being Irish. Now Irish people apparently have red hot hair, red hot tempers, and a drinking problem (stereotypically of course). I don't have blatantly red hair (though everytime i dye it, it seems to turn red), and i don't have a bad temper (and don't you DARE say i do), and although i like to socially drink, i'm by no means a drunk (Hm. now that i think about it, im delving into the personality traits.. i meant to stick with looks.. so ignore the personality/habit stuff). And then that produced this thought... what if i don't look Irish? Do i look like a nothing? This definetly called for DRASTIC measures. I have decided to create my own country, and then i will DEFINETLY look like someone (me namely). Anyways, so i've had several suggestions for what to name my country.. and i'm actually thinking Stephland (pronounced Stephlund). Anyways.. as i've not had much experience in starting up a country i need lots of suggestions as to what i'll need and what i should name things and/or what they should look or sound like. (eg. currency, national anthem, flag, provinces, you get the drift). Anyways.. i look forward to the ideas you all have for me.

Seeing the amazing in the mundane!

So. Like it seems with alot of other people, life has been a little bit mundane lately. Besides giving an enema (which alot of you have heard alot about... haha) on my last clinical day, i really have no exciting things to talk about, and even less to do. (Above is my clinical group). We had reading week last week, and like many other students, absolutely no reading was actually accomplished on my part.
The only exciting thing that has happened of late, was my chance to play in the skiriffic band! Although i wasn't very willing to go, my good friend pretty much forced me, and now i'm glad that i went. It totally exceeded my expectations. What an amazing thing it is when Christians get together and worship our creator, and how much he deserves it. It kind of sucks though that i had to go to two hours away, and be surrounded by 350 youth to feel that intense presence of God. Why can't i experience that feeling in our regular church service? Lately i've been talking to alot of people about emotions, and how we count on them way too much in our relationship with God. We go to camp or to something like skiriffic and get on a God high, then come home and go back to the usual slump. I was really in that "funk" until i decided to do something very mundane, and found amazingness. While i was home and painfully bored, i went on a bit of a health kick, and started to walk my dog a ton, and on one particular occasion it was at night. WOW. Stars just aren't the same in Edmonton. All those tiny dots in the sky that just pierce the darkness. Some of them might not even exist anymore because the light takes so long to come. We might be looking at something that doesn't even exist anymore... it blows my mind. Just standing under that huge, blue, star-filled globe makes you feel so small, but at the same time comforted, because the guy that made all those stars loves you so incredibly much. (Stars are pretty much my favorite things.) It's just one of those things that makes me so glad i have someone to believe in. Can you imagine looking at those stars and thinking they were anything but a created masterpeice, but rather a random accident? We worship an amazing God. And BOOM! I had experienced my creator again in a real way without lights or lots of Christians or an awesome speaker. I think i maybe just want to challenge everyone to look for that amazing thing in the mundaneness of life, haha... i'm sure we all could use it, and you don't have to look hard, just open your eyes!