New! October 2009 World Race Route

New! October 2009 World Race Route

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Wow it's been a long time since I've posted. I actually forgot that I had this.

Sooo....the list. I'm not really following it anymore...I just realised that some of it was silly and I didn't have any desire to do it. So I'm just selectively following the list haha.

I am learning guitar...although it's sort of on hold til summer...I learned all the major notes and I play a lot but I don't actually practise. Lindsey has a binder full of worship songs and I usually just flip through those, it's a great way to chill from school for awhile. I do plan on actually practising once I get home and get my own guitar though.

I'm still working through the old testament..whew...I'm up to Numbers and I've also read Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Obadiah and Haggai. I've got a long way to go.

Nicole and I watched Dr.Zhivago the other night...we curled up in the tv room with subway and ben and jerrys. It was great! I knew I would like that movie, and I also knew I would like ben and jerrys haha.

Oh and Anne, Tim, Nicole, Kevin and I had a dutch blitz tournament so that's crossed off the list as well.

Okay, enough list stuff, hopefully I will be posting much more regularly from now on.

37. Give out food to people downtown who need it- DONE
I went last friday with Ashley, Anne and James and some others from SASF to help out with the Salvation Army's downtown minsistries. We handed out hot chocolate and soup to some teenagers on the streets, some vendors and some buskers. I really hope to go again, but next time I will definitely dress warmer!!

28. Read the New Testament- DONE
I finished about a week ago and now I've started on Genesis. I think in order to finish the Old Testament on time I'm going to have to have some marathon readings....I always forget how much longer it really is!

I tried putting clear nail polish on my nails to stop me from biting them but it didn't work. It did for like 3 days and then i got fed up haha. I'll have to try that really nasty tasting stuff.

I just got back from english class and I am extremely frustrated. I just listened to my english prof, who I think is extremely intelligent and a great teacher, talk about evolution for half the class.

What does that have to do with English you ask? Well we were reading The Wars and so we were having a discussion on the value of life and he started talking about how humans seem to value only human life and not animal life as well. And I agree...he has a point, God says in Genesis that man should be the caretaker of the Earth....but then he goes on to say how really animals are higher up than us because they began sooner and were here first, which is cool if that's how you feel and all but I guess my main problem is when did Evolution become proven fact? I'm just thinking about high school when we would learn about it but the teachers would make it pretty clear that it's just a theory and everyone would have an ugly debate over whether or not it was true. I wonder now if they were just saying that so they wouldn't tick the Christian parents off?

Ever since I got to university, professors who I expect to be teaching me absolute proven fact pass evolution off as a fact without ever giving any real proof as to why it IS fact. I've done enough research on this subject to know that, while there is some stuff out there that could be called evidence for evolution, there is also A LOT of stuff that makes it seem pretty sketchy, such as the problems with carbon dating and the fact that a lot of mainstream images of evolution were hoaxes, forged because scientists were so sure that evidence for evolution would soon show up.

In spite of the fact that in everything I've read about evolution I haven't been convinced of its merit, I know there is enough stuff that sounds reasonable that if you want to believe in evolution that you will. I guess I just don't understand it from a spiritual perspective. I mean, how did this idea of God that civilization seems to have seem to just appear, if there is no God, how on earth did we just come up with this notion? People say that it's because we want to believe in a higher power, but thats kind of a circular argument isn't it? Why do we want to believe in a higher power? Is it because there is one?

Like my english prof was saying, how we're all the same as animals, are people blind? Yeah, we're physically like animals but look around.....how many animals do you see getting married, composing music, acting in plays, wearing clothes, whatever you want. We ARE different from animals, and you can say it's because we are further evolved than animals but how did that happen, seeing as according to the history of time, if all the time the earth's been here was a year, we appeared five hours before the end of the year?

The Bible tells me that God created humans and made them in His image, to have knowledge and understand love and people say the Bible is crazy while wholeheartedly believing in this idea that we sparked from an amino acid in the ocean and have slowly developed into what we are today.....so which part of evolution gave us souls? Most people don't deny the fact that we do have souls...we have feelings and this awareness of ourselves, how did that come from evolution? Especially because there isn't much marriage and governments or whatever happening in the animal kingdom.

Overall, I've just come to the conclusion that believing in evolution gives people an easy out to laugh at the crazies who belieive in an all powerful God whose voice sparked creation. It's not something that's all that easy to believe after all. You have to accept that there is a right and a wrong and that you don't get to decide what it is and that there is someone who is infinitely more powerful and knowledgable than you, that you aren't god but God is. If they didn't have evolution to hide behind they'd have to once again consider the possibility of creation and I think that's a pretty scary fact for people who want to believe that they themselves are all powerful and important and that the world revolves around them.

Okay, I need to end this rant because it's gotten horribly long and makes little to no sense but I needed to get it off my chest. And ps- I think that the world revolves around me pretty often myself, I just meant people who want to try to justify those feelings instead of considering the idea that maybe there's a reason nothing too great comes from feeling that way.

List update!

3. Kiss a snowman - I took a picture but for some reason can't get it to show up.

4. Become involved in some type of outreach.

I realised this morning that by joing outreach I probably fulfilled this goal haha.

17. Write down everything I buy for a month.

Urgh, without books I spent 202.86 in a month. I have no idea where it goes. Well, I guess I do now:

61.21 on food...which is pretty sad because all my meals are at dining hall, so thats pretty much junkfood.

27.00 on bus fares/taxi money

13.00 on laundry

101.65 on assorted stuff like toiletries, a prescription, the retreat, and stuff to set up dsl in our room.

So.....it seems as though I really need to stop wasting money on junkfood that I really don't need, and there's some stuff in that 101.65 I probably didn't need as well. Sigh. I was hoping I only needed to have about $100/month for spending money stuff but it's not looking to good. Oh well. Well class time, so once again I have nothing really important to say haha.

50. Discover a new band I like- done.


Ten Shekel Shirt. So good. I really really like them. And I recommend them. Obviously.

Craig's taken a vow of silence for two weeks and I think it's a seriously awesome idea. I'd really like to give that a try sometime. You'd really start to realise what words were good ones and which ones useless I bet. Anyway, just a quick post about the list, water and exercise are still going good, cutting back on cookies is good, with a few not so shining moments haha. Still don't have fingernails though. Maybe next time I post.

Wow. It's been awhile since i've posted anything. I haven't had much to say. I don't really think a list of homework, meals, classes, and going to the gym is all that exciting to anyone. I haven't been doing much on the list. I went to the gym three times last week and once so far this week, which is one of my goals and i've been pretty good with drinking water.

I decided tonight, during my 2.5 hour business lab, that I really need to stop biting my fingernails. They're taking a beating. So that's my next goal.

On saturday, aaron invited lindsey, nicole, whitney, nelle and i over for supper at his house, plus jen and a guy I hadn't met yet, justin, and craig were there. He made us chicken alfredo, salad, bread, and strawberry shortcake. It was...sooo good. Especially compared to res food haha. We had a good time playing cards and had some good discussion. It was a great way to spend a saturday. Okay. Nothing more to say really.

Well, everyone's gone back to school. Except me. Today was fine until I realised I had to entertain myself tonight. I am experiencing a bad case of cabin fever. So I took a look at the 50 things list and realised fingerpainting was on my list and thought to myself, that is a very good idea. So I fingerpainted and now I can cross it off my list. :)
47. Fingerpaint - done

I went to see The Pursuit of Happyness the other day. It was a great movie but it made me think. The guy risks everything in order to get this job (stop reading if you haven't seen it) and the big happy ending is he gets it and becomes rich. Great. So that's his life? That's happiness? It's such a classic North American way to think. How is that we've become hardwired to connect the accumulation of stuff and overconsumption with happiness? I'm so guilty of it but it still baffles me.

Reading through a lot of Paul's letters to the early churches, he keeps reminding them that nothing of this earth is going to fulfill their desires, they need to look to God, know and love Him and then start loving their neighbour like they love themselves. Never does it say that stuff is going to make them or me happy. It says that knowing God will though. So why do I feel this huge desire for MORE everytime I go to a store? We had a tobago reunion tonight and a few of us were talking about this idea. My friend was saying how he's been looking through stuff in his room and trying to clean it out and he finds it hard to part with the stuff even though he doesn't use it and my other friend said she had this sick feeling coming home from Christmas this year because of how much her relatives have and still can't seem to be content.

It's something I never really thought about before, I just bought into the advertising I guess. The commercials told me I needed to have a better, newer model of whatever it was, mp3 player, winter jacket, computer, whatever, and I just believed it I suppose, I want newer, better, more just like every other good north american. I mean, I don't think I'm particularily materialistic, until I start thinking about kids in Africa dying every day because they don't have enough food, or people even in Canada, sleeping outside because they haven't got a place to stay. And then I look around at this warm house and warm bed I have, with the fridge stocked full of food, even if it's not my favorite, warm clothes and tons of other silly stuff and wow. I am blessed.

It reminds me of one of those Nooma videos. The guy is talking about this same subject and he mentions those God Bless America stickers. And then he says Look around, God HAS blessed America, now how can America bless others? And I'm realising how much money I waste on the accumulation of stuff that will mean nothing to me in 5 years, while 30, 000 children, just as beautiful, amazing and with just as much potential as any kid in North America die every day. That's like six September 11ths happening every single day (and we started a WAR over that). How come I can't look past myself at these people who need help? Agh, I guess I've just become frustrated at how much I have, and how little I want to give it up. It makes me think of that quote by Gandhi, "there is sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed".

And even as I type all of this stuff, even as I worry about it all, I still like my new clothes and my electronic gadgets and I really don't want to give them up, but I think I'm beginning to realise that I need to start becoming more of a global neighbour. That everyone in this world is your neighbour, simply because they are human. I'm realising that we really are messed up. How can people have billions of dollars, enough money that they could never possibly spend it all and people die every day because of poverty? I'm glad God finds beauty in the broken (one of my favorite starfield songs) because I definately am when I can ignore the realities of the north-south gap (one of my lovely global geography terms haha).

Agh. Anyway, this has become an extrememly long rant and I'm sure no one is still reading by now but if I by chance you are, I would recommend The Irrisistable Revolution by Shane Clairborne. It's a great book on this very topic and the guy doesn't just preach it but he's living it too. Very interesting.

More Bradley Hathaway.
You’re pouring your love all over me and it’s dripping off the tops and sides and bottoms and middles of trees full of splendid little busy bees about doing your purpose how can this be? That you’ve let my heart to see and experience and take in and now to sing… sing sing sing about your love to everybody anybody or the somebody that’s considered a nobody but they are special to thee and for that I thank thee that these things have been shown to me. Keep this mercy falling down down and this grace falling down down… on the top of my scalp dripping off of my nose down around my bellybutton all the way to my pinky toe cuticle that you made and for that it is cool. Sometimes I play the fool but still your love is all around, sprouting from the ground here and there and everywhere especially on this floor that I now stand. And how amazingly awesome is your plan that cannot be thwarted by any man no matter how big or strong or ugly or evil he be, because through you is victory. And it’s victory that I now speak of and have to let out of my skin because for too long it’s been contained therein. Lord I praise you because you are different and efficient. And you’ve tweaked my spirit just enough so that I can taste and see that you truly are good. Like a fresh picked pineapple for the first time in my mouth or the warmth of your sun on the back of my not warm neck on a not warm day. I praise your named today and tomorrow and forever.

Two posts in one day. Ha, you don't have to say it, I know I'm cool.
The thing is I just really love Bradley Hathaway, so I thought I would share a little of him with you:

There is a heart of such distress that I carry in this chest please reach out and caress in your
pillowesque manner.Front and center right here and right now I’m throwing in the towel I’ve committed too many fowls I’ve flown south.My sprits turning sour I can’t go through another hour, me my precious pretty pink petite flower that blooms in the night and leave me in the dark by your moonlight no more fight. I never fought anywhere so I thawed and now I’m here on these knees distraught.Crying out to you pretty please, pretty please take this disease turning these insides brown my smile turns to frown and my breathe smells like death.Because I am dead to light and a light is something I don’t know that you would have me feel but this is for real and I need you right now, I need you right now.So seal the deal with your stamp of regeneration and grow me up into a new creation taken from a tree and plucked from a vine, if it’s my time to shine then shine your light on me so that everyone hurting can see that there is hope, hope in the seemingly endless valley full of rotten fruit left behind from previous troops that are now in your mountains drinking directly from your fountains, save me a spot I will be there sooner than not, I’m picking up the pace and slowly starting to trot.

Funny how I love poetry, music, and drama...and I stink at all of it. Oh my. I really couldn't write or draw to save my life and my singing hurts others I think. Interesting. I think it's why I am such good friends with Alex. I admire her. Haha, she's talented at art, singing, drama, all those lovely things. Anyway, time for grocery shopping. (Once again..I know I'm cool okay?)

27. Go through Mom's stuff - done.
Figured I'd tackle the rough one first. Although, seven years later, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was actually like connecting to her again and so I'm glad I went through it all and we can get rid of the stuff that really doesn't need to be saved...like all of her old craft stuff. I think my dad keeps hoping I'll turn out to be crafty like my mom but it's just not going to happen. I needed to read through all the old letters and cards too I think. I lost my mom when I was eleven so I sort of wondered if I just made up that she was such a great mom or whatever but reading back through the cards and letter from people and also stuff that I sent her as well, I think my mom really was how I remember her. There were so many letters thanking her for some thing she'd done and some funny ones from me, I pretty much adored my mother. I made her one card that was like, "dear mom, thanks for being you, love courtney". I'm glad she kept stuff like that now. There's another one "from" our dog, lady, and its like "dear mom, glad you are home, i haven't been fed in weeks, love your daughter, lady". Wow, we were cool kids.

The break's been so relaxing...I've pretty much been sleeping and hanging out with friends. And getting in as much Louie's as I can. Man, I love thrift shopping. Yesterday I got a brazil soccer jersey for 2.25! You can't beat that! I got my marks today...I did okay...I got A's in Math and Bio and B's in everything else. Which is pretty good considering I had such a rough time getting work done this semester. I'm happy with it. Hopefully next semester will be a bit better.
Anyway, I suppose I should go do something productive now. :)

My three favorite things. Baking, winnie the dog and thrift shopping. Haha. Not really actually.
hmm...yet again I really have no reason for updating. Maybe one day soon i will say something that means something...anything. Hm. Yeah so these pictures were taken with my christmas present. Sweet that Im so good at waiting for suprises eh?

So the list has become 55 things in 5 months. Its not the final list but here it is. I plan on starting on December 18th. I don't have any particular reason except that it's this monday and also exactly 4 months until the end of next semester. I made one of them to blog it on here which will give me a purpose to post on this thing instead of just rambled ramblings. Hopefully also I will figure out how to add pics so I can chronicle this thing with photos as well.

1. Buy to kill a mockingbird

2. Organise Tobago pictures

3. Kiss a snowman

4. Become involved in some type of outreach

5. Go a week without spending money

6. Read the Old Testament

7. Watch the Sunrise

8. Go out of my way to befriend someone who needs one

9. Send my dad a letter from NL

10. Cut back on my cookie intake (to like one a day, im such a cookie monster)

11. Tell people I appreciate them more often

12. Read 5 classics

13. Drink 8 glasses of water a day

14. Get my beginner's liscense

15. Go for a day long bike ride

16. Have a fundraiser for a charity

17. Write down everything I buy for a month

18. Watch the Sound of Music

19. Donate 20 dollars to something

20. Take a picture I'm really proud of

21. Go a week without the computer

22. Go on a picnic

23. Exercise at least 3 times a week

24. Learn how to play guitar

25. Watch the old Pride and Prejudice

26. See a play

27. Go through Mom's stuff

28. Read the New Testament

29. Send Celine a letter

30. Get into the habit of praying every morning

31. Tell my dad I love him more often

32. Go on a road trip

33. Watch Dr. Zhivago

34. Have a random acts of kindness day

35. Go a week without saying anything sarcastic

36. Save a whole check

37. Give out food downtown to people who need it

38. Fast for 24 hours

39. Stop biting my fingernails

40. Try a new fruit

41. Write a poem

42. Run 5k in 22 minutes

43. Make supper for friends

44. Call my grandmother

45. Blog my progress on this list, with pictures where possible

46. Glue coins to pavement...then watch people attempt to pick them up (I needed something stupid and immature, didnt I?)

47. Fingerpaint

48. Make Fudge for Newfoundland Friends

49. Send a friend a package

50. Discover a new band I like

51. Go on at least 3 camera adventures

52. Host a dutch blitz tournament

53. Pay a stranger a compliment

54. Do something radically different to my appearance (dye hair, tattoo, piercing, etc)

55. Stop myself from buying something I dont need and instead donate the money, at least 5 times

"Lift me up so high that I cannot fall, lift me up"

Done. Whew. What a relief. The english exam was the biggest joke I have ever seen. We had to choose two essays to write from a list of like 9. I chose two topics I ALREADY wrote essays on in his class. So I pretty much paraphrased two essays I had already wrote and finished a 2.5 hour exam in one hour. It was pretty nice. Especially the part where I drifted off somewhere near the middle of the first one. I am so excited to be going home tomorrow. I miss my dad and my friends, and my bedroom and healthy, home cooked food and my cozy living room and st. james, and lazy afternoons with al and movie nights with ains, and louies and everything! oh and my brothers i suppose. Tomorrow I'm spending the day with Thomas and Norton, two exchange students from Hong Kong, because my flight is not until 9 and everyone else will be gone. Thomas and I are going to teach Norton to play dutch blitz (Thomas learned last week during the ultimate game involving myself, kevin and anne).
I'm so looking forward to this break. And Im so glad it's Christmastime! Ahh...Advent, Christmas Trees, Lights, Baking, Christmas Eve Church service, Snow, Shopping, Joy, so good.

Hmm, so I pretty much haven't talked to my best friend in the world (well her and ainsa) Alex, since like June and ah I missed that girl. We are truly soulmates. As I type this she is making truffle brownies for me (well so she says, I really think they are for her and she will be kind enough to share).

Hm...so I don't have a whole lot to say really. I was going to post about something important but I started out with being done exams and now it has escaped me. I will post about it later if I remember.

Merry Christmas!

I survived! I survived my chemistry exam! It went so well! My studying really paid off and I think it's the best mark I've gotten in that class all year (which is sweet because it's 60 percent of my mark). And then physics killed me. But I only needed to get a 47 to get a B so I'm hoping I pulled it off. I didn't really think I'd get an A anyway. Hmm...so what has happened since the last post.....not much really, a lot of studying basically. Helped Clark film a scene from his movie by being an "extra". Had a night of Dutch Blitz...love that game.

I've decided to make a 50 goals for 5 months list (which is a rip off of the 101 goals in 1001 days, I'm just not a long term thinker). I'm very list oriented so I'm hoping this will help me get some things done that I've been meaning to do, as well as do some new stuff. I still need a few suggestions though, so leave a comment if you have one. Here's what I have so far:

1. Buy to kill a mockingbird
2. Organise Tobago pictures
3. Kiss a snowman
4. Become involved in some type of outreach
5. Go a week without spending money
6. Read the Old Testament
7. Watch the Sunrise
8. Go out of my way to befriend someone who needs one
9. Send my dad a letter from NL
10. Cut back on my cookie intake
11. Tell people I appreciate them more often
12. Read 5 classics
13. Drink 8 glasses of water a day
14. Get my beginner's liscense
15. Go for a day long bike ride
16. Have a fundraiser for a charity
17. Write down everything I buy for a month
18. Watch the Sound of Music
19. Donate 20 dollars to something
20. Take a picture I'm really proud of
21. Go a week without the computer
22. Go on a picnic
23. Exercise at least 3 times a week
24. Learn how to play guitar
25. Watch the old Pride and Prejudice
26. See a play
27. Go through Mom's stuff
28. Read the New Testament
29. Send Celine a letter
30. Get into the habit of praying every morning
31. Tell my dad I love him more often
32. Go on a road trip
33. Watch Dr. Zhivago
34. Have a random acts of kindness day
35. Go a day without saying anything sarcastic
36. Save a whole check
37. Give out food downtown to people who need it
38. Fast for 24 hours
39. Play soccer on the beach
40. Try a new fruit
41. Write a poem
42. Run 5k in 20-22 minutes
43. Make supper for friends
44. Call my grandmother
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.

Anyway....I suppose I should get back to studying...seeing as I have nothing to say really.

Anne. Courtney. Courtney. Anne.
Not studying. In the library. t-28 minutes til chem exam. pink scarf. no email or games. smile. sending a print command. fidget. bracelet. pointing. giggle. haha. scary sound that sounds like you cant breath. but i guess she couldnt help it so thats okay. cough cough.
27 minutes....stay calm. chem is nothing compared to courtney's goodness.
o wait.....26 minutes. when will we leave. soon. never. soon. no wait. soon.
yes. soon rather than never. chatting is happening near us and around us and with us.
and behind us. i can hear them. i look back. yes. i see them.
25 minutes. freak-out. stop. not healthy.
E=nhv. C=lambda(v). I will survive. I am turkey. Okay. It just reminded me of the american greetings card seen here- http://www.americangreetings.com/display.pdbfrom=1&prodnum=3081495&Searchstr
=thanksgiving&st=t&path=31871
Singing turkey song in library. making new enemies.
quiet now. others are packing their studies away to find a quieter area.
oops. what have we done
why not make it a tradition. happend twice yesterday.
19 minutes. talk to elim. tutored her in german. shiza and fasha. she will be fine. 100 percent.
time to leave this precious joint.
18 minutes. thus. leaving time.
wish me luck. this may be my last post.
coco/annabel

Five minutes ago I was thinking this whole blog thing would be great. That was before the post that took almost an hour to write and that finally seem to say what Ive wanted to say for awhile got deleted. I am bitter. Especially because its 3:30 am and I wanted to be asleep by 11 so I could get some rest and get healthy again. That was before I got distracted by the computer. My worst enemy during exam time. Sigh. Ahh okay, Im going to post this disappointed first post just to see if it's working.