Shout out

To my cousin Courtney….for being all the way in Kansas…at an Article One concert…..and doing this:

www.courtneysimages.blogspot.com

 

 

(for those of you who didn’t go to Redeemer and need some context…I went to school with the drummer)

Randoms

We are moving.  For the umpteenth time this summer.  Although this time it’s permanent.  (Well for the next year anyway….maybe then, thanks to the crumbling economy, housing prices will actually be reasonable).  I can’t wait to have my stuff back and stop living out of a suitcase.

My eyebrows are ridiculously unkempt.  (I’ve always wanted to use that word in a sentence).  Thanks to the aforementioned moving, I can’t find any tweezers. ANYWHERE. So I haven’t plucked in several days (and by days…I mean weeks.)  I know you all want to see a picture.  Tough beans. I will not feed into your curiosity about my eye stubble.  Perhaps tonight I’ll go out and actually get my hands on a new pair of tweezers and take care of the forest that is my forehead.  (Ok, re-reading this little paragraph, I realize that I’ve made myself sound quite ogre-ish….it’s not that bad…)

I am an impatient painter. I have realized that this week, as Ben and I furiously try to get our new apartment painted so we can move on Saturday.  I have come to accept the fact that I just want to see results-  and get pretty frustrated when, instead of results, all I see are more places that need to be taped before I can even start painting.  I also realize that far too many times I’ve had conversations like these to myself in my head: “Who cares about that corner?… No one will even see it…we’ll just be sure to put the couch against that part….do we really need to tape this part? nah, I’ll just use my “steady hands”…crap – steady hands – why must you fail me?”

Our Ultimate Frisbee Team just went 15-0 this season (Final game was on Tuesday).  Remember way back in May when I told you all about my insecurities about sucking? Yeah, well I did.  At first.  But then I got better. (dare I say I could even hold my own) And had fun.  And was proud to be on the only undefeated team in the league.  At the year-end party for the league, our team cleaned up in the prizes department.  Not only did we win the tier one championship, we also won the spirit award (GOOO TEAMMMM), and a bazillion raffle prizes.  (ok, a bazillion might be an exaggeration)

I’ve learned in the midst of all of this moving, unpacking, packing, and then moving again, that it’s far too tempting to want to eat out all.the.time.  Especially when you have minimal groceries and kitchen supplies.  Our bank account, and my gut are not grateful for this tempation.

We had a yardsale a few weeks ago with my parents at their place. I forgot how much fun they were.  I’m thinking that Ben and I should make having a yardsale a very regular occurance.  We made a grand total of…….. $40 (my parents made almost triple that on their stuff)  I know what you’re thinking: SLOW DOWN KARMYN.  YOU’RE CREATING A GARAGE SALE EMPIRE OVER THERE.  At first I was a little disappointed.  I mean really – who wouldn’t want an automatic card shuffler for $2?? (No, seriously…anyone want it?)  But 40 bucks is 40 bucks. We’ll take it.  And we did.  And probably ate out with our earnings. 

I took my youth group to Wild Water Kingdom a few weeks ago.  Although my passion for wanting to be a youth director is 95% about building into their lives, helping them grow in Jesus, I’ll be honest, there’s a small, 5% of me that loves the fact that youth ministry also means every so often I get to lay in an innertube, floating down a lazy river on a warm sunny day.

Let’s discuss the Olympics shall we?

Well the Olympics have been on now for 14 days, and I feel as though it’s high time to acknowledge that fact on my blog here. Every 2 years, when the Olympics come around, I all of the sudden feel the need to spend every waking moment watching TV, trying to catch as much of the “magic” as possible. I feel a sense of urgency when I’m not watching, feeling like I’m missing the golden moment of the entire Olympic games.
Well this time around has been no different, although with no real channels at the place we’re staying, Ben and I have had to resort to the good ol’ internet feed to catch all the action.
Thankfully, between time at my parents, and the other houses we’ve been house sitting, we’ve managed to catch some of the bigger moments on an actual tv, as opposed to grainy, pixel-y computer screen action.

In the spirit of the games, I thought I’d just compile for you all a list of random thoughts I’ve had during these games:

• Really China? Did you really think that we wouldn’t catch onto the fact that all of your female gymnasts are still probably in the 5th grade? I think what really tipped me off was the fact that gold medalist Kexin He signed all of her autographs with her crayons.
• I wonder how long it would take Ben to have the same amount of ab muscles as Michael Phelps.? We should get started working on that one.
• Hmm, day 3 of the Olympics and still no Canadian medals. Ahh well, I’m sure tomorrow will be our big day.
• Although I realize that all the “race walkers” can clearly walk 10 k faster than I’ll ever be able to run it, I still feel no remorse at mocking this sport. Reasons why:

1. They look ridiculous
2. There’s something about having an Olympic Medal in walking that kind of loses it for me. I mean really, if you were the champion of that sport and did what many Olympians do in getting a tattoo of the Olympics…it would have the 5 olympic rings, and then a stick figure, representing the sport, with really disjointed hips.
   
3. When was the last time you say the Olympic Gold Medalist for race walking on a wheaties box?

• Oh wow…it’s day 6 already. What’s that Canada? No medals yet? Oh that’s cool, day 7 feels like a lucky one if you ask me.
• Oh hey Michael Phelps, how does it feel to have more medals than our entire country?
• There’s something about watching the Olympics that gives me the illusion that I could probably do that too. When I watch the swimming races, I am just itching to get into a pool to perfect my breast stroke, when I see the floor routines of the gymnasts, I can pretty much visualize my gold medal routine for London 2012, and really, “the rowing doesn’t look that hard”, I think to myself as I grab another handful of chips.
• Although I am not usually a fan of cheering for any American athletes (sorry American readers, it’s not you, it’s me….and my Canadian pride), I have decided that I will join the Kerri Walsh and Misty-May Treanor cheering section. Because:

1. beach volleyball is awesome to watch
   
2. they are undefeated in over a year. I don’t care where you’re from, that deserves some Canadian props.

• Finally Canada has won a medal (and now 15 thankyouverymuch), our whole country can breathe easy once again and go back to thinking about beer and hockey.
• Synchronized diving you say? Sure, I’m sure I could master that…I spent 6 weeks in my orange-level swimming class about 12 years ago practicing my diving by putting my toes over the edge of the pool, bending my knees, putting my arms extended in front of my body with my hands pointed, and then just kind of falling into the pool. That’s about all it takes right?

Well that’s about all I’ve got for now. I would say it’s safe to expect that I probably won’t be blogging again until the closing ceremonies have taken place and the Olympics are over. I should have much more free time on my hands.

Vacation Part Deux: Saskatchewan and beyond….well actually, it was just Saskatchewan

Ok guys, I’ll be honest.  I just haven’t felt much like writing lately, hence the lack of blog posts.  So, once again, this one will be mostly pictures – I’m sure soon enough I’ll be inspired enough to write something that half resembles a coherent sentence, one that might even be worth reading, but until that day, enjoy the pictures.

We flew straight from Nova Scotia to Saskatoon, and there began leg two of our trip.  All of our time was spent catching up with relatives, playing games with my grandparents, eating, showing Ben the beauty of Saskatchewan, showing Ben what food us Mennonites eat, my cousins’ wedding, laughing, reminiscing and just a bit more food thrown in for good measure. 

Oh yeah, let’s not forget how we drove Ben all around to show him all the old houses either myself, my grandparents, or my parents had lived in.  He was a good sport, considering that the houses held no sentimental value to him whatsoever…and considering that in Waldheim (a town of maybe 900), my dad have lived in 5 different houses.Good times.  Good times indeed.

 Onto the pictures:

This is why you all should go to Saskatchewan at least once in your life (eh L-stew?).  “Is it flat?” you ask; yes, yes it is. But that just means the sky doesn’t ever end. I’ve never seen more sky in my life than in Saskatchewan.  It really is beautiful, in it’s own prairie-like -nothing for miles around -see your dog run away for days, kind of way. 

We went out for lunch to The Berry Barn.  I was finally able to enjoy verenike and farmer sausage.  I know that maybe only 2 of you that read this will know what that is, but I’m afraid that if I actually described it to you, you’d think it sounded gross.  Just take my word for it that it’s delicious. If you really want to know what it is, just leave me a comment and a may or may not let you in on my culinary delight.

Me and my Grandpa.  We’re tight.

Round number 2 of Mennonite food, watermelon and rollkuchen. Ben and I spent several days staying at my aunt and uncle’s house (this is there place here).  Thanks again for a great visit!

Here are my grandparents at the church where they were married.  This year they will celebrate 60 years together! That deserves a WOOT WOOT in my humble opinion.

 

My cousin Max tearing it up on his bagpipes.  He’s incredible!

My cousin Amber, on the Giesbrecht side got married.  Here she is getting all hitched.

Here are the three Giesbrecht brothers (my dad and uncles) singing a few numbers at the reception.  My cousins and I had a good time coming up with names for their band – we figure they could take their act on the road.  G-cubed, the G’s-brechts, the Giesbrecht Brothers Three….really the possibilities were endless – any other ideas out there?

The Giesbrecht Cousins with my grandparents - we’re missing my brothers Dallas and Dustin, and Ryan’s wife Isobel.  You were all missed! 

The next picture is all of us doing our “silly shot”  Might I point out that it’s pretty much just the kids being ridiculous,and the parents just giggling.  Some things never change.  And I’d like to give the award for the most random pose to Ben here.

  

 

Well that pretty much sums it up.  Hope you enjoyed the tour that was our holiday, from the car ride out east, to the food we ate, to the family we saw. 

Until I feel like writing again,

Karmyn

I’m baa-ack

Well, we’ve returned from our holidays, and we had a great time.  I wish I could promise you that I will write a long, detailed post about all that we did and saw, but I don’t know if I can guarantee that.  You know how sometimes there’s just too much to say, so it’s easier to say nothing? Yeah, that’s how I feel.  We crammed so much into two weeks, I really don’t know where to begin.  So I’ll just leave you with a photo essay of our trip and we’ll leave it at that.

First up: Nova Scotia.  I already gave you the play by play of our trip out there, so we’ll just jump right to the actual trip.

I celebrated my 26th birthday with the Bokmas this year and it was great.  Here I am eating my birthday breakfast.  I know I may LOOK like I’m trying to be a pirate, but the sad truth is that because of my labyrinthytis, I now have  double vision when I first wake up in the morning, so it’s easier for me to have an eye closed.  In this shot, I didn’t even realize I was doing it, but it was the only way the camera looked focussed to me, so it made sense to have an eye closed.  I do realize however, how ridiculous I look.

Just for fun, let’s see how even more ridiculous I looked when I tried to keep both eyes open and focus at the camera.  I like to call this one “Loving the Lazy Eye”

 

Also for my birthday, Ben surprised me with a whale watching trip!  I’ve always wanted to see a whale, so he planned a trip away for a night to the coast and the next day we went whale watching.  Ben’s parents and sister came too, we had a lot of fun. 

 

We also had a Bokma family reunion with (mostly) the entire Bokma clan, to help his grandparents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. 

We played a lot of this:

Ate a lot of this:

 

And had an open house and honoured his grandparents the best way we knew how: Having Ben dress up in a pink nightgown and pretend to be his grandmother.

 

It was a great week of reconnecting with family, soccer,  good talks, river rafting, great food, more soccer, relaxation and lots of fun.  Ben and I were so thankful that we could be there for the reunion and left feeling full.  (I’m not talking about food there either, although that was probably the case too…)

 

Well, there’s so much more I could write, but frankly, I’m getting tired of waiting for pictures to upload, so you’ll have to wait until later to hear about part 2 of our trip: Saskatchewan.  I know, even that title there makes it sound exciting.   Stay tuned!