beautiful break

I just returned from a fabulous (extra) long weekend spent visiting friends old and new. Before that, I was at a 4 day long-weekend camping trip in Michigan with my dad's side of the family, and my brother and sister and their families. I re-learned just how valuable, blessed, hilarious and insightful friends and family are. And just how much I miss them all. This may all be repeat for those of you who read the blogs of others from Dordt...but here are the highlights of the past 5 days:

Wednesday: picked the delinquent flyer Laura D. up from the airport in Toronto. She was reprimanded and disciplined by a flight attendant after getting up right after landing while the seatbelt sign was still on and going to the closet-bathroom because she had to go so badly...as she was trying to tell me of her trials with said flight, I was trying to push her to the parking garage because I wanted to get out in under an hour to save an extra $5 parking fee! We drove back to Hamilton to stay with Beth and Paul, staying up till 2am talking about life after college and the difficulties of finding meaningful work.

Thursday: slept in, sneaked (snuck?) into Beth and Paul's room to call Laurel and Ethan, telling them when and where to meet us to SURPRISE Beth, Paul, Kara, and Jon. Made relish in an hour (well, I don't know if it was relish per se, Paul, sorry--I didn't dare eat it after smelling it) and picked up Kara on our way to a London KOA campground. We're entering the camp headquarters when SURPRISE! Laurel comes up from behind and says "Hi Beth!" Oh, the look on her face, and the exclamation following the 10 seconds of silent wheel-turning... We made dinner over the fire, set up tents (well, one tent, the one we had the correct poles for. The other one had the wrong poles, was held up by string...) and went to Jon's play, Please, Give Generously at Fringe at 11:30pm. Beth and Jon graced the stage with such an amazing performance. What a blessing to be there and enjoy the performance, support talented friends, and marvel at what God does with our abilities and aspirations. Came back to camp, had a bonfire, and snuggled up in a sleeping bag in the midst of seven treasured friends.

Friday: got up early, left on my own for a conference north of Peterborough, Ontario sponsored by *culture is not optional, the ICS, and Russet House Farm. Well, it was at the Russet House Farm. Too many wonderful workshops and discussions to describe, not to mention good times with Laura C., a close friend from high school (and beyond!) and her boyfriend Aaron. Lots of learning about fair trade, local/organic food, music, and homemaking in the empire...ask me more if interested! Oh, I discovered a new love of Bruce Cockburn, for all of you Canadians out there who know who that is!

Sunday: drove home with Laura after the worship service at the farm. Spent some time chatting with my parents, discussing my weekend experiences. Learned about a get-together at my pastor's house for young adults, thought about not going, but ended up calling the Lensinks and going with Alan. Had a blast with friends from church, the (newish) pastor and his pregnant wife, and my former youth leaders, Jason and Brenda, whom I love dearly!

Monday: uneventful. Ran this morning, wearing my dad's heart rate monitor. Discovered that my heart is working way harder than it should for someone of my age and weight--an average of 180 beats per minute, when my target range should be 120-160 bpm during a workout. Eeeee...I'll have to ask the doctor about that when I see her on Friday.

Tuesday (tomorrow): Boo. Back to work. At 6am.

EDIT: I didn't realize how long this post is until after I posted it. Sorry to bore you all!