an update...only months later...sorry aboot that!
soooooooooooo, i've been home now for 3 successful months! it has been really good, of course, with it's ups and downs, but for the most part i've been happy being here. i know part of the contentedness and joy comes from being in a place i'm confident that i'm supposed to be in for right now, and having a purpose and goal i'm working towards.
it worked out for me to be in toronto for 10 days,over canadian thanksgiving. that was a lot of fun. i really didn't think it would work out, but my job was starting on the 15th of october and so the timing was perfect. i flew out a couple days before my mom & dad, and flew home a couple days before them. i got to see my extended family whom i haven't seen in a very long time, as well as my grandma who has alzheimers. it was difficult to see her, but so wonderful at the same time.
i'm currently working at costco. i'll admit, at first i hated it. looking back on it, i think it was just a case of the "first-couple-of-weeks-reluctance" or something. these days, i actually enjoy myself, have made some really fun friends and am making really decent money, which i can
NOT complain about.
i'm totally enjoying being home for the christmas season in it's entirety rather than one mad rush of a visit right before i'm about to embark on a two month trip overseas. it's way more relaxed and we put the tree up almost a month ago already since the last couple of years i've only gotten one week to enjoy it.
it's definitely weird to not live in a community or with my friends for that matter. i've spent way more time alone in the past 3 months than i spent in over 2 years in seattle. sometimes that's not my favorite, other times i quite enjoy my alone time. it won't always be this way anyways..
i start my first class this january at the university of winnipeg with the plan to attend Ryerson U. in Toronto for their 4 year midwifery program. i'm stoked to go back to school - i can hardly wait!
so that's the 411 on my life in winnipeg - OH WAIT, did i mention that i'm TOTALLY loving the frigid manitoba winter? oh yes....i love the snow, i love hockey games, i love the cold, i love putting on my snow pants and being outside and i love the fact that i can drive in this kind of weather; a talent & ability that hopefully most of us manitobans have bragging rights to!!
i'm really quite happy. learning still. thinking a lot. hoping to grow more.
peace & love
amanda xo
back in Peg City!!
Hey Everyone....
maybe you've been wondering if i'm home now...and if so, how i'm doing. maybe you haven't been wondering. either way, you're going to find out..
well, so far so good. last wednesday was a tearful day. the ywam staff had a goodbye breakfast for me before my friends julie, bubba drove me up to vancouver so i could catch my flight. they spoke some really nice things to me and prayed for me. it was pretty emotional for me. saying goodbye to like 15 people at the same time is a sad ordeal. especially 15 people that have been in your every day life
solid for the past 2 years.
home has been good, but i am quite eager to get a job and not sit around for too much longer. i've barely been here a week, but i'm ready to get started. well yes, home has been good, good but lonely. i'm used to living in community and now everything has become so silent and i've spent a lot of days alone. the suburbs are quiet. my house is quiet. i'm feeling desperate for some NOISE!! i'd even welcome drunk university students running the streets at 2 in the morning. you definitely have a city girl on your hands.
if anyone has any great ideas for jobs feel free to email me (amandasdawn@gmail.com). my plan is to start school in january at UW. i like to call it "u-dub". does anyone actually call it that in winnipeg? the reason (if you're wondering) that i call it that is because i lived in the university district of seattle, a literal 5 minute walk from my front door to the "U-DUB", aka, University of Washington. but everyone just calls it "u-dub" and it's a lot easier than saying "u of w". yeah, so that's that.
my emotions are back and forth, but even in my sadness to be away from seattle, i am sincerely looking forward to what this next couple of years in winnipeg will bring. i went out with some good friends tonight for dinner and talked to my great friend amy on the phone today...all these moments make me so happy. i'm really thankful for God's grace in this time. it could have been a lot more difficult without Him.
sooooo, here i go. i'm gunna giv'er!
peace & luv.
winnipeg in 3 days. WHAT!?
figured i should write something. not sure what to write though. my emotions aren't really one way or another. i have moments of tearing up. i have moments of anticipating what life will be like when i'm back. transition is interesting. sometimes scary. sometimes great.
two of my friends have had their babies. they are both beautiful and healthy little girls. actually, they had them the same day about an hour apart. pretty crazy. i can't get enough of their little fingers and toes. and the newborn baby smell.
here are some random thoughts:
- not very happy because my macbook has a crack in the screen and they want me to pay $750 to get it fixed. excuse me while that is almost how much my computer ITSELF costed. how can anyone charge that much to fix the SCREEN!? hopefully insurance will help me out. i'll give an update soon.
- i will miss many restaurants and all the access to glorious organic food
- how am i going to go to school? YIKES! i haven't gone in like 8 yrs.
- my friends....my family here....goodbye = SAD.
- winnipeg - yay! SNOW...... no thank you.
- seattle is the best city in the world...why the HECK am i leaving? oh.....it's okay i can visit.
- jamba juice really needs to come to canada
- again - snow...no thank you.
- happy to see my friends & family in the Peg
- thankful for all the people in my life both far and near
- here i come "real canadian superstore"
- canadians slurpees......finally finally finally!
these are some of the things roaming the long windy roads in my brain. i'm doing good though. i'm ready for this. but a mix of emotions as well......not that i can articulate them too well.
that's all for the moment. more to come soon, i'm sure.
love to you all.
BABIES ON THE BRAIN
Now don't get all freaked out - I'm not pregnant or planning to be anytime soon. =) But, I can still have babies on the brain and pregnant women.
1. I have 3 friends all due within the next couple of weeks or so.
2. I'm reading this incredible book called "
Baby Catcher"
3. My plan is to go to school so that I can one day be a midwive and "catch babies" myself.
4. I'm completely fascinated by pregnancy & natural birth (if that isn't already apparent)
How did this happen to me? The really crazy part is that when I was but a wee one, I told my Mom that when I grew up I wanted to be a "baby doctor". Later, in the miserable years of Junior High, I had to put one of those dumb quotes in my 9th grade yearbook, and because I had no CLUE what I wanted to be, I said I wanted to be a pediatrician. Then I went off galavanting across this earth loving people and different cultures and really had no idea where I was headed. I knew I wanted to go to school one day. I also knew that I wouldn't step a toenail into University or College unless I was sure I had a reason to be there.
In the meantime I met one of my most dear friends ever. Her name is Mel. She lives here in Seattle with her husband Ben & their 4 year old (and coolest kid ever) Jaya. She just recently graduated from Seattle Midwifery School & has plans to start her own practice with another Midwife friend of hers with a primary focus on Somali women. From spending countless hours with her and asking questions and just hearing her talk I found myself thinking quite seriously about both Midwifery as a whole and the idea of myself being one.
Last week Mel asked me to join her for her prenatal appointment (she's one of the 3 friends due in the next couple of weeks). I enjoyed every minute of it (even when some of those minutes I had no idea what they were talking about...big words flying over my head left, right & center). Her midwife was very excited that I want to be a midwife too & let me do everything she did. So, I got to measure her uterus, feel the baby's position and listen to the baby's heartbeat. I tried like 10 different instruments to hear the heart....and eventually heard it loud and clear and it was a sound I can't wait to hear over and over again.
That appointment sealed the deal. I've never wanted to do something so bad! In fact, later that day I was downtown Seattle and I saw a very pregnant lady and it was all I could do to stop myself from asking her if I could measure her uterus. haha. Um....yeah, calm down Amanda. I've heard "patience is a virtue" - and one that I'm in desperate need of.
It's going to be a very interesting next few years, but I welcome it with very open arms.
.peace & love.
i will miss this
lately my friends (who live in my house) and i have been hosting dinner for whoever wants to come. we call it "family dinner" or "community dinner" and invite our friends and then they invite their friends, and sometimes totally random people show up. i think it's super cool. i've made new friends in the u-district (where i live in seattle). we had one last night, and my friend Lucas and i made dinner.
the people who come are from all walks of life. it reminds me of something Jesus did....it reminds me of how Jesus didn't surround himself with "believers" alone. people are able to come as they are and they're offered a place of acceptance, laughter, new friends and good food.
i'm really sad that i won't be here for many more. *sigh* - just one of the many things i will miss when i leave seattle.
an update:
First of all,
THANK YOU to everyone who reads this blog! Seriously, I had quite a few responses to the last blog I posted. So just to let you know, some really good people that I've known for a long time happen to be in Abbotsford, BC for their sons (and my good friend) wedding and have offered to take a bunch of my boxes home to Winnipeg with them!
I will be flying home the first week of September (I'll find out the date tonight when I book my flight). I'm really looking forward to it though I'm enjoying my last few weeks here in Seattle. Yes, it will be sad to leave, but I feel ready for the next season of my life. :)
Also, many of you have been asking me what life will look like for me once back in Canada; what my plans are, etc. It is a little bit scary to voice my plans so publicly, only because...well honestly, the fear that I'll change my mind and you'll all think I'm crazy. haha. No, I've actually come up with a plan that I feel really confident about and excited to pursue.
Well, I guess the obvious is that once home I'll try to find a job (oh what fun) and when January rollls around my hope is to start school. Haven't decided where yet - I'm between Red River & UW. Anyways, I really want to be a Midwife, and my very tentative plan as of now is to attend SMS (Seattle Midwifery School) once done my first year of school. Of course, some of this is subject to change since by the time I'm done my prereqs 2 years or something like this will have gone by. But, that's at least the general direction I'm headed. I've never had a 5 year plan before and it feels very.....hmmm.....strange. Strange, yet great!
That's the long & short of it.
Miss you all....email me, call me, write me, etc. I'd love to hear from you!
Peace & Love.
the long road home...
I am moving back to Winnipeg sometime the first week of September. However...I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how to get myself and all my stuff from two years of living here, home. I am posting this blog to ask for any
IDEAS or
HELP any of you clever folk out there might be willing to give.
So, this is short and sweet and simple. Please, if you have any idea, or connections (cheap car rentals, etc) let me know. Any help you could give is greatly appreciated.
As I write this I am sitting on the floor of my bedroom with piles of stuff surrounding me feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Yuck.
much love,
manda :)
