I’ve always meant to send a Christmas letter but never got around to it. Since so much has gone on in my life this past year and there is so much to come I thought it would be best to send one this year to catch everyone up at once. In the past twelve months I have lived in three provinces.
From January until August I completed the last two thirds of my twelve month internship at
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and think about the wonderful people I met and adventures I had there on a regular basis.
While on internship I had a number of opportunities to travel. In February I returned to
This summer was very busy for me. I was back home in
A couple of weeks after the wedding my parents made the long trek out to
While they were visiting we received news that my Nana Nikki (dad’s mom) was not doing well and not expected to live through the night. She made it through that night but didn’t survive the week. At the beginning of August she passed away after declining for many years. It is comforting to know she is finally at peace and reunited with my gramps.
In August before leaving
Upon returning to
This fall I completed my last semester of my Master of Divinity degree at Lutheran Theological Seminary,
This past week I yet again packed up my car and hit the road. This time for BC! I made it back to BC just in time as the snow hit the interior of BC and the very cold weather has hit
I will be spending the next few weeks visiting with friends and family. I have my “colloquy” exam on the 29th of December. This is the final process where I am approved for ordination. I prepared a written exam in November and have submitted this as well as my evaluations throughout my degree process to an examining committee. I will meet with them at the end of December to discuss all of this.
After my colloquy I will pursue a call to a congregation. Once I have a call to a congregation I will be ordained. I wil let all of you know when this is to happen, I would love to have all of you there!
Throughout this very busy year (these stories are just a small part of all I’ve been up to!) I have over and over again been so grateful for the love and support of my friends and family. I would never have been able to get to this point in my journey without all of you. Thank you for your support, love, hugs, caring emails, great chats online, in person or on the phone, prayers and all of the other wonderful ways you have supported me this year!
My parents are doing well. My dad is adjusting to retirement rather well photographing up a storm and doing some travelling. My mom is looking forward to retiring this June.
My brothers continue to make my parents life interesting. They are both living at home.
I invite you all to check out my blog www.canadianlutheranchick.blogspot.com to find out what I’m up to!
Many blessings to you and yours this Christmas season!
Kristen
I'm still working away on papers but this looked like fun. Though I think it's rather American, I'm still going to try it. You're supposed to bold the things you've done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child (World Vision)
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (a cheesy instructional one in the 90's that apparently is still out there)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout (GUIDE) Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I have the best of intentions, but I am on the bone marrow donor list)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (twice)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous - or infamous?
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
Yes I'm still alive. I apologize for the lack of posts. I am 2.5 weeks away from finishing classes for my MDiv! It's a little overwhelming at this point as I work to finish up papers, presentations and other assignments as well as put together all the documentation and paperwork for my colloquy. Colloquy will be the end of December. It is the official process the church approves me for ordination. It requires a lot of paperwork and a written response to three questions.
I will be finishing classes here on the 4th of December and will hopefully have only one last paper left and finish that and hit the road for BC!
Some days it feels like it has flown by but most of the time I can't wait to be done!
Well I made it through the first month. September was crazy busy. Not only was it moving back to Saskatoon and getting settled and getting back into the groove of being in school but I also had an intensive course on 3 weekends and 2 days during orientation week. We had class three out of the last four weekends on top of the regular classes I'm taking. It has been completely exhausting but last Saturday was the end of the intensive!
I am totally exhausted, fighting allergies/cold and had a cold just a few weeks ago so I'm glad the next two weeks are a bit quieter. Reading week begins in two weeks and I'll be back in Richmond for the week spending quality time with family and friends. I am looking forward to that immensely. The last three times I have been home in the last 13 months were for Christmas, sister's wedding and grandmother's memorial service so I'm glad to have some time to just be a home and with friends.
It was beautiful here in Saskatoon last week but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. We had temperatures up to 28 degrees on a couple of days but it is definitely fall here now, cold and windy!
I will post some pics soon.
Well, I'm back in Saskatoon and most of the time I am glad to be here. It is challenging at times to be back in school and away from parish ministry but I am enjoying the classes I'm taking and the learning I'm doing.
I only have one last semester here and then I'm in the real world in whatever form that may take. As I prepare to finish my seminary journey I have been reflecting on the whole experience from first thinking and praying about it, seeking out wise people in my life and confiding in them my call and then making the decision through to my two years at VST, year in Saskatoon, internship year in Pass Lake and now back here.
One of the first comments I heard when I was first discerning this call was that I was going to become a "feminist back bencher pastor" and I'm still not sure what exactly this particular person meant about this but I have realised that I have become feminist in a way.
I read a lot of blogs on a regular basis and tonight I read this one and it really resonated with me. It describes why I too won't turn down my "crazy feminism".
Well I have returned from yet another fantastic youth gathering. This one was a little different as it was in Whitehorse in the Yukon territory. We flew from Thunder Bay to Edmonton and then joined a few other people to make up 13 buses and 2 mini vans (about 600 people) on a road trip up to Whitehorse. We stayed in Fort St. John and Watson Lake along the way, doing the same thing on the way back. I got home this afternoon and am completely exhausted. I will post more about the youth gathering later.
I wanted to fill you in on my itinerary for the next week or so as it will be very wild and may be bringing me close to you! Here is my plan:
Sunday August 24
Last Sunday in Pass Lake, worship at 10 followed by good-bye luncheon
Drive to Kenora, ON
529 km
Monday August 25
Drive from Kenora to Saskatoon, SK
1,046 km
Tuesday August 26
Drive from Saskatoon, SK to Lake Louise, AB
794 km
Wednesday August 27
Drive from Lake Louise, AB - Golden BC
Have car inspected, registered & insured
Drive from Golden, BC - Calgary, AB
Fly from Calgary, AB - Vancouver BC in the evening.
360.5 km
Thursday August 28
Memorial service for Audrey (Nixon) Steele (Nana Nikki)
Friday August 29
In Vancouver
Attending wedding
Saturday August 30
Fly from Vancouver, BC - Calgary, AB
Drive from Calgary, AB - Saskatoon, SK
Settle in and get ready for school starting on Tuesday, September 2!
606 km
So on our bus trip to Whitehorse we traveled 4386km by bus. Next week I will drive more than 3300km. So in 3 weeks I will have travelled over 7700km and been through or in 5 provinces and one territory! What an adventure!
Here are a few more pics from my sister's wedding. These ones are from the professional photographer who did an amazing job I think.
The ceremony was at Minoru Chapel in Richmond. This first shot is when I was doing a reading during the ceremony.
Here am I and my super tall sister! I love this picture!
Here is the whole family complete with new addition brother-in-law Tim. My brothers no longer have to fight over who's the tallest because Tim clearly wins!
Time is flying here in Northwestern Ontario. Summer has finally arrived and the bugs have come along with it. The weather is beautiful and sunny and I am enjoying lake time, some road trips on my day off and the warm weather.
My car is in the process of dying and so I went out last week and found a great little car to buy. My parents arrive on Saturday and so we will hopefully be completing the purchase next week!
This is the week of BC visitors as I have a family from my home congregation in Richmond passing through on Thursday to stay overnight as they move to Southern Ontario. I am looking forward to visiting with them and showing them my piece of heaven.
I am very excited about my parents' visit and have lots planned for them while they're here.
After they leave it will be all about getting ready for Whitehorse! We head off in 3 weeks from yesterday, can't believe how soon that is!
Well that's it for me right now. Hope you're all enjoying summer wherever you are (well at least in the Northern hemisphere!)!
The lovely toilet paper brides at the wedding shower!
Kat & the oh so cute Charlotte Rose, so nice to visit with them and 
get to know Charlotte better, she's a sweetheart!
I had a fantastic week and a bit at home the highlight of which was my sister's wedding. She married the love of her life Mr. Timothy Westbrook on Sunday and the wedding was gorgeous. She decided to do a lot of the work herself and so the week before the wedding was very busy but we had lots of fun. Here are a few of the pictures taken by various people. When I get a good picture of my sister & brother-in-law (how weird to say that!) I will post that but you can see him in the white shirt directly behind my sister, the guy with the beard beside him is his best man. 
Here is a shot of my two best friends and I, they were at the wedding and helped with the guest book.
And a shot of the father daughter dance. 
This is day after dim sum with the bridal party, Tim's parents, my family and the bride and groom of course.
Well I have been contemplating all day what to blog. 
I wanted to write something profound and reflective and I might do that in the next post but right now I'm just going to share some pictures of my garden. The woman whose house I live in (who now lives in a care home in Thunder Bay) was an avid gardener and so I am blessed to have a garden full of flowers. I have also continued the tradition and planted a vegetable garden which has just begun to sprout.
Spring here was a long time in coming so all the plants are late this year. It has also been rather wet. The last picture is of my beaver pond in my backyard. The grass line in the middle of the picture is where the water is supposed to end and if you look closely you can see the concrete lid to my well completely submerged. The beavers have once again been successful at blocking the culvert and so the water is at road level yet again.
It has been cold and rainy here and so days of sunshine like this one are most welcome. We're supposed to have thunderstorms with more rain tonight and possibly rain all weekend so I am enjoying the bright light in the sky this afternoon!
Way back when I wrote a bit about a day in the life when I transported two chickens around the community after a few power outages. Well I thought I would blog about today, no power outages but a busy day!
I agreed to take someone from the community into town (Thunder Bay) today because she doesn't have a car and needed to pick up some cedar mulch for her garden among other things. So I picked her up at 10:30 this morning and we began our trek into town. We had a great lunch at a new Chinese buffet in town first and then began our errands, Home depot for mulch which we loaded into my car in the middle of a rain downpour, Dollarama for other items, Canadian tire for a few items, clothing store to get my dress for my sister's wedding, Superstore for groceries, Shell for gas, Value Village for books and then to a little store in a neighbourhood I'd never been in to pick up marzipan and other items. Are you tired yet?
We then headed back to Pass Lake and on our way to drop off cornstarch at someone else's house we passed a car in the ditch. We stopped checked in with two other Pass Lakers who had stopped and were helping the driver (she was ok). They were just waiting with her for the cops and tow truck to arrive. We dropped off the cornstarch and headed back to drop off my passenger, passing again the accident scene. We got to my passenger's house unloaded her 8 bags of cedar mulch, groceries and other purchases, then I picked some rhubarb because she had lots and doesn't eat it, got some chives and a basil plant. On my way home I stopped at the church and made some iced tea and got some water and stopped at the accident scene to give some beverages because by this point it was hot and sunny and I'm sure they had been there for at least an hour. When I got there the tow truck had just pulled up as well. I stayed with them until the car was hooked up and pulled out of the ditch and the driver was heading back to town with her now totaled car.
Got home about 6:30 to start my sermon for tomorrow (I usually write on Fridays but that's another story)! Finished my sermon about an hour ago (going to be a short one tomorrow) and started chopping rhubarb. I now have a big pot of rhubarb on the stove stewing and a large and small crisp baking in the oven.
I think I'll sleep well tonight!
Tomorrow it's supposed to rain all day which is too bad because the fire team is hosting a father's day golf tournament (with a 10AM tee time, arggh). Anyone who shows up for church will be invited to head across the parking lot for lunch at the post golf bbq at the fire hall instead of coffee in the church hall to show support for the fire hall and all their work.
Things are always interesting here in Pass Lake!
6 Things.
I've been tagged by Murrayville Mom's Mom who used to be the church secretary at my home congregation but is now retired and living life to the full.
The idea is to share six unimportant things about myself and then to tag six other people to do the same thing.
Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your entry
So...Here are 6 things you probably did not need to know about me.
1) I am addicted to Facebook. I'm always checking what everyone is up to, joining new groups and most of all playing games on it.
2) I lived in two houses from when I was born until I was 29 since then (almost 2 years) I've lived in 3 houses in 24 months and the moving will continue. I hope in a year from now I'll be in somewhere a little more permanent but before then I have at least 2 more moves to make!
3) I have two goldfish, Spike & Buffy. I started this fall with 3 but one escaped on the way from my house to the church when I turned the corner and the bowl fell over. After that rather disastrous 3 km ride I will not be taking them with me across two provinces to Saskatoon in August.
4) I'm allergic to ridiculously silly things like raw carrots, celery, peaches, pears, apricots and almonds, all foods I enjoy a lot so I am always on the prowl for new ways to cook them so I can eat them.
5) In the joy of moving so often (see #2) I now have items stored in 3 different provinces. I have books and other miscellaneous stuff in BC at my parents' house, kitchen stuff and a bike in Saskatoon and most of my stuff here with me in Pass Lake. I look forward to the day I can have all my stuff in one province and hopefully one house!
6) I have an amazing group of friends from many different areas of my life high school, university, camp, work, VST, girl guides, LTS and others. I always have fun bringing them all together for BBQ's and gingerbread house making nights because they are all so different and yet so wonderful. I also very much enjoy spending time with each of them individually and hope that maybe soon I'll be living closer to many of them!
Here are my 6 people: Celia, Demara, Kristin, Nicole,
Mick, and Erik
Well this week has been a bit overwhelming. It seems like news, mostly bad has been pouring in in the last week or so. I did have a bit of good news (Congrats Jason & Erin) but it seems like there has been a lot of brokenness in the lives of people who are near and dear to me. I can't go into details but just ask that you keep them (and me) in your prayers. It's times like these that being 4 provinces away is very difficult even though I know there's not much I can do even if I were there.
To end on a high note we had a beautiful confirmation service this morning with 3 young men being confirmed. It was a beautiful service. I'm off to the confirmation celebration BBQ because spring has finally come to Pass Lake, at least for a day!
Well, I had no idea it had been so long since I had updated! I'm so sorry. Life has been very busy here in Pass Lake. At the end of April I attended the MNO (Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario Synod) Convention in Dauphin, Maintoba. We flew to Winnipeg, spent the night there and woke up to snow and ice. It was quite the bus trip from Winnipeg to Dauphin with ice and snow on the highway. It was a great convention but quite exhausting, lots to take in and many late nights. Sometime since my last post I travelled with some women from the congregation to Duluth, MN for a daytrip of shopping. Unfortunately the trip back included a collision with a deer, not a pretty sight. I now understand one of the reasons why it's good to have a big truck. If we had been in my car it would have been a much more serious situation. The deer are all over the roads in the spring in this area. I try not to drive after dark as they like to run out on the road unannounced.
Last week I was in Minneapolis for 5 days for the annual Festival of Homiletics (preaching). It was an incredible week packed with many worship services and speakers. Over 2100 ministers from all over North America and a few other continents attended. The speakers were the cream of the crop. Many of them I had read and it was pretty incredible to hear them speak about preaching and most of all to hear them preach. It was also nice to spend some time in a city. We stayed right in the centre of downtown Minneapolis and walked all over. I even had an opportunity to experience the Mall of America, just a really big mall, I didn't find it all that exciting. It was nice to catch up with friends and make new friends.
This week is catching up after a week away, getting ready for confirmation Sunday coming up this Sunday and continuing to plan for the youth trip to Whitehorse this summer and other summer events.
Spring is very slow in coming to this part of the world. It was beautiful and warm in Minneapolis last week but rained all weekend here. Monday at one point I looked out the window to see wet snow falling!
I haven't had my camera out much so I don't have any pictures to share right now. Hopefully I'll get some from friends in Minneapolis and share them soon.
I'm always curious who's reading so please comment!
So just after I found out where I was going for internship (I found out a year and 3 days ago) I was talking to my friend Brent on his birthday and talking about Thunder Bay and he recommended seeing Kakabeka Falls. So I finally took the time and went out there. They were spectacular. This was a great time of year to see them as half of them were still frozen while the other half were in full force. I will have to check them out later in the summer.
Thanks Brent, they were beautiful!
Well I know I haven't posted in ages and I apologize for that. Apparently the first half of the internship is a walk in the park compared to the second half. Things have been really busy and at times not so pleasant. They seem, for the most part, to be on the upswing. The next few months of my time here will be very busy. I will be on a trip every month from now until August.
I took a day off today for the first time in a couple weeks and went to Kakabeka Falls (last picture & more to come) and Marina Park. The first few pictures are from there. The most well known landmark in the area is the Sleeping Giant. The Sleeping Giant is on the same peninsula as Pass Lake. In the first two pictures you can see the Sleeping Giant as visible from Marina Park.
Easter was wondeful, although busy of course. I assisted at a service in town for Maundy Thursday and then led Good Friday and Easter Sunday here in Pass Lake. We also had a community Easter breakfast that was well attended by many at the community hall.
The youth and their parents have been working very hard to raise enough money for their trip to Whitehorse this summer. We have made hundreds of dozens of perogies, had a snow machine rally, a shrove Tuesday pancake supper and a dinner and concert so far. They are past the halfway mark in their fundraising.
I would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment if you're still reading!
I'm in Thunder Bay for a few hours today but don't have time to post much so here are some pictures and when things settle down I will post text to go with them!
