Purpose

It's easy to be overwhelmed by looming homework assignments and lately I've been feeling like nothing I'm doing right now has a purpose but tonight I caught a glimpse of a bigger picture. I was able to step back from the daily grind and reflect on what I'm doing here, what I've learned and where it's taking me and I feel better. So I'm thankful for the people in my life who are my encouragers and supporters and for a God whose purpose prevails.

November in a Nutshell

Year after year I'm amazed at how fast these semesters go by. September is settling in, October is midterms and November is prep for finals. This semester has been unique for me though. Instead of midterms and finals I've had presentations and papers...and visitors :) Jared was able to visit two weekends in November and dad will be treating me to the Leafs vs Habs game at the Bell Centre at the end of the month. But first I have two more presentations and two more papers to go! Thankfully that means I only have one final exam on the 16th so I get to have a four week and 5 day Christmas break! (minus the couple days of driving to and from Montreal to write the exam)

While Jared visited we were able to host Kinsey, Ryan and Katelyn for dessert and games. Roomie Amanda joined us for catch phrase too. Ryan also gifted us with his wonderful piano playing and Jared of course with his guitar and singing. It was a great night with friends. 

Our friends from church Morgan and Sam (who I lived with for the month of July) host Jared when he comes to visit and this time we were able to make a meal and bring it over to their place to enjoy with them. We had a hoot together. Those two are a riot! We blared Mariah Carey Christmas music and all sang along while playing Dutch Blitz, talking about and singing worship music and laughing at each other's crazy jokes.

Back at my place we put up our Christmas trees. Yes plural...we have two. I LOVE having Christmas lights. It makes the apartment feel so much warmer and cozier and my heart feel full and it reminds me of all I have to be thankful for and to look forward to. 

The only other thing November means is grad school applications. Dun dun dun... thankfully I don't think I'll be too stressed. I just have to get academic and clinical references, cite my volunteer work and write a little statement about why I want to be a speech pathologist. I'm only applying to U of T and Western so that narrows down my workload. 

So that's my November. Looking forward to two weeks of productivity, a break when pops comes to visit and then a month at home with lots of exciting Christmas celebrations! Yippee :) 

  

Romados Chicken Dinner

A few weekends ago Kinsey, Ryan and I got together after one of my intramural volleyball games and tried out a restaurant called Romados. This little place is literally 100 meters from my apartment and I hadn't tried it yet! Ryan, being the intelligent networker that he is, found out from friends that we should call and order in advance and we were glad we did! We probably saved at least 30 minutes of waiting in line by placing our orders in over the phone. They had something like a Disney Fast Pass line! There wasn't much seating so we took our dinners back to my place and enjoyed each others company and our food. We were so impressed with the huge proportions and the cheap price!

Can you believe there was an entire half chicken underneath that heap-o-fries!?