Big Game Night

Dad came for a visit this past weekend. That meant dinner at Reuben's, Habs vs Leafs game, cheesecake back at Reuben's :) Then breakfast at Eggspectations, church and a little bit of Christmas shopping. Short and sweet! 

Kinsey and Ryan are die-hard leafs fans so they scalped tickets last minute and joined us for the game and cheesecake afterwards. Such a treat! 

Oh PS big win for the Canadians! 4-2 woot woot! ;) 

PPS. Apologies for the the red-eye and blurriness. 

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!?

Roomies!

It's time you all met my roommates! I have three: Kim, Amanda and Erica. This weekend Amanda's parents came to visit (and spoiled us with dinner and dessert!) so we finally got a picture of the four of us together. 

Me, Kim, Amanda, Erica

Now, a little bit about them. Kim from Calgary is studying Opera, Amanda from Oklahoma wants to do speech pathology like me and Erica from Peterborough is studying English.

The four of us met in our first year residence, Douglas Hall and now in fourth year we are all reunited!

It's not often that we're all home at the same time but when we are there's lots of singing and laughing and cartoon watching. It's a good time.

I'm very thankful for the amazing roommates I have had throughout my time at McGill. I have been so blessed.

Young Love

I was a bridesmaid for the first time this summer. It was such an honour to be a part of the day that my dear friend Malorie married the love of her life, Mr. Zachary DeBruyne.

In Montreal though, when I tell my classmates that I have friends getting married their first question is always, “How OLD are they???” to which I respond, “Oh, 20-21, but we’re from a small Christian community, it’s not uncommon”, to which they respond, “Oh”, with the look of bewilderment still plastered all over their faces.

When I say it's not uncommon, what I mean is that last year even Kinsey and Katie were getting tired of me shouting from my bedroom, “Another engagement!! Another engagement!!” as I scrolled down my Facebook newsfeed which was/is covered in pictures of diamond rings.

All these weddings back home get me thinking about some of the differences between my friends at home and my friends at school. I’m not sure if it’s being at McGill or being in Montreal, probably a combination of the two that make people’s heads spin when I mention marriage at the age of 21. 

I love that my friends are finding love and getting married. I am so happy for them and so proud of them for committing their lives to loving each other with Christ's love. 

“Real love, the Bible says, instinctively desires permanence.”
― Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage: Finding Happiness in Your Most Profound Relationship

Here are some pictures of Mal and Zack’s wedding. It was such a beautiful celebration of God’s work in their lives and I was so blessed to have been involved.

 I also had the pleasure of joining the wedding party on a post-wedding wine tour in September, which was such a blast! Mal and Zack have such an amazing group of friends and I’m so thankful that Mal and Zack brought us all together J

The Montreal Half-Marathon: A September Success

I've been posting about this for months now via facebook and instagram and the day finally came! For four months I ran 3 or 4 times a week anywhere from 5 to 16k on any given day and then Sunday September 22 I ran 21k in 1h56! I placed 168th (out of 683) in my age group and was 1167/5999 women!

Kinsey and Brad came over the night before the race to help me carbo-load and then Ryan joined later in the evening for games night. We love Monopoly Deal!

The three also came out to cheer me on! The race finished at Parc Lafontaine and the streets were lined with crowds of supporters. Kinsey, Brad and Ryan each were holding up a sign for me. I couldn't hold back a smile. I have the greatest friends. I kicked it into high gear to the finish line so that I could run over to them to celebrate as soon as I could!

The race started out on the Jacques Cartier bridge and it was rainy and cool but once we got running the rain stopped and the temperature was perfect. We all had to hop around to avoid puddles but it wasn't so bad. We ran through La Ronde which is an amusement park and then through Old Port by the Canal, which I love. The 18th kilometre (give or take) was entirely uphill but I had worship music blaring, supporters cheering and I closed my eyes and gave it my all! Going into the race I had estimated that it would take be between 2 hrs and 2:15 so when I realized my pace was going to get me in much closer to the 2 hour mark I was excited and was even more motivated. My competitive spirit kicked in pretty much as soon as the run started. Ha.

Going into race day I thought this would probably be my one and only half-marathon. It was just something I wanted to say I'd done. Now that I've done it though...I'd do it again in a heart beat. It's a great feeling.  

Also, big thank you's to Morgan Thrall and Michelle Powell for being my running buddies this summer :) Love you ladies! 

So there you have it!