God sent me four.

Well...it's offical. I had my first breakdown on Saturday. No, I didn't lose my mind, shout, scream, or cry, although I was close...but it was not me that brokedown, it was my dear car.

You see, my car had been making noise last week...which can be normal for my car, so I thought, well, if it gets worse I'll call the mechanic on Monday. But I didn't make it til Monday. Saturday afternoon I'm leaving my friend Vanessa's place in Vancouver, and had been driving for about 15 minutes, when the car just shut down. Shut off. Said no more. Breathed it's last. (At least it felt that way). I tried rolling start, I tried praying for a miracle, I tired puppy dog eyes at the cars passing me...I tried everything I could, being alone and in the middle of rush hour traffic, short of yelling, "HELP ME!"

In these moments, everything inside me is freaking out...yet somehow my composure remains, and my brain shifts into "what do I need to do?" mode...a function I am thankful for. It is a Godsend...

I am convinced that God provides. If I haven't learned this yet, I am simply stupid.

And so, God sent me four...BCAA (a patient and actually knowledgable towtruck driver), Vanessa (who immediately said, "get your butt back here and stay for the night"...and then distracted me with dinner, movie and pear cider), Translink (who I phoned repeatedly..."I'm at Edmonds and Canada Way, and I need to get to Granville and 70th...what buses do I take?"), and the man who owns Edmonds Starters and Alternators, who didn't charge me for labour, just for parts.

What is life without a little adventure? I guess God figured I've been a little bored lately...

Life on the Island

Ok...I have to admit that I am having a lot of fun here at home (just to clarify, I mean my parents' place on the Island) - and miss summers here. Because there is so much outdoors stuff here - rivers, mountains, ocean - all within 20 minutes of my house, I have been having fun...and reminiscing about summers in highschool, when we would pile into a car, find a river, beach, hole (literally...there's one place called the hole), and spend our day in the water.

Today I went to the falls up by my house, off of the logging road, with a couple of friends...here's a picture to make you wish that you had come with us. If you ever come to visit me, I will bring you here.And here's a picture of my parents' house.

Oh, I will hate the day that they sell this place...even if parts of it are falling apart...it is a beautiful place, and the only home that I have ever known (actually, the only home my parents have ever lived in together too...).

So there it is...life on the Island.

Some of my favorite pictures from the summer (Part 2)

Ok folks, here are the rest of the pictures - enjoy!

Here's me and Mel. Mel and I love to scrape paint. Can you tell? If you need anyone to scrape paint, please give us a call...we are more than willing to help out.
Here are the ladies that worked in the kitchen at the church in Heredia, the last church that we worked with. They were great fun (and made really good food!).
Here's Bryan and Carol, doing exactly what we felt like by the end of the summer.
Here is Bryan hanging out with Dawson - he came with his family in the last group from New York and was a gem to have around.
Here is Darrell hanging out with some cute girls...he will make an awesome dad one day, I do believe.
Here's Dawson and Carmelinda...they were very fun to watch together.

Some of my favorite pictures from the summer (Part 1)

Well folks...here's the long awaited photos (part one because my computer is SO slow...part two will come in a few days, hopefully) In the meantime...enjoy a piece of my summer's faves...


Carol and I at Jaco Random shot of Chad, Bryan and Julia fascinated with their arms.I think that this is one of the most beautiful stained glass pieces - look in the background at the buildings ...Oh, the Passion Play - I think my favorite part was us all dressed up, ready to go...and then waiting until the group would be ready for us to "perform"...and so we took pictures in our costumes as we waited.
Nothing like trying to catch a mid-air moment...
Moments like these would remind me of growing up on the Coast - I'd have to pinch myself sometimes and remember that I was in Costa Rica.The classic hands picture - always seems to signify that we can come together, even if we're from different places, different cultures, and speak different languages. And of course, it looks really cool...
Three gorgeous girls: me with Carol and Candice in San JoseBryan and his favorite little guy from La Tabla:
Bryan and Jon have some fun in the souvenir shop...

My mom

Here's a pic of my mom (far right) with her brother and some lady...while I was in Costa Rica, she went and visited my Uncle Bob in Seattle, and joined his choir for a night. She also got to play their huge pipe organ which is worth like 1.2 million dollars...thankfully it didn't break. Isn't she cute?

back home.

Well, here I am. Today I bought a bed. I felt very grown up about this...feel free to congratulate me. (Although it was from Ikea, so I still felt a little college-like in it all).

The last couple of days have felt like I'm dreaming, but have also been really good - seeing some friends and spending some good quality time with them. Tonight I had dinner with my dear friends, Steve and Maria - Maria is a wonderful cook, and so I was very thankful for the dinner (one, because it was free, two, because it was with friends, three, because it just tasted SO good).

So I guess this is the beginning of my life "post-CBC"...and so far it feels good (feel free to overlook the fact that I've hung out at CBC the past two days).

Leaving.

Well, tomorrow I leave. And I have to say that I'm very sad...and right now am refusing to pack. (Or just waiting for my clothes to dry). I want to say thanks to everyone who faithfully read my updates, and who commented, it gave me something to look forward to!

I guess I have to say that I'm leaving home tomorrow...to go home...how does one live with two (or more) homes in their lives? It's going to be even harder to say goodbye this time...it seems to get harder each time. But this time, I'm leaving more or less knowing that I'm going to come back...and probably for two years next time. So...

Anyways, will put favorite pics on when I get home and can use a "real" computer :)
love to you all.