Rollercoaster

I believe that every day can be measured in terms of different amusement park rides.

Some days are like a carousel - tame and predictable, they go round and round, and you feel like you've seen it all before. Some days are like the teacup ride - amusing at first, but gradually sickening. Some days are like the Vomitron - just plain horrible from start to finish, leaving your head spinning and stomach churning. Some days are like a haunted house - sort of scary at the time, but laughable later.

Today was a rollercoaster.

It started off with me forgetting to set my alarm and waking up late. It got a bit better when I managed to be ready on time. Later it went downhill again when I had a couple of horrible tests at school, but it improved drastically when I got home and found a Christmas present from my best friend in Australia. I was ecstatic, on the top of the hill, when suddenly my sisters ran upstairs, tears streaming down their faces, telling me Brooke's pet rat was dead. As silly as it may sound to you to be upset over a rat, we were devastated. Death always sucks. Just when we were at the bottom of the hill, things started to pick up again with thanks to some mint icecream and TurboJam. When we got home, Nadine's rat had died too, and down we went again...

As trivial as all those "events" may be, it showed me just how... what's the word, fickle? our emotions are. One second, we're bouncing off walls, the next we're depressed. All it takes is a little thing to make or break our days.

That's why I am so thankful for joy. God's joy is something that doesn't depend on circumstances, situations or even feelings. If you have God's joy, it doesn't go away.

Happiness fades, but joy is neverending.

Updates

I have now been to, spent 2 weeks in, and have sadly returned from Uganda! (Sadly because I never wanted to come back.)

It was the most amazing experience of my life so far.

I am not going to blog about it right now - there's just tooooo much to say, and too much else I have to do at the moment, catching up on school and whatnot - but, if you would like to hear about it, let me know! I can send you a write-up about it, or I might do a post on it later.

Waybalay nyo! Thank you very much! x

P.S. My profile picture is a gorgeous baby girl, Esther, who I met on my trip at Baby Watoto :)

Oli otya!

Oli otya! (That's Ugandan for "Hello!")

For the last week or so, I have not been able to access my blog. When I came onto the Blogger homepage, I entered my email and password as usual, only to find myself on a page telling me I had to have a Google account, and to get one I had to enter my email and password, but when I did, it told me it was invalid and I had to have a Google account! It was all very confusalating, and slightly frustrating, but when I tried again today - expecting I would not be able to blog ever again - I got in, just like I always had! Hmm... I dunno.

BUT I am back now, and I am stoooooooked to say that I am going to Uganda ... TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so ridiuclously excited. Needless to say, I am having a VERY difficult time trying to study for the 4 tests I need to take tomorrow morning (as they would've been the end of this week). As if I could think about anything but Africa at the moment! I'm pretty sure I am not going to do well on the tests, but I couldn't care less, to tell the truth.

It feels very surreal - and I imagine it may very well feel that way even after I come back - but I know it's gonna be an amaaaaaaaaazing experience, and I am filled with bubbling over with joyful anticipation.

I would greatly appreciate your prayers - for our team (10 including me) and our health, safety, etc., and for the people we will encounter over there.

I look forward to telling you all about it!
Thanks and see ya in 2 weeks!
xMWAx

Life is Beautiful

God is so creative!
All photos taken by yours truly - except the squirrel which was taken by my Dad.

Have a beautiful day everyone :)

Song Saturday - 1234

At the moment, I'm loving me a bit o' Feist. She is absolutely amazing.
So, have a listen to her wonderful, wonderful song, 1234. Enjoy :)

1234 by Feist

Jiggity-jig

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig!

Yes, I am home from my school retreat. It was epicly epic.
I had an absolute blast and I am very sorry that it was my last school camp, although I am not sorry it is my last year at school. We played wild games, had fantastic chapels, had mad DPS (Dance Party Seshes), ate delish food, and swam in a ridiculously freezing lake, among other things.

I've discovered that I don't appreciate my school-mates half as much at school as I do at the retreat. You see, at the retreat, alot of the walls break down, alot of the masks come off. It becomes "us" as opposed to "me and them". For some reason, screaming your heads off, nearly freezing to death, eating waaaaaaaay too much sugar, and galavanting about in the dark seem to be part of the recipe to bringing students together. I love watching people coming together, making friends, working as a team. It is sheerly fantastical.

At retreat, we were placed in teams. There were 6 teams - each a different colour, Orange being the best (and, no, Orange being my team does not make me biased! P.S. We were called "The Creamsicles" ...yeeeeeeeah! :) - and these teams were used as the basis for competition over everything between who can yell the loudest to who can blow the biggest bubblegum bubble. I found the point system quite hilarious though. Arm wrestling competition? 20, 000 points. I dunno, I just thought it was pretty funny. Not 20, but 20 thousand! Anyway...

Well, I'm about to fall asleep (though it couldn't possibly be because us Gr. 12s stayed up 'til 3am playing Wii, eating junk and watching Napoleon Dynamite, could it?) so I'm gonna stop because I'm pretty sure you get the point that I loved it and it was awesome, but I just want to say (or shout) one more thing:

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE IS THE BEST GAME EVERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! (Yes, the triple exclamation strikes again!!!) The M.I. we played at the retreat was completely different than Malagash M.I. (which sounds like a certain Hawaiian-shirt-wearing investigator) and in my opinion way more awesomer. The aim was to take a golfball from one end of the field to the other and drop it into your team's bucket without being caught by a spotlight. There were various obstacles (picnic tables, canoes, bins) throughout the field to hide behind. It was ah-mazing. Never have I hit the ground so many times! Run, run - DROP! Run! DROP! Run, run, run - DIIIIIVE! Hide. Run, run - DROP! BOOOOOK IT! Intense, huh? My knees are bruised and my wrist is aching - but it was SO worth it. I got 5 golfballs in! Oh baby, F-I-V-E! I was very proud of myself, aha. Oh man, at one point, I got inside one of the overturned (empty) garbage cans and started walking up the hill with it over my head! The spotlighters said it was very funny, but I was still out. Sad, but true. I've decided my next birthday party is gonna be a game of Mission Impossible because it is the bomb-diggity-bomb.

Anyway... you can probably tell I'm tired because I'm rambling and using phrases like "oh baby/man" and "the bomb-diggity-bomb" so I will let you and myself go now.

Go watch Napoleon Dynamite, GOSH!
Jx

See ya Saturday!

No Tuesday Think today sorry - in fact, not much of a post at all!
Just wanted to quickly let you know I've got my school retreat (gr. 7-12 camp) from Wednesday-Friday and it's gonna be a blaaaaaaaaast! Will tell you all about it on Saturday, I guess. Woot :)
Also, just wanted to say good luck, bon voyage and I'm praying for you to any of my NCC friends who are reading this and who are going to Fiji in a day or two. Love you, have fun!
Smileo! Jx