One Week

Sadly, summer is over. I am moving into a new place back in Abbotsford this weekend and start school and work in only a week. Despite the fact that I have been preparing to move back to Abby all summer long, I don't feel particularly ready. I have been in the process of moving since the beginning of August, and for the past three weeks, all of my junk and all of my furniture has been packed up and in storage which has been, needless to say, increasingly frustrating. It's almost moving day though. I keep having to tell myself that.

August has most defiantly been a busy month. I am feeling absolutely bagged, despite all the holidays I have taken. I finished working at the restaurant on the ninth, and on the tenth, my roommate and I took off to Montana to meet up with some of our friends and his family who were already camping down at Lake Koocanusa. We camped out there from about a week. The weather was amazing and incredibly warm, making it easier to go into the chilly lake. Unfortunately, about half way through our stay, I started to get a little sick and had to take it easy for a few days, but managed to enjoy some beach and water time. My friends and I actually stranded ourselves on the lake when the Sea doo we were scooting around on ran out of gas. Fun times. We managed to beach the Sea doo on this pristine inlet where the water was beautifully clear. Our suffering was short lived.

After a week at the lake, my roomie and I took off up to Abbotsford to get an apartment, which, after seemingly endless tribulations, we finally have. Once we gave all of our money to the landlord, we took off down the Oregon coast. We didn't get very far (being in a vehicle was becoming an arduous task) and stopped by the time we hit Seaside and Cannon Beach. However, we quite happily stopped there as both towns are amazingly gorgeous. We ended up spending two days on the ocean, getting absolutely soaked in the randomly pouring rain, but it was worth it. We had intended on camping, but that quickly was set aside for a few dry hotel rooms. One of the hotels we stayed in was operated by a man who not only looked just like Santa Claus, but played the part every December. And he was quite the jolly fellow.

Eventually we headed back to Linden. The prospect of being able to avoid being in a vehicle was too tantalizing. Also, we really needed to finish getting ready to move.

So now I am idling away my last few days in Alberta. And these are my last few days too. I mean, this time, I am completely moving to Abbotsford. Besides visiting purposes, my time in Linden has come to a close. I hope next summer to find a job or internship with an NGO or aid agency of some sort, or be doing something I absolutely love, and can see myself doing for the rest of my life. Preferably I would be doing that right now, but I'm just going back to Starbucks for now—it works to well with my school schedule.

In a Nutshell

My apologies for not having written on here in several months. Time just slips by so quickly, which can explain how we're already a week into August and I'm heading back to school very soon. My summer has been very busy, and is only going to be busier over the next three weeks.

So I should start with an update I suppose: I am well. I'm battling my allergies, but otherwise, I have been well. Last week, my friend and I finally found an apartment to live in when we move to Abbotsford at the end of the month, so since then, we have kicked into high-gear in regards to moving. Currently Curt (my friend who is moving to Abbotsford with me) and his sister are continuing to rent the duplex I lived in last year (the three of us lived together for a whole year!), before I moved to Abbotsford the first time. Now, because Curt is moving back to Abbotsford, and his sister has no one else to split rent with, she is moving back in with her folks, which, turns out, is perfect for her. There you go; three people are moving out of the duplex all at once. Sadly the duplex is eerily empty now, being that we're pretty much moved out. All that is really left is the cleaning. Whoop-de-doo!

Our plan is to move into the apartment in Abbotsford at the end of August, beginning of September. My classes start on the second, so an earlier move-in date is warmly welcomed. But that is still three weeks away, and these next few weeks are going to be anything but boring! On Sunday, Curt and I are headed down to Koocanusa Lake in Montana. We're meeting up with the rest of his family and a ton of friends, and more people will be coming after us too. We'll be there for a week or so, hopefully I'll spend most of my time relaxing on the beach, getting burned, spending some time on the water….Glorious! We leave from the lake on the 17^th, bright and early in the morning, and continue our journey State-side. We have to get over to Abbotsford for the 18^th to do some stuff for the apartment, bank goodies, work stuff—fun stuff! After that is all said and done, however, we're golden: we have nothing to do, nowhere to be….Right now we're talking about possible going down the West coast and camping along the way, taking our time, meandering our way back to Linden.

My last day of work is tomorrow, which actually makes me a bit sad. The thing about Linden is that it is so full of people who are so easy to love, and they're people you've known forever. Working at the restaurant was such a good summer job. It gave me a break from dealing with customers face to face, gave me some lessons on how to make "Linden Food," and just refreshed me with such a calm environment. Good break. I'm going to miss it. I even got in a few hours at the coffee shop (fingers crossed I'll get a few more in before the big move) which was so good. I love making coffee.

What else…? Hmm. Oh, on Canada Day long weekend, Curt, Laura, and I went off to BC, as usual. What a trip! We spent our first night camping on the Shuswap, which was blissful. Then we took Highway 1 (stopping just north of Kamloops to brush our teeth on the side of the road) all the way through Savona and Cache Creek, down to Abbotsford, stopped briefly at my Starbucks to say hi, and then made our way to White Rock. The ocean felt so good. We stayed with a friend of mine in Chilliwack that night, and headed out for Cranbrook the next day. What a long trip. Highway 3 is beautiful: you go through wine country and the orchards where almost all of the fruit comes from, Osoyoos (where there is a VERY popular lake and switchbacks and hairpins to get in or out of the place), the Kootaneys (where we saw a large black bear on the side of the road), and so much other pretty BC. It was so hot though. Like, incredibly. We were in a tiny two-door black Honda Civic hatchback that had NO air-conditioning. We were driving along in our swimsuits and melting. Eww. We stopped at Christina Lake (which is gorgeous), walked straight from the car, into the lake, and were reluctant to leave. Heaven. In Cranbrook, we loafed with some good friends, former Linden-ers, and head home the next day. We bought about $100 in fireworks and promptly set them off after the 6 hour drive from Cranbrook to Linden was done. Good trip!

DEMO Crew has come and gone in the time since I have written too, I suppose. We'll, no shocker, it was awesome. I was blessed with the role of leader again this year, and this year, I felt like I fit the part so much better. The team of kids we took in (there were 17 of them) were amazing too. There got right in there, just loving on the people they came across. Anyone and everyone! Homeless or not. There was a lot happening within and without us when we were serving, so it was pretty hardcore. Awesome!

I think that is pretty much it, but then again, my memory has been pretty sketchy these last few weeks as a result of accumulating stress. I'll be sure to post some pictures of vacation and the new apartment here though, for all those who aren't yet on Facebook. Love all!