Yo!

Yo to the city! Yo to being off contract! Yo to a bottle of wine with quality friends!

How Sad!

So today is my last full day at the woods, I leave tomorrow to head to the city,
I have had a most excellent summer, It really has been a gift from God to be back here again! I love it!
so here are some highlights of my time here
1- The staff cruise, watching John Wood dance like he "was all that!"
2- Jane and the rest of salvation army kids running to greet me
3- Having the Ireland Fund kids make me smores
4- Having a sing-a-long in the Dinning Hall
5- Roadtrip with Erin and Sarah
6- Worship at Soul House and Cadence
7- Having a spontanous singing session with Johnny Parks
8- Getting an Invite to Ron Sexsmiths concert
9- Being wakened by God for him to tell me stuff
10- Ipod Video, Video, Ipod Video!
11- Hiding in Briarwood to watch a movie
12- Tanning on Maintence docks with Marcy and Remix
13- Catching up with old friends
14- Asking Steph to "cut their we thingys off" completly innocent, then realising what I'd said, Gets us everytime steph!
15- "GO Ahead for the Office"
16- "HeyhoTTie$"
17- That night at windermere!
18- Introducing Erin to Lin Garden
19- LIN GARDEN
20- Dancing with Tina Barlow on Ladies Cruise!! Go Tina!!
21- Having Cathy and Alex as my stand in Mom & Dad!!!
22- Collecting Kirk! oh so many so little space!
and that brings me to the lowlights of the summer!
1- Haveing Johnny Parks try to teach me some of his stuff, embarrassing, Note to self, get interested in local worship leaders!
2- Getting attacked by two chipmunks
3- Being awakened by God for him to tell me stuff!!!
4- John McAuley pulling me up on stage to speak to the staff with no prior warning
5- Lack of Sleep
6- Cabin mate getting sick
7- Lack of Sleep
8- Being too shy around certain peeps so could not speak!
9- Saying bye to friends
10 - Oh Did i mention Lack of sleep!
All in all this summer has been Great, a real gift from God.
To night I am heading into town with some guys for dinner and fun! Bring you own fun thats what I say!
So tomorrow I'm off to the city to hang with Mark Dowds and Claire Dowds! I cannot wait!
Thanks for all your prayers guys!
see you soon! Mwah

Sleepy

So today I am so sleepity sleepy, I dont know whats wrong with me! yeah right! I dont work until 3pm camp time so this morning has been a beautiful morning of hiding out in my room, emailing friends, thinking about stuff, uni, Kirk coming, Wake show etc. Lots of random thoughts, some i'm sure have been God thoughts! A lovely restful morning in the midst of insanity! Just me and Sigur Ros... what better way to spend a morning...! perhaps i'll have one last snooze before my day starts!!! Ha!

Classic

So this is our last week of camp, for those of you that have been here and I mention Classic you will know exactly what I mean when I say.... CRAZY!
This year we have gone onto Classic time so in real time its 7.50pm right now classic time its 8.50pm! Our week started with V for Vandetta game, which included a firework display! sweet! last night was the Pirate Game. The opening show was a big gun fest on the high seas... well the lake anyways, tonight we have the Mario Bros game...all I can say about that is interesting!!! Tomorrow night is girls and guys night and then thurs is the Wake show as well as "wet n wild" followed by the "hello Operator" Concert and then on Thursday night we have beyond the wardrobe, this I will miss as im collecting Kirk! yeah!
Every night finishes with the late show which is nothing compared to a night with Lynsey and Lorna, way back in the day but Robbie and Dave do try!! It is a crazy week of well craziness! The cage is going strong! Lori was well pleased to get voted out last night, she has been quite the social butterfly since! and well Muskoka Idol has started so the auditions will be good to watch! Thanks Ryan for making me do it! James said he is using it!!! (I did the tequila song!! in a complete piss take!!)anyways all for the kids eh!
thats about it for now gotta go and play! see u all!

This is funny!

Design your Sign!!

Check it out!!

How do I tell....

...without sounding like a nerd!
but...well...the weirest thing happened to me today! and to be honest thinking about it, it really is not the best thing to blog about so I'll kinda tell you, but I will really tell you when you ask me in person!
Today was just an average morning at work, I opened at 8am and did what I do, then I finished went and got changed for going to the movies but before I left I ran up to the recording studio to hang out for an hour, Matt was doing some boxin for one of the girls tracks, bless she wrote it herself and is well pleased with it, we are gonna get her radio time (Sarah B can we have some air play please???!!!) anyways... well yeah, so I met someone there... very interesting. Sorry I cant say more but it was fun and weird and he's coming to Belfast and.... wants to hang out... weird! and some of you will be jealous when you find out who he is...or completely indifferent! but whatever, may never happen! Weird, really don't know what else to say! but perhaps...weird!

Busy, Busy

So already we are into week 8 of camp which means ive only been away for 11 weeks! It is hectic here! the underprivledged camps started in week 6 and it was so lovely to see some of the kids I worked with the last time I was here, their warmth continues to amaze me. Jane, one of the young girls from the last time i was here, ran to greet me., Tanner was disgusted with me for all of 3 seconds because I forgot his name and his Brother.... he's a special guy...I could just keep him! I think I should be humbled more by these experience's. I was so sad that my schedule did not allow me to hang out with them as much as i would have like to and it is hard not doing the job I did when I was last here as then I had all the time to hang out! It was my job to cordinate them and their activities and set up program for them etc etc. Oh well The times I got to say hi, they continued to bless me.

It is hectic here and in the midst of it all the girls and I in my cabin have had to go through a bit of an upsettting time with one of our cabin mates, for the week 5 and 6 we really did not get any sleep, so things that happened in week 7 meant we were to get the sleep we need! however week eight is here and I am still not sleeping! until last night!! We had a leadership meeting at 10.45pm last night and after that I came back to the cabin, said night to the girls and slept! yippee! hopefully thats me! kariss and I went out for dinner last night and she was questioning my ability to drive home!!! I got us back safely! I was bad, you know when you dont sleep everthing kinda does not seem real! thats what i've been like the past 3 weeks! and to top it all off i've been getting sick again! even though all my scans and everything has came back as being clear, im still getting sick!!

In saying all this however, i would not change my time here at all, I love it, This place is special, mystical even, the times ive been lying awake God has blessed me so much, he has given me words of encouragement for others, for this place, Big Death Johnny is always pleased when that happens! My time here has been such a gift, I love it, love it, love it, only thing I dont like about being here is that it is too hummid to run!!! and heck no I am not a get up at 5am kinda girl to go for a run - no way!! I am so sad that in a few weeks im leaving, But gotta go back to school and finish what I've started! It's funny how God works the last time I was here when My contract finished all the weird stuff happened and things fell through and even though I did not have anything to go home to I had to go home, now this time... there is a full time job here for me in the city with muskoka woods that Jim (Jimmy Lat's My Boss!!!) at the start of the summer asked would I maybe consider applying and staying for, Rachel is coming over for the fall I coulda stayed up here with her and worked outdoor rec, however I know I need to finish what i started and go back to uni when I get home, funny eh, when i have somthing to do I get all this temptation to stay, but I believe God asked me to do the degree I am doing so I am being very stubborn and not even considering these things, not praying about it or anything, I believe that sometimes God Just makes things clear anyway and sometimes you don't need to pray about things, its like when people say "oh we're gonna pray if we should date" what the... to me that screams...dont date then, if you need to pray about it, if its right God will honor that, if not then he won't and all the prayere in the world is not gonna make a difference, yea, pray when you are dating, when your married but God is not the kinda God to be boxed in to make us feel better on how we make choices, I know I am not supposed to stay, I truly believe God asked me to do my degree so why pray about something that is not in his will for my life right now, does this make sence or do i still have a lot of sleep to catch up on? I just don't want to mock God by praying about somthing I know he has spoke to me about. anyways... for now i will go, spk soon!

Hey Hotties!

So the girls will know why the title of this blog is as it is!
I am beginnnig to love my girls!
I love the fact that now they know what to do and just do it, it frees up my time to blog! kidding, but what it does do is free up time for ministry, we have more time now just to sit and chat and build relationships with one another and my prayer is that in these times I can speak words of life and encouragements to these girls, that I can try to live my life in front of them so I display Christ, that my life will be attractive to them and love them and I love them! Thanks to you all for your prayers while I am here, I believe I am beginning to walk in a way that is more courageous and I am speaking out so pray that I will protected in this and that my words will encourage, strengthen and build up the body of Christ. Thanks guys! And sorry if this is a bit rambly and disjointed! Im not the best at explaining stuff!
Ps - Kirk, of course im looking forward to seeing you!

Sorry

I feel like I have neglected you all lately so sorry about that! To be honest I don't even know where to start with telling you the gossip!
SO... Last night we got hit by the worst storm ever! It was great the sky was green and the rain was like buckets just being poured out of the sky, I jumped out of the truck for 2 seconds to let Craig out and it felt like someone tossed a bucket of lukewarm water all over me! It was amazing, we had a black out and it was really tornado city! Apparently 3 or 4 hit, so this morning was clean up time, we had to close the waterfront until the water tests clear as most of the beach washed into the lake, it was crazy but fun! Great kissing weather!!
anyways!
Really looking forward to Kirk coming, it will be fun, even though we only get to hang out for a weekend and then I head to the city!
Loads more to tell you but gotta fun, Remix is speaking in Impact so best be there! Bye!

Water Babes!

So I'm feeling like a wee bit of a water baby at the minute! the other night the girls and I left poor jim to cover for us whilst we nipped off for a Hot Tub mmmm, so nice! and it is just so great living by the lake! Erin and I finished our shift at 3.30, it was a going great until, Taylor (Neill) for those of you that know all these Canadians I speak about, called me in a panic saying he saw an intruder on property! we were in the middle of accounting for guests which was holding up the office radio! I grabbed my radio and bolted out the office, switching to channel 2 and it was busy too! so I bolted to Jim (lattimore) who was standing down by the store and he got to channel 4 to the exc channel and told everyone to go on a search! it all ended well and good a wee bit of excitement to end the shift and after the stress of it all Erin and I are now just back from the best swim in the lake! LOVE IT! All the northern Irish guys are arriving this afternoon/evening so i'm really looking forward to that! anyways,Remix and I are thinking of heading to New York after Camp for a few days, i'll keep you posted if that is going to work, Still loving it guys! was just telling someone this morning just how much! I like being at home dont get me wrong, but I love being here! miss you all however, think you should come visit!

Attacked!

I just got attacked by the biggest Moth ever, and when I say moth I mean it was more like a flying donkey. Yuk and grosse!

Day Off!

So yesterday was my day off, but it unofficially started on Tuesday afternoon, Erin, Remix, Emma and I drove down to the city, It was a great drive down, It was a fun wee trip singing along to Led Zeppelin!! We eventually arrived at Erins house around 10.30pm, we got unpacked straight away and the girls did a load of laundry then off to pizza pizza for dinner and over to the Drive In! So this was my first ever experience of the drive in! I loved it, $5 for 3 movies! That's 2.50GBP!!! SCANDAL! It was a late night! Then yesterday morning we got up and I had the best shower in a month and a half! Not the only one, just the best one! We headed straight to the shops and honestly I really did spend TOO much money it was a disgrace, I guess being away from the city for a long period of time just makes you spend! We dropped Emma off at the airport so by now she will be back in good ole norn iron! (say hi for me Emma!) after that we set back on our journey up to camp, this time our choice of music was iggy pop! We stopped in Barrie at walmart just to spend more money, as I had been driving all day I asked Erin to drive the last hour up to camp, "For Sure" was her reply! (She is Canadian) she asked me to keep her right! In a lapse of concentration and in need of a drink I scrambled threw the van to grab an apple juice, and forgot to tell Erin where to turn! oops! Our one hour trip home took us about 3 hours, it was so funny, never had we been so glad to get back from the city! and Remix the cheek of it, slept the whole way! I was so wrecked, came back and watched Impact and then "just have to get to bed", but alas I got side tracked again and eventually made it to bed at 2am this morning! Today when I arrived into work there was a package from you all! Thank you so much! I love the jewellery and the CD and the watch and everything! You guys rock! You really should not have! Everyone was like "my friends never send me packages" so Thank you guys, it really makes me appreciate what I have back there, you really are a great bunch of people, Thanks for all your support when I first left in 03 (when this blog officially first started even though I didn't really bother!!)and since I got back in 04 and for being with me when my head was up my butt in 05 and for blessing me now that Im back here in 06! You are great! Thank you! This morning I spent some time with God before I started back to work and he brought a few things back to my mind, That my behaviour is what he is concerned about, he still loves me no matter what, but his desire is that my behaviour and character displays Christ, (how hard is that) he created me to enjoy him, He created Me to Enjoy him, do you believe it! Thank you God for my time off, for my friends, may I enjoy you more everyday, and may I become more like you in doing so, Amen.

Birthday!

So yesterday was birthday! Yippee! I had a lot of fun, I had to work in the morning which was a bit of a pain, but after Ponchi, Lori and I went to The Herron for some icecream and then I came back to camp and had a little party in the wellness centre!! It was a lot of fun! We just got sillier and sillier as the night went on! Greg didn't get there to later so was not impressed with the cold pizza I kept him! I thought I was good keeping some for him! All these randoms that I didn't even know turned up!! (I always feel so wick! All these people keep saying Hi Lorna and I've never even seen them before! awh well!!) so today we are now in the middle of a severe weather warning the guests are in lockdown! I have to keep refreshing the weather page to see if there is any change! There could quite possible be a tornado! Oh what fun!! The lighting is amazing!
Tomorrow I am heading to the city to do some shopping cant wait! I love it, I am so excited about spending the evening in the city I think I will celebrate my Birthday a little more!! Then sleeping in the city and driving back to the woods , mmmmm, thats all I can say about that! For now Goodnight, God bless and see you soon!

Sliver Daisy

So for those of you who know Canada, and Muskoka Woods, you are sure to know of Bracebridge, if you know of Bracebridge you are for sure to know of the "Sliver Daisy" If you know the Sliver Daisy you are to know Todd!
Well... Marcy and I made a little trip there yesterday as I wanted to get a little summit summit! well we both came to the conculsion that the lovely Todd had a little crush on me!! So left feeling very good and extreamly pleased with my purchase!!!!

SlackWire

So today some of us put the slackwire up and gave it a go! it was so much fun, we really did look like we just stepped out of circus school! some of the guys had a few unfortunate incidents however! oh well! I was so plesased to give it a go! my aim is to be able to get back and forth by week 5! i'll let you know how i get on! just heading off to camp fire but thought i'd say a quick hi!

Ever wondered about Wonder?

"There is a fear that Incapacitates us for dealing with God, and there is a fear that pulls us out of our preoccupation with ourselves, our feelings, or our circumstances into a world of wonder. It pulls us out of ourselves into the very action of God. Without wonder, we approach spiritual formation as a self-help project. We employ techniques. We analyze gifts and potentialities. We set goals. We assess progress. Spiritual formation is reduced to cosmetics. Without wonder, the motivational energies in spiritual formation get dominated by anxiety and guilt. Anxiety and guilt restrict; they close us in on ourselves. They isolate us with feelings of inadequacy or unworthiness; they reduce us to ourselves at our worst. Spiritual formation is distorted into moral workaholism or pious athleticism."

-E Peterson

BMX

So this weekend I've just finished working the BMX tournament that we have been hosting, It was so cool, I'm so struck at how dedicated these guys are to their sport, it's their religion! Yesterday and today has been so FUN, and so HOT! I love the fact I am getting tan! No more of that ming white! Yesterday kicked off with the 17 and under intermediate then the 18 and over, it was cool then today we had the 17 and under experienced followed by the 18 and over experienced! Highlights for me was getting chatted up by the winner and helping one of the professionals do his laundry! The hot KG who ended up actually helping me do my Laundry! Marcy and I had lots of fun what with the 180's, 360's 540's and all that?!?! And of course picking out the most random things to make the guys feel good! I congratulated one on his nice side burns, Marcy, however took it a step further! Anyways great old weekend had by all! PWC (Paul Clarke) is providing all the volunteers with a gift so when I find out what it is I'll let you know but its fun apparently! Oh I got a load a cool stickers! Cute! Well gotta go see ya's

CANADA!

Well im here, Back in Canada!
I am so excited to be back! I love traveling and just being free spirited so to be packing my bags and heading west is always a joy!

I arrived on Monday night a little later that expected and just to step of the plane and smell the city was a real joy to me one dishearting moment was went i plugged my mobile into charge it up (to let some people know i had arrived safely) and it displayed that it was not charging I had a little curse at those responsible for recking my travel adapter, but alas new country new time new friends new work dont need to worry about a shitty adapter! just purchace a charger that i can keep here always handy to have!

Got up north late last night after collecting Johnathon from theairport, his luggage was lost for by the airline so had to do a quick stop at wal-mart, which im always up for!!

So just had my firtst breakfast in the woods! Fantastic! again just the smellof the place delights me and makes my toes timgle!

Bless ya all and i'll keep intouch! for now!
Later!

Just cause you told me to!

This is for you, just cause you said I had to update, I have not updated cause im supposed to be studing and well that def does not bring about inspiration!
Anyway sorry!
I'll Have something to say very soon, I jsut know it!

Are we?

Are we as Christians, being spoon fed? or do we think? are we asking the right questions? are we making an impact? are we making a difference? am I being spoon fed? do I think? am I asking the right questions? am I making an Impact? Just a few thoughts!

Um Well Thanx!!

Thank you so much for that!! But really let me tell you about my outward bound trip!
So last week my very good friend Claire Porter and I took a group of 9 girls away on an outward bound trip, they where aged between 13 and 15 yrs old! Well what can I say....Except it was.... Interesting, to be honest I actually really enjoyed it, but it had its fair share of troubles, you know the kind, the ones you are guaranteed to get when you throw a group of girls in the one room for a week!
Anywho! I think we accomplished what we intended to! Build relationships etc and all that! battery going so will need to shoot on! will speak more soonand ask me if you wanna know more about our week away!

OUtward Bound

Outward Bound

Lorna 'the hacker' mcausland did not choose for this post to be......posted. but it has been anyhow.
H

I'll not go there to buy an Easter Egg!

Oh Rach! It better be big and Beautiful!! Whoever said its the thought thats counts sucks!! They Lie!

Oops!

So my brother is getting married on the same day as one of my exams! Ha, whats a girl to do? The Wedding is at midday and my exam starts at 9.30am it lasts for two hours! 11.30am I get to leave! My uni is over one hours drive away from the wedding destination! Oops! any suggestions!!? Do you think this is a cicumstance that will allow me to resit! Ha, lucky I'm so easy going, I think its hilarious! awh well i'll get it sorted someway, just thought i'd give you a giggle!!!

Me!

So Pauline thinks I should be a writer! whats that all about?

Just good at writing thoughts thats it really!

aint it funny

so yesterday I was on msn chatting with a friend, it was refreshing shall I say, Its nice to know you are not the only peson in the world with a little secret! Thanks for chatting and all your help! you know who you are.....ssshhh! see you Friday!!!

Huh?

So on new years eve our associate pastor gave us out little questionaires, he called them an "opportunity to reflect and dream" , to fill in about how God had worked in our lives during 05, One lesson we had learnt in 05 , how our faith had been in 05, one regret in 05 etc etc then through into 06 and what our hopes for our faith would be, what we would like to change etc in 06 and our desires for 06, blah blah.
I have not forgot about this little sheet of paper that I purposely put into my day planner so I would see it and remember what I wrote that ngt, even though it is there however i have found that I still have not changed in 06 the one thing I wrote about, My procrastination, I am forever putting things off, I hate confrontation so would rather pull my hair out and my fingernails off than tell someone how they are making me feel, I hate having to write essays and would rather waste time blogging or emailing than actually doing it, even though I always end up enjoying writing them, and always feel better once i have confronted the person about the way they are behaving, I hate when I keep myself so busy that I refuse to listen to God, to spend time with him because I know my actions have disapointed him and he wants to confront somethings, and again I know I will feel better, that place of surrender is a place of freedom, does anyone have the answer to why I, we, as a race do this, I like living independantly, I don't like the feeling of someone putting to much faith in me or relying on me, you see I'm a runner and dont like to feel trapped, (was chatting with a lady at work and she knocked it on the head when she said I really was a free spirt) so you see it is alien to me to live this life of surrender, I find it so hard to be held unto by God, the things he hates are sometimes the very things that I seem to stumble right into, yet through it all he is still there, holding on, so gently, to prevent me from running, he knows me better than I know me and is aware of how subtle he has to be with me, he knows i work better that way, never forcing me to talk, never forcing me to spend time with him, but desiring it non the less. He is such a gentleman. yet I hurt him daily, my sin causes so much hurt to him, it breaks his heart, more than i can ever imagine, and i don't just mean a bruised heart that we humans sometimes have, i mean a completly broken heart right into pieces, one thing God is talking to me about is how I break his heart, I dont want to be responsible for that, but I am, I need to stop being rebellious and just be up front and honest and just say sorry, thats all it takes really, a genuine sorry....so why the procratination?

Jus a Lil Summin Summin

Hey there, so jus a lil summin summin to pass the time while i'm waiting to head out, I hate that about me, I either get ready so darn early I have so much time to waste or am so freakin late that I dont have time to draw breath! Awh well! So due to the strike I am glad to say that my exam on Monday has been cancelled, hence why I am heading out to play to-night and well I guess I'll just have to carry this playing over until tomorrow as Scotland V Ireland in the Six Nations, Get in! How excited am I!? last night Lynsey, Wes, Craig and I started Cleansing Stream with CFC it seems like it will be really good even if quite intense, you have so much home study to do which is where i'll find it difficult, not so good at organising my time. Im so dissapointed, however, as I just dont have the same knack at decorating little old men as Grierson does! nuff said on that one! well gonna go think i have wasted enough of my time and your time now!

Statistics!

It has been said that there are "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics" I however, would say that there are Lies, Statistics and Damned STATISTICS! Awh well some things in life you just gotta get over eh!

Glad to be back!

Hi everyone so i know i am keeping myself to myself at the minute but it is good to be back, I had a great time away in cyprus, the conference was lots of fun, the only bummer of the time away was that I got sick, oh it sucked!
It was so nice to connect with everyone and meet lots of new people, its amazing to see how God is at work all over the place and refreshing eh, it prevents my faith from going stale when i get to go away, when leave my life behind and remember that God is the same God everywhere, I love it, I love the way it always surprises me, Ilove it, i never want to become complaciant to it.
Any back to life here and have MORE exams so honestly, i will tell more as time allows, God bless ya!

yippee

Things Im happy about today!
1 - Passed all my exams! just got the results!
2 - Going to Cyprus on Sunday!
3 - Going dancing "like a lunatic" tomorrow night, cant wait!

Things im not so happy about today!
1 - The lorry driver, driving in front of me this morning that knocked over a huge badger, that came from underneath his back wheels, hurtling at me aprrox 70mph over the glenshane pass! not nice! grosse actually!

Man will let you down, I gotta realise that man is not my significance, where does my hope come from? thank you Lord, thank you, renew and refine me. Why do we as a species do this do ourselves, why do we put our hope in others? is it our own insecuritites or is it due to society and its influence? I know who I want to be influenced by, I know i wanna be surrounded with people of character, those that will be able to encourage me in my successes and those that will be able to hold me accountable and tell me when I am acting out of character, those that are real and not change with the people they hang out with, those that stay true to themselves and that CHOOSE to honor God and praise him in ALL circumstances. Time to Refine I think.

Just tried to set lynz on up blog and in the process lost mine, how can that be? how did i Manage that! so just wanted to remember the above date! Wonder Why! it's nice to be back, was lost for a while! loose myself anytime!