Camp

I'm back from a week of camp with my clients. It was a good 5 days - pretty slow compared to normal camps, but tiring nonetheless. It was mostly fun & I'm thankful to have a weekend now to recuperate. :) Monday is the official Canada Day holiday instead of Sunday, and I'm working it - 12 hours! The next paycheck's gonna be a good one, teehee. ;) The shift itself shouldn't be too bad though as some of the ladies will be away.

I'll post pictures soon! :)

grad pictures

I was trying to add these pictures aaaaages ago but it wouldn't work because they weren't the right format. I just figured out how to get it to save as JPEG, so ... finally... here are pictures of Michael & Julie's graduations!! :) (See the post about it just down a bit.)

Now I can post collages more often too & save time on uploading lots of pictures! :)

I find this fascinating!

I'm (slowly) working through a women's Bible study called "Five Aspects of Woman," by Barbara K. Mouser. The section I'm in now talks about how women were made to be helper-completers for men. Check out this quotation, given in the study, from a secular book. I don't mean it to be down on men or anything, I just think it's astounding and definitely reflective of Genesis 2 and the male and female qualities she's talking about.

(It's a bit long, but worth the read!)

"One might imagine that the single life, vaunted in many books and magazines, works. It doesn't. For most men, to remain persistently single is to court trouble. Men need durable ties to women to discipline them for civilized life, or they become a menace to society and to themselves. In his second book on the dilemmas of love and marriage in our time, George Gilder focuses on the single and divorced man. Through research statistics, hormonal studies, slice of life portraits, and an acute eye for the current scene, Mr. Gilder contrasts the free, swinging virile image of the single man with the reality--naked nomads, rootless and vulnerable. Single men commit some 90% of the crimes of violence, from robbery to rape. Single men earn only a little more than half as much as their married peers with equivalent qualifications. Single men are 21 times as likely to be in prison or in mental hospitals as married men. Divorced men between 25 and 65 are over 3 times as likely to die of various causes as married men. Losers from the start? To some extent yes, says Mr. Gilder. But marriage itself has a dramatic effect in transforming bachelors with antisocial and self-destructive tendencies into stable citizens. Further, a sexually permissive society creates a competitive sexual arena where the powerful, the rich, and the sexually desirable win. As in Arab societies, the powerful men monopolize a series of young women. The less successful, marginal men are left on the periphery to drift toward homosexuality, to be driven to impotence, rape, theft, suicide. Women are better able to manage alone. It is the men who need marriage for psycho-biological stability.

Crazy stuff, eh? What do you think?



(From the jacket cover of George Gilder's book, Naked Nomads: Unmarried Men in America, 1974. Emphasis mine.)

Just Jokes

"What is the ultimate Mennonite dilemma?"

"Free dance lessons."

Graduations

2 weeks ago my sis graduated from a technical school certificate, and I was happy to be able to attend her ceremony.

Today my little bro graduates from high school, and I only WISH I could be there. :((

Congrats to both! I'm proud of you!

oh man...

Check this out!
http://morph.cs.st-andrews.ac.uk//Transformer/

It's a face transformer site, to see what you'll (supposedly) look like when you're older, or as a different ethnicity, or as a man, or whatever else....

Here's the original picture and then me as an East Asian & as a man. Eeeeeeew. So ugly that it's hilarious! I didn't copy the older woman one because it was truly hideous. :D

Can I say I'm happy the way God made me? ;)

Try it with your own picture today!!

some Google fun

Type your name into Google and see what it comes up with! :)

"Esther likes to..."

Esther likes to take pictures with Jeroen's digital camera.
Esther likes to work closely with you to bring to life your ideas and dreams.
Esther likes to read, listen to music and travel.
Esther likes to spend her time exploring Boston and trying new things.
Esther likes to do it the old-fashioned way, using the fine side of a hand grater.
Esther likes to arrive early at the dealership. That way she can get organized before the hectic pace of her day takes over.
Esther likes to think globally and think in large ways. She's not very interested in the details.
Esther likes to play with dolls.
Esther likes to use goat's beard heads in arrangements by themselves.
Esther likes to socialise with friends and travel, particularly to Formula 1 races.
Esther likes to locate her interest just ahead of the point where curves start to bend.
Esther likes to record her Soap Operas on a VHS tape during the day while she's at work, but can't always remember how to use the on-screen programming.
Esther likes to procrastinate.


It's funny how some of these are actually true! But definitely not all of them. :)

spending some time alone

Today I would like to quote my sister's entry of May 19, 06.

"Last night or early this morning my only immediate family member left on the continent left the continent. This is the first moment in my life that I have been in such a situation. Let us have a moment of silence, please."

Except I have been in this situation... the first year I was in college. So this year we trade places, J gets to go spend 3 months in Brazil while I'm stuck up here working! :( She should still be in midair as she left very early this morning. Please pray for her safe travels if you read this in time. She has a stop in Manaus where she plans to sight-see a bit. :)

Please PRAY!

I was without internet for a couple days and just read an email from my mom today saying that the father in this picture was killed last week in a car accident. He was a teacher at AVA (my old school) for 4 years after I graduated, but I met them when I was down last summer. This pic was taken just before they were leaving to go back to live in the US.

Please, PLEASE PRAY for them... I can't even imagine the wife's pain, questioning, hurt, shock, confusion, and anguish in all of this!! And trying to be strong for her 3 little kids, who will never see their dad again & some of whom may not remember him in the future. :( Plus she's pregnant with their 4th child. Pray for the Bañez family.

Oh God. Uphold and help her in this time of trial. Give her family and friends to support and hold her.

I love cooking.

Yesterday I came home from church to make Brazilian rice, feijoada, and farofa. It's so delicious. I still had some barbecued steak from last week and was saving it till I had time to make the rest of the meal. :) I even had sausage that I could add to the beans and farofa, so that made it extra yummy. On the steak there's a vinaigrette sauce that I also made a long time ago. Oh, and I had a glass of maracujá juice (passion fruit), thanks to a friend who brought me a bottle of concentrate from Brazil! That made it extra special. :) I don't always have all these ingredients on hand....

It's funny, sometimes I actually wish I had more time to cook at home because I always eat supper at work. Most people would probably love to get a free meal every day, but I end up having my food spoil because I can't always use it all at breakfast or lunch! :( I like to have a variety of things, so sometimes I cook too much and can't eat it all before it goes bad. And on weekends I often have at least one meal out for some reason, which means I don't use up what I want or need to!

Ah, it's such a hard life. ;) Next week I'm having company, so that'll give me more opportunity. Plus I'm making a dish for a friend's recital. Fun times.

More and more I'm discovering that creating through cooking and baking brings me joy and pleasure. God, the first and best Creator, made us in His image to be little creators with the supplies He's given us. More often I create through the mediums of music or art, but I also like to create with food. I like trying new recipes, experimenting with flavors, and being artistic in the presentation. I made this fruit pizza for an Easter supper last week and had so much fun with it, even though it took longer than I expected! I am happy when food is not only pleasing to the taste but also to the eye. I like being able to use this "gift" to bless or please others as well. Creating things for myself is fun but I think it's even better when I can share it with others. The same goes for other works of art. I think the deepest pleasure comes from the fellowship with others, more than just being thanked and appreciated for the creation (which of course is nice too).

You Know You're Brazilian When...

I found this list on a Brazilian Facebook group. I'm adapting it to leave only the ones that I agree with, since some are not true for me or not appropriate. :)


You like Guaraná better than Coke.

If someone tells you to be at a certain place at 1:00 pm, you don't show up until 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. (**well, for me it's more like 10 minutes late.**)

You know who Xuxa and Pelé are.

You still argue Pelé is better than Maradona.

You would rather die than see Argentina beat Brazil in soccer. (**well, not quite!**)

BBQ means steak, sausage, chicken wings, pork, rice, farofa, molho and beer. (**not the beer part**)

You have a Brazilian flag hanging from your car's rearview mirror. (**does my bedroom door count?**)

You travel to Brazil and instead of taking a suitcase with all your stuff, you take presents for the entire family, the dog, the neighbor, not to mention the old/used clothes that you take just in case someone needs it.

You're so proud that you're Brazilian you tell everyone.

You leave your house spotless when you have people coming over.

You understand & speak Spanish, but when you say a word in Portuguese no one understands you.

Your jokes are always about Portuguese people. (**not so much**)

You take soccer too seriously.

You cried when Brazil lost the world cup.

You go to a birthday party, and you can't leave until you take that piece of cake home. (**haha, this is what my dad always wants me to do!**)

You know what Capoeira is.

You know a lot about Samba and Pagode.

You eat rice and beans at least 7 days a week.
Your breakfast consists of milk and coffee, bread with butter and a piece of cake.
No meal is complete without rice, farofa and feijão. (**nope, but I'll leave these 3 on here for people to learn from. :) I like my variety.**)

You know who Os Trapalhões, Turma da Mônica, Zico, Caetano Veloso, Tom Jobim, Elis Regina, Ronaldinho, Jo Soares, Cazuza, Gilberto Gil, Sílvio Santos, Roberto Carlos, Ayrton Senna, amd Carmem Miranda are.

You go to a bar and ask for salgadinhos with guaraná. (**salty snacks (as opposed to sweets) and pop. Yummy!**)

You are so used to corruption that nothing surprises you anymore.

You have a sense of fashion.

You wear slippers..a lot! (**I think they mean flip flops...**)

You know how to play volleyball and handball.

You take pictures everywhere you go. (**I didn't think this was a Brazilian thing!**)

You know what feijoada and pavê are.

You dress up to go to the supermarket. (**so true! hehe. :) **)

You spend an entire day at the beach.

You grew up dancing/singing to Xuxa.

You own havainas in every color imaginable.

You went to Disney World for your 15th birthday. (**this is really funny b/c we did go to Epcot a bit before my 15th... but that wasn't the reason!**)

You'll fly Varig even if it's a little more expensive because it's Brazilian. (**not anymore, we won't! They're inexistent.**)

You like mayonnaise on your hot dogs and Americans think you're crazy for it. (**or on fries or pizza!**)

You love coração de frango. (**chicken heart - I actually only tried it last summer... it was ok, not my favorite; a bit like liver.**)

You own a pair of white pants. (**used to...**)

You know what bossa nova and pagode are.

café brasileiro

Hummm, hoje tomei um café de manhã bem brasileiro de café com leite e pão francês com manteiga! :) E o café até veio do Brasil! O pão é a coisa mais parecida com carecas que temos aqui. Pena que endurece tão rápido porque tenho que comer tudo dentro de 1-2 dias. Não temos padarias nas esquinas onde posso comprar pães cada manhã. :) Mas foi gostoso e me fez lembrar do meu país querido. Só faltou o mamão! :D

Palm Sunday

Some pictures from my fam in Brazil.

This is what I felt like we should be doing at my church this past Sunday. :)

I found out after the fact that my brother got baptized on Sunday! Praise God for that. :)

Here are my parents with the couple that's leading the church plant and the two that got baptized, my bro and friend Ingrid. (No, not three couples, just two! hehe.)

Ingrid's parents actually went to her baptismal service!!! They never go to church, so this is a HUGE answer to prayer! I'm sure she was overjoyed to have them there! Pray that they may soon come to know God.

the festival

So Monday & Tuesday I spent the mornings in Drumheller, listening to many singers and singing 3 songs myself at the music festival. (We were at this lovely United church with stained glass windows. :)) Both days everything was really delayed, but thankfully I got back just in time for my 1:00 meeting on Tues. The adjudicator was a lady from U of A who actually taught a couple of the voice teachers who taught at Prairie! :) That was funny. We didn't appreciate her too much as an adjudicator though because she was very vague most of the time, not giving specific suggestions or things to work on. Sometimes she did work with people like a masterclass, but mostly picked one random thing to tell you (even if there was lots of stuff people should work on!). She was very into dynamic variety and resonance. :)

I was soooo nervous on my first song, oh my word! It wasn't too horrible-sounding though, I guess, because I got an 85% and 1st place ... but I was the only one in that class. :) The next one I thought went better (I was less nervous for sure), but I got 84% instead of higher. She commented on a few French pronunciation errors and singing with resonance and dynamic variety. I still got 1st though and beat the 2 girls I was with (fellow students). Tuesday's song I thought went quite well, and to begin with I was not nervous at all. After I was up there though, my heart started pounding. I forgot an entry at one point and switched up some rhythms in another phrase, but nothing too obvious and she didn't comment on it. She liked that one lots I guess, and gave me 86%. Again I got 1st place and beat the 3 girls I was with! That was unexpected. I felt kinda bad because they're all voice majors and some have been singing way longer than me!! :( But she did say we were all pretty much the same and she wanted to give us all the same mark. :) I was happy with it myself though because I purposely tried to work on the things she'd mentioned the day before, and I think I succeeded.

Thanks for praying. I was nervous but still I managed to do pretty well, breathe well, focus, and by the last song especially, get a bit more used to performing and looking around at the audience! :) It's weird for me to have to think about being expressive in this way; it's so different from piano! So it was a good learning experience in several ways.

Tonight is the finale where they give out awards and trophies. I won't be going, so I guess I'll find out later if I got anything. :)

Telephone Pictionary

Has anyone ever played this? I had a bunch of friends over last night from the years I was in Ambassadors & Jubilation, and some that are in it now. For a little bit we were about 20 people. Telephone pictionary is an awesome game to play with a big group, especially when people are bad artists. :) Everyone gets a booklet of paper to write and draw on. It starts with a random sentence or phrase or word, after 20-30 seconds you pass it to the person beside you, and then have to draw what the next paper says. The next person gets the drawing and has to write what they think it is, then draw, then write, etc. It's sooooooo hilarious! Whoever invented it was a genius, because it's cheap, great fun! :)

I scanned a few especially funny ones in order like a cartoon strip to share with you. I hope they're dark enough to read because they suddenly look really light. Click on them to see them bigger. Enjoy!

Pizza (in 2 segments)
A tank - or a moldy danish with a broom? LOL!!



Flowers, windmills, same diff.
Snowman - these 2 go together.

em português...

Mmm, faz tempo que eu tava querendo fazer arroz e feijão, mas esta semana eu estava tão corrida que não deu tempo pra fazer pro almoço (e eu janto no trabalho). Então hoje finalmente fiz e tava tão gostoso! Até consegui arroz soltinho. :) E ainda tenho um pouco de mandioca frita que fiz outra semana. Quero tentar um purê de mandioca com os pedaços que cozinhei mas não fritei. Acho que seria gostoso também. Ah, e tomei um suco de açaí também, graças a Filipe.

Uma amiga me mandou este recado meses atrás pelo orkut. Eu gostei e vou colá-lo aqui.

Obrigado Senhor!

Obrigado pela perda, pois assim, aprendi a ganhar! (Filipenses 03:07).
Obrigado pela fraqueza, pois assim, aprendi a ter forças! (Hebres 11:34).
Obrigado pela tristeza, pois assim, valorizei a alegria! (Salmos 30:05).
Obrigado pela aflição, pois assim, senti teu refrigério! (João 16:33).
Obrigado pela provação, pois assim sou aprovado por ti! (Daniel 12:10).
Obrigado pela correção, pois assim, sinto seu amor! (Hebreus 12:06).
Obrigado pelo medo, pois ouvi: Não temas, eu sou contigo! (Isaías 41:10).

“E Deus limpará de seus olhos toda a lágrima; e não haverá mais morte, nem pranto, nem clamor, nem dor, porque já as primeiras coisas são passadas.“ Apocalipse 21:04.

Deus lhes abençoe. Tenham uma boa semana!
Abraços!

busy month!

I've been wanting to post for a couple of weeks but have been really busy with work and all my extra teaching and accompanying. Some highlights:

Mar. 4 - A Mu Kappa supper at an East Indian girl's house. It was fun and I learned alot about her and Indian culture, especially arranged marriages. :) Cool.
Mar. 10 - went into Calgary to see the Canadian Chamber Choir perform with Calgary's Spiritus choir. It was great to hear superb choral music. I'd missed the CCC when they were in town here, so was happy to hear some of what they'd done here plus Rachmaninoff's Vespers - very long but excellent words (too bad they were in Russian!).
Mar. 11 - A Brazilian supper with the Brazilians in town - met one new person and otherwise hung out mostly with people I kinda know (not the same group as usual, so it was different).
Mar. 17 - went to Strathmore to see a musical called "Into the Woods," where my former piano teacher was accompanying (very difficult music!). It was a story that incorporated several different fairy tales - Little Red Riding Hood (& the wolf & grandma), Cinderella (her family & prince too), Rapunzel & her prince, Jack & the beanstalk (& his mom & cow), the giant, the witch, the baker & his wife, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. It was pretty good, though we agreed it could've stopped at the first act; the second was dumb and ended up being a really postmodern "you decide what's right" kind of ending. :((

Sunday the 18th I practiced/played more than I've ever practiced piano (at one time) in my life ... SIX HOURS! I practiced with my 3 recitalists for 3 hours, practiced their music on my own for 2 hours, and then did 1 hour of voice practice. Monday was their juries (where they get graded & told if everything's ready to go for their recital), so that was another 4 hours of work. Man. My elbow hurt a bit after all that!

I thought this past week would be less busy because I wasn't practicing with any of them (a mutual desire for a break!), but twas not to be. I still had lots of extra practicing and playing to do.

Monday and Tuesday (26-27) I'm singing in the music festival in Drumheller. I'm a bit nervous because I've performed (singing) only about twice, so it'll be a pretty new experience - much different than piano. I sing 2 songs Mon. morning and 1 on Tues. morning. Please pray for me if you remember, that I'll be calm so that I can sing confidently, breathe properly, and remember all my words and musical details. (For those who care, I'm doing a spiritual arranged by Moses Hogan, a French song by Fauré, and an Italian aria. I love singing in other languages, so fun. :))

So by the looks of things, I've had a pretty musical month! Friday night was a friend's piano recital but of course I had to work. I did try to take a client but we left after the first song because she was being loud & embarrassing & wrecking it for everyone else (not to mention the video)!! Grrr.

I'm glad for the weekend to relax and hang out with friends. :)

good news!

It fiiiiinally worked to add pictures to that February post (yeah, I know it was a long time ago!), so scroll down to check them out. It looks super long, but most of it's pictures! :) I added a bit of text too but not anything too important. There's some pretty ones, some funny ones, and some random ones.

And why didn't that long, newsy post get any comments? Sheeeeesh.

The In’s and Out’s of It

Here's a poem for ya'll to think about. I found it challenging and sadly true.

“In it, not of it,” the statement was made
As Christian One faced the world, much afraid.
“In it, not of it,” the call was made clear,
But Christian One got something stuck in his ear.
“Not in it, or of it” was the thing that he heard.
And knowing the world was painfully absurd,
He welcomed the safety of pious retreat,
And went to the potluck for something to eat.

Now Christian Two, he knew what to do,
He’d show those fundies a thing or two!
How will the world ever give Christ a try
If we don’t get in there and identify?
So “In it, and of it,” he said in his car,
As he pulled in and stopped at a popular bar.
“I’ll tell them the truth as soon as I’m able
To get myself out from under this table.”

Now along comes Christian Three jogging for Jesus,
In witnessing sweats made of four matching pieces.
His earphones are playing a hot Christian tune
About how the Lord is coming back soon.
“Not in it, but of it,” he turns down the hill
And stops in for a bite at the Agape Grill.
Like the gold on the chain of his “God Loves You” bracelet,
He can have the world without having to face it.

While way up in heaven they lament these conditions
That come from changing a few prepositions.
“Not in it, or of it,” Christian One thought.
But who in the world will know that he’s not?
“In it, and of it,” thought Christian Two.
But who in the world will know that he knew?
“Not in it, but of it,” thought Christian Three.
But who in the world watches Christian TV?

And Jesus turns to Gabriel, shaking His head.
“'In it, not of it,’ wasn’t that what I said?”


This poem can be found in John Fischer's book, Real Christians Don't Dance, in chapter 37, pages 132 and 133.

update on a busy couple of weeks

Well, the Kananaskis trip was a blast. It was so much easier than my normal shifts because I didn't have to make supper, clean, do dishes, or do laundry! I only had helped set the table or clean up sometimes, and dish duty was pre-assigned. Sweet. The rest of the time we puzzled,
played games, had a snowball fight (these 3 are staff, by the way), sang, sat in vehicles, etc. I even got enough alone time to satisfy me - time logging for clients and at night, time to sit up and read or write after people had gone to bed. That was nice.
(The cabins from the outside - they're really nice 2 or 3 bedroom cabins; we had 4 for our group of 22.)


The clients decorated cookies on the 13th with icing and toppings... some went all-out, others not so much! :) We staff just got to eat some... yummy!

Wednesday (Valentine's Day) we drove to Lake Louise
(it took like 2 hours!) to eat lunch and then go on a sleigh ride down one side of the lake. It was sweet and fun. Beautiful day. (I can't really put pix of clients up so that's why all the scenery only. :)) I love snow-laden trees.


(the winter garb of the mountains at the far end of the lake)

In Banff we (my 2 clients & I) shopped, ate supper at Tony Roma's, shopped quickly some more, and then went to the hot springs. That was fun but too short once we got in and had to get out again for people to get ready again in time to leave! :( I randomly ran into my aunt in the change room, so that was funny. I knew they were in the area for a couple days but they were staying in Canmore and skiing in Lake Louise. Anyway, their hotel's hot tub wasn't working so they got free passes for Banff Hot Springs. :) Funny. I hadn't seen them in over a year though, so that was cool.

Pictures from Kananaskis Village (basically some hotels & a few stores):


When I got home Friday afternoon, I came home and ate and was soon off to a Creation conference that was being held. I could actually go to the Friday pm part because I didn't have to work that night! Yay. It was VERY good, informative, interesting, and relevant to our culture. I bought some books to read and a DVD of the sessions to loan to some people who I think would be interested. :)

(dinosaur exhibit from the traveling Creation museum)

That Sunday Julie came to visit for 3 nights. That was fun. It was her reading break last week so she was able to come see my house, finally! She had to go back Wed. to work though. I had Monday off because it was a holiday, so at least we had a couple days to do stuff. Tuesday-Thursday was the Prairie missions conference, so we went to 2 of the a.m. chapels. The speaker (Floyd McLung) was really good, and we got to see 2 of our Crossworld peeps. :)

We didn't take pictures together except for some on my computer... check 'em out. ;)

somewhat normal...

sneaky Julie wrecks Esther's attempt at a nice pic

must've been a warm night!

I bet you've never seen us like this before! ;)

As I've already posted, the rest of the week (at work) was challenging, so hopefully next week goes better! I was ready for this weekend to rest & do some other stuff. Sunday I played piano at church to accompany my roomie who was singing for offertory. It went pretty well.

Oh, and my arm is a LOT better. I think the restful week at K. helped, and this week it got even more better. ;) At church all these people were asking about what had happened. I was confused till I saw the prayer sheet with my name under the "sick or recovering from surgery" part! Apparently it was on there last week too. Watch what you write in your emails, Mom & Dad! :D Oh well. I was able to tell some people what it was about and that I was better, so hopefully they can spread the word, hehe. At least it was getting prayed for I guess, maybe that's why it's better now.

Have a great week everyone! March already, wow!