Family Snapshot

(A song by Peter Gabriel).

My family is strange to say the least. But I love them. Here I present to you my sisters, Lisa (14) and Brookeley (21). Brookeley lives in Ohio with her boyfriend Bryan. Lisa (or Greaseball, as I call her) lives at home. These are my parents. (Kind of). Mom apparently eats in church. She also believes Elvis is alive. Allan used to be a DJ. He has provided me with more musical knowledge than any brain should hold.
These are my grandparents on my mom's side. (Kind of). My Grandpa is silly and wears wigs and army helmets just for fun. He also catches turtles and keeps them as pets for three days. My step-grandma loves to email me funny pictures, videos and stories.
These are my other grandparents on my dad's side. They like to eat pizza a LOT. They have a dog named Scooby and he loves to follow Grandma from the counter to the table over and over again. Grandpa has a slot machine in his office.
This is my "adopted sister" Amber. We lived together and I couldn't live without her. We enjoy fireworks, funny movies, road trips, David Bowie and basically anything we do together.

All This Talk of Getting Old...

I love music. If you love music, you should find the following five songs and listen to them. They are incredible.

Fall For Anything -- Jeremy Fisher
The Drugs Don't Work -- the Verve
Life Is Beautiful -- Ryan Adams
Hallelujah -- Jeff Buckley
Boats and Birds -- Gregory and the Hawk

As a side note, most of you know by now that I love volunteering. If you were unaware, you now know. In any case, the place where I have chosen to volunteer is the Freeway Cafe. I received a very saddening email this week about some changes about to take place in the coffee house. Due to financial problems, my co-worker Randy will no longer be employed there. He is one of our only two paid employees. He trained me and taught me so much about Hamilton, safe biking and standing for what I believe in. Please pray for him and his family while they make this difficult transition. As well, the Freeway may be forced to close it's doors either permanently or temporarily, as I understand it. Please pray that we will see God's hand in this situation. I truly believe that He values the initiatives behind the Freeway and I know with all certainty that He will take care of us. Thanks for the prayers.

I hope all of you with outdoor jobs enjoyed the rain as much as I did today! :)

PS: Anyone know how to get rid of fruit flies?

It'll All Seem Better Somehow, in Time.

I'm running out of gas.
I don't like biking to work.
I don't like working 10 hour shifts.
I don't like my current lack of night-life.

But praise God that I have a bike to make work possible.
And that I have a job.
And that I am alive.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
-Eric Hoffer

Summer Loving.

I've said it before... This house is incredible.
Here are some pictures from our amazing Sunday at the beach...
(Don't mind the rolls... I've worked hard on them and I'm not covering them up with a smelly old one-piece).



Check out Kelsey's and my sweet shorts tans. Yay for outdoor jobs!

It says 'friends'. Yay for friends!

The waves were over our heads!


Just a little bit of roomie love. Sometimes Kelsey keeps me up snoring. Other times we laugh so hard we nearly puke. It's a fair trade.




Tree looks like a sailor :)


Trust me, the ultimate fear on my face in the last one is well-founded.

Living is Simple.

(Yay for Switchfoot).
I always hear stuff about 'talking the talk' and 'walking the walk'.
In my self-examination, I asked myself how I live out my values.
Here is what I came up with.
I challenge you to do the same!


Peace:

Existing in a state of harmony.

I choose to live peace by creating.

Truth:

Extending honesty, faith and sincerity to reality.

I choose to live truth by writing.

Love:

Passion, friendship, self-sacrifice, affection and desire.

I choose to live love by serving.

Hope:

A belief in a positive outcome.

I choose to live hope by believing.

Justice:

An aversion of inequality.

I choose to live justice by helping.

Beauty:

Positivly reflecting the meaning of one's own existence.

I choose to live beauty by capturing.

Community:

Directing all intent, belief, and resources to the benefit of all.

I choose to live community by volunteering.

Authenticity:

Truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, devotion, and intentions.

I choose to live authenticity by playing.

You're Barely Scraping By.

(A line from Dashboard Confessional's song The Places You've Come To Fear the Most.)

Meet Jen.
Jen is a 70-something-year-old regular at the Freeway.
Jen has Paranoid Schizophrenia.
Jen killed her husband a while ago, before her diagnosis.
Jen has a friend who tells her to kill evil people.
Jen gave me a picture of the Freeway tonight, with 'Welcom Erica to the FRWY' written on the back.

Meet Junior.
Junior is a 39-year-old new attendee at the Freeway.
Junior has two children who are 4 and 6.
Junior is not allowed to see his children.
His ex-wife threatens to take them to Mexico if he tries to contact them.
His 6-year-old's birthday was a week ago and I've never seen someone so torn.

Meet John.
John is a 21-year-old homeless man who comes into the Freeway on Mondays.
John never orders anything but a cup of water.
John puts three pennies in the tip jar every Monday.
He has a dream to one day own a ranch where he can offer work to homeless youth.
John sleeps under the stairs at Copps Colliseum.

I wish I could fix everything.
I am learning.

Orange Juice Blues.

Three words: BASEMENT BOB DYLAN.




(Joel rocks my socks).