Some Days...

Breakfast Friday morning was a hit and went really well. We started at about quarter past 6, cutting fruit and planning how to take out the food. Frida came and helped us and we were done a lot faster because of her! Then that night we decided to walk across the road to the Briars, you may think that when I use the phrase "across the road" that it is a short walk. You would be wrong. The school is located on the other side of the road as the Briars but there is a long, windy driveway, a highway, and a wooden fence in between them. It was thundering and lightning when we left the hall and it was raining a bit. When we got to the Briars we saw that all that tables on the patio that were out of the rain had been booked. After some thinking and the pooling of ideas we decided to head back to the school... it wasn't a bad idea , but neither was it a great one. It poured and poured, we walked and walked. By the time we were back at the school we were all soaking wet from head to toe, drenched really. The night went better after we returned to the school though, I baked a cake for everyone while they watched a movie and we chatted a bit too.

Today Miriam and I went and catered at an engagement party, we had fun and definitely worked well together. I really like serving people and since we weren't given instructions on what exactly we were expected to do, we helped where we could and everything got done.  I think Kim was really impressed with all that we did and that we weren't bothering her every two seconds to find out what to do next. She got to enjoy the party and  didn't have to worry about food, drinks, or dishes. I'm not sure how much money we will each get paid, but it doesn't really matter. The fact that I could help out and keep busy the whole time, gave me what I had been lacking, a job, even if it was just for four hours I needed it.  I'm so used to working at home, that was what my time was filled with before I came here, where now my "job" is schoolwork. Quite the change.

Tonight a bunch of the Capernwray students signed out for dinner and went for pizza. Since I wasn't around this afternoon to be invited, I took a nap. It was supposed to be a short nap but, it ended up being a 2 1/2 hr nap.

Talent Night and a shopping trip

Talent Night was great! Lots of surprises that IS for sure. I didn't sign up for anything but I got to go up on stage anyways thanks to Seth, and played Minute to Win It. I didn't win it in a Minute you could say but got close to sliding the Oreo from my forehead into my mouth. Everyone's acts were pretty great, there was some singing, dancing, comedy, music, etc. Then at the end Mitch and Seth played a slideshow that they had put together... They said it was about their two favorite things, Country music and Women. They picked a different country song for every girl at Capers, for example Olivia's was about her Auburn Hair and Blue eyes. Someone's picture would come up and a different song would play and then specific words from the song would pop up. Mine was my recent profile picture along with the song, You make me wanna make you love me and the lyrics that popped up on the screen were: You make me want to buy a ring... I look back at Seth and he waves at me :P. hah. Anyways it was well put together and you could tell that they both put lots of time and effort into it.

Today the Hong Kong team went shopping to get everything ready for breakfast tomorrow. We have to get up at 6am, to cut up all the fruit for the fruit salad. We had ALOT of fun shopping! We went to Aldi's which is a cheap supermarket and bought most of our stuff there. We were planning on buying hot cross buns and when the guys saw the chocolate chip ones, there was no use trying to deter them and stick to buying the regular ones. We got into some other discussions about some of our other choices but it turned out good. I don't think we bought too much and think that we will definitely have enough. Then when we went to cash out we were guessing what the total cost would be and a little old lady behind us guessed too lol, she was almost spot on as well. Since they don't give you bags or bag your groceries for you, Woodsy says "c'mon guys" and two of them start packing the groceries into the cart as fast as they can. I looked to the left of us to the other line and one of the ladies was laughing right along with me. The cashier couldn't have been more grouchy with his dyed hair and scowl.

We went to Woolworths last to pick up the rest of the stuff on our shopping list and Woosdy laughed at me for insisting on buying the cheapest disposable plates. We all had a few laughs to be completely honest. Many of them were at my expense but when Seth and Woodsy were picking out grapes I brought up one of Woodsys' earlier comments on having lots of color in the salad. They then picked the red grapes since Regan and I both insisted that there was already too much green in the salad lol. We both didn't really care but they listened to us anyways and got the red ones... Then we needed a snack so we were walking to the cash register and Woodsy brought it up and Regan started whispering "donuts, donuts..." I started laughing but we did end up getting doughnuts which I apparently pronounce really weird, whenever I say doughnut someone laughs at me. I also wanted a chocolate donut and then they said they would all have the same since its "All about Brianna" and they trust my judgement aargh.

We paid, loaded up the car and headed back to Woodsy's flat for milkshakes and chocolate donuts with cream filling!! MMMMMMhhhmmmm

CUZ ITS ALL ABOUT BRIANNA.... apparently

A Nice Day

So yesterday was Quiet Day... no talking for 12 hours!!!! I also fasted which was pretty cool, by the end of the day I was dizzy though and was definitely ready to eat. It went pretty well and there was a hour of sharing time afterwards.

Today was workday, I got a Workday Bingo, only girl working outside, yup. Of course Randy was the one to point that out since he keeps track of everyone's Bingos, lol.  We got to eat outside for lunch for the first time, since it has been such a beautiful day. I was paired up with John D for the morning, we trimmed some plants in the rock garden and then weeded. I found lots of worms, and one of them pooped on me ;(  haha. John was a lot of fun to work with and we found lots to talk about, including the possibility of an underground worm city lol.

Later I had the privilege of mowing the lawn with a push mower... on a hill! I wouldn't say it was the easiest job but I got er done. I had to wear safety gear which consisted of ear plugs and safety glasses, Occupational Health and Safety... just great! Morgan and Randy were at the brick pile at the bottom of the hill and kept stopping to watch me which was super annoying, since this made them look like they weren't working AT ALL. The rest of the afternoon went well and tonight is Talent Night which should be lots of fun. Some people got to decorate the conference Hall as one of their workday duties, so I'm looking forward to it. I wanted to be in the Talent show but couldn't think of anything to do so I will just be watching, unless someone calls me onstage.

Oh, and I got a letter in the mail from my Dad that I had no idea he sent!!! :D

Travel Weekend

Well there is so much to say about travel weekend. IT WAS AWESOME first of all. So Friday afternoon we loaded up our stuff and 14/29 of the Capers students headed to Wollongong to stay at the Surf Resort (campground). John drove his car, and then Garth and Zach took the rest of us. Two tents, one for the guys (5) and the other for the girls (9). Pretty much everyone else headed to Sydney to either see Taylor Swift or do the Harbour Bridge Climb.

So this campground that we were at was super close to a beach, walking distance, as well there was an indoor pool and sauna, a mini golf course, convenience store, and shower facilities. This was SOME campsite, of course we each had to pay 11$ a night but it was pretty worth it.

Friday we spent on the beach but weren't allowed to go in the ocean very far because of the current and huge waves. Friday night, four of us slept on the beach, it was really chilly but well worth it to fall asleep under the stars and wake up to the sunrise.  We set down a tarp and put our sleeping bags on top, Olivia and I slept in between the guys to be safe. This turned out to be a good idea since apparently people go fishing on the beach late at night! When we woke up to watch the sunrise we also got to watch the seagulls fight over the newly washed up "treasures". One seagull found a piece of string with an object on one side and so it ate the object and had the string hanging out of its mouth.... this didn't work and he puked it back up, then ate it again haha. There was also a gull with one leg. Lots of fun, but not much sleep.

We weren't allowed to build a fire on our campsite so we huddled around a candle, under the tarp shelter we built/ strung up when we had a bit of rain. Our meals were quite interesting, most of the stuff we brought to eat were things like noodles and bread. When John went to get a torch (aka flashlight) Dunning and Emma saw shakeable pancake mix, so we had those for breakfast. Definitely made me think of camping with my Dad!

Saturday we spent the majority of the day on the beach and by the sunburns around campus, it's pretty obvious lol. I went and tried out the quite shallow pool, lukewarm hot tub, and steamy sauna... it was OK.

We really did have a blast and got to know each other a lot better, through hand-holding prayers, setting up tents, organizing meals, and trying to get back to the school.  As well as watching the people from the campsite next to us playing Truth or Dare... some interesting things were done, including one of the guys doing a strip tease.

Heading back today we were short one of the bathroom keys at the campsite and didn't get the whole deposit back,  we caught the free shuttle into town and then went to the wrong train station. Upon arriving at the other one we realized the bus wouldn't come until 5:20 and we would get back to the school too late for dinner. Emma ended up calling Woodsy and he said that he would pick us up at the beach if we wanted to wait there.

The beach was definitely a great place to wait and Olivia and I walked across the rocks that were jutting out of the harbour as well as collecting shells and rocks.

So funny how excited everyone was to see the people who didn't spend the weekend with them.

The tears are falling

Definitely some tears shed today. We started off today with Guys/Girls group.  Guys go to Woodsys' and the girls met in the conference hall with Jade. Jade wanted us to take time and meditate on a scripture verse and listen to what God has to say and write it down. Romans 8:38-39 was our scripture. God's Love, we sat by ourselves with a pencil and paper, and listened for 20 min. Some girls drew pictures that God showed them, others wrote words, and some saw vivid pictures in their mind. Then we all came together to share, lots of prayer for specific girls followed and that's when the tears started falling. Morning Tea started at 10, we missed it completely, and prayed right through until 10:30. It was really fantastic and a lot of girls opened up. Also I finally have a mentor, its Cass. It came about really great too. Jade brought up the fact that half of the girls don't have mentors and then she asked Cass who she wanted to mentor and I was one of them! I had been thinking about asking her, but earlier she had been talking about how busy she was and I felt that it wasn't a good time to ask.

For workday I started out raking grass in the soccer field with John D, and then when it started pouring on us, we emptied our wheelbarrows in the paddock and ran to the shed. I was completely and uttered soaked. My next job, painting in Woodsys' flat. He apparently asked for someone who was really good at painting and Zack recommended me, because he figured I would be responsible and be able to figure it out. I was a little worried because Woodsy is kind of a perfectionist but he assured me that it wasn't too big of a deal if I made some mistakes. That took me the rest of workday and I touched up the walls and painted the baseboards. I really enjoyed myself and think that maybe I'll learn the proper technique when I get home.

After that I checked my computer and saw that my mom had emailed me numerous times, the one that really struck me was the death of Chelsea, a girl that I've worked with and whose siblings I know quite well. Tears flowed steadily there and it's still on my mind even though I've given it over to God.

All of a sudden the tragedy of it all will pop into my mind and I'll be brought close to tears. The guys at dinner really cheered me up though. They were trying to make me blush by giving me compliments like saying that they were getting lost in my eyes and couldn't eat, lol. Then they were telling us about Harvest Fest in Winkler Manitoba and that we need to all come out. I actually wouldn't mind going but if I stay for second semester I won't be able to. They have a band coming, carnival rides, a rodeo, and some other stuff. Its sounds fun and they made it sound like such a big deal! Also they were joking about setting Shelby and I up with their younger brothers which was funny because they are all more than three years younger than us.  

Tonight was family group. Shelby did a great job talking about how we need to hunger and thirst for God. I talked with Cass afterwards about Chelsea and had another good cry. She was such a beautiful girl, a smile always on her face, kind to everyone, just lovely overall. She will be missed, and her family is in my thoughts and prayers. I don't understand why this happened but I know that God has a plan and purpose, he sees the full picture when we can only see a tiny piece.

The Time

And sometimes I lose track of time.... not often, but it happens. Garth met today with each ministry and everyone was given a time slot, Rachel and I had 2:10-2:20pm. After lunch I went on the computer, wrote a letter then went to print out my outline, came back to my room, wrapped my secret sister gift. Then I sat down and looked at the time... 2:17pm. SHOOT! I jumped up and ran down the hallway, then realized I needed my laptop so I ran back, unplugged my computer and tried to bring it with me however my iPod was plugged in and tangled up with the other cord! I did make it to the meeting with a couple minutes to talk.... He told us that our group was at the top with the most praise, and close behind was the scripture team. He said that both Mark and Coby were impressed with us because we "roll with the punches" and always find something to do. The one comment was that I talked a lot and that Rachel didn't, Garth said maybe we could try and work on that. I know this is an area I need to improve on since I  like to fill the silence, and when a question is asked and no one answers.... I usually will. That's not really the problem, its more that I don't give time for others to answer or encourage them to, funny that this is also the area I got docked marks for on my Bible study. Perhaps God is trying to tell me something?

Well tonight Rachel and I are going to the Scottish Arms for dinner with the people from our church. This past Sunday, Nicole, Olivia, Kyle, Nathan, and Zach, came to The Fields. Since Kyle and Nathan have a ministry at Harbison Care, and get to choose which church they go to, they've picked ours! They liked it because Pastor Mark preaches to you, not at you, as well as the small community of people. Some of the other Capers students have expressed a desire to come to a Sunday service as well so we may get more people yet!

Also our camping spot is booked for this weekend, so we are praying for sunny weather since we will be by the beach!

A Sunny Day

Well this morning was definitely not the best, first bad morning I've had since being here. Olivia and I were 2 minutes late for set and serve breakfast this morning, so we had to do lunch privileges today as well. Then we went to serve breakfast and the porridge had been left on the stove by a staff member so it was all stuck to the bottom and still had to be dished out. The milk had also gone sour for the cereal. On top of that, the clock in the kitchen was off, so it looked like we were later for breakfast than we really were. The day got better, thankfully. Lectures were great. Our speaker is from Queensland and he is speaking on Abiding in God. He taught in the morning and after tea, Woodsy talked on The Gospel Driven Life.

Neil couldn't drive the van into town today because he had to pick up another board member from the airport. Therefore Woodsy had to. He moved our Hong Kong meeting into town and we sat at a cafe and went over fundraising and information. It went really good and we have two things that will be happening in the next few weeks. The first is Breakfast in Bed, the students will give 10, 20, or 50$ (depending on what they want to eat) and we will make them food and bring it to their room. The meal choices are: a ham and cheese croissant, fruit and yogurt, and finally a kangaroo steak with eggs. We're hoping that the other students will really support this and we will be announcing it on Friday, then taking money and orders on Monday to serve them the following Friday.  It's going to be a big job but I'm looking forward to it! The other idea is a Head Shave for the guys, to take place during SN @C. I like the idea of it although I don't really want to go to Hong Kong with a bunch of baldies.... :/. The good part is that my team members might not have to shave their heads. We're going to try and get a bunch of the other Capers guys to participate as well. We will have a basket and people at SN @ C will pay 10$ each time they put someone's' name in.  Then for every 100$ that is contributed, a name will be drawn from the basket, and their head will be shaved. We're probably going to invite other people that we know from church as well. The other thing we talked about at our meeting was parenting essentially. Woodsy discussed how the way a child is raised, effects their choices in life. So, the guys at New Man House need to learn everything that we would normally learn at 2, like what is right and wrong and how to use their judgement. It's going to be interesting, that's for sure!

When we got back from town, Olivia and I decided to go sunbathing on the bike path behind the Briars. The grass path from the briars to the bike path was super wet because of all the rain we've been getting. So we were walking through mud and puddles! We didn't stay out too long because the sun kept hiding behind the clouds, we saw a turtle and some bunny rabbits on our walk, as well as lots of bugs (a fuzzy caterpillar.)

Dinner was carrot soup and Swedish bread, it was....interesting. Olivia didn't eat anything, which reminded me of one of my sisters... you can probably guess who!