An Attitude of Gratitude Brings Opportunity

- the paper at the end of the string on my teabag has this on it, which I thought was nice.

It went from 27 degrees Celsius last week to around 0 degrees this week, and it even snowed the night before last!

I have just finished a test, my third this week and it’s only Thursday. On top, it will be a long weekend writing group papers and preparing for presentations. I have had some good results, which has been encouraging. Earlier this week four of us received an email from our prof saying we were top in the class for our term paper and could we prepare five minute presentations on them for the class. Mine was on Eli Lilly’s organisational strategy.

On Sunday I went to a fantastic dance performance. It was called Lil' Wonka and the Dance Factory and was incredibly well done.


And on Saturday I had lots of fun making these.


I generally do not tell anyone it is my birthday, but I decided that I should do something here. Luca has very kindly taken responsibility for organising a little something, here is what the Facebook invite says…

“Thursday, April 5, 2012 6:30pm in UTC-04

We all love our little Kiwi and so let's celebrate the day she was born, the traditional New Zealand way: eating breakfast, 2nd breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, supper* and then DINNER!

Let us know if you're in so a reservation can be made. It would be awesome to have you all there!

*(breakfast, 2nd breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and supper not included)”

The picture on it is from Lord of The Rings. Of course you are all very welcome to come if you are in the neighbourhood, it is at a super cute place up the road.

God has really been taking me on a journey, I feel like I have been learning so much. I am very thankful for my Church here, and for the great friends I have made.

Spring!

The weather has changed so fast!!! It's incredibly warm and wonderful! Here are some pictures from McGill of people enjoying the sun.

This is the queue for Schwartz's Smoked Meat on a typical afternoon. Apparently Canadian's wont purchase it when it's called corned beef. The picture is from last week, before it got so warm.

On Sunday we (housemates) went to Cabane à sucre. I'm not sure what the translation is but they make maple syrup and have all you can eat dining. Here are buckets attached to trees, from which we took a sip. I was quite excited to see lambs and a calf, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful.



For this they pour syrup on snow so it hardens a bit, and then you put your stick on it and twist. Deliscious!





Last night I went to see Phil's band play, it was fantastic!


Today there was a large protest about increases in university fees. News reports say that there were tens of thousands of people, they were walking loudly past our building for hours so I would say that's about right.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. That's True!

There was one Easter Camp that was particularly cold; all day and especially at night. I was struggling to sleep at night it was so cold - despite wearing all my clothes - and therefore not having a great camp. I prayed one day that I would have a wonderful, warm sleep, and I talked to Andrew about it because I wondered if I shouldn't wear so many layers, as a step of faith, or whether God had given me layers to wear. I was undecided all day, but in the end I discarded the layers (down to summer pj's) and had a fantastic nights sleep.

Today felt like that. My group mates ended up having notes, but I didn't - and I remembered every point.

I don't think I will ever forget these two events. They may seem insignificant, but they both meant the world to me. My God is so big but he cares about the small things too.

The Joys of Public Speaking

The concept of public speaking brings me absolutely no fear, it's the memory of past experiences that does. My mind goes blank, my voice wobbles, and last time my knees were shaking. One time, when we weren't allowed notes, I said one sentence and couldn't remember anything else. It felt like I stood there forever staring at the audience, until I finally stepped back and the next person in my group moved on to their part. The standard here is much higher than back home, and my presentation is tomorrow. I feel like I know it fairly well but, as always, time will tell. I think that if I insisted I would be allowed a cue card- but I've been praying that God will strengthen my faith and figure that here's my chance to try and trust him. It's hard though... I really don't want to let my team down and humiliate myself, and the thought that maybe God wouldn't have me leave my wool out like Gideon this time keeps crossing my mind. I would greatly appreciate your prayers.

Kia Kaha

As of this week I can confirm that Montreal has grass! Previously I had only caught a glimpse. The first day there was grass to be seen this week I pranced on it like I had never seen it before. I will miss the snow, but the warmth brings such a great atmosphere to Montreal, there are so many people out walking and enjoying the sun. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week have some fairly significant assessments, so I'm doing my best to keep in mind this mornings sermon about overcoming anxiety. 'Olivia's Great Adventure' is named after the first ever movie I remember seeing in the cinema - Barney's Great Adventure. It was fantastic.

Back to Montreal

My sincerest apologies for the delay in posting, it has been quite stressful since I got back.

If we time-travel a bit…

Helgaard and I had great fun visiting Malmo (Sweden), where we spent the day with Thomas – a Swede who stayed with Helgaard’s friend in New Zealand a year or two back. Helgaard happened to mention to Thomas on facebook the night before that we were going, and he said he would get a train and see us there.

When I flew in to Copenhagen I saw a multitude of windmills in the ocean, we got another look on the train – aren’t they incredible!



This was really funny. It was a kids game in a museum where you try to get the ball to the opponents side by not thinking. So the person who manages to have the least brain activity wins.



Malmo had a really cool vibe, I especially liked the town squares. Thomas treated us to delicious buns and hot chocolate. I can’t remember what they are actually called but they are Swedish and only available once a year. Under the cream was an almond paste.




Back in Copenhagen we went for quite a few more walks around the city and enjoyed the sight-seeing. I am really glad we went to a war museum and had the chance to read about Denmark in World War II.





It was incredible to have a 360 degree view up the round tower, and it was very windy!





The night before I left Copenhagen an ATM machine swallowed my eftpos card, after a WONDERFUL Indian meal. I managed to withdraw cash via Helgaard and am currently waiting for my new card to arrive.

Kony 2012 (http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012) seems to be the only thing people are talking about, internationally. Next week a group from Invisible Children is coming to my church to give a presentation about it, which I’m sure will be interesting.

I have to give credit where credit is due, I largely left my camera behind in Copenhagen so these photos are courtesy of Helgaard. Sorry there was so many, it was hard to choose a sample.

Looking forward, I am going to a film screening related to International Women’s Day tomorrow – which my housemate is involved with, there is a soccer game on Saturday to watch, I have lots of assessments, and a trip to Sugar Shack is planned.