Fall has returned, along with some rain here in Vancouver, signalling the end of what has been a great summer.  It was my first summer out here, and the first time I have ever taken school in the summer.  Although I had my moments where I was homesick, missing family and friends, I was privileged to have both my best friend (and his lovely wife) as well as my mom visit me.  Between these visits, school, work, and church commitments, summer just flew by.

So, now that Fall is here, most would expect that I have now joined in the hordes of students returning to school.  However, this year I have decided to take a well-needed break from studies.  Now, you may wonder why I would do such a thing when I moved out here specifically for school.  This brings me to some of the big changes that have been happening in my life.

The  biggest change that has occurred has to do with my work: earlier this summer Dave Saraiva, who I’ve been doing various forms of contract work over the pasta year and a bit, tossed me over a proposal for a new initiative for his (and his partners’) business.  The main idea around this is for me to join up with them to create some entirely new web applications for their company Lifeline Design.  What this entails is me working full-time, where I will focus on helping build this software, as well as continuing to help work on existing software.

The proposal fits in very well with my long-term goals, and I have enjoyed working with Dave over the past year, and I like the direction that their business is going and how they operate it.  After some discussion with Dave in sorting out the details, I decided this is what I wanted.  It’s a very exciting opportunity for me, and I’m glad to be able to work with them in an expanded role.

As to what this means for school in the future: after my break this semester, I will finish off my degree on a part-time basis, likely taking 2 courses per semester from here on in.  One reason I felt I was able to take the position with Lifeline is because I’m close enough to being finished my degree that I know I won’t quit now.  I was able to finish 3 courses over the summer while placing a large emphasis/focus on my work, so I don’t expect 2 courses to pose much of a problem.  As for now, I’m certainly enjoying the break…

Now, while work may be the big change, there are still a few other changes that are helping this Fall shape up to be super-exciting.  As I mentioned in my last post, I’m quite involved with the worship team(s) at my church, which will continue.  As well, I will be leading a small group for the Entry Level (ages 24-30) group, and I have joined the newly created leadership team for that group as well.   Finally, I’m currently in a Sunday school type class at church that is a pre-requisite for church membership, which leads to the last “change” happening…

As I’ve spent more time out here, and continued settling into my apartment (which met my mom’s approval, by the way), I’ve decided to make BC my “permanent” address.  I will soon be a member at my church out here, and have traded in my Ontario license for a BC one.  At least for the time being, I feel that this is where I belong.

On a closing note…now that I’m working full-time, I’m certainly hoping to make it home more than once a year.

P.S. For those of you of who are more technically inclined, I now also blog on Lifeline Design, so feel free to check that out.

Hebrews 12:1

After completely neglecting my blog for well over a year, tonight I decided I had something to say.  Whether or not this means that I’ll start blogging on a somewhat regular basis again remains to be seen. There has been a lot going on in my life out here lately, and I may use this to try and let everyone know what all of that entails.  Here goes…

I have now been out here for almost 2 years, both of which I can/will summarize very briefly: year 1 – rough, year 2 – recovery.  I realize that is a significant over-simplification,  but it will have to suffice for the time being; the key is to just understand that things did not particularly start out well (overall), and this last year has been spent doing a lot of repair work.  However, the last 7 months are so have really been much closer to how I envisioned my time out here would progress.

After struggling with whether or not I wanted to return last summer, I ended up sealing my decision with my first ever tattoo (seen in the posted picture).  Now, this wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment tattoo, but one I have wanted for many years.  The tattoo is reminder to me of two main ideas that I pull from that particular piece scripture: perseverance, and reliance (a great cloud of witnesses).  More than ever, these have been guiding me these year, but right now I want to focus on the second.

Tonight I was able to attend a bar-be-cue hosted for the various members of the Saturday night and Connection worship teams at my church; it was a very enjoyable time.  What has really stuck out in my mind though is how God has really been blessing me with so many wonderful people through my church.  Although my church (Willingdon Church) is rather large, until recently I knew very few people.  Through various means, God has been changing that.  He has helped me to meet people through small groups, “random” occurrences, and most substantially, through my involvement on the worship team.

One of the biggest mistakes I made coming out here was not getting involved right away…I thought I needed a break.  But what’s done is done.  I am now extremely privileged to me on a team that helps on Saturday nights, as well as the Sunday morning services occasionally as well (4 services in total).  In addition, I am also involved on the team that leads a small young adults worship night once a month.  Standing before a church full of people (which can mean up 10 1000+ people) gathered to praise God is such an honouring and humbling experience.  Even more, the people on these teams are such a joy to work with.  They make me laugh with their humour, and with their professionalism help me to strive to be a better musician.  I always look forward to the times that I get to join them in leading worship…and I look forward to continuing to let God use me in the church and growing closer with the crowd of witnesses that He provides for me.

It’s been a few weeks since I returned to what I now think of as “Home #2″.  Things seem to be going fairly smooth, but it definitely was not such a seamless start…

The day I was to fly out was a foggy one, and my dad and I were frequently checking the flight status, which in time indicated a one-hour delay.  Being as I live all of 15 minutes from the airport, this wasn’t a big ordeal; it actually gave me a bit of time to relax.  Upon arriving at the airport adequately prior to the new time, we quickly learned that the “one-hour” delay wasn’t quite accurate anymore.  As it played out, the flight that was to be coming in had to be redirected to Toronto, meaning that we had to be bussed there and fly out from there. We had to wait for the buses, and then wait again to check in once in Toronto.  By the time had taken off and arrived in Calgary, it was 1:30am (CST).  We were given a pass for the airport, but being as my flight in the morning was scheduled for 7am, I was limited to a hearty three hour nap; definitely the shortest hotel stay I’ve ever encountered.  All in all, it was around 7:30am (PST) when I finally arrived at my destination.  I decided that my afternoon classes were not an option and a nap was a necessity.

Since then, it has been much smoother sailing (thank goodness!).  My school schedule seems to be a lot more balanced this time around, and I have a lot better feel for how to handle the workload.  A couple of weeks in, and I am keeping up on my work without mass amounts of stress.  My professors all seem decent thus far, and the workload is definitely a bit lighter than the last time around.  I am particularly enjoying my business classes; English and philosophy are different story, but they at least seem tolerable and not overly  difficult.

My running has been going quite well, and a couple of Saturdays ago we traveled to University of Washington (in Seattle) for our first indoor meet, which was quite an enjoyable and exciting experience.  It has been nice being back in our wonderful temperate climate, though we did just get a foot of snow this past weekend.  The indoor season it quite short, and the real fun starts at the end of March, when we begin our outdoor season.

All in all, I’m pretty excited about this semester.  The schedule is better (as well as the workload), my parents are coming to visit in March, and I should get to travel even more than last semester.

[photopress:CRW_6965.jpg,thumb,alignleft]I looked out the window, revealing a winter-like bliss unfolding before me. The forecast had called for rain in Burnaby, however I just happen to live on a mountain. This actually isn’t the first time I have seen snow up here this year, but this was definitely the most I have seen thus far. However, it did not seem unusual to me; the drivers on the mountain must have felt differently as their cars got stuck. The next day we headed down the mountain for our practice, and it was mostly green…I even saw a guy mowing his lawn. A couple of days later, I look out to mostly melted snow and have already enjoyed one of my two runs today in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.

The quick snow-storm certainly reminded me of my quick-approaching Christmas break. I realize it has been a while since I made a post; life has definitely busy out here. To quickly summarize the last little while: running, and school.

The cross-country season finished on a bit of low note for me personally, but the team did really well. Our guys and girls team both won NAIA Regionals, with the girls going on to win the NAIA Championships for a record fifth straight year. The guys, having been unranked a couple weeks before regionals (unranked being under the top-25 in the NAIA) pulled off a 4th place finish. Now it’s time to start gearing up for our two track seasons, indoors and outdoors. I’m looking forward to traveling with everyone on the team and having fun at the meets, though it can make for tiring weekends.

School is coming to a quick close. I am buried in my books cramming for my finals; only 2 left. It has been a tough semester, both adjusting to the University academic system, which as I expected, greatly differs from the College one, and trying to survive my Calculus class. I have learned a lot about how everything works in University over the past 4 months…apparently being perpetually behind is quite normal. It truly is a great juggling act, especially with athletics thrown into the mix.

On December 16th I hop on a plane and head back to my true home. I’m really looking forward to the break, and having substantial time (rather than one day to pack in as much as possible) to visit with family and friends. I do believe that this Christmas, that time spent with everyone will seem even a bit sweeter than normal.

Until then, I shall remain in a high state of stress and lock-down as I try and shove as much information as possible into my head and then release it all within a 3-hour time-period. I also want to thank everyone for keeping tabs on me, checking in, and keeping me updated on things back home. It’s always great to hear you.

P.S. More pictures of our lovely snow-storm can be found here: http://gallery.mac.com/tfeens#100042

[photopress:n500779451_138493_7662.jpg,thumb,alignleft]Friday we (the SFU Cross-country team) arrived in Olympia, WA (75 min south of Seattle) to a nice sunny day. Saturday was race day, on the same course that is going to be used in one months’ time for NAIA Regionals. We woke up to a wet ground and a light rain falling from the sky with cool temperatures. Far from ideal running weather, but such was the story of my week.

The week began with a strong effort to catch up on the sleep I had missed from the previous week. A calculus midterm on Wednesday hampered these efforts. The mid-term itself was tough, as I had expected. The week also included a couple of assignments which needed to be completed before we left Friday at lunch for our race. It was another packed week with plenty to do. On top of this, I had to make sure I was doing enough contract work to keep my clients pleased, which has been tough as I’m limited to my laptop until my main development computer arrives.

I entered weekend far more stressed and tense than I would’ve liked, and this was compounded by a bit of a nagging foot issue. I tried to put as much of this behind my going into Saturday’s race, one that I had been trying to build up for, as it is our last race until Regionals. The race did not end up providing any solace to my already less-than-ideal week. Within the first (of three) loop of the race I had rolled my ankle twice, and considered dropping out the second time as I jogged with a limp, trying to loosen up the foot. The rest of the race was spent being overly cautious on the rough areas of the course and trying to make up time on the better areas. It was the worst I have raced this year, though I was proud of myself for sticking it out and putting in all the effort I could given the circumstance. The result wasn’t disastrous, and our teams both did really well in winning the meet. I must admit though, I wasn’t in a particularly good mood at this point.

Sunday I made an effort to make my way to church, on yet another rainy morning (not that the rain itself bothers me, it just seemed fitting with my mood at the time). Church did not disappoint this time. It helped me to take a step back and regain a larger perspective. The sun can’t always shine; there are always lessons to be learned and hardships to go through.

Later Sunday afternoon, the sun made a welcomed appearance from beyond the clouds. I enjoyed a light run around the campus, and was able to take a brief moment of time to relax, knowing that I had an extra day off. In addition to having the day off today, it also marked my first Thanksgiving away from home. Luckily, I know I will have the opportunity to see my family in a short while. As well, me and my neighbor, a member of the track team, had organized a Thanksgiving meal for those of us who didn’t have opportunity to make it home. With everyone chipping in, we made and enjoyed a wonderful (and rather large) dinner, showing that University students are capable of having the luxuries away from home. It was a great time, and really helped kick-start a new week.

Sometimes it does rain; but rain is refreshing and invigorating, and helps us to enjoy the pleasure of the sunshine. I’m learning to balance my workload better, and to make sure I take time out for that which really matters. One bad race only re-ignites my passion to train hard and I intend to be ready to go come Regionals. The sun is always there waiting for the rain to end.