My Not That Exciting but Perfectly Fine Life


"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” Frederick Keonig

Saturday, July 26, 2008

I love lazy Saturdays...

I love lazy Saturdays, how about you? Today has been one of those lazy Saturdays. Right now I’m sitting at my desk enjoying the pitter patter of a summer afternoon rain. I don’t know why it gives me so much joy, but it does. The cool air and soothing sound of the rain just does my soul good.

My roommate Christin has had a couple of hard weeks with a variety of things going on in her life. So, one Friday night not too long ago, we decided to spontaneously head to Chick-fil-A to get a quick bite to eat. It was dress like a cow night and get a free chicken sandwich. Unfortunately we left our cow costumes at home, but had other coupons we used anyway. We were pleased to meet this cow there though. Who goes to Chick-fil-A on a Friday night and takes their picture with a cow? Apparently we do. Crazy girls. It was fun.

Last weekend I went to Wisconsin with my co-worker, Cindy, and her family. They were headed up there for a family wedding reception and it just so happened they were driving close by where Andy and Elissa are now living. So they dropped me off and I got to spend a couple days with them and my oh so cute nephew, Joshua. Andy gave us a tour of where he works. Despite what the sign says here, we all entered into Andy’s workplace since we were with one of the employees. Such rebels. The place is filled with all kinds of machinery that looks complicated and potentially dangerous. I came away thinking, I’m glad Andy works there and not me. Especially after hearing him talk about measuring different projects out…anything having to do with numbers makes my brain hurt.

Then we drove over to the place they’ll be moving into in September. It will be nice to picture them there. It’s a five hour drive to see them and you have to go through Chicago…so I’m not thrilled about making that trip on my own…but imagine I will at some point. Maybe I can coerce Christin into coming along sometime.

I finished reading The Shack this week. Wow! What a read. It was soooooo good. I came away from it with so much to chew on. I’m going to have to go back and read it again because it’s jam packed with insights and thoughts to mull over. I’m sure I didn’t catch them all the first time around. It is so creatively written and is so fresh. I loved it because I’ve grown up with in the box thinking when it comes to my faith, but this is anything but trapped in a box. The picture it gives of the Trinity is beautiful. I’m doing a study on the Holy Spirit right now, so it was particularly interesting for me to see how the author, William Paul Young, depicts the Holy Spirit. Actually, his whole picture of the entire Trinity was intriguing and insightful. What’s crazy about this book is that it is fiction. Just goes to show that story telling can be just as powerful as or sometimes even more powerful than a self-help or how-to book.

On another note, Francesca Battistelli’s debut album, My Paper Heart, is now available to purchase. The best part though is you can listen to the entire album for free on her website. So, I went there and did just that wondering if perhaps her song, I’m Letting Go, was really the only one I’d like. I was pleasantly surprised to find I love her entire album. I love her style of music, her voice, and her lyrics. I can relate to many of the songs. So, now I know it’s worth buying the CD.

Last night we celebrated Michelle’s birthday. We saw Mama Mia and then went to Baskin Robbins for some yummy ice cream afterwards. I had Jamocha Oreo…oh so good. Michelle had Cherry Chip and Christin had a donut filled with gooey cream. Mama Mia was a fun chick flick. The music was catchy and it was over all a really funny movie. I don’t remember the last time I was in a movie theatre that was filled with so much laughter. While I don’t necessarily agree with the morals they pushed in the movie, I thought it was an entertaining and fun movie none-the-less. Next up on my movies to watch list is Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. The first one was so good; I hope this one isn’t a disappointment.

Jamie at 3:51 PM

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Thursday, July 03, 2008

Home Sweet Home

It’s always so wonderful to go on a long journey. At the same time it’s always wonderful to come home even with the mixed emotions of desiring to stay “in another world” just to rest from day to day responsibilities. At the same time, the world of responsibility isn’t that bad. It gives one a sense of purpose. So, I’m home now engulfed in reality and wading through my long to do lists. I’m just as thankful for those to do lists as I am for the time I had away from home. Canada was great to say the least!

I’ve been thinking about the best way to share about my trip. I think I’ll be able to share more if I break it into days. I took so many pictures and we packed so much in each day. Even though I’m breaking it up into days, there’s no way I’m going to be able to post all my pictures. To view my picture album click on this link: http://picasaweb.google.com/jamiejbennett.


So, here we go! Grab a cup of coffee or whatever your favorite drink is and join me on my journey to Canada.

Jamie at 7:48 PM

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Canada: Day 1

I took Monday off of work to pack and run any last minute errands. The bus wasn’t scheduled to depart until 8 p.m. so I was glad to have the extra time to prepare. Before meeting up with Leandra I took a little detour to my old elementary playground. I wanted to walk down memory lane and also desired to start my trip off in a playful way since I was headed for vacation…had to set the mood ya know. The funny thing is the playground doesn’t look anything like the one I grew up on. They’ve replaced all the playground equipment. But I had fun swinging and walking the balance beams anyway.

I took a walk by my old house too. The tree I planted in the front yard has grown so much…it’s hard to believe how huge it’s gotten. I love visiting it and thinking about how my Dad and I planted it from a tiny seed…and there it stands tall and strong. Amazing.

After my little walk down memory lane I met up with Leandra and then we headed over to LightRider Ministries to load up on the bus and head out. LightRider Ministries is a not-for-profit organization that provides retreats on wheels. One of my favorite things on this journey was the fact that every day we had devotions as a group. There were a total of 35 of us on the bus. The first thing we did as we left Upland was pray and have devotions. Each day someone shared their testimony (sometimes more than one person) and it was always such an encouragement to hear how God has been at work in each other’s lives.

Since it was over 3,500 miles roundtrip and a 42 hour drive one way, we had no time to stop at hotels along the way. So, you guessed it, we slept right there on the bus. We had three drivers that rotated sleeping and driving. I’m not sure if I got a wink of sleep the first night on the bus. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure anyone did. While it was quiet, we were all struggling to get some shut eye in. It sure is an interesting sensation to fall asleep in a moving vehicle of that size with a window on my left and at my feet. I was assigned the bunk on the second deck above a table at the front where the wind shield was located. There were four of us sleeping there…it was about the size of a king size bed except not quite as long. We decided to put our feet toward the windshield in case there was a wreck in hopes of landing on our feet rather than being knocked unconscious. Not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but thankfully we didn’t have to find out. It was fun to pop my head up in the middle of the night and look out the windshield…it was like I was surfing on my back. Weird. One night we hit some really big bumps along the way and I found myself bouncing to the point of my whole body being suspended in the air. Now that was fun!

Jamie at 7:39 PM

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Canada: Day 2

This day was pretty uneventful as it was our scheduled travel day. We spent all day on the road only stopping for breakfast, lunch, and supper. We had breakfast in New York, lunch in Massachusetts, and dinner in Freeport, Main. There was a shopping outlet in Freeport so they gave us a couple hours to walk around and do a little shopping if we desired. I had a lobster roll and clam chowder for dinner…it was yummy. Can’t beat seafood by the ocean. This was the first time I’d tasted lobster and I must say I had expected it to taste better. It didn’t really leave that much of an impression on me. Perhaps that’s because it was on a sandwich? I don’t know. It wasn’t bad, but I think I was expecting to be wowed by it since I heard so many people rave about it. Non-the-less, I tried it and enjoyed it.
We played catch phrase on the bus, a fun game to make the time pass quickly. We arrived at the Canadian border sometime after 10 p.m. I can’t remember the exact time. I just know we were all in our PJ’s and in bed. Thankfully we didn’t have to leave the bus. We filled out the paperwork and passed it back down to the officials. They didn’t even ask to see our passports. It was a pretty easy crossing to say the least. We all slept a little better this night…I guess we were getting used to sleeping while in constant motion.

Jamie at 7:32 PM

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Canada: Day 3

Talk about a room with a view…I woke up in a bus with a view. As I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and settled my focus outside the window, I couldn’t help but be filled with awe at the beauty surrounding us. We had arrived at Peggy’s Cove, a tiny fishing village dating back to 1811. It’s one of the most photographed places in Canada…and I can see why. The coast is made up of granite boulders over that are remains of the last glaciers.

The lighthouse is quite a focal point although it no longer serves as a beacon. Instead, it operates as a summertime post office – the only Canadian post office housed in a lighthouse. We only had a couple hours there, enough time to eat a hearty breakfast, explore the land, and take a few photos. We didn’t venture toward the darker rocks as these areas are considered the danger zone. People are engulfed by vicious and unpredictable waves every year in these areas. There are signs everywhere warning you to stay away from the dark rocks, but tragically, some people don’t head the warnings and lose their life as a result. I didn’t see any huge waves while we were there.
After our breathtaking tour of Peggy’s Cove we drove to Halifax where our first stop in the city was the Citadel. It’s now a national historic site of Canada. Our tour guide was a wealth of information and had a fun personality. As you can see he’s wearing a kilt, a common garb on many of the other young men in the fort as well. I don’t know how they stand the cold in those things…it had to be in the 50’s the day we visited and that was a “warm” day to them.
We arrived in time to hear the cannon at noon. The men were dressed as the Royal Artillery of 1869 and reenacted drills taken from British Army manuals of that period. It’s a tradition to fire the cannon at noon every day save for Christmas Day. I was expecting it to be louder than it was…although I did jump in surprise as I was trying to get a picture of the cannon as it went off. Since I jumped, I didn’t get the shot…oh well.

This sailing mast was used to send out messages to the city of Halifax. There was another smaller sailing mast right next to this one in which the fort used to post internal messages in a code only the army knew. Today, they like putting fun messages up including birthday salutations or something just plain silly.

After a chilly tour of the Halifax Citadel we headed in doors to the Maritime Museum. There were all kinds of ship models and artifacts recovered from lost ships to see there. They also had a wealth of information about the Titanic. Halifax was the closest port to the tragic accident, and as a result they had the grueling task of trying to save any survivors and then collecting and burying the deceased. Many were buried at sea, but some were brought to shore and buried in Halifax. We visited one of the cemeteries where some of the victims were buried. It was so sad to see many of the tombstones without names…just numbers since there was no way of identifying the person they buried.

For lunch we ate at Tim Horton’s….they’re everywhere in Canada and a more affordable option so it quickly became a favorite. After our time in Halifax we drove to Truro and dined at Murphy’s Fish ‘N Chips for supper. Bet ya can guess what I had for dinner…yup…fish ‘n chips. It was delicious.

After dinner we checked into the Pallister Motel , and I enjoyed my first shower of the trip. After two days of traveling, I was thrilled to clean up and refresh myself. The motel itself was quite old and looked like one of those motels you’d see in a scary movie. However, the accommodations were just fine…especially after living on a bus with 35 people!

Truro is famous for their Tidal Bore, a natural phenomenon which is seen in very few parts of the world. The Bay of Fundy is located right next to the Pallister Motel and is noted for its extremely high tides and for its tidal bores. In the Bay of Fundy, the rise and fall of the tide is greatly amplified becoming a wave varying from just a ripple to several feet in height. It actually causes the river to change its flow as a result of the wave flowing in over the outgoing river water. The bore arrives twice a day, and if we wanted to see it, 1:00 a.m. was the appointed time. So, rather than falling asleep and then getting up in the middle of the night, Leandra and I opted to just stay up for this natural wonder. Here we are out in the cold, dark night, awaiting the Tidal Bore. We heard the wave coming about a minute or so before it arrived and enjoyed watching the bay fill up rather quickly. It’s said the high tide at the Truro viewing site is reached in just over one hour from arrival of the bore. I can believe it as the bay filled up swiftly in just the short amount of time we were watching it.

Jamie at 7:01 PM

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