My song of the day

For your listening pleasure.....
my favourite song today

"Shizuka na Hibi no Kadan Wo" by Dragon Ash

wish to the shooting star after the rain.....

So much to say....

So much to say, and no way to say it all.
So it's bullet points for today, pictures, then bed.

1. First off, my mate Mark came out to Victoria this weekend, soooo much fun, so good to have a friend to explore the city with. Pictures below.... :D
2. I finally broke my bad picture streak and got two good rolls developed. YAY! hopefully will get some up on here sooner rather than later.
3. I'm watching the Italian job, the new one with Mark and Charlize and Seth. good. very good.
4. I'd like to have a Mini cooper. And drive with Handsome Rob ;)
5. I only have one more week here before my mate Philip arrives on June 3rd, I get a week of leave and then it's all on for MA. woooo hooooo.
6. You should read this story http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4096586. It's really awesome.
   

I feel like I had lots more to say, but really, I'm too tired to think.
Will post more next time I render I guess.
Big love
Hillary

Mark and I at Chinatown

'Embracing' all that is Canadian, hugging a bear and kissing a cow-riding mountie. Can life get better? I submit that it cannot! ;)

What's Chinatown without Dimsum. For a 'meat and potatoes' guy he did pretty well. Yup, there are chicken feet there.....

That's what you get when you have two photographers and two cameras. Pictures of people taking pictures. Gee.

Happy Birthday to me....

So I have amazing and wonderful friends and flatmates here in Vancouver who looked after me and loved me all weekend.
What a treat, and sooooo refreshing.
I will for sure blog later, but after this weekend of late nights and early mornings, I am going to try for some beauty sleep before the trip back tomorrow to Victoria.
So until I can give you the play by play from the last few days, here are some of the best of's from last night:

The roomies! Me, Reeeebeeee, and Jax

Henri and I, with our Sangria

Jax and I in our party dresses

Andy-Roo and his glamour glasses (stolen from a gorilla might I add!)

The gorgeous girls

My birthday cupcake a la Jacqui

Mark made me an icecream cake!!! yup he did!!!!

Adam and I are soooo cute

So I got tired of the dress, but kept the crown and beads.

We started playing 'Spoons' and every out means one glass of water. I got to 3....bleh

Suddnely I see...

So my eye was doing something weird this morning, like I couldn't really see properly. Not so cool. It did it last night too. But it's ok now. Could be the not sleeping thing. hmmm

Anyways, am rendering again, having a mental break and letting my computer do the work today. I'm still thinking, but mostly just watching the little green render progress bar. I'm glad to say I'm nearly done with the first week of teaching! wooohooo, only 7 more to go! :S

So while I did that I taught Roy how to transfer pics from his XD camera cards on to his computer OR his USB flash drive. He's a pretty quick 76 year old I'll tell you that!

It's hilarious, he's really glad he finally learnt because he basically was taking pics on his digital camera, and then since he didn't know how to get them off, he would just go buy another one. So he had 4 XD cards worth of pics to transfer, and now he doesn't know what to do with them! tehehe

But yeah, with all the camera stuff, I borrowed theirs and before they headed off to A&W for lunch we took a quick snap shot so you can see the rock stars I live with here on the Island.

And in the meantime I'm going to pack and clean my room a bit (computer still rendering) and then it's off to Vancouver for the long weekend! YAY! birthday party, Brian Regan and the DRIVE here I come! I'll still be working and rendering and editing pretty much the entire time, but it's all good :D

More pictures to come once we're done partying it up on saturday night. Who's coming?

So...

it's 3am. Insomnia is a bad thing.

Only in Oregon...

So the next spider man.......
Was this seriously on the news in Oregon? In America? On TV? I mean really?
Who was in America and saw this on the news? huh huh huh? Tell me!!!
And you know what's more concerning? I found this in the New Zealand Herald.
Gotta love it.
Don't click here if you are scared of spiders...

Quote of the day

This was on the top of gmail this morning, you know where it has those little webclips to news stories and stuff..

"A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water."
-Eleanor Roosevelt.

I want to be good tea.

so....

so this is post number 100
How is it that I got to 100 posts? Who even reads this? Do I know you?
But yeah, it's been a stupidly full last few days, I don't even know what to really say. I feel like my life doesn't have any median points, just extremes, crazy fluctuations like a hyper active kid on a see-saw. No middle ground.
But today is better.
Anyways, emo aside, I will restrain myself from a crazed diatribe about life for now (if you get my updates, you already know), and instead post the promised pictures from Sunday upisland with Layne and Mac. Sadly we didnt' have a camera in the caves (oh yeah, i'm offically a Spelunker, that is, one who explores caves!) it was sweet fun though, got wet from literally face to feet, covered in mud and have a couple of bruises as proof that I, Hillary, was inside several small, dark, wet places. yikes. That's what living in Canada will do to you I guess. And the scariest part??? I want to go again................
More later, lunch break is done....
Love, hill

My huge birthday cake, complete with Winnie the Pooh and Daffy Duck candles!

Anders (8th of 8 kids) and I eating cake

Me, Mackenzie, Michell and little Anders

Together again! Mack, Me, and Layne

The Johnson tradition is licking the frosting off the candles...........
Toveli, Gaylin, and Danaka
Mac and Anders, Anders helping himself to birthday cake
Fun with coffee cups and cameras! :)

A weekend at the beach....

So I arrived at Layne's last night, in a scene vaguely reminiscent of a bad horror movie. The bus driver dropped me off on the side of the road, in front of a ute with its lights on. Layne and her sister Rauchelle were going to meet me on the side of the road with their lights on so I figure, 'ok cool' the bus drives away and i'm walking toward this ute. Then I realise that Layne and her sister are not infact in the ute, two scary very hairy bearded bushmen are in the ute. oh dear. and it's a very dark country road. hmmm
so i go and stand behind the ute and call layne. 5 phone calls and 15 strange minutes later i'm safe and sound at their house.
Phew
This morning I am greeted by all 8 of Layne's siblings, and we end up chilling out on my bed talking and laughing and me hearing lots of stories about life here up-island since i last came to visit (last october). I was then presented with two letters, written by 2 of her younger siblings.
Seriously. classic.

"Dear Hillary, toveli
I'm happy that you're coming, and I'm happy that you're staying. I'm happy that you like Layne. I'm happy that you're staying for two days. It will be fun with you here, and we'll have lots of fun. We'll always be happy and I know that you'll like it here with Layne. And the age that you'll be is fine"

Toveli is 5, and dictated the letter to Layne. She knew it was my birthday and to her 5 year old mind, I'm positively ancient and need to be re-assured that it's NOT the end of the world that I am infact 18 years older than her. thank goodness.

So today has been great, lots of laughing and joking and fun, playing in the sand, in the rocks and generally just living :)
It's a good weekend. The sun is good too, my body is in shock after being in my fluorescent editing cave for the last week. Jill would be proud of my tanning :)

And of course, on a sunny almost-summer day, what should we do? Weiner roast and SMORES
tehehehe

mmmmm, fire......

mmmm....hotdog......

mmmmm.....smores..........

mmmmmmmm

Yeah. They're pretty cool......

Rendering.......

So I've been rendering for a few hours now.....
This project is certainly good practice, but my eyes hurt.
We went out for 'dinner' today to celebrate Jan's birthday, Jan and Roy's 49th anniversary, Mother's Day, and my birthday. At 4.30pm. I feel like I'm on a another planet. But anyways.
After dinner we went up Mount Tolmie, and it was just like driving up Mt Eden! It has an amazing view in every direction, the mountains going up island, Victoria, the mainland........
I got some ok pictures, and I told Jan and Roy today I'd take some anniversary pics for them, they want to get some together for their 50th next year :) I'll post a couple if they turn out from today :)
It's officially my birthday in NZ today. Still a few more hours to go here, but it's all the same from inside my little editing cave.
I'm excited for this year. It looks busy and different and challenging, and already has meant new people, places, relationships, adventures, music, food, laughs, houses, countries, and so much. And this year has a lot to live up to, given two weeks after my 21st I moved to Canada the first time, and 2 weeks after my 22nd, I went back to NZ to raise support to come back on staff. I wonder what surprises this year will hold........

p.s. I was just looking at www.nzherald.co.nz at my favourite section "Today in pictures" I think for my official New Zealand birthday this is my favourite......
I mean really........who does that.....

Ashrita Furman, who currently holds 144 Guinness world records, gyrates as he hula hoops underwater at Island Dolphin Care in Key Largo, Florida. Photo / Reuters

A thought on love...

So I'm sitting here again with Jan and Roy. Today is their 49th anniversary. But actually, it isn't. Jan is in her early stages of alzheimer's and isnt' sure what day it is. Their anniversary is on Friday. The 11th. But for this house today, it's the 11th. Or their anniversary is the 9th. Whatever works. But we're celebrating today for them. And for 49 years.
And Roy smiles, and eats his popcorn, and jokes with his wife, congratulating her on 'another 20 years.....'

85 hours.....really

Too much footage.
My eyes are acutally turning square. I thought my mum was making that up when I was a kid. But nope. It's really happening. I mean seriously. 13 hours in front of my computer in the last 24 is jsut down right scary.
Too much footage.

So why is it that physical humour is so funny?
And yet painfully not.
I hate total lame-o slapstick physical humour movies and stuff, but I am sitting with Jan and Roy (the 70 and 76 year old I am living with here on the Island) watching America's funniest home videos and it could not be funnier watching people fall of docks, out of trees, get poked in the eye.... you get the idea.
And I was talking to a certain boy (you know who you are) about going down a hill on a trolley on top of it and hitting a speed bump and flying onto your neck. Now that's not funny. but you knwo what. It really really is. You still owe me a video of that btw!!!!
But yeah, it really shouldnt' be funny, but I know I laugh. Everytime.
And what about that T-shirt: 'It's funny until someone gets hurt. Then it's hilarious.....'
Oh dear.....

So I got escorted home by the police yesterday.

I know.

First night in Victoria and I get brought home by the cops. Well one cop to be precise.

So I was at the office here in Victoria. I got off the ferry, met the people I will be staying with for the next month, and then went over to the YWAM Victoria office to start getting a handle on the editing work that I will be doing over the next month. So I get into the swing of it, am working hard, and then get into doing a couple of other errand type things, and talking on Skype, so then by the time I leave the office it's 9pm. And dusky. And I realise I can't remember how to get to where I am staying.
I'm pretty sure I ahve a general idea though, so I start to retrace the path that I think the car took that drove me there in the first place. Then a cop car pulls up, so I figure, 'hey lets just ask a cop' so I say 'is this the right direction to be walking to get to Fraser st?' and the cop says 'sorry miss you're going the wrong way, turn around and it'll be about 4 blocks up'
So I thank him and move on.
About 4 blocks later I'm kinda looking and walking, not too worried, but a little confused, and then I hear a breathless 'umm, Maam?'
And the cop's partner is running up behind me. So I stop and turn, and he says (a little pink) 'umm, sorry, my partner sent you the wrong way, it's one block off where you were when you stopped to ask us. I'll walk you back'
so we walk and turn down the street and he says 'ok this is fraser' shines his flash light up on to the street sign and it reads in big flourescent letters 'CARLISLE STREET'
and the cop says 'Oh no, now I'm lost too!'
So a motorcyclist pulls up just then (while I'm laughing trying to reassurethis guy that he isnt' in fact a bad cop) and I suggest that we should ask him, given he lives right here.
'so, do you know how we can get to Fraser st'
the guy takes of his helmet, looks from me to the cop and back at me, and laughs and says 'it's two blocks that way, the police station is on the corner of Fraser!'
the cop blushes again and mumbles something about not being from around here and walked me all the way home, much to the amusement of the couple that I am staying with here.

So anyways.

In other news...
I have Facebook now. Lame. I got sucked into the online community vortex that was. *whimper* and a voice in the distance mumbles '....sellout....' sigh
But yeah, I'm now listed and linked and my wall is written on.......

So yeah. I'm here in Victoria. I'm staying here with a beautiful old couple named Roy and Jan and their cat Misha. Roy is 76, Jan is 70 and their 49th wedding anniversary is the same day as my 23rd birthday! (ahem, Friday 11th hint hint cough)
It's been fun hanging out with them, and today we had a great day, I slept in, had breakfast with them, went and worked out at the rec centre and then we piled into their huge dodge minivan and drove all around victoria, all aroudn the water, looking at their church, the houses they grew up in, the army barracks roy lived in, and i got to be a little part of a very long history for a short moment. I'm pleased to say i had the best fish and chips for lunch sitting on the wharf too, the smell was just like home and it was fun to hear about their lives and grandkids and kids and church friends and senior aquasize and game night and the crazy cat and the wheelchair business and dentists and dreams and visions and hopes and ideas, and then tonight sitting having tea with Jan and hearing their love story. It's a beautiful thing to see two people so happy and safe with one another, who genuinely laugh and tease and care and nag and love. I want my slightly gooofy husband when I'm 70 to tell me i'm too sweet to have sugar in my coffee too one day. and he still tells her at least 5 times a day how pretty she is. it's a beautiful thing.
I'm going to church wtih them in the morning and Jan is going to introduce me to her choir ladies........ :) and while I know I'm out of practice with reading out of a prayer book, I'm looking forward to it.
Have taken a roll of pictures already, it's beautiful here, and I started out with Jan and Roy with my camera out, so I'm getting some good pics of them too. Need to start taking more pics of faces and people and lives and laughing and tears and eyes. Need to get closer.
Am excited for this month. God is so good. Already have been talking with friends, near and far (yay for Skype!) and even though I felt so overwhelmed when I first got off the ferry here, it's really comforting to know that I'm not too isolated.

And I realise I never actually posted from Oregon. I left to go there, then was swamped leading the team and something in me couldn't post, I had to just be there, and live it and I figured I would post later and better.
It was an amazing trip. God overwhelmed me, saved me and made me laugh, and brought me really special people, and made me see how special the people I was with were, even more than I already knew. I realise I love America more and more everytmie I go, and I miss the people, the laughs, the humour, the radio, the food, the driving, the scenery, the coffee, the colour, the people, the music, the shops, the churches, the YWAMers, the people....... Is this really my life? I wanna go back soon......

So it's coming up on 9 months since this leg of my Canada life started up, and there are big changes in the winds ahead. More info will be in my next newsletter, but yeah, it's exciting, keep praying with me and for me ok?

Loads of love, I'm off to bed
Leave me comments, I miss you

Hillary

***Interim Post***
I have tried and tried to blog, but have obviously failed miserably. Please don't give up on me, blog land buddies........
To appease you, here are some new pics for your viewing pleasure. When life has equalized a bit more again, I will be sure to be back here in blogland.
But the news in brief is...
-I am back in Vancouver
-I am moving house on Tuesday (it's monday morning now)
-I am yet to finish packing
-On Thursday I leave for 1 month to work for YWAM Victoria on Vancouver Island to edit videos for a month
-It's my birthday in 11 sleeps!

Ok, now back to the morning 'time-to-get-out-of-pjs-get-ready-for-work' scenario

My super-hot hair net look making lunch at YWAM Salem

Jessa and I at the top of Multnomah Falls, OR

Jessa, myself and Adam in the Nightstrike clothing room in Oregon. I got to keep the cardigan, though Adam had to put the cowboy hat back.....

The group shot of all of us assembled at our friend Nancy's wedding in Calgary. Aren't we a good looking bunch?

Jana and I at the bottom of Multnomah.

Jessa, Jacqui and I in front of our beautiful new house post-lease-signing.

The back view

Me, Reebs, Adam, Mark and Reeb's brother and sister in law in town for a visit

Still procrastinating. Urgh.

Quotes of the day that make you laugh when you realise you are a Kiwi who has become very used to living in Canada.

(heard on www.kiwifm.co.nz during the news broadcast)

"Snow tires....have you ever heard of them?"

"The coldest laboratory in the southern hemisphere, an awfully chilly -35degrees, simulating an Antarctic winter..."

Tehehehehe. I shouldn't be laughing. Or blogging. Or emailing.

Oh yeah, I sent out my newsletter today (finally!) Email me if you got it and don't want it, or didn't get it and want it.

heaps of love

and HUGE MASSIVE AMAZING BIG THANKYOU to my lovely Sara who sent me pineapple lump marshmallow easter eggs! You are a legend buddy. Miss you loads, blow kisses at Wellington for me ok hun?

This post is called procrastination.
I should be packing. Not posting
I leave at 6.15am
yipes
but i still took this personality test. You should too.
Which world leader are you?
SNAP, I get to be Ghandi, I always wanted to shave my head
BAH!

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Man two posts in one day.
Firstly, I'm happy to say I'm getting back into video stuff, and Laura has put two of my videos on her podcast site, so if you wanna look or download or whatever you can check it out here.
The first is called "Live a life less ordinary" (Laura's name not mine) which we made for the promo tour we did in Seattle and will be taking to Portland with us, and the "Team Malaysia" is a technically rough, but fun video of our time on outreach in Malaysia.
Gives you a better idea of my life here and how things have been going and what I have been up to.
Urg. I really truly had something I really wanted to post and I can't remember
Gutted. Can't remember.
I am going to buy the Sione's wedding soundtrack for my birthday I think. Or you could buy it for me... ;) a good sound of home if ever I heard one.
Thanks for being there Rob and Lois, you guys are legendary.

So after a bunch of searching and wondering, we have a house!
I can't even really believe it, but it was real and we walked in the beautiful front door (which sadly I didn't get a pic of!!!) but yeah, I will have one soon enough!
It's going to be so beautiful and wonderful and it's so encouraging to see God provide for all of us, with one big beautiful house and one reallly really great landlord.
The 6 girls will move into the 3 bedroom upstairs suite and the 3 boys will move into the downstairs suite. it's going to be a big beautiful party and I can't wait. Though I will have to becuase with this work in Victoria and everything,I won't really get to settle in until June. But who cares! We have a house!
Check out these lovely pics, thanks Reeebeee

This is our beautiful kitchen, with fridge and gas stove. Out the back where you see the flowers in that window is a little nook area/sunroom with a little mudroom bit for the winter, and a back door out onto the porch at the back.

Jana posing at the back of the house. We have the top, and the boys are in the basement. The white door is a big stoarge area for all our bikes! Yay for living in Vancouver!

Our living room. The door on the right is the main front door to the front little porch.

The yellow room where Jacqui, Rebecca and I will probably make home

The blue room for Jessa and Jana probably
The little candy floss pink room for Hannah

So yeah, I am really looking forward to moving in and really be able to unpack and settle and do normal things like buy a bed and stuff. Though even as I type this, one thing I've really been learning in the last 6 months or so is that home is a very abstract term. I am resisting the urge to type some dumb cheesy "home is where the heart is" kind of platitude, but at the same time.......

Ok enough for now. I remember I had a bunch of thing I was going to blog about but I can't remember. Oh yeah. Bitter diatribe. I tried to download those episodes of Shortland Street, and it turns out that I am not allowed to watch them or download them or anything because I am outside of New Zealand. Curses. What I ask is why do TVNZ think that anyone within New Zealand would want to download them, instead of people outside New Zealand who are stupid enough to ACTUALLY MISS SHORTLAND STREET!!! lol. Tragic and sad that I am actually admitting that I miss it. It's drivel and pathetic, but it's amusing right.
Anyways, nothing else I was going to say just for those of you who have forgotten what I look like cuz it's been sooooo long, here is a pic i just found I had from Nancy's wedding weekend in Calgary. Actually truth be told it's from St Paticks Day at the pub after Nancy's wedding, but we had a super fun awesome time, and bit of a mini reunion of our DTS, with 10 of us, 11 including Stefan, 12 including Nancy, and it was beautiful and awesome. Congrats Joe and Nancy, I know I'm a month or so late, but yeah, very cool wedding.

Stefan, Andrew, and I with our Green 'beverages'

Ok, that's all, it's bed time.
Happy Easter everyone.
Heaps of love
Next post probably from Portland, Oregon. We leave on Thursday. Yipes.

So after the quickest border crossing I've ever ever been a part of I am back in (amazingly) sunny Vancouver for a bit of the beautiful spring, before making a beeline in 10 days or so back to the USA, or more specifically to Portland, Oregon.
I feel like it's been ages since I blogged and there is SO much to tell.
ok
so I'm going to try bullet point form to firstly limit ramble, but also to try and cover everything I want to in a clear and concise fashion. Also, for those skim readers out there with a short attention span, you can get a quick overview.

1. This is a good book -
2. I really really like fruits. And I'm happy that strawberries are in season and cheap again. That and asparagus (i know that isn't a fruit, but you know what I mean)
3. I'm a little nervous to put the Neo flags counter up, I don't wanna be the lamer with only one little bouncy flag. Don't let me down peeps.
4. Oh yeah, I ate some peeps. You know americans, those little yellow sugar wrapped in sugar chicken things for easter? one word. yuck.
   
5. YWAM Seattle are really cool people and I had a really great time hanging out with them and getting to know them more. I'm hoping to go back for a visit with them with Philip when he comes to visit in June, because Seattle is also a super awesome groovy cool city that I'm looking forward to seeing in summer.
   
6. I just watched 'Sione's Wedding', a great Kiwi movie made by Oscar Kightley and the Naked Samoans. It was funny and sweet and oooooozing wtih Kiwiana, to the point I have to admit I got a little teary eyed. It's all shot in Auckland, and full of Samoan, Maori, Kiwi, Island goodness that makes me miss home and want to find some Islanders to hang out with. It's a different world that I can't even begin to explain, and even though I am unashamedly white and nerdy, I miss it. You should watch it. In fact, once I am done making these pies I am making, you can come over and watch it with me. Pies, pineapple lumps (I found them Jessa!) pavlova and Sione's wedding. Sigh!
7. So in our search for housing, it is looking like we might have something. all will be confirmed tomorrow. All 6 of us girls are waiting on hearing back from a landlord tomorrow morning on a large 3 bedroom house that we can share with a great kitchen, living area, deck and nice (i hope) bathroom. It was weird trusting the other girls to suss it out while Jessa and I were in Seattle, but here's hoping that it all works out. More info when we get it, but please pray for us!
8. I'm still coughing a little bit. But it's a lot better. Thanks for praying!
9. I love video editing. Except today I wanted to tweeeeek our promo video and I realised after doing my desktop tidy up I messed up a bunch of file paths that Premiere needed for my working copy. Urg. Lots of files in "offline" mode now. Mucho frustrating.
   
10. For those who didn't know already, I'm planning to do a lot more video/media stuff in the near future. More details when everything is official, but if anyone wants to join in with paying into the 'BUY HILLARY A WICKED AWESOME VIDEO CAMERA' just let me know.
    
    and.......DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....
    
    
11. I have just been informed by my dear friend Brett that TVNZ (the equivalent of CBC for you Canadians) has put Shortland Street on "TV on Demand" on their website. Now this may not be a big deal for most of you, but for a lil'ol'occaisionally-home-sick me, that is HUGE. I don't even like Shorty that much (ok who am I kidding, I really used to be addicted to it during university!!!) and now I can watch it whenever I want. "You're not in Guatemala now, Dr. Ropata" AMEN!
12. Oh yeah, and I did the personality test that Ralph did. Check it out, pretty colours.......
    
13. Oh and last but not least, check out these brilliant and beautiful websites. The first is an excellent source of free stock pictures, and the second is my new favourite grape website, where I can buy stuff from New Zealand for not too much, and a relatively cheap delivery fee. Dilmah tea and Gingernuts here I come!

Oh and just so you know I didn't forget.......

• Happy Birthday Sara
• Happy Birthday Philip
• Congratulations Amy and Luuk

Love you all soooo much
Hillary