Snow :D

And this weekend it snowed! Yeah!
I love the sound of crunching snow underfoot and the light intensified, reflecting off the brilliant white landscape.
It paints a new picture, the world becomes a new place, full of different sounds and sensations.
I am quite happy that I don't have to drive in this new and dangerous world. I am quite happy watching it drift by from my seat on the bus.
On Sunday afternoon Mandy, Vicky and Artemis made it over to my house to share in making Christmas crafts and have some hot chocolate with maltesers in it! Sweet!

It'Snow joke!

This is a cutting from last week's local paper.
Just to illustrate Vancouverites attitude to snow in the city!

A Beautiful New Morning

Just wanted to share some stunning recent morning views from my home.
Enjoy!
Love Jill
xoxo

Good Morning, Vancouver!

hi,
Hope you haven't missed me too much ;)
Now I understand why people say moving house is stressful. Photos soon!
This morning I woke up to a cold crisp sunny day. As you can see, the view from my balcony was beautiful.
As I made my way to work, the world was a frosty sparkling wonderland, like some santa claus set. I saw a newspaper, frozen, with its pages furled up, glistening, as if under a fairytale spell.
I love this time of year, full of joy and family, a time to remember the greatest gift of all.
I am looking forward to a Christmas craft afternoon at my place with my girl friends, lots of food and chatter... wish you were here, Nik! Miss you and your creatvity lots.
I know this Christmas I will miss all my friends back home in NI. Know that I am thinking of you and praying God's blessings pouring out in your life.
Love Jill
xoxo

Chilled out, man!!

BANG!!!! What a spectacular show - 40mins of beautiful colour - wow!! Finale of competition and Canada won!!
Getting our space at 'English Bay" to watch fireworks! Thousands of people - interesting atmosphere - BC the capital of pot - ha we're soo chilled out:-) Guy on left causing peace in his stomach!
The Chinese portions are SOOOOOOO huge here!! YUM!! Sanders (Pastor we're living with) looks excited!

Drat!! Missed the posh cruise to Hawaii :-( Was Late ha!
Nik xox

Another fun week!!

This is our beautiful house with a white "American Dream" picket fence on a tree lined street!
Our ladies man:-) Misses Joy!!
Yes gotcha!!!!! A nice rabbit for dinner - just joking! I enjoyed a day at the shooting range (clay pigeons ha!) Ye ha lotsa praise from the cowboy!!
Bye bye Joy - Miss ya loads xoxoxo
Author this week of blog= Nik

We're havin' a swinging time!!

This is mine & Nicola's attempt at swing dancing, as you can see we're not very adventurous lol
This are some of the friends i made in the church & the also belong to the Refresh group. This is us when we went to see the fireworks on my last saturday night.
This is my last meal with my friends. We went out on Sunday to Tropika were we had Malaysian food, which was interesting. Im sorry to leave my friends here, but i hope that i'll get to see them again very soon.
Joy

Water, at last!!

This is me finally getting to get wet & cool down in the hot sun. The first pic is me just entering the water after racing down the slide & having a big splash. I was so excited to get into the water, that i was a bit overwelmed but at the same time very anxious to get through queue to go down the slide. The next day we went to the beach as you can see, so i went swimming in the sea & i persuaded Philip one of the guys I made friends with, to come swimming with me.
This is my last Friday so we went to an all you can eat Indian buffet, yummy, yummy in our tummies haha
Joy

Victoria Capital of BC

We went over to Victoria by boat, a bit like the HSS but not as fast. There was some nice
scenery from the boat of different islands before we reached Victoria.
This is Victoria's Parliment building, it looks a tiny bit like Belfast city hall with the green dome at the top.
Nic & I decided to be adventurous & put on Chinese hats & we look like we've not long left the rice field lol. We look too clean to be out working in a field however.
At last we've finally seen a bear. Unfortuneatly it's not real as we can't seem to find any real bears. I dont think bears really exsit in Canada lol
Joy

cabin fever

Jill, Andrew, Joy and Nik went to a Log Cabin at the Mile High Resort:-) Isn't it cute!! We went for a week in the bear/rabbit/mosquito infested woods. Great fun apart from Jill and Joy's nasty bites and a relaxing time was had by all. Not sure if Andrew got what he bargained for when he invited the 3 crazy Christian Irish girlies! Ha! But he was a good cook and fire lighter so we let him stay:-)
We went SKINNY DIPPING here in Face Lake by our cabin! Cold! Nipple freezing!
Toasted marshmallows which gave us drug induced dreams zzzz must be the sugar???!!!! 'The Log" is coming back to Northern Ireland! *Watch out for this innovative reality T.V show!*
The four of us having a well earned breakfast! Phew! The restaurant burnt down 2 days later:-( We won't be back!!
Nik

New Experiences

Anna and Nik try some 'Bubble Tea' - actually very nice experience! Fruit juice with jelly bits or tapioca or just the freshly squeezed juice on it's own!! Lotsa flavours yum!!
Jill,Nik and Joy posing with some statues in a very picturesque park called Queen Elizabeth Park!!

Yikes its the Japanese squid tentacles-VERY brave Jill!! I had a nibble and that was enough yuk!! Japanese market was very good fun with odd food to try, weird clothes Jill style ha and some tacky karaoke singing from random characters-funny!! Nice to be shown around by some of Jill's friends recommending all the different things to try. Got my nails beautifully done for $5 Very cheap think i'll be asking for a little more in my beauty salon!
Nik

sun sun sun

Having great fun here in Vancover!!! Feel very privileged blogging on jills blog ha! Weather been super duper here. Hear you had fun on the twelfth in a monsoon!! Well as you can see from the colourful photos we have been busy at ikea, aquarium, and jills fav - sushi yum my tummy is getting used to some of the strange stuff shes been feeding us! Not at the loo as much now he he! Enjoyed a candyfloss at playland and amused myself on some of the rides as the scaredy cats wouldn't join me. Be in touch soonio. Nik xoxoxo

Joy and Nic arrive!! :D

We have arrived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Weather is great & loads of sun. We had squirty dumplings that Jill can't fit in her mouth lol & the juice squirted all over her including her hair lol haha. the bigger the mouth the better.
Yesterday Jill took us to Granville Island & we went & got lunch in the farmers market, then we got to eat out in the sun, followed by a looooooooooooooooooong walk to the beach, then we got lost & had to be rescued by Jill's friend Ange!
Nik xoxo

Wrapped!

Still tired, so if this doesn't make sense, please forgive me.
Finally, with cup of tea in hand, I can relax and tell you all how I am doing.
"Eiridh" wrapped on Sunday night at 11.30pm. Cast and crew were focused and committed until the last moment, all wanting to produce an excellent work. This has been the best job I have worked on, for the teamwork, the encouragement and the fun. There are still some behind-the-scenes interviews that I need to work on, but, for now, the editing process will begin, and we can all have a rest.
Meanwhile, I will be meeting with the director of Pacific Theatre's "Driving Miss Daisy" this week to discuss the costume requirements for the show.
Also, this weekend past, I spent Friday and Saturday in Seattle with 11 women from my church attending the Women of Faith conference. It was very entertaining, with speakers like Luci Swindoll, Patsy Clairmont, dramatist Nicole Johnson, singers Sandi Patty (wow, what a voice!) and Nicole C Mullen, and Max Lucado. Not much sleep was had, as we stayed 6 to a room!
Now I am looking forward to hanging out with Nic and Joy this coming Sunday.
God bless. Sweet dreams.
love Jill
xoxo

Exhausted yet inspired!

I have just spent an inspiring, yet exhausting, weekend working on location of "Eiridh" ("will rise" in English), the Scottish film set in 1280AD, a romance - love is what's important in life.
I am working with three2three productions (taken from Colossians 3:23).
We were shooting out in a forest in Maple Ridge, in (sometimes torrential) rain and mud. We were on set from 10am on Saturday, until 11pm. Amy and I slept on the floor in the director's house, since we were to be back on set at 7.30am on Sunday. We wrapped the weekend's shoot at 6pm.
I am pretty tired, since I had to get up at 4.30 this morning to be in work at my part-time job for 7am. :0
The film is going really well. The cast and crew are great to work with and everyone is very passionate about what we are working towards. I pray to God that this will be an opened door of opportunity for each one of us working on this film, and that it gets a wide and receptive audience.
Good night and sweet dreams.
God bless
love Jill
xoxo
ps. I have 7 mosquito bites!

Happy 1st Birthday, Timothy!!

Yesterday was Timothy's 1st birthday, and he enjoyed it immensely.
We had a small party with hotpot and cake. It was good fun and very tasty.
Hotpot (see photo) is the big boiling pot of stock in the middle of the table, into which each person puts their uncooked meat, veggies, tofu etc in small amounts, to cook and then eat.
A very social way of eating - although, as the main spoken language was Chinese, I missed some of the conversation!
Please pray for Timothy to start eating more - he still takes milk through a tube down his throat although he takes a very little food by mouth, and he is being put forward for surgery to have a tube inserted into his tummy so he can be fed that way, but we hope to avoid the surgery if he will start eating by mouth. Please pray for his motor skills and more upper body strength - he is slightly behind in this but doctors assure he will catch up.
Please also pray for energy and calm for Sanders and Angela.
Lord, please bless this loving, caring family.

Making progress

hi,
I haven't blogged for a while. Life got in the way!
Things are busy, and yet they're not.
Still waiting for the sale of my flat to be finalised so I can make a move here. I cant wait to be settled and start living in a more organised way!
Although, saying that, it is such a blessing to be staying in a family home again, with Sanders, Angela and Timothy (he's so cute!).
I am working on my self-promotion, as in business cards, website, etc and networking.
Currently my time is taken up with a short Gaelic film shooting at the end of June. The setting is Scotland in 1280AD, so, needless to say, it is providing a challenge for my resource finding. It provided me with the encouragement I needed to contact a costume assistant who had emailed me last year. She is keen to be involved and I have made a new friend.
Life at church is busy too, as we prepare for the summer programme and organise our retreat for the youth (and anyone who says I'm not youth anymore will be subjected to my really bad jokes!). Please pray for an inspirational and life-changing summer for all involved.
This may sound strange but I have lost my sewing machine, so I would be grateful if you would pray for me, either to find it or to get a good deal on a new one. Thank you.
God bless
love jill
xoxo

Refreshed and renewed

This weekend just passed, sunny and warm, was our Alpha retreat at Hidden Fir Lodge (hiddenfir.com) near Vancouver. It was relaxing and refeshing, a time blessed with the presence of God. I have deepened friendships and gone deeper in my faith. The Holy Spirit has blessed me and many others there, filling us to overflowing with His living water, His amazing joy.
I have been challenged to go further for God, and I hope that our ministries at Immanuel Church will grow as a result, as I grow.
I have been receiving messages and mail from friends at home. I want to let you know that it means so much to me, and it is a great encouragement. Thank you.
God bless
love jill
xoxo

Inspired!

Wow! Last night I was inspired by an evening of Christian arts at a local church. The entertainment included original songs, paintings, fashion, storytelling, even a dj, and culinary treats from the story of the loaves and fishes found in Mark's gospel, chapter 6.
The exhibition's theme of 'creation' was demonstrated in an exciting dj demonstration including words from Genesis and a wide variety of music. And I really enjoyed a video artwork which showed a painter challenged to create a painting in four minutes - very messy!
Hope you find inspiration this week!
God bless
love jill
xoxo

The importance of friends

This morning I awakened to the echoing coos of the pigeon that sits on top of the chimney (I honestly think he sticks his beak down the chimney and coos!)
Today I went along to a women's bible study group at St John's. It was good to meet some new friends.
It is a little bit lonely during the transition phase when you move to a new place. Things seems a little bit weird, and you go from having a close circle of friends to having a few friends dotted about the place. It has been good to have the support of coming back to my church that I attended here previously, and in particular the friendships that I left behind are now flourishing.
I have relocated back and forth quite a few times in the past years, and with it my social skills and confidence have improved a lot! It involves finding groups or classes that interest you and just go along. This may sound like common sense to most people but I was very shy when I first came here and for me it still takes a lot of courage to walk into a room where I know no one and make the effort to start making friends.
May I make a suggestion? This week, take the time to let a friend know how much you appreciate having them in your life. It could be as simple as a note, or a cup of hot chocolate.
God bless
love jill
xoxo

Relaxing with a hot cup of tea

Hi,
I have not been here for a while - i have been sick, and hence have not done anything exciting to write about.
I was walking past Mestisos Pet Spa the other day, and saw two very fine dogs on their running machines. It's a strange world.
I am now relaxing with a hot cup of maple tea and listening to Hillsong "Mighty To Save".
Life is good. I realise how blessed I am to be in the place I have been trying to get to for quite some time. Although things are not quite settled (no home yet etc.), I am very happy.
Everyone is starting to make plans for the summer, and the weather is getting hotter. Looks like its going be a fun year!

Happy Birthday to me! (1)

Yesterday we celebrated my 21st (ish!) birthday - tee hee! (well i feel like 21!)
In the afternoon, my friend Ben and I went for a drive...

Happy Birthday to me! (2)

...over the Lions Gate Bridge...

Happy Birthday to me! (3)

... we took the ferry to Bowen Island for the best hot chocolate on the west coast!...

Happy Birthday to me! (4)

... then we got lost trying to find Crayola beach (which is not marked on the tourist map)...

Happy Birthday to me! (5)

...it was at this point I received a text message from friends in Ireland, to let me know that my friends are with me no matter where I am...