so long twenty-ten.

/

 

 Well hello there twenty-ten.

We had a grand ol time, didn’t we? As with life there were many, many moments. Some moments where I could practically float on air, I was just so happy. Many moments were filled with that deep laughter that only comes from something being really, really, ridiculously, hilarious. And then there were moments of heart ache, moments filled with sadness in a dark place. But as always, my God was there. He left fingerprints of his presence all over the place.

When I first became a Christian, I grew fast. Like real fast. In a span of 3 months I dedicated my life to the Lord, joined a small group, started serving, was baptised in water and spirit…such a whirlwind. I remember reading the story of David for the first time. I remember being in awe and amazement as I read about the Israelites crossing the red sea for the first time. Looking back on twenty-ten, I can tell you for sure I didn’t grow as quickly as I did those first days but I have grown. So let’s take a look back at some highlights that made this heart sparkle.

 

February was an ah-mazing month. We hosted our first girls conference for teen girls. A huge thing on my heart is to see teen girls come to know who they are in Christ, to walk in confidence knowing that there is a God in Heaven who loves them and believes in them. The conference was two days of insane girly-ness. Bliss. The high-light had to the ending. Picture this, fireworks on the screens, pretty lights, sparkly bits of paper falling from the ceiling, a jazz singer playing piano singing, “Isn’t she lovely”, & guys handing out roses to each girl. Seriously every girl floated on out of there.

Right after Illuminate, I headed over to Vancouver for some Olympic goodness. The Olympics were soooooooo fun! Walking down the packed streets reminded me of actually living in a big city. People everywhere, at every time…love. Oh and my future husband scored the winning goal of the final hockey game. ;) AH-MAZING.

April 1st. Muse. Front Row. Nuff said.

Spring Soundtrack: Muse, Beach House + Lykke Li

May was glorious as well. Life women conference at Relate Church in Surrey. Lisa Bevere adopted me as her long lost daughter (!!!!!!!!!) + Marilyn Skinner was a powerhouse preacher + fun bonding times with Lisa, Kendal, Chelsea & Courtney who visited for an afternoon and of course baby, Eden. LOVE HER.

The youth conference Historymaker is always a highlight and right after historymaker, I jetted off to NEW YORK! That’s right, the big apple. Concrete jungle where dreams are made of is indeed correct. We were there for a week and it wasn’t even enough time at all to satisfy my NYC craving. Already, I want to go back. I want to live there, to breathe there, to serve God there, to fall in love there. One day.

July brought teen camp. One intense week of sports + Jesus. WHERE MY RAMS AT!!!???

Summer soundtrack: Mumford & Sons, Vampire Weekend, The XX and of course, The Cure.

In August I had the privilege to return as the speaker for Camp Imadene’s, Teen Girls camp. Being a part of people meeting Jesus for the first time. Wow. God is so good.

September. Front Row. Arcade Fire. Blew my mind & my heart.

Fall Sound track: Arcade Fire, Angus & Julia Stone

October…moved out! Yeeeeeah! Love, love, love my new place. It’s home. My brother also got engaged to an amazing girl, Emy! She’s beautiful inside and out and will be a great addition to the family.

December…well, after 11 years, I went back to my roots and am now a brunette. If you want to know more about this experience, read my earlier blog.

I look forward to 2011 with expectancy. I don’t know what is to come.

But I know I’m in love with a big God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within me, to accomplish infinitely more than I might ask or imagine. -Ephesians 3:20

 

So i look up to the sky…smile and say, let’s do this.

 

Stay gold my dear friends,

s.s.♥.

 

the end of the golden decade.

/

the time has come the walrus said.

let’s get some facts straight.

i am weird.

i’ve had blonde hair for the past 11 years.

i thought it was only appropriate to create a montage of some of my favourite blonde moments in life…i warned you, i was a weirdo.

i can’t even remember why i wanted to go blonde originally.

scratch that.

that is a lie. i remember exactly why i wanted to go blonde.

like most teenage girls, i suffered with insecurities. grade 8 was a hard year for me. i hated my looks and wanted to conform to the barbie image that flashes in most little girls’ minds when the word “pretty” is heard. i wanted to be blonde. i would dream of being blonde. so at the end of grade 8, a few months before i turned 14, i started dying my hair blonde.

i don’t want this post to be sad. yes, at the beginning i was trying to be this image that i had of perfect in my head, but eventually the blonde became me. and i was fine with that. i loved my blonde hair. we had our ups and downs.. aka beautiful cool toned blonde vs. scary yellow blonde (scary bright yellow blonde appeared mainly through out highschool as i was not going to a very good stylist lol)

throughout the years, people actually were convinced that i was a natural blonde (ha)…i honestly forgot what being a brunette was like…blonde began to define me. if people needed to find me in a room, they would just have to look for the bright white blonde hair.

so this thought came into my mind two months ago…”i should go dark”. I was perfectly shocked by this thought as I could only imagine myself as blonde. But instead of dismissing this thought, I started to consider it. I started examining brunettes’ hair colour as they walked by…”too reddy, too dark, too light” were opinions that consistently went through my mind. I scoured pictures of celebrities who were blonde but went dark. I finally booked my hair appointment and booked a hair consult with my stylist. (Ashley at Lab, she’s incredible, book her!!!) And then, i gone and done it. Friday, December 3rd marked the end of the golden decade.

and what a good decade it was.

but let me tell you this…i am SO excited for the one to come.

stay gold,

s.s.♥.