So I just wanted to share some pictures and things that are going on around here in the little corner of Quebec that I am residing in! On Saturday we went to a mall in Montreal - it was like going to Cross Iron Mill... but I think it was either the same size or even bigger! Needless to say, after a day of people everywhere and speaking a different language, I was ready for some peace and quiet!
Every morning I'm trying to wake up really early (3:45am Alberta time) to work out before breakfast and classes start... and I think it's paying off! One of the guys on staff here named Jay, does a workout every Monday night after classes. We call it JayBo... for those of you who know the workout TyBo (tv workout series) - we just call the Monday night workouts "JayBo" since Jay leads them. :P
This is the main area where we eat and play games and such things.
One of the ladies on staff provided all the girls in the dorm with ice cream one night... we were all very, Very happy and excited!
Team building games
Okay this game was alot of fun... we had 17 people I think it was playing, and what they would do is make us stand in this yellow circle - and every thirty seconds, they would shrink the circle on us! So this is a picture of the circle when somebody finally "stepped out of line" - but we had 17 people in that little circle!
Almost every Saturday we can go skiing from 12-4 in the afternoon, and just borrow skiis that the school owns! So far I've only gone once... I'm just not a huge fan of all the cold weather and cold snow! But I'm thinking I'll go this weekend... even though it's supposed to be minus 20 or 25!
This is me and my roommate, Jenna. We went snowshoeing one afternoon through the bush and trees in the nice snow... however it was really funny! Since my winter boots were kind of tied up at the time, I was snow shoeing in my runners! But I did somejo survive!
I thought this was kind of funny... a french flyer! Who would've thought!
The roads here are... crazy. I get carsick every time we go out... and I still pray and cling to the edge of my seat when we zip around the corners and hills and curves... it's pretty sketchy to me sometimes... but then again, I'm used to the long, straight roads of Alberta
Girls movie night!!!
We played a few rounds of Mafia one Friday night... i learned a new way to play with some extra rules... it just adds a bit of a twist to the game!
Oh ya... and then there are the stop signs! I thought that our little local towns were really bad... but then I came here! One street we went down had a 4-waystop sign at EVERY SINGLE little intersection. That was absolutely crazy. I don't think they realize how wonderful and invention yield signs are!
We were having a food party one afternoon...
I find it really funny how they can drive quads and snowmobiles anywhere they want to here! Whenever I've gone into town I always see some sort of little machine cruising around! And I didn't realize this was a thing... but on the trails specifically designed for snowmobiles right beside the highways and roads, they have little mini stop signs for them too!
The traffic lights are a bit different here... good thing I haven't been driving, because sometimes they are hard to notice, and I would have blown several red lights already!
On Saturday when we went to the mall in Montreal... I just had to take some pictures! This is the front of their toy store... or shall I say, One of their toy stores!
I was so excited when I seen this... you can still buy individual lego pieces!!!
And. they had an actual lego store in the mall!!! When I seen it, I most certainly had to go check it out! They had alot of cool things in there, and they had some really cool displays!
This is just one of the displays in the lego store... it was probably one of my favorites! Not that I spent a whole lot of time looking at all of the displays, but this one made me smile for some reason.
I couldn't believe the size of that chandelier! Like wow I can't imagine what that chandelier alone would cost!
Okay... I will confess that I had to check out the candy store! So we went in to check it out... and on my way out when I looked up, I saw these HUGE gummy bears!! That was probably one of the highlights of my day - I've never seen anything like it before! And when I went to pick it up to examine it further, here it must have weighed a good ten pounds! I said to Carol and Julie who were with me, "Well I most certainly don't need to put that much gummy bear through my system!" We all laughed!
Part of the mall was made so it looked like little buildings everywhere... I thought it was pretty cool!
And oh my goodness do we ever have alot of snow here! Like look at all that snow on the roof! It's absolutley crazy! I'm so glad that 1) I don't have to shovel any of it 2) that it doesn't blow and drift badly here!
Well, that's a little peak into the life of April. Everything is going pretty good, I'd say. I've made alot of good friends, and some from Calgary that want to get together a couple times this summer and do some singing here and there... God is good, and he has provided me with alot of good, godly friends who have the same goal in life that I do: whatever I do, and wherever I go, to live for the glory of God.
One thing that God has been teaching me is that I need to be so very intentional about spending time in the word and praying on my own - it's so easy to get caught up in life, and to "forget the love I had at first" (Revelation 2:4). But I've found a good time to pray is in the morning when I'm on the treadmill, it just allows the time to focus on God and allows me to realize my dependence upon Christ right away in the morning as I start my day.
This week we are studying world religions, and on Friday we will go on our first temple tour! I'm really excited to see what God will do with this week!
April