The good news is that MY DAD IS OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!!! :D He was discharged last Sunday. OH, I am happy about that! However, I wasn't able to report it because school started again and I had to concentrate on my studies. >_< Oh well.

Now for the bad news. Our youth group received a rather severe blow last night.

Last night my Youth Pastor announced that God had told him and his wife that it was time for them to move on. They had resigned, and their last week was going to be September 26th. Thankfully he made it clear that the choice wasn't because of anything the board or our senior pastor did, which is something I'm very glad that he did. It's still going to be heartbreaking for us though, as he's been our youth pastor for 3 1/2 years. We'll miss him and his family. God bless Pastor Dwight as he goes where God leads him and his family.

Anyway, please, please pray for us, as this is going to be very hard for us all. Come PD's last friday I'm pretty much guaranteed to be an emotional wreck, along with half of the members of the group. :( So please pray!!!

I just got back from visiting with Dad. The doctors think that he has diverticulosis. (Not sure if I spelled that right. Oh well.) I'm not quite sure what the doctors are going to do to treat it at the moment. So yes, prayer would be appreciated.

Your Life's Soundtrack is a fun shuffle game where you put your mp3 player / Ipod on shuffle, then use the titles as answers to the following parts of your life's movie. Snarky comments are a must.  Feel free to do this on your own blog.

Opening Credits: Thrust - Walle Soundtrack (Apparently my life's movie is going to be a suspense film.)

Waking Up: Frigga - Corner Stone Cues Presents: Eton Path (Continuing with the suspense theme, now just add in some action/adventure.)

First Day of School: I Believe [Trip Rock Mix] - ZOEgirl (Um...ok? The lyrics fit, at least.)

Falling In Love: Into the Forest - Bridge to Terabithia Soundtrack (Somewhat fitting.)

Fight Song: We Are Family [Ghost Mix] - Jump5 (Uh, how about no? This song doesn't fit. At all.)

Breaking Up: Stand in the Rain - Superchick  (Woo, apparently there's a lot of angst on my part. Yippee. Note sarcasm.)

Prom: I Don't Want to Go - Avalon  (ROTFLCOPTER. Of course I don't want to go, I just broke up in the previous song. Who would I go with?)

Life: Angus Feeds Cruesoe - The Water Horse Soundtrack (Fits somewhat.) 

Mental Breakdown: I'm Alive - Celine Dion (LOL, doesn't fit. It's more like the opposite. Why couldn't I have gotten Gollum's Song instead? That would have fit!)

Driving: It's On - Superchick (It's ok...I guess.)

Flashback: Evenstar - Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Soundtrack (Hmm, maybe a bittersweet flashback? Like to the person who dumped me? Apparently yes, as the next scene shows.)

Getting Back Together: Right Thurr - Chingy (0_0 I DID NOT PICK THIS SONG ON PURPOSE! Gahh, my ears...)

Wedding: Ratatouille Main Theme - Ratatouille Soundtrack (Much better. For one I can say AWW...)

Birth of a Child: The Plan Begins - Charlotte's Web Soundtrack (Wow, I'm going to have a very weird kid, with a very good taste in classical music.) 

Final Battle: Tia Dalma - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Soundtrack (Wow, apparently my last battle is going to be sad.)

Death Scene: Little Drummer Boy - Jars of Clay (>_> This definately doesn't fit.)

Funeral: Step by Step - Rich Mullins (Wouldn't it have been hilarious if I had landed on Another One Bites the Dust by Queen? ROTFLMBO.)

End Credits: The Prophesy - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Soundtrack (Wow, my end credits are going to be scary.)

That was fun. I'm going to do that again some other time.

 This is definately turning out to be one of our more 'interesting' summers.

First off, for anyone who saw what happened at FBC youth on Friday night, all I can say is: God is Awesome, and He has a VERY good sense of humour. For those of you who weren't there, basically God gave me something that I wanted to see for YEARS and it surpassed everything I could have ever imagined, and for that I will be forever grateful. Not only was it fantastic, it was deeply ironic as well.

Secondly, our yourth group had the annual Mud Bowl, only we used over two hundred litres of pudding instead. BIG FUN. Photos will come as soon as I can get them from either Hilary or Tori.

As for the ER visits, on the way home from the grocery store Mom and I received a phone call from my aunt, who was having yet ANOTHER gall stone attack. She couldn't drive, so Mom had to drive her down to the hospital. She's still there with my aunt, as they're probably still in the ER waiting room. (The condition of the health care system up here is deplorable, not because the doctors and nurses don't do a good job, but because they are so rediculously understaffed. But that's another rant all together.)

Anyway, on top of that Dad's been having pains in his stomach all weekend, and we suspect it's Appendicitis.  Lovely. He'll be driving down to the ER in a few minutes, where he'll probably be reunited with Mom and Aunt R. in the ER waiting room.  

 So yeah, how's your summer been?

That's right, we've FINALLY moved in, and I just got my internet connection back a few days ago. It's been a sheer nightmare to get our internet back, mostly because we just kept running into one problem after another trying to set it up. Also, I haven't been able to access ANY of my e-mails yet. So heads up to the readers who know me: if you have some important news, like Canada just won a whole bunch of gold medals in a row in Beijing (sadly unlikely, as Canada seems to be sucking quite badly in everything but rowing this year), CALL ME.

On a related note, did anyone see the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony? OH MY WORD. Seriously, it was beautiful, and several times I was stunned speechless, like when the lights turned off to show the drummer's glowsticks, and when the performers all did Tai Chi en masse, and the painting, and the torch lighting, and the fireworks, and the little kids in the costumes singing in Greek, and...and...

Let's just say the whole thing rocked my socks off.

Also, all the excitement over the Beijing Olymics has gotten me pumped up for the 2010 Winter Olympics, which are being held in the province next door.  A few days ago I was thinking how cool it would be if all of the older homeschoolers (meaning the ones who already have or will have driver's liscenses by then) in my area took a roadtrip to Vancouver so we could see the games. We could all take turns at the wheel and split the cost of gas and hotel rooms between us, see the games, then on the way back stop at Sunshine Village for a weekend of skiing. Now, I highly doubt this would happen, but it's still a cool idea.

Shoot, I've got to go unpack more of our junk. (Seriously, we're going to have the world's biggest garage sale when all this is over.) See y'all later.  

Oh my word, the last few days have been MENTAL, plus I lost my internet connection for a few days. The good news is, with the exception of repainting some doors and baseboards, reno's are OVER! Now all we have to do is to get some bedroom furniture and move our stuff over to the new house, which we'll be able to do once the painter's done with it. *Cue halleluiah chorus*

Anyway, here are your links of the week. All links this week are brought to you by the amazing Vancouver School of Film.

The Love of the Cross: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=R_DYM9JyR4s  This video is BEAUTIFUL. It made me cry. Highly, highly recommended.

Common Senses: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=1pKLzRAj8XE  Once again, beautiful. This video proves that you don't have to say a word to tell a story. The music is beautiful too. Highly recommended.

The Heaviest Love: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=exAsrQ-CUko  Viva 2-D animation! I love this one, it's so sweet. Recommended.

La Vie: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=011Xn0vjVHI The music in this video is wonderful, as is the old man. Anyone who plays the piano can probably relate. Highly recommended.

Saturday Afternoon Fever: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYMOqwwYn8 If The Love of the Cross made me cry, then this video made me laugh so hard I almost peed in my pants. Warning! The video has the D-curse in it at the beginning, but it just gets better from there. Highly recommended.

Congratulations goes to my cousin, because he very recently became engaged. God bless you with your upcoming marriage Mark! Carla is one lucky girl, haha. 

Now, I usually really don't like watching TV, mostly because most shows aren't very intelligent (or consider their audience to be very intellingent, heh heh). However, there are a few shows that I do like to watch, ones which have really good plots, really good writing, and in most of my cases, really good animation (I'll post some of my favorite movies later).

Avatar: The Last Airbender: This show very recently ended (last Saturday) which greatly saddens me because it was one of the highest quality shows that I have ever had a chance to watch. Seriously, it's one of the best shows that I have seen in the last decade. It's set in a world where people can control the elements (water, earth, fire and air) by using different styles of martial arts. There's also a war that lasted 100 years because the Avatar, the only person that can control all four elements and the basic peacekeeper, dissapeared for all those years. 100 years later he's found frozen in an iceberg by two Water Tribe teenagers, Katara and Sokka. (At the time of the freezing the Avatar is only twelve years old). 

     I'll just stop there because if I said all that I love about this show I'd be here all day. Pretty much the only thing that I dislike about this show is that it does have some Eastern Spiritualism in it, which kind of annoyed me. Other than that little detail, this is probably one of the greatest animated shows in the universe. (Too bad it's hosted on Nick down in the states. A: TLA is basically the only thing that's keeping Nick alive, and now that the show's ended I predict that Nick is going to go down the toilet FAST unless they get some sense and put up Invader Zim again.)

Extreme Makeover Home Edition: I love this show to death. It's always so encouraging to see these people give and give and give without expecting anything in return. Shows like these give me hope for humanity. God bless the people who thought up this show! (Thrust me, this is the only reality show that I really wish could reflecty on reality!)

Transformers Beast Wars: If you grew up in the Nineties like I did, then you probably remember watching this on Saturday mornings. Sadly, the only place where you can find the episodes anymore is on YouTube, as the show's been off the air for a LONG time. However, I still consider it to be one of the greatest shows in the Nineties, even if it is based on the original Transformer series. Beast Wars also has the privilage to boast being the second ever TV show in CGI. (Reboot was first.) It's rather ironic that both of the first CGI cartoons were Canadian AND that they were both made from the same animation company, Mainframe Entertainment.

Anyway, I like this show for some of the same reasons that I like A: TLA; because it has solid writing, a good plot, and excellent animation. It also has some of the best characters I have EVER seen in a kids show. Who could forget Rattrap, the Maximal with the Brooklyn accent with sarcasm that could make Simon Cowell want to take lessons, or Waspinator, the Predacon who kept on being blown up, yet always managed to pull himself back together again? Who could forget Dinobot, the Pred-turned-Maximal who lived and died by his code of honor? Who could forget Megatron, possibly one of the most dastardly villains out there, but who nobody could help but like (In a rather warped way)? Seriously, once again I could go on about this show for hours, but then I'd end up taking all day.

Anyway, those are the three shows that I especially like. So what kind of TV shows do you love to rave about? 

Ok, it's official. I. REALLY. DISLIKE. MOVING. Even if it's just across town. And here's why:

1. While cleaning up the backyard before we move, my sister and I had to move a bunch of soil to cover up a large patch of clay in the corner. Said soil was located on a blue tarp in another corner of the yard. Yesterday we discovered a nasty bee's nest that was located somewhere underneath the tarp. We weren't stung, but I'm pretty sure that when that bumblebee landed on my thumb (Thank goodness I was wearing leather gardening gloves!), it attempted to sting me. Not nice.

2. Don't ever get a skylight. Seriously. They are beautiful, but they are way too much trouble. The wood around our skylights actually started to rot, so Dad had to take them out, cover the holes with fresh woodsheets, replace the sheetrock in those places in the ceiling where the skylights were and plaster and sand the sheetrock. Oh yes, and while he was up on the roof his back was sunburnt quite badly, plus he discovered that he would basically have to reshingle the whole roof because the workers who did this house didn't do a very good job. Fortunately he decided to hire some people to do that, which was a relief for the rest of my family because we're always scared that Dad's going to fall off the roof and hurt himself.

3. Being woken up by incessant banging on the roof at 7:30 in the morning is not a very pleasant way to start the day.

4. The thing I dislike the most about moving is having to pack everything, including all of our 1000+ books. Trust me, you don't know how much junk you really have until you have to move it all.

Anyway, moving day is this Monday so please pray for us so that we don't lose our sanity!

Testing, testing, 1 2 3... ANNNNDD we are on the air with Jigs, Rigs and Tales!

Hello, my name is Leah, A.K.A Haystack, and I live up in Canada, home of ice, snow and Tim Hortons. I am 16 years old. Now, I bet you're all wondering why my nickname happens to be something as vague as Haystack. I mean, with a nickname like Tiny or Braces, you can kind of guess some of the characteristics of that person, whereas the name Haystack can cause this reaction in most ordinary people.

o_0

Well, the reason why I have that nickname is because several years ago I looked like this: 

Yes, ladies and gentleman, I was, in fact, the incarnation of the Ugly Duckling. Those were quite the traumatic years. The trauma continued until last year, when I finally decided enough was enough and booked an appointment to have my hair cut a lot shorter. That was possibly one of the best things I ever did for my personal looks, because now, instead of looking like Mia Thermopolis BEFORE her makeover, I look like this:

Note: The look-a-like me is the chick on the left, the one in green, not Sokka, the dude to the right.

Even though my hairstyle changed, the name stuck, and I've been known on the 'net as Haystack ever since. Thankfully, everyone's pretty much stopped calling me that in Real Life. They call me by my first name instead, Leah, which is just as bad because I recently found out that Leah means 'Cow' as well as 'Tired' in Hebrew. (No, I am not making this up.) So basically, when you call me by my first name you are calling me a tired cow.

I wonder if my parents knew about that at the christening...