there was a memorial for craig tonight. it was great to see so many people come out to celebrate his life. as was said many times tonight, we will miss him, but we can find peace and assurance in the fact that God is in control of all of our lives. i got to meet his parents and talk to them for a while. it was pretty hard to carry on a conversation with them. looking at them you can see craig's face and seeing the sorrow in their eyes. it was almost too hard to bear. on an other note it is really great to be part of such a strong community at redeemer. it is so comforting and supportive.
on an ending note, i pray for the peace of God to be on everyone who mourns the passing of our dear brother craig.

God Bless

life...or lack there of...

so it seems that some people (cough, cough) are concerned with my lack of blogging lately. to tell you the truth it is not the only think that has been lacking in the last little while. so has my life, lol. pretty much all i do these days is work, eat, shower and sleep. it isn't too bad though because i really like the guys that i am working with (mark vanderwoerd (foreman) and nick huls if any of you know them). they are a lot of fun and keep me laughing. i also really admire their friendship.

other news in my life: christopher is in mississippi on a mission trip. this is happy but sad. i really hope that he is having an awesome time there, serving and learning more about God but i miss him like crazy :(. i can't wait till he gets back!!! i hope that he has lots of exciting stories!!!

so back to talking about work (because that is mainly my life right now) a lot of funny things happen there. (probably because of the crazy people that work at EHL) so there is this guy named Jaun who is mexican. a few days ago he was ranting a raving about how much canadians and americans butcher spanish. it was really funny to here him try to say spanish words with a canadianese accent, lol. he wears these brown floods all the time and we always make fun of him for it. he is constantly stealing every one's tools and then when we ask him about it he says "what...is it because i am mexican that you think that i stole the tool?" we all just laugh because we all know that he stole the tool and he knows that we aren't thinking that, he just wants to get away with it. then there is this guy named vick who is about 35 but acts like he is about 19. his brother also works for EHL. his name is mario. i have realized that mario is the man of grading. he is so totally awesome at grading up land it isn't even funny. its perfect every time. he (and his crew of 2 others (sam (who is the nicest guys around) and ramoen (who is the laziest guy around)) grade up about 5 or 6 lots a day! those are all the latin-american guys. then there is my crew which i already talk about. then there is also dave who is sort of quite but still alot of fun (i sort of grew up with his, he's sort of a family friend). oh i almost forgot, peter kranenburg works with vick and jaun. i sort of feel sorry for him for having to work with them cause they can be pretty disgusting some times and then swear A LOT. he seems to be taking it alright though. vick and jaun are always trying to get him to buy beer for them. the last two guys that work at EHL are colin (or columbo) and trevor (or mini-Ed). i will make no comments about my boss's kids except for the fact that i worked with trev today. (talk to me in person and i might make few comment but not over the internet, lol).

so one funny story about work (sorry, nick, if you ever read this): one of my first days at work nick put diesel in the hydrolic oil on the bobcat...bad news. ed was pretty pissed especially beacause it was a new machine. well i shouldn't say that it was entirely nick's fault...jaun told him where to put it and even opened the tank for him...it was nick who noticed the writing the cap after putting about 3 liters of diesel in.

other story: i killed 2 baby killdear this morning...sorry felix. they really shouldn't make their nests on the ground in the middle of no where. not very safe. i was nicely raking, doing my job., and all of a sudden i feel something crack under my foot. i look down and i had smooshed 2 of them. mark looked at me and shook his head "murderer" he said. i felt pretty bad. i hope the the birds still come back to the nest.

well i have to go now. i hope to post again soon...probably with more stories (to tired right now to think of more (its 10...later then i have been up since sunday night)). hopefully see you all soon!!!

Party!!!

hey everyone! i'm planning on having a party on saturday! if you are choir folk then this just might be the thing for you! we are planning on going to a Brahms concert, Brahms Requiem to be exact. the plan is to go out for supper first at Kelsey's in Ancaster and then head over to Melrose United (86 Homewood Ave, right near the corner of Locke and Aberdeen). dinner is supposed to start at 6 and the concert starts at 8. tickets are $15 at the door for students. feel free to invite other friends who would be interested in this type of fun! i hope that you all can make it out!!
see you all there!

first day on the job

so i had my first day of work today! it wasn't too bad. most of the day was orientation. i did manage to get stung four times by a wasp though. but i got to drive a little john deere tractor!!!!!!!!!!! it was loads of fun. i even packed up a wagon all on my own! tomorrow is going to be an other slack day. we are going over saftey regulations...*yawn*... all morning and then i think that ed is going to send us home. well i hope that you all are having a good summer! hope to hear from you all soon!
till then....

Good-byes

moving out day at redeemer has got to be the saddest day of the year. i've just come back from my first round of goodbyes around campus. i've only cried twice so far this morning, lol. i have such a hard time saying good bye to people. it always makes me so sad. i think that i am just too much of a social person. my life revolves around my friends and most of my friends go to redeemer. so once everyone leaves its like i have no life anymore.

i'm very thankful that a lot of my friends are going to be sticking around in this general area this summer so hopefully i can hang out with a lot of them at least once this summer (hopefully many, many more times then that).

i really hope that the friends that i have made this year stay friends with me for the rest of my life even if they aren't coming back to redeemer next year or not coming back to choir next year. i love you, friends!!!

ps for those of you that are going to be in the ancaster area this summer and would like to hang out with me this summer: i hardly ever check my email over the summer so if you want to get a hold of me then call me. if you don't have my number ask around, i'm sure that you will find someone who does. or just looking in the bod book.

pps i'm going to miss everyone sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!

the new diet

hardly ever being home anymore has put me on a new diet called "i'm too poor to buy food so i eat what ever food is offered to me." its kind of a diet that you are automatically put on (whether you want to or not) if you fit the criteria. its pretty easy to follow too, mostly because there is no way to cheat. the results very greatly. it all depends on how comfortable the person on the diet feels to ask people for food (or borrowing money). if the person is fine with doing such things then the diet will not work too well. if the person doesn't like doing these things that diet could be very detrimental to his or her health. the way to do this diet right is to have some really good friends who will feed you every once and a while. that way you don't owe people money and you will know that your friends still love you, plus loose weight!!!

(i think that i'm going to stop now. i've stretched this brain wave too much. now my brain is MIA (felix thinks that it is hanging out with my grammar and spelling...which have been MIA for a long time now))

Cont. of "Wow, what a day!"

to add to the craziness of my day Evan desided to propose to me again today. this is how it took place:

Taryn was happily drying dishes in dorm 11 with her friend Jess when along came Evan. Taryn saw him and heard some whispers about the proposal but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. as she reached for an other dish she heard a voice, coming pretty much from the floor, saying "Taryn Boeringa." when she didn't turn, the voice called out again. "Taryn Boeringa." this time she turned to see Evan Haas kneeling on the floor. he said " Taryn Boeringa, i have been thinking about doing this for a very long time. i've been thinking and praying, yaadeeyaadeeyaadaa...give me you're left hand!" (quite a demanding guy) Taryn responded in saying "but i have a dish and a tea towel in that hand." helpful Brittney (who, along with Amie, had come to watch this very public proposal) said "i'll take that" Taryn was left with nothing to do but give up her left hand to Evan who placed the ring, made of toilet paper, on her ring finger saying "will you marry me?" (looking desperatly into her eyes). Taryn, caught in the suprise of being proposed to so out of the blue, was about to say no when helpful Brittney added "you did said that you wanted to see the ring first." then Taryn rethought her reply. Evan had obviously put so much effort into making that ring, so the least she could do was say maybe. so that is what she proceeded to do. With tears streeming down his face, Evan replied, "that's fine...i'll give you time...all the time you need." then he walked away, leaving Taryn to her peaceful dish drying.

(okay, i must admit that i did embellish this story a little bit...but only a little bit. ps. Evan, if you are reading this, i'm glad that we are such good friends that we can joke about this kind of thing :) )

Wow, what a day

so this is what happened to me today, and by me i mean taryn, as this is actually Becca, but this blog will be written as taryn. If your confused, i'm sorry, i am too.

today was a very...interesting day. it started out with my dad driving me to school. wow, wonderful fun. then, because i didn't like the lonely work of studying solo, and actually getting things done, i decided to visit fifi, or Felix, to the uninitiated. so after i just said hi, then left, i went to see becca, because it was late, 11:00, and she needed to be woken up. but it was all good, because she was wide awake and watching Digimon (don't ask). So i sat and watched a few episodes with her, we may or may not be addicted to it, then we headed back to the school to meet Jess for breakfast/lunch. However, we couldn't find her, so instead, i looked for some chips. Yumm, pizza pringles, gotta love 'em.

Then after much calling and searching, we found the lost one, as well as Brittney. we all trouped down to the Caf then, to eat. yay. while we sat there things happened, then we went to choir. boohoo. not actually boohoo to choir, but that everyone is leaving, which totally SUCKS!!!! but whatever. so i cried a few tears, and continued on my way. that way was back towards the Caf accompanied by fifi, joel, smoerman, britt, and becca lagging behind. here follows the account of what happened in this fateful hour:

Being the hard working student that i am (ahem) i tried my hardest to study. but i was hindered by the administrations of joel to my hair. apparently they had been talking about me while i was trying have a serious discussion about psychological diseases. Of course, because i was studying so hard, i did not hear that they were talking about me. All i heard when i came back to myself was "she has no idea what we're talking about"from Fifi and "it feels good!" from joel, creepy creepy.

well when that ordeal was over we all, and by all i mean me, becca, brittney, and felix, joined Jess outside on the quad.

lets just say that the events that followed were very disrupting to my studying. First, fifi pulled out his binoculars, and becca immediately took the opportunity to indulge her stalkish nature. so she watched everyone who came down the path, from Dr. Needham, to steve dykstra. And maybe Dr. Cooper.

And then becca, all these things seem to be happening around her, and Brittney decided to model and pose in front of the windows, hmm. that was interesting. and people came by and looked and laughed at us.

Since it was getting late, and hot, we decided to move to the couches by room 214. and so followed these events and thoughts:

Jess: " man these guys just won't stop talking, and i really gotta study, and don't know if i'll pass, even though i've already studied for lots and lots of hours, i don't think i can manage to get my mark above a 95, and i really think i need to get better than that. man oh man oh man. i wish they would just STOP TALKING. oh no, just breathe jess, its going to be ok, its all ok, i'm just going to leave, cool down a bit its ok, its ok...breathe"

Brittney: "Ow. my toe hurts. i don't think there is any nail left on it. sigh......i really really really really really really really really really really don't care about sociology and i jsut want to get this done and over with and i really really really really really really really really really really really really really really REALLY want becca to stop SHAKING THE COUCH!!! ok brittney, its ok, just focus on taryn, and that music, its ok...."

Becca: LALALALALALALALALALLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOOOO HYPER!!!!!!

Taryn: man oh, man i really have got to stop hanging around with these people. find some new friends. Or maybe just transfer

thanx for letting me write you blog taryn, and i had a lot of fun doing it, especially talking to fifi with evan and you, lol. even though i almost died.

Ouch!!

This post goes out to my clumsy friend who has just (possibly) broken his collar bone again. Hopefully this will make his injury seem not so bad :).

Subject: Talk about a bad day.

(This story was printed in the newsletter of the British equivalent of the Workers' Compensation Board. So, here is this Bricklayer's explanation of his injuries):

Dear Sir:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block #3 of the accident reporting form. I put "Poor Planning" as the cause of my accident. You asked for a more complete explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.

I am a Bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I found I had some bricks left over which, when weighed later, were found to weigh 240 lbs. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.

Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 240 lbs. of bricks. You will note on the accident reporting form that my weight is 135 lbs. Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.

In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel which was now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed. This explains the fractured skull, minor abrasions, and the broken collarbone, as listed in Section 3, accident reporting form.

Slowed down slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley which I mentioned in Paragraph 2 of this correspondence. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of the excruciating pain I was now beginning to experience. At approximately the same time however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel weighed approx. 50 lbs.

I refer you again to my weight. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and severe lacerations of my legs and lower body. Here my luck began to change slightly. The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked.

I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to move and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope.

Hope that gave you all a good laugh!! :)

so taryn is trying to figure out why she got up at 5:30 on a saturday morning and why she has only let herself have, at the max., 6 hours of sleep a night in the 3 nights. dumb thing for taryn to do in general but especailly during exams. taryn has pretty much lost her mind. (God's Providence to anyone still writing exams)

hey all

welcome anyone who is reading this! i'm kinda a newbee at this. i've never really ever kept a blog but all my friends do so i thought that i would copy them. they say that it's fun to look back on what you have writen in the passed. so i thought it's worth the try. so in this first blog i'm going to say that last week i got a new cousin (no, felix, i didn't buy him). his name is Kenan Willem Smouter. i heavn't seen him yet but i hear that he is really cute. but then again i think that all kids at cute. well i right now in my life i am going to University and i'm in second year. i'm a little stressed right now because i don't know where i'm going to work this summer so that i can make enough money to go back to school next year. i'm doing a lot of praying and relying on God. well i think that that is good enough for my first blog! hope you tune in for more blogs!