Hibernations Over

So I guess I took 3 months off the blogging, as soon as school started I just lost the "go-ahead" attitude to write down my memoirs and thoughts as I didn't want to write anything more down than what I already had. So heres my version of the fastest 3 minutes of the pass three months.

September-started school, did 5 courses in history and philosophy. coolest one out of the 5 was definitly philosophy, even though I was confused beyond belief, the prof was what i pictured Dr Cornelius to be when I first listened to the Narnia audio tapes. for a while school was pretty shlick, i had jordan and jill (karen) in a few of my classes, but for the most part I was alone like Will Smith in I am Legend, minus the zombie creature part. I also started leadering at Youth Group with the Senior Highs, its fun but kindof sad because this year especially is the last year of a big group of kids, theres over 12 kids graduating this year and a lot of them are friends I hang out with.

October-didn't do halloween with jonathan this year, floor hockey started up again where i'm a full time goalie, one night i got so sick and had to run to the bathroom where i, to put it short, exploded, it wasn't cool. sorry wendy forsythe. (church maintenance lady). went to my nanny's 80th birthday party in New Brunswick, met a lot of relatives i never knew existed or were still in existence. oh yeah, september and october was the month that i played goalie for NUNS ON THE RUN, a DAL inturmural soccer team. we played well our first couple games, then tanked the rest. made the playoffs, lost, challenged a team based on illegible player, won the game by forfeit, i didnt play the following game because we too had players who were inelligible, our team played regardless, and lost, i was glad because we shouldnt have played in the first place.

November-same old routine, during these months me, jonathan, josh macisaac, james howitt and dave marsh hold a bible study every tuesday night which has been a very cool thing to have this year. school goes by, matt and amy are on the path to becoming a married couple, linds is getting into fashion, having more friends, one day she tried giving me a fo-hawk, didnt work out to my dismay.

December-exams are done, christmas is around the corner, colts are going to the playoffs, life is good all around, it'll be a strange christmas because it'll be the first without sean and ruth.

Listen to Imogen Heap, they are what Jacob would call, re-dick

Cheers

Ry

P.S Now that I have no job, no school, and I live in Timberlea which is far from my friends, I will be blogging a little more these days.

Coming off of hibernation

The last time I wrote it was still summer and August for that matter. Now its two weeks since my last post so I thought i'd write a little about whats been going down before I get back into the swing of Malagash posts.

1. Dalhousie is nothing but a money sucking devil machine that while teaches you valuable knowledge for the future, takes your money for all your worth. And for that I dislike Dalhousie.
I had a chat with a bookstore guy today who said it'd be sweet if tuition in Nova Scotia was free so that by that students could purchase books without the feeling of "Ah man i don't want this or this cost too much and its only good for a few months!" He feels that if it were free, people would enjoy buying books and want to go to school a lot more. Nice chap he was.

2. Youth Group is up and coming and I'm looking forward to spending another year with the kids in Senior High. I'm also glad to hear that Jenni will be helping out too. Very much needed as so many of last years leaders are just not returning this year.

3. I have a painful cut on the bottom of my foot and I fear it may have gotten infected because the color is not looking too pleasant.

4. I have a dream. That men of all kinds can walk this earth without the excruciating feelings of chaffage. Fight the power boys!

5. Indianapolis Colts are 2-0-0 to start the season off, which means they are off to a great start to defending their SuperBowl title. I also would like to add that I love Marvin Harrison.

6. My parents are going to Ontario in a few days for a week so I will be alone with Matt and Linds for a while which will be interesting.

7. I really, really, really want a ping pong table again and after walking by some guys playing in Risley Hall I have been craving it like a chubster craves MacDonalds.

8. Arrested Development and Radiohead are growing me more and more.

9. Men cannot and will not ever have babies.

10. I'm going to go watch Seinfeld and do some reading.

Cheers

Ry

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 7

3-5 week, probably my hardest week to go through this summer. It was both mentally and physically draining.

I was counselling with Arthur Jeffersen this week, a fine lad whom I found really it easy to work with. The kids I had were named Brendan, Zach, Noah, Micah, Dylan, Jacob and Matt. They were great kids. Directing this week was Jordan and later accompanied by his sister Bethany. Speaking was Peter Mathieson from Alberta and accompanying him was Jan Soltek, both guys were awesome and really helped make the week go by well.

This week was the hottest of any week of the summer, hands down. This week Jordan brought Medieval Ages to life which really helped in getting the kids in the mood for the chapel skit, which was set in Medieval times. Our cabin was called Galderland. In the words of Micah "Galderland shall wule them all!". Michah definitly provided a lot of laughs for the cabin and camp this week with his infamous statement "Awthur youw supposse'd to be gawding the piwon!". Really funny kid.

Cabin devos were a challenge this week. At such a young age I find it hard to really open up to the kids in a way that'll get through to them. They listened well as I told them stories from the Bible and I don't know if any one of them was changed this week but I do feel that God's presence was shown this week. Peter spoke about Samuel and Joshua and taught the kids they can do great things despite their age.

A few memories I have of this week were watching Noah Bush's face after the slip and slide. Just priceless. Dancing to Rammstein in the cabin with the guys at night. Watching Noah's expression on his face after seeing the money that Tooth Fairy Christianne put under his pillow the day after his tooth fell out. Micah's random outbursts of Medieval chants. Brendan attacking my fan at night thinking it was a giant moth.

One of my not so fond memories was my unfortunate first night in Tatamagouche. Coming out of chapel thursday night, I felt really dizzy. I noticed walking towards the bridge, I was walking diagonally. Getting closer to the lodge I told Josh I felt really weird. I kindof collapsed there and Anna came running over. I was helped over to the nurses station where I layed down and started shaking a little bit. I was freaked out. Julia came in like an angel and prayed over me, giving me comforting words. I'll never forget the kindness she showed me. They decided I should go to the hospital immediately so Chris and Anna sped me over there. When I got there the Dr. Glasgow told me I was simply under heat exhaustion and that I had to stay the night. Let me tell you, the night wasnt the best. I had an old man in the bed next to me who was grumpy and wouldnt take his pants off to put on his Johnny shirt, the nurses were snarky as they wouldnt let Anna take in Julias note for me and the food was horrible.

All in all I got back safe and sound and it was a great week.

Cheers

"Gawderland shall wule them all" -Micah

Ry

Strawberry Fields Forever

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 6

So last night I did the whole name thing because I didnt feel like typing too much. Anyways on with the reflections.

So I last left off at the end of Junior Teens 1. The end of this week went awry because I didn't say goodbye to any of my campers. They pretty much vanished into thin air before I could give them a high five or a heartfelt hug. This was when I made a bet with Jenni that I could say goodbye to more campers then her in the weeks to come. Nevertheless the week ended. The next day nothing huge was planned. A few of us weren't coming back so the next day those of us who were around decided to head into Tatamagouche to pick strawberries. Getting there we all figured to buy maybe 1 or 2 boxes but we ended up buying 2 flats full. We're crazy. Theres pics on facebook and one on Jennis blog of just how many berries there were. I think me and Chris ate more then we picked that day but one can only pick so many. In the words of John Lennon, "Strawberry fields forever" Amen to that. Before heading back to Malagash we decided to head into the grocery store for some Angel Food Cake to make a scrumptious dessert.

I was really craving some sushi at this point so being the townie I am, I asked the manager if there was any around. He gave me a perplexed look and shrugged "No". I was fairly disappointed but I trudged on. Before we got back to Malagash we decided to head into the Menonite bakery where we got some Ginger Beer, Cookies, Lime Soda, Cherry Soda, etc. The women were even kind enough to give us free rolls of bread. I liked those people, very kind. Upon the way to Malagash I decided to finally take a trip to the Salt Museum to indulge my mind a little bit with some good ol History. Unfortunately the Museum closes at 5 and it was 6 at the time so I felt sad and started walking home.

To my surprise a little kitten decided to follow me back. I tried shooing him away but it was persistent. I tried running but it ran too. I finally decided I'd like the company and walked back with it as my new friend. I think it got tired after a while so I carried him for a while. Getting back to the camp I noticed that this little feller was sick as nails with big goop in his eyes. Sick! Plus because it was in this condition I wasn't allowed to cut strawberries. Fed up with being unable to do stuff, me and Luke took the kitten back to the Museum. When I say this I meant we drove back to the museum, chucked the kitty out the window and sped away.

We got back to Malagash, hung out a bit and had our supper of strawberries and chicken shishkabobs. The girls dressed up nice and the guys did too. After this we all just crashed for a while before having an epic reading of Horse and his Boy before nodding off to sleep.

It was a great day before the week that lay ahead and my impending trip to Tadie Hospital on the horizon.

Cheers

Ryguy

Greek Staff Names

Jonathan Briggins: Hairus Curlius Aloicious

Chris Bryant: Pianus No Shirtus

Jordan Draper: Cornelius I Peeus Anywhersus

Luke Bruce: Tuckus Ecuadorious

Josh MacIsaac: Maximus Creativityus

James Howitt: Fixus Buildus Mini Jimsus

Julia Churchill: Singus a Songus Julius

Ashley Bryden: Colorful Shirtus et Maximo Laughus

Nikki Church: Sweetus Laughus a Everythingus

Jenni Richard: Pinchus ma Bumus et Big Grandes Smilus

Jill Pole: Likus C.S Lewis et Narnius Alotus

Anna Howitt: Bigus Scarius Facus Ius Ever Seenus mais Bigus Heartus

Brian Hill: Sarcastimus No Hairus on the Legsus

Elaine Hill: Sweetus Heartus


Cheerus

Ry

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 5

Junior Teens 1, the first full week of the summer and my very first cabin as a Senior Counsellor with a Junior Counselor under me (I was with Jordan at Beginners). This week I had the pleasure of being with Caleb Howitt, a fine lad whom I've grown to be good friends with over the past couple of months. In my cabin I had a great group of young men named Alex, Corey, Matt, Kevin, Cameron and Parker. Half of them go to my youth group at Grace Chapel so it wasn't hard getting to know them at all. Directing this week was Laura Boyce and speaking was Matt Walsh. They did an outstanding job, everything went by smoothly and it was just an awesome week.

I don't really remember there being a lot of memorable moments this week, some of the things I remember happening was me being able to create Luke an epic cartoon strip in his facebook, Kevin Power requesting to the Worship Team to ask me to sing with them because he overheard my voice at the campfire singalong and thought I was terrific. I remember taking on my boys in a 6 on 1 pillowfight in my cabin, where I destroyed the snot out of them and almost gave Alex a concussion, i was just in the zone and couldnt be stopped. I also remember me and my boys taking on cabin 5 in an elimination type game involving socks being pulled off our feet in order to be eliminated. Heading into it cabin 5 felt confident that they would defeat us but our guys bonded together by brotherhoodness, stuck it to the man and took the larger boys down. We felt like Spartan warriors all day long.

My favorite memory has to be the Mission Impossible game we played thursday night. Caleb went out to be a flashlighter and I was with the cabin. We decided to take a route through the woods next to the baseball fence but we got kindof lost in the dark. We then stumbled upon an underground tunnel. Not knowing where it would take us we decided to plunge into it. I say plunge because it had rained earlier that night and the water was up to our shins. It took us 15 mins to go through because we had very little light and no sign of our quarry. We made it through eventually but were quickly caught by passerbyers. Heading back to the lodge we realized steam was coming off our bodies! It was awesome! We totally lost the game but my guys were estatic we went through such an endeavor as the tunnel. A memory that'll last with me for a while.

Junior Teens 1 was a really great spiritual week too. All my guys opened up and shared some really great things from their hearts. It was my first week leading devotions and I really felt that God was working through me, giving me the wisdom and intelligence to say the right words and open up about my walk in life. There were some days I went into the cabin not really sure what to talk about but God was with me in those moments and he provided for me. I felt really blessed this week not only to have such a great cabin but to have felt Gods hand upon me in my first week as a Senior Counsellor in such a leaderly role.

Next post is about the week that followed, the strawberry picking weekend fiesta and the visit to the Menonite Bakery.

Cheers

Ryguy

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 4

Beginners Week went well, camp was finally in the full swing of things and to celebrate this joyous occasion, the staff traveled to PEI for the day. We were headed to a friends of Josh's to do some horsebackriding at his farm. On the way up, we stopped at the little village off the bridge to meet up with Dave. It was fun going through the various tourist traps, museums, etc. One funny memory I have is me and Luke getting a picture with a plastic cow, Karens cowboy hat that I wore and buying 2Litres of chocolate milk and drinking the whole thing. I said at the time "NEVER AGAIN" but right about now I could go for one. One big mistake i made on this day was that I was wearing kleets, no sandals for an entire day. i still don't know what i was thinking

Anyways, so off we went to the farm. When we arrived we met Mitch and he showed us around. Introduced us to his horses Prince and i forget the other ones name. Also there were cats everywhere you looked which made Jill really happy. I think out of everyone there I was the most eager to ride the big horses. it was fun trotting around the back pasture. to pass the time we threw work gloves all balled up as footballs to eachother and tried to whip the person closest to us. after this we decided to go swimming down at the coast. not all of us went and few of us had bathing suits...actually it was just me who didnt have one so i had to wear my pants in. ah well. me and Josh made an interesting discovery, that if you run circles around the water you can make a whirpool, thus making the water a little warmer. when we got out we headed to someones house that from the inside looked like the front deck of a ship. it was sweet. embarassing story happened here, me and Josh were changing upstairs, there were no rooms up there just stairs leading to a flat floor. we decided to change regardless and before we did we told Jenni to not let anyone up. Apparently she didnt do her job well and Anna came up the stairs, and let me just say i'm glad shes a nurse, so it wasnt that awkward.

After this we left the ship house to head into town to find some icecream, we walked around the boardwalk, went into an exquisite chocolate shop, and finally found some icecream where Luke willingly offered to buy penniless me some icecream. after this we all decided to head out to an amusement park where we played mini golf. i was the unfortunate one who they decided to try and hit me with the ball in order to receive a dollar from Sarah. it was a fun round we played. before this me Jenni and Luke found a little playground with a spinny ride contraption that i got freaking sick on after a couple spins. spinny rides are my worst enemy yet i decided to jump anyways, still dont know why i did it. anyways, after golf Briggins and Dave and Joshs friends chose to go kart before we left. it was funny watching them go, the look of Mitch's face was priceless.

After this we all decided to have some food, Me, Jill, Luke and Nikki or was it Ashley, i forget went out to Subway, brought it back out to this amazing playground, at an elementary school. good subs they were. after this everyone came about and we played like little kids for a good hour. it would've been awesome to play grounders on that thing. after this we said our goodbyes and headed back home. the ride back consisted of making a top 10 list of fruits we love. it was a good ride back.

And thats the story of our trip to PEI. The week that followed was Junior Teens 1, my favorite camp week of the summer and I'll tell you all about it in the next post.

Cheers

Ry

A break from Malagash posts

I thought today I'd just write about a few funny things I've encountered or noticed or am willling to confess over the past 24 hours.

1. I am scared of audio tapes and the dark. The past couple of nights I've listened to Narnia in my bed. Because the dark plays tricks with my mind, I make sure I have 3 big blankets on, totally sealed off any visible part of the room and suffocate myself while doing so. This way I can't be touched by anything outside the zone of my bed. True story.

2. Sam Merrell is over this week and he just destroyed my bathroom. Nice guy though, we went for a walk yesterday and today he bought me a Dikembe Mutombo Mplondo Wakumba Jean Jaques Wamatumbo jersey. <-----his actual name, don't believe me, look it up on Wikipedia. I'll miss the young lad when he goes back to the island.

3. School starts in a little less than 2 weeks and I'm excited and anxious to get it going.

4. My Mom and me just played a game of War, 21 and Gin Rummy, excellent card games.

5. I just hit homerun number 54 with David Ortiz on my MLB 05 game.

6. I want to go biking today but its raining.

7. I miss Lukes handstands, Annas crazy monster face, seeing Chris's buttocks everyday, discussing Flint Churchill with Josh, laughing randomly with Ashley, sharing Fantasy Football insights with Jonathan, contemplating philosophy with Jordan, stall parties with James, getting pinched by the Jules, playing beach volleyball with Jill, laughing about who knows what with Nikki and enjoying the most social part of the day with Jenni.

8. Jim MacCallaughs famous "Don't think, just do" statement is in Narnia, spoken by Lucy in Prince Caspian.

9. I think I'm becoming a Radiohead fan.

10. I'm hanging with my Dad tonight, we're playing pool and watching the new movie,"War".

Cheers

Ry

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 3

"Jesus wouldnt hurt us with a hook so why would you Captain Hook?"

That quote has haunted me for the past couple of months. I'll explain how it happened a little later.

Anyways, Beginners week, the first week, well more like a half week began at the start of July. It was my first cabin ever as a Senior Counsellor so it was very cool. I had some really sweet kids, some rambunctious and rowdy but altogether good kids. Little Jacob, Isaac, Cute as can be Christian, James and how could i forget, Suliman. It was a good 3 days, the kids had a great time and it was fun getting things rolling. Anna was the speaker that week and she did really great, she was clear, organized and God really helped her connect her with the kids. Chris directed and did an excellent job.

I dont have too many memories from this week except for the epic game of Fairy Tale Creatures, the day that'll stick with me for a long time. Well the story goes, myself, Josh and Ashley were villains who were supposed to run around the camp trying to ensnare the little ones precious diamonds that they received from the good fairy tale creatures. I had the privledge of being Captain Hook, Josh was Sheer Kahn and Ashely was Cruella de Ville. Luke was Robin Hood and I can remember him giving little Christian his bow, making him the happiest camper I've seen ever. Briggins was Tarzan and I remember hearing about how Suliman freaked at the sight of a three quarter naked blond haired man in Cabin 6. Julia was the dashing Cinderella, Jill was Tinkerbell, and I think the other girls and Chris/Jordan were running with the campers.

Anyways the game went well, all were having fun, that is until I found Jenni's cabin, I chased them quite a lot during this game so Jenni concocted a most evil plan. She told the girls to give me a biblical guilt trip. So what happened was I came upon the girls and the tiniest girl in the group turned around and said in a petite voice "Captain Hook, do u know a guy named Jesus? He would never attack us with a sword so why would you?" This was followed up by crying.

I tell you know that never before has my heart shrunk so small. I froze, and slunked back to the anchor where i remained heartbroken the rest of the night. To my joy, I found the girls were not totally mortified and forgot about the trauma that had happened.

So that's my favorite story from Beginners week. I'll write about the weekend in PEI that followed and the sweet week of Junior Teens 1 that followed it up in my next post.

Cheers

Ry

Malagash Bible Camp Entry 2

Just to let you guys know, I'm not going to put pics up because you can access them so much easier on facebook. plus I dont have any pics of my own to put up because i only took mental pics all summer which i'll tell you about in the following entry series. :)

Anyways, training week was awesome, a few more fond memories came to my head over the past few nights, like the time me and Chris had a balance log fight in the woods, making epic poems, like "Whisper and Manipulate" on the kitchen fridge with Lukes magnet words. There was Son Castle Faire practice time where Stuart, Cornelius, Rosemary, Nadine and our Heralds (Jenni and Nikki) came to be. Then there was our fun filled work days where we'd do all kinds of stuff. Memories like me and Jenni being LATHARGIC (best word) by throwing rocks at a stick standing up in a rock pile, me splashing paint all over my clothes whilst painting the bball nets, the game me and Josh invented that Brian wasn't too fond of, Briggins being made into a girl....still haunts me to this day seeing those pics, Nikki projecting broccoli into the air at the dinner table, manly man Chris without his shirt on during work hours, pulling tree after tree outta the forest, the gophers me and Julia spotted and later shotgunned by James....the bear that stared me down the first day of camp behind the white picket fence, thankfully scared away by Jenni and her parents.

S'all I can remember for now, anyways the week after, Alice Housing Camp was cancelled to the dismay of the staff, so we had an extra couple of days until the Beginners Camp began. We spent them pretty much the same way we spent the week before, just having fun, studying Gods word, and getting prepped up for the weeks ahead. Josh told us during these days that we'd be going up to PEI for a day to do some horsebackriding and such. I don't know about everyone else but I was pumped to ride on a horse for the first time.

I'll begin the next post with the beginners week.

Cheers

Ry

Malagash Bible Camp, entry 1

I just returned from my summer at Malagash Bible Camp. Heading into it I didn't know what to expect, questions like "How will God use me?" and "Will I be able to do the things he's called me to do?" were floating around my head. Needless to say I doubted myself and bottled up my feelings of worry and distress. Throughout the summer, God definitly revealed himself to me. He taught me how to come to him for help, for comfort and rely on him for confidence and wisdom. He showed me how to focus, how to spend time on things that matter, to take advantage of the day and not wait for something bad to happen.

This summer I learned a lot about God, about people and about myself. I made new friendships, established relationships and had many opportunities to share my love of Christ with others. I saw God work his way into the hearts of kids and the staff at Malagash.

It was a summer of memories, laughs, and really awesome experiences. It would take too long to talk about everything that went on this summer so I'll just talk about a few things that happened.

Training Week

It seems like yesterday that the staff got together for the first time. I arrived the day before it all began with Julia and we had a grand time making supper, swimming and getting settled in. Jenni came a little later that evening and we had fun oggling through her highschool yearbook. The next day, the staff arrived one by one. Chris, Luke, Jonathan, James, Jordan, Josh, Anna, Karen (Jill), Nikki and Ashley. Training week went pretty smoothly. We'd all wake up, have breakfast, have a morning worship/study then have time to either practice drama, worship, etc. Then it was yard work with James or Jim MacCallaugh Junior. The days were filled with hauling logs, painting, setting up things, etc. At nights we would practice our full time skit which I'll get to a little later. After that we'd just hang out and enjoy one anothers company. One night I taught ballroom dancing to the staff and other nights we played Mario Kart/Party, some times we would read Narnia or just sit around and chat. All in all it was a really great week, just getting to know everyone a little better and meet new friends. One of my favorite memories of training week was when we all went down to Pugwash to watch a fireworks display, enjoy some music (Can't you see, can't you see, what that woman's been doin to me?) you FTS know what I mean. we also took pics next to a playground, i found a kitty and briggins almost got left behind.

I"ll talk more about this week and others in this Malagash series of posts.

Cheers

Ry

Book Suggestion

If you're ever in the mood for a really great book and are one of those people who love epic drama, violent, romantic, swashbuckling, mysterious, long journey type books, then I highly recommend you to purchase the novel

The Sword of Shannara.

The author Terry Brooks has been hailed as the biggest author of fantasy novels (next to the great J.R.R Tolkien of course). He's written a wide variety of books but his biggest success comes from the Shannara series.

The book is 700 pages long and is glorious from the first sentance to the last.

I loved it.

Cheers

Ry

6 more days

6 days and I'll be off to Malagash for the summer. Just waiting impatiently now.

Cheers

Ry

The June Bug- The insect that defines Evil

Without a doubt the sickest thing in the world. I've never cared for insects that much, except for the harmless, nice looking ones. But Junebugs are like having a nightmare, waking up, and realizing the nightmare is still going on. I've encountered a few of these beasts many times over the past few weeeks, at Julias where it was unceremoniously dropped on my shirt, at Briggins where there was an army swarming around his front porch and most recently, a bug the size of Kansas just waiting for me on my front door.

Step aside Dorothy, lions, tigers and bears got nothing on Junebugs.

This should be the reality of all Junebugs, and that is there is no reality, they should be nonexistant.

Cheers

Ry

a biking i do go.

a little while ago i decided that I need to start exercising a lot more so I took up bike riding. I live next to the Trans Canada Trail and it is just awesome to cruise down. the other day I biked 70k out to a place called Todds Point. It felt like paradise out there. just me, a huge lake with mountains in the distance and my sweet orange bike. it was awesome and I hope to show other people in the future.

cheers

ry

Heading to camp soon

3 weeks from today, I'll be heading up to Malagash for my training week. Then it's off to the races as they say. Im excited yet nervous as I've never been away from home this long. I'm really glad my partner in crime Briggins is going to be there with me. Its crazy because around 2 or 3 years ago you couldnt get me to even think about going to camp and now I'm working there full time. I truly feel Gods called me to work there again this summer and I know he'll use me in ways beyond my wildest expectations. Right now I feel like a ball of clay and I can't wait to see how God is going to mold me.

Cheers

Ry

Mona Christopher

need I say more?

Cheers

Ry

back to the blog

so yeah, i've been gone for over a month so let me elaborate on what went down in that time period.

I left for Sean and Ruth's a little over a month ago. It was just a great time, being able to hang out with my Big brother and now new sister. I spent most of my time playing video games, eating sandwhiches, discussing lost, going for long walks and talks. I also went up to Northern Ontario for a few days to visit with Ruth's family. The only bad part about my trip was the 26 hour train ride up there and the 26 hour ride down. The way up I had to sit with a family who was going to Bombay, they had 5 little kids and they weren't happy being on the train either. And to finish it off, my bag didn't arrive home with me but came the next day to my great relief.

Since then I've been working it up at Empire which I can't wait to finally quit (3 years of being there) in a few weeks as I get ready to go to Malagash this summer.

These past few weeks I've spent my days hanging around with various friends, Dave, Julia and of course my right hand man Briggins. The other day I went swimming with the Churchills and Luke Docksteader in what was a freakin freezing cold swim.

And thats it for now.

Cheers

Ry

University Phase 1 Complete

Well I finished the school year Wednesday and let me tell you it was quite the adventure. I never read so many books in my entire life. In total I went through 74 pieces of literature! Crazyness but I'm glad I did it. This year was an eye opener, i.e I saw how people can change so easily because of what they read or what they're taught. I saw people change their entire lifestyles just so they could fit in with a bunch of party ers. I also learned how much I need to depend on God in such an overwhelming world because it can literally tear people apart. This year changed me for the better and although I am estatic about being off school for 5 months, I'm looking forward to another year of school.

Cheers

Ryan

All my monkeys

For those of you who really know me, you'll already have know that I used to collect stuffed monkeys. And I'm not just talking about a couple here and there but I mean hordes of monkeys. I had at one point in my life, 104 monkeys in total! In my adolescence I also named most of these monkeys after cheeses (to this day I have no clue why). For example I had Grilled Cheese, my first one ever, Mozarella, Swiss, Gouda, White, Marble, Parmesan, Blue, Montery Jack. Then I got creative and switched to weird names like, Stretch, Pinky and Shifty. Also I once had a monkey who was the size of my sister, (she was 7 or 8 at the time).

Yes, I had a lot of monkeys, I loved them and they loved me. If you're not convinced, ask Briggins for pictures. We used to play hockey with them. Teams and everything.

Cheers

Ryan

Wow I press the mouse too many times

I apologize for the confusion in the 5 posts that are the same.

Cheers

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Connections

Ever heard the saying if you know someone then that person knows someone who knows someone else and so on...,all the way to someone like the Pope! People are connected this way and I just find it baffling. Facebook has shown me many connections lately. For example I know Briggins, he knows a guy named Fahad who knows a guy named Gerard who knows a friend of mine named Mark Andre. C'est tres magnifique je pense est je ne sais pas pourquoi les connections a passe comme ca.

Cheerio

Ry

Another challenge

if u didn't like the first one then heres another, using every letter of the alphabet in order make a story using only word for each letter.

A
Beautiful
Crisp
Day
Ernesto
Found
Gold.
He
Idiotically
Jogged
.......................u know what this is too hard. my hats off to anyone who can actually make a legible story with the alphabet.

Cheers

Ry

A Challenge for my fellow Bloggers

I challenge you all to try to list the names of your homeroom teachers starting from primary to grade 12. University has no homeroom teachers.

Primary-Ms. Williams
Gr. 1-Ms Hamilton
Gr. 2-Mrs Friday
Gr 3-Ms. Hill
Gr 4-Mrs Dauphinee
Gr 5-Mrs Sladen Reyner/Mr. Kane
Gr 6-Mrs Sladen Reyner
Gr 7-Mme Matheson
Gr 8-Mr Boudreau
Gr 9-Mme Chambon-Dias
Gr 10-Mrs Coates/Mr Saab
Gr 11-Ms Johnson/Mr MacEachern
Gr 12-Mr McNair/Mr Penney

Cheers

Ry

5 things about me

Well taking Jonathans command, I will say a few things about me that most of you might know and may not know. They are all true for some of you who may doubt me.

1-I love to dance, last year I was taking a series of classes where I learned how to Waltz, Jive, Salsa (my favorite), Marangue, (pronounced Ma-rain-gay) and Classical Dance. Let me tell you if theres ever an oppurtunity to dance I will do it.

2-I too played with LEGO, but a lot longer than Briggins did. It wasn't till 2 years ago that I stopped playing with it. Ask my family, I used to create war scenes and battle diagrams with my lego armies and have fierce fights. I stopped playing with it when my now sister Ruth came to live with us and the room I played in became a new bedroom for Matt and Sean.

3-I want a sword, always have, always will. Not the dinky dollar store ones, but an actual, real, heavy sword. Preferably the kind you see Aragorn wield in Lord of the Rings. A Japanese katana would be sweet too. **I want it to hold, never to use...unless I was called into war.

4-I have Dart Tournaments in my room, by myself. I create imaginary players with all unique names and throwing abilities and have a good long tournament. I have sheets to prove it. Currently Almasy Reindlich is the reigning champion and Jors Saldan is in second.

5-Ping Pong, Football, Baseball, Basketball and Volleyball are my favorite sports. Soccer and me just don't work out and If you ever see me play you'll know why. I am very worried that my fellow staff members at Malagash won't shun me for this in the staff-camper soccer game.

Cheers

Ry

The GCHA and those who've run the carpet

Recently me and Jonathan or what 90% of the world calls Briggins and I thought of a cool idea. For the past several years Grace Chapel has held hockey night periodically through the weeks/months, etc. We thought It'd be cool to try to name all the players we could who have been a part of the GCHA at least once in their lives. Here is my list: *??? means last name unavailable

Ryan McMullen Jean Pierre Brien Kevin ??? Simon Mandari
Matt McMullen Marc Andre Brien Kyle??? Jamie???
Jonathan McMullen Jordan Stephens James??? Jeff Ferrand
Sean McMullen John Forsythe Dennit??? Tims friend ???
David Briggins Johnathan Forsythe Josh??? Darryl Cameron
Jonathan Briggins Jonathan Draper Ian??? Chris Musquash
Mark Harris Mark Benoit Jonny Hartlen Steve Green
Dylan Harris Jacob Greenslade Dean ??? Graeme Higgs
Dylan Wells Dan MacEvoy Jonnys nameless friend Matt Walsh
Glenn Leiper James Bryant Ken Hubley Peter Walsh
Tim Leiper Mark Gossen Ken Jones Gary Ward
Nelson Wiebe Tom Willlett Maureen Jones Kevin Jolly
Elden Wiebe Tanner ??? Hudson Trenholm Scott??, (seans friend
Mitch MacCallum David Josey Morgan Hodder Briggins cousin ??
Peter MacCallum Jeff Burton Chris Cameron Paul Medeiros

60 I've counted there is also an honorable mention, the guy who poked his head in the gym door and just vanished when I went looking for him!

Cheers

Ryan

Got accepted to Camp!

As it says in the title I have been given the oppurtunity to serve God at Malagash this summer. Who would've seen this coming. I mean, 5 years ago I basically hated Malagash due to a bad experience I had in Junior High. Even after Senior High Camp although I had a good time I didn't see myself ever coming back, funny how things change. Now I truly feel God calling me to go there and I feel blessed to have the chance. The only thing that gets me down is my bosom buddy Briggins not getting accepted. I was pretty set on him getting on and spending the summer with me but I guess God has other plans for him. Anyways all in all I am really looking forward to this summer.

Cheers

Ryan

Hero 6 will be coming up soon.

Hero #5

Heres my 5th hero

This is a pretty cool guy, hes the kind of guy you can just look at and tell that he loves his kids. He works very hard all the time and because of that he can give his family a really good life. He's always there to talk to and easy to get along with. He's always up for a game of hockey or catching a late night movie. He's the kind of guy who will make the effort to take your school team to a game and out for ice cream later. He can at times be a big good but at the same time be stern and disciplined. He loves the Lord and loves his family and I love him too.

My 5th hero is my good old Dad.

Hero #4

My fourth hero is a man who is flamboyant, has impersonated the Devil, wears sunglasses at night, morning and just about everywhere else. If you guessed Paul Hewson then you're absolutely right. Ok so his stage name is Bono for those of you who dont know. Bono the frontman for U2 and a human rights activist has been on fire as of the past couple of years. From performing in front of sold out audiences to bugging the President to work harder on foreign aid and debt in third world countries. Bono is an inspiration to me not just for his musical prowress but his passion for helping others less fortunate then himself.

Cheers

Ryan

Hero #4

My fourth hero is a man who is flamboyant, has impersonated the Devil, wears sunglasses at night, morning and just about everywhere else. If you guessed Paul Hewson then you're absolutely right. Ok so his stage name is Bono for those of you who dont know. Bono the frontman for U2 and a human rights activist has been on fire as of the past couple of years. From performing in front of sold out audiences to bugging the President to work harder on foreign aid and debt in third world countries. Bono is an inspiration to me not just for his musical prowress but his passion for helping others less fortunate then himself.

Cheers

Ryan

Hero #4

My fourth hero is a man who is flamboyant, has impersonated the Devil, wears sunglasses at night, morning and just about everywhere else. If you guessed Paul Hewson then you're absolutely right. Ok so his stage name is Bono for those of you who dont know. Bono the frontman for U2 and a human rights activist has been on fire as of the past couple of years. From performing in front of sold out audiences to bugging the President to work harder on foreign aid and debt in third world countries. Bono is an inspiration to me not just for his musical prowress but his passion for helping others less fortunate then himself.

Cheers

Ryan

Hero #3

My third hero is probably going to come with a lot of 'sighs' and 'yeah rights' but nevertheless my third hero is this years SuperBowl Champion and MVP Peyton Manning.

Peyton has been the object of nearly every criticizer in the NFL for a good long time. "Can't win the big one" was what haunted the man for the entireity of his illustrious career. 7 times he was ousted in the playoffs after having led his Indianapolis Colts to division titles, first round byes, amazing records, etc and yet the SuperBowl has always eluded him.



This year thankfully the monkey is off his back as he led his Colts past the Chiefs, Ravens, Patriots<---------they are horrible by the way...and da Chicago Bears. It was an awesome feeling seeing Archies Boy hold up the Vince Lombardi Trophy on SuperBowl Sunday and good to see his coach Tony Dungy win the big one as well. *First black coach to do so. Anyways, Manning is no longer the object of criticism, time for new blood, my bet is it'll be either Tony Romo or Rex Grossman-----now he really sucks. Peyton Manning is one of my heros because of his headstrong mental capacity to not buckle down to the critics, the playoff losses and remain his poise. He's a prime example that patience and hard work pays off, maybe not when we want it but nevertheless it does. Go Peyton!!

Hero #2

First off I apologize to all you crazy people who feel it necessary to blog every day. I for one refuse to be a drone to the blogging world and hope one day everyone feels the same.





Anyhoo, my second hero is King Leonidas of Sparta. Many of you are probably scratching your heads saying who the hay is this guy. Well in 480 BCE Sparta was invaded by the supremely powerful Persian Empire. The Persians basically ripped to pieces the Spartan Empire. Cut off from all routes save one, the Spartan civilians had to rely on one last defence, the narrow pass of Thermopalaye. To defend this pass from the Persian army, King Leonidas sent 300 of his best men including himself to this pass, to secure it and enable his people to escape the oncoming Persian onslaught. Obviously a suicidal mission, Leonidas fought valiantly against the Persian army of....get this...1 million men! Valiant fighting was not enough and every Spartan defender on the field, died after only a few days of fighting.





Leonidas was a hero that day and in the face of impending doom managed to secure the lives of thousands of his people. I don't know about you guys but this guy puts the Man in He's the man.


If you want to see this amazing story on screen go see the upcoming movie "300" in March. It's going to be epic!!!!








Cheers

Ryan

DA SNOBOWL

Dats right ladies and gents. After months of waiting and preperation the game that I have longed for is in my sights. I cant wait

I gotta go now the bus is coming.

Cheerrs

Ryan

Heroes Week

For the next week or so I will make a short blog about the heroes in my life and I'll be saving the best for last. Props to the people who guess who my favorite hero will be.

To start things off I'll go with Romeo Dallaire.

I studied this guy in grade 11 Canadian History and man did he leave an impact on me. Dallaire was a United Nations Peacekeeper in the early 90's and in 1993 during the civil war in Rwanda, Africa he was sent along with 300 soldiers to establish peace in the country. For a while his mission was a success but eventually the reinforcments who were supposed to be sent to relieve the troops decided not to come, leaving Dallaire and his men in horrible circumstances. Many of his men left, leaving Dallaire with only a few men left in his regiment to sustain an entire country! Unbelievably, Dallaire decided to stay despite the small numbers and lack of resources. In his 3 months there he saved the lives of thousands of refugees but eventually developed post tramautic stress disorder because of the Hell that he witnessed while doing what nobody else was willing to do. Dallaire now works for the Canadian Government but still suffers from his disorder every day and is constantly lamenting the U.N to do more in Africa.

Romeo Dallaire is a true hero as he was willing to risk his life (despite the insurmountable odds that surrounded him) for a people that nobody cared about.

Cheers

Ryan

Why do we do it? Because we can!

Several years ago myself and a few guys from my grade 10 french class made this stupid movie that involved really dumb guy antics. From playing flaming ball croquet to shooting off fireworks at paper airplanes we did some things that a lot of people would give the looks mothers give when their kids have just done a stupid stupid thing. Of my favorite of these antics was a disgusting combo drink we concocted. We put everything from salsa, jalapenos, pepto bismol, 3 year expired spam into this thing. And guess who was the crazy weasel daring enought to drink the madness. If you guessed not me then you're.............WRONG!...I drank it down and never looked back. As I was doing this I thought to myself "Ryan, this may be fun now but is it really worth it?" Maybe I should listen to my conscience a bit more in the future prior to me doing something as crazy as the drink. My lesson learned, I have never done something that crazy for a while...unless I tell you my tornado science project story but thats another tale for another time.

Cheers

Ryan

Its bloody cold outside

Two words for y'all...BRRRR. Nova Scotia is a real interesting weather spot. One week it was brisky outside and you could wear a long sleeve shirt. These past few weeks have reduced me to wearing sweaters, touques, two pairs of socks. Although I dont mind winter as much as some, *cough* Momma and Julia* I yearn for spring and summer days. If I get on at Malagash this summer, I promise to make the most of the summer by wearing shorts and t-shirts the entire time.

Cheers

Ryan

whats going down

I've just been thinking lately, what on earth will I be able to do with a Bachelor of Arts and then a pursuit of a Major in History and the such? I'd love to be like Indiana Jones and travel the world, visiting amazing historical sites, beat up some gangsta's and get the girl (just kidding) but unfortunately Harrison Ford beat me to the punch. But seriously I've been wondering about this for a while, what can a guy do with an education such as this. I've heard the usual professor, teacher, such and such suggestion but I'd like to do something other than those things.

If all else fails I move into plan B which is quit school and become a fantasy sports expert alongside my chum Briggins.

Cheers

Ryan

Look a likes

So I've been thinking recently, why do people have lookalikes in the world. Is it merely a coincidence or is there some reason behind it. My conclusion on the matter is that I'm just glad God's creation is so perfect that there are no two people alike on the planet. Who could handle two Jonny Hartlens or weird MacDonald ladies named Darlene I may ask. Anyways heres my supposed look a like in the world that Jonathan pointed out to me earlier. His name is Ron Francis, an ex NHL supastar. Just add some glasses and prepare for a gasp.

Freaky isnt it?

For all you bloggers, do a blog with your look a like on it.

Cheers

Ryan

Ryans Top Songs to listen to when you're feelin blue

Not that I myself am feeling blue but whenever I get the grumps or the mumps I tend to listen to a couple of my favorite songs

1. Muse Knights of Cydonia: Time is Running Out, Exo Politics
2.U2: City of Blinding Lights, Hands that Built America, Electric Co.
3. Keane: Leaving so soon, Is it any wonder, everybody's changing
4. Our Lady Peace: Supermans Dead, 4am
5. Sir Justin Timberlake: Sexy Back

I dont care how much of a nerf Timbo is, that song just gets me going. If they'd only make the lyrics way cleaner I'd feel comfortable playing this song with the likes of Maurice Nanton and Roy Harvie.

Cheers

Ryan

The Snowbowl approaches

Well its down to that time of year again and your average everday people will once again lace up for an insane day of football at TreMont field. Last year the Fall River phonies won the whole shindig because of their dumb all-nova scotian team where they had 2 subs (including the traitor Julia) in an icy cold field plus they are just rough. This year however Grace Chapel will reclaim what has been so abruptly stolen from them with a handful of new teams including one that I'll talk about in 2 seconds...

The unnamed team I speak of consists of 6 players: Me, Briggs, Nelson, Julia (she defected from Fall River) Harris and his friend Tanner. This years Sno-Bowl is for the first time a gunslinger league. For those of you who dont know what that is, its a passing only game. Thats right NO RUNS, unless one of us has an accident but lets not go there.

With passing only our unnamed team is hoping to act upon the challenge with a team full of quick legs and smart hands. Could this be the year of the unnamed team...time will tell.

Cheers

Ryan

P.S Footballs not stupid Julia and one day you will be a drone like me and Briggs and talk about football every day of the week, mark my words you're time will come.

Man and the football

Why is that whenever the playoffs start and the NFL's best battle it out amongst one another for SuperBowl glory that men lose focus of everything else and concentrate on the good ol pigskin. Its like we're being sucked into an inescapable void that will control our lives for the next couple of weeks. This question has vexed me for quite some time now....but I can hardly complain as I am one of those people who does get sucked in.

Go Colts

Ryan