Down the Road

It's October, which means I have 33 days left until I'm a married man. Yeah, how's that for crazy? Well it most certainly is. Anyways what I want to do in the time before the wedding is post some of my favorite cell phone photos of myself. You know, because that's the original purpose of this site. So I was thinking I'll have 10 posts of 5 pictures each with maybe a bit of an explanation for why I like these photos. If I run out of time, I won't do this, but I should.

Oh yeah and just so more people will see it, I'll probably Facebook this too.

52 days to go

If I don't get married soon, I might explode!

Youth Campout Registration

Youth Campout Code of Conduct

We at ACF believe in a somewhat orderly youth campout and there are a few things that are necessary to accommodate this:

-Alcohol/Drugs will not be tolerated. Anyone found in possession of these things will be sent home.

-Dress should be modest. Sponsors have the right to ask you to change if this is not being met.-Respecting the property of other people and the camp at all times is to be expected.

- Guys and girls will stay on their respective sides of the lodge and are not to be in the room of the opposite sex under any circumstances.

-During night hours, youth are not to be “out and about” without an adult present. If you wish to stay up, find an adult.

-The murder of another individual is both unlawful and morally wrong. Students will refrain from killing. As well, dying is frowned upon. Any steps you can take to prevent your own death are good. Basically neither violence nor stupidity are looked upon as valuable traits.

Following these rules will cause everyone to have tons and tons of fun. Not following them will make hurt some people and hurt is not fun. Thus observing the rules is required.

At all times the adults present are responsible for your wellbeing and thus they have the final say on all matters. Continued disregard for the rules will result in parents being asked to come pick you up.

I, _________________________________, have read the above and agree to abide by it.
signature of youth
_________________________________
print name

A Light Shining In

When I take God for granted he is still there shining into my life
He makes me reflect that light on to others
Yet I seem to always strafe from the target
It's a sad state to be in, but this is not something God will give up at
He will carry me on and cause me to shine brightly
But now that I notice what is happening
I can look at God willingly and instead of him carrying me
We walk side by side
For as long as I will and then when I am weak
There we shall go again
And he will never let me fail
I will always shine

At the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (don't keep reading if you haven't seen the movie) as Jim Carrey's memory of Clementine is about to be erased forever she implants one last subconscious thought in his head, "Meet me in Montauk". As Christians, when we forget we need to meet God in Montauk, the place we first met. We need to go back to the beginning to see where God has brought us. That's where I need to go.

Let me shine

Tribute

Today is something special, yes a wonderful thing. Particularly someone very special.
A person who gives with everything that they are and then gives some more. Someone who has helped influence and shape my life. Thus on this "blog" I need to give credit where it is due and thanks my mother, because I'm not going to do it on Mother's Day. Okay I might and should, but today is her birthday so that's why I'm doing it today.
I met my mother just over twenty-four years ago as a young fetus. During that time my mother was always feeding me through this tube in my belly. She kept me warm and safe for nine months. Then I got free and she cared for me more. That's the story I have to tell.
My mom is one of the toughest people alive. I remember one day when we were playing bump and she dislocated her finger. That pinkie was sticking up at about a 45 degree angle from the first joint. But of course she was all laughing about it like "Haha, look at this guys". She finds the positives in everything I think and I could certainly do more of that (not that I don't do any).
So today the tribute is to the world's best mother: MINE!!!


In other news, this last weekend was super fun. My family and I went to Stanley Park on Sunday night which was the super sweet and on Monday me and Melissa went on a photo journey (taking pictures for the website I am building) to some great destinations including Cremona, Didsbury, Carstairs, Olds and Airdrie. At one church I had to take pictures of there was nobody to be found inside the church, but it had been surprisingly unlocked, so I went on an adventure to get into their soundbooth and turn on the sanctuary lights (since nobody was there at the church to help me). At another point, Melissa had the bright idea of using the toilet paper in the camera case as prevention for my continued blood flow from pouring onto my Dad's camera even more than it already did. It was her fault though, she did punch me in the face. All in all it was definitely good times, so this can be a tribute to her as well I guess.


Oh yeah, I guess my calling card for this site is to post a picture of myself in every post, but this post isn't about me, it's about these fabulous females. But I suppose I can give in and post a picture of one woman's handsome progeny and one woman's handsome fiance.

No way!

Look who's back and with mythical stories to tell, and yes I have a mythical story to tell except that it's not mythical at all, but very true and I want you to read it. So here it is, click on the photos and mouse over to read the captions, because each picture draws the story along. Spend some time and absorb it

It is Time to Say Goodbye

Now it is time to rejoin what has been a very interesting sort of blog. Random advertising for nothing? What are you thinking Trevor? I don't quite know. But it was fun, lots of fun.
Me and blogs only co-exist with a mutual tension it seems in the first place. If somebody really wants to know something about me, I'm not against them asking me. Questions are good for the Trevor. And also there is a point where if you need to know something about me, you should be getting to know me in person. That's how you can know.
Anyways, that's off topic for this post. Basically what I was getting at is that if you want to scratch beneath the surface, you aren't going to be handed it nicely in a blog format. That doesn't really find anything out about someone anyway. I think God is the same way. You can't really expect to find out much about God if you simply read his blog.
Yes, I've been doing some pondering of late and very recently I decided that someone needed to be done. Things don't get done, God doesn't get met. Where is my time wasted? The internet. At times I have cut myself off from many things before, but many of those things were not things I was especially fond of in the first place. Well I want to know God more than I want to satisfy myself (okay that's not true, because in fact I want to satisfy myself by knowing God, but I think that's a much better way to do so.)
Basically as of March 1, the only place on the web I am going to visit is my e-mail. At no other times will I be surfing (although if I MUST find information on something very SPECIFIC, I will do that as well.) Thus, this is the final post I am going to have on this site for a while and I probably won't be visiting any of yours either unless I am sinning.
At this point in my life I want to make sure of God's call and path for me and I must remove all the things that will hinder me. I may possibly add more things to the list I don't know. I may be back on the internet as of April 1, but maybe later.

If you wish to comment, do so before March begins...

Limited Time Offer

Feeling like you're about to get hit with a 2 x 4 to the face with simply no relief. Try wrapping your entire face with bubble wrap. You see the face is very soft and a blow to the head with a large piece of wood might cause your face to be no more. Thus you should have a pre-emptive relief of the problem and your face will be fine. Yes, a couple rolls of bubble wrap and maybe some duct tape and your face will be indestructable!
Today we are selling a wonderful roll of bubble wrap for the low, low price of $49.99, but that's not all. If you order now we'll throw in a free seeing eye hamster for only an additional $49.99, a grand total of $129.99. We do not recommend this product for anyone who can do math.
Protect your face and your life now!

Love is in My Hand (Memories of)

Another year, another Valentine's Day without having a date...

...but I suppose this year my date is only living in Edmonton and away, so I can have one later. I'm not sad really, so don't worry about me. I'll get to have a Valentine's Day with a significant other for the first time next year (yes you heard that right).
Anyways on this occasion of remembering a certain saint and how he was brutally martyred, I want to remember something that was LOVE-ly and happened a while back (and didn't involve death). The picture I have posted above was taken during the afternoon of November 3, 2005. It was one of the first of my daily cell phone pictures that I would continue to take up until this very day.
It was a Thursday and Survivor parties usually happen on Thursdays. On this specific one my good friend Amy decided to bring her very good friend Melissa to hang out with us. Yes, we had previously met her about a year before at a dance party, but this was really a new thing. It was a meeting. Despite Melissa often being shy around new people, she fit in quickly with us, telling jokes and laughing for hours after the show was over. It was as if she had been friends with us for a long time and not simply for that one night. She had made an impression and that would keep her coming back to hang with the group on many more occasions.
At the time I did not love this girl, but I did think she was highly cool. Love came later on. Over the next few months this wonderful girl began to woo me and finally I took notice of her and got the courage to ask her out.
By the way, the title of the picture that day was "Love is in my Hand" and how very interesting that day would bring the love of my life into my life. A prophetic image it most certainly was! Now on this Valentine's Day I cannot hold her in my hands, based purely on distance, but it will come down to another day, when not only will the girl I met that day be my friend or my best friend, but a lot more. On this day you will all meet a new Melissa and a new Trevor, living their lives as one unit...

...could it be? exactly two years to that day?

Maybe it could. Truly love is no longer in my hands, but it has became a part of me, inside of me. It makes me dance, a spontaneous dance without music!

Dawn of the Braindead

I will admit it, I am a zombie
I live in a nation and a culture full of zombies
Living primarily upon consuming the flesh of the living
The only thing that drives me is carnal instinct
Hunger

Oh the blood is flowing
The last mortal has been killed and eaten

What will we do now?
the Hunger

Pure Kaklort

Sometimes when the world is all squiggly

And the sky in the clouds is rapt

The shadows all around flempt out your name
Flempting until the narwhals come home

In these times face down in yokk

Covered with pain of nersu bites
The feeling of bambliness abides in your soul

Rambling and bambling like a pack of geese

Sometimes in the days of adanting
With bowls of yax in your hands
The tops of carrots seem to reeve and try
Reeving into the sands of time

In these times you must remember pegog
And the nisk sauce you put on it
The unified frink has a glow around its core
Grab a hold of the frinks and iddle away

At all times you can dwelz in the mud

Mirsking your arms through the light

The tidings of coxtaran will always be there

March in the parade of taran's daughters

Then and only then will your hanrag be free
Dancing with jaru in the morning fog
The great babble of quarbnine aloud
A happy bunch of quarbnine is pure kaklort

Floating

My life over the last few months have been interesting from a spiritual point of view. Melissa has been such a blessing on my life and I have really felt that has been straight from God. Thus a season of praising God has been there. With some of our spiritual discussions and praying together I have felt closeness with God. However on the other hand, without Melissa around it feels almost like I'm stuck underwater. I don't think this is a terribly bad thing, because feeling really close to God comes and goes. It doesn't mean I don't want that or will try to get it. And I know that I will. To be completely healthy I can't simply rely on Melissa to get close to God.
So last night I wrote down some of the things that keep me away from God during my regular life (i.e. pride) and I prayed about them. Not only for myself, but for our society as a whole. Concerted effort is often needed to better one's self and I think that's what I shall have to do. Many of the things that plague me are things that plague everyone around us. Either way, once I was done that I got to burn the pieces of paper as a symbol and as an excuse to light things on fire. What that means is that those things are dead and gone. I can't go back to them because they are ashes and flushed down the toilet (and I don't feel like going down into the sewers to get them).
I wrote a prayer (sort of a liturgy) and posted it on my door back in November and I think I'm going to write it down here.

"Lord God, my Redeemer
You have created me the way that you dreamed
Today I give my life back to you
Let me not live for selfish things
But help me live to love others around me and my Creator as well
Guide my path and give me what I need

Pick me up when I fall
and Keep me filled with hope
Hallelujah
Amen"

295 days away!

Yes, life being engaged is going along nicely, although it's not that different at the moment from life not being engaged. I suppose once I get about four months down the road it will become a bit different, but right now it's alright. It does involve asking people about what they did and how much it costed though. As well it involves thinking of people to fill various roles and maybe I'll eventually ask said people. Of course this wedding is nearly ten months down the road which is a long time away. It's good however for both of us to get some school out of the way before we begin hardcore planning. And for Melissa to be in Calgary for it will be wonderful.
Also ten months will be plenty of time for you to get used to the force that will be reckoned with. A force of love that is us. The above picture is only a warning of what will be unleashed upon thee. One day you might see us kissing, the next maybe we'll be *gasp* TALKING!! One day we could be kissing, and the next you might see us at the local supermarket buying Fruit Loops. Yes, beware now that we are engaged.
Fine, I'll admit we won't destroy everything for your innocent minds in the next ten months. For the reason that it's still a bit premature. It's not as if we can do much more to creep the majority of you folks out. But once the ten months is up, you will all feel our wrath. The wrath of love. A wrath that weather forecasters will mention on air, "The forecast calls for....oh my....". Okay they won't quite mention anything, but the wrath will be implicit.
But in another matter, I'm not quite sure I should call that wrath. It's actually sort of the opposite of wrath. It's something that is better reffered to as peace. We won't be seen hitting each other over the head with a chainsaw or anything. Peace is something that good couples excel at and something that will be our primary virtue. And righteousness and humility will also be among the plethora of virtues we will exemplify. Those and love as well I guess. A love that must be known. Just a word of warning, if you don't wish to know about our love, cover your ears around us in December and beyond. It is also possible that I am merely talking big in a bid to make you laugh or think I'm strange, but I'll let you decide that in two hundred ninety five days (well after those days). Look at picture and make up your own mind.
Please forgive us (and mostly me).

Ahead Warp Ten

The past eleven months have been pretty cool with the girlfriend of mine. There have been some overall good times all around. At around 5:30 p.m. on February 23rd I sat in my car and said something to Melissa and she apparantly felt the same way as me. I knew because after I said the mumbled garbage that I said she gave me a nice hug. I had only met her around four months earlier and we had become decent friends at that time. We both knew that we wanted to see where the story would go.
At the time it took a lot of the strength in me to go ahead with that. The future was a frightening place, but more frightening yet was not going toward that future. The excitement was certainly there. The first Saturday party at my house was interesting because many of the people there did not know we were dating.
During that first month of dating it was amazing to get to know someone. Neither of us quite knew what would come next. Both of us had high expectations for where it would end up. We enjoyed a beautiful night atop Prarie Winds hill in the midst of spectacular fog. Soon they would become the best of friends as they earned the strengths and weaknesses of the other person. This would sometimes cause problems, but most of time this was wonderful.
The summer came and soon Melissa would go to Edmonton. However we still had fun as both parties took a month to plan a cool date. Melissa took us hiking in the mountains in July and in August I sent her on a mission with commentary that ended with a bang and us trying to get Melissa's car out of a locked up parking lot.
When Melissa left we had to adjust to the distance. It has always been hard, but many late night phone calls brought us together. As well we would both come and visit each other and have adventures then on buses and writing really stupid songs about binders (but awesome).
The holidays came and it was what both of us really needed, a break from studying and time to relax and enjoy each other's company. We had Christmasses with each other's families and hung out pretty much every day. It was grand.
Almost a year into our relationship the future looks bright. About a month into the time of dating, I had a brainwave from God, we should pray when we part. That has become a tradition of ours that keeps us grounded in the most important part of our lives. Obviously by itself that would not be enough, but we both enjoy studying, reading, praying and maybe a lively theological debate.
Anyways, this all changed early in the morning on Saturday at around 12:45. The relationship that had been moving on steadily took a turn. No, Melissa didn't die. However she is no longer my girlfriend. Now you would call her my fiance, because I asked her to be my wife and she very quickly and excitedly said "yes"! This wasn't out of the blue for either of us, but I did surprise her. If you want more details you need to hear her side of it first.
Our wedding will not be right away. Look forward to it in the fall, possibly November when both of us are more sure of our futures and built up financially. Pray for us as we prepare for this momentous occasion. I can honestly say nothing excites me more than the thought of spending the rest of my life with a woman I love this much.
Thank you, that is my story.

And for the final part, if you want to come have a good time with us, please do so this Saturday night at around 7:15 at my house. We will tell you stories and stuff. Then you can find out and stuff. Contact me for details.