March 10

We got up and decided to do some tourist stuff before we had to check out of our hotel and before we had to catch the train. The biggest stop we made was the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. "Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall collects stuffs used by Chiang Kai-Shek, who was a president in Taiwan from 1950 to 1975. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall is a symbol of authoritarian regime. It mimics the Chinese palace-like building, from the surrounding (gardens and the square) to the space usage."

Changing of the guard

Chiang Kei-Shek's statue that's being guarded.

Instead of where's Waldo...it's where's Carolyn? Can you see me?
The picture overlooks the garden surrounding the hall. The beautiful building in the background is a concert hall.

Chiang Kei-Shek Memorial Hall
That was a lot of stairs!

The lantern says 'Taipei'

The park that surrounds the hall has 4 entrances. Each entrance has this 'wall?'. Very beautiful!

Once we were finished touring around, we headed back to the hotel, checked out and jumped on the train for Hualien. (It's about halfway between Taipei and Taitung).

Two sisters on a train. :)

A rice field

And another rice field.
At the beginning it was very exciting. But after while, it just looked like another field.

March 9

When I arrived in Taipei, it was 15 degrees and raining!

You know this doesn't seem too nice, but after going through a month of -30 it was a treat. When Faith arrived, we jumped on a city bus and road it to city centre. We found myself a rain jacket and umbrella and set off to find the YMCA Guesthouse, where we had reservations. We checked in, settled in, Faith went through the suitcase of all the goodies that I brought for her. She was very happy to receive her lemon marmalade from mom.

We then set out exploring the city. The main stop that day was the National Palace Museum. Faith had other intentions, but unfortunately, with being in this climate - everything seems to be set outdoors and with it raining we didn't have too many options. When we arrived, we stopped to take pictures on the front steps, a couple of ladies came by and gave us admission tickets to the museum. What a blessing!

March 7
My lovely roommate Carly took me to the airport and waited with me until I left.

Leaving Winnipeg, we seemed to sit on the runway for what seemed like FOREVER. The pilot came on and said that there was a traffic jam and we were just waiting for our turn. After awhile he came back on and said that the parking light had come on, and wasn't going off. So, the maintenance people came out and were trying to fix it with no avail, so we had to taxi back to the terminal. Finally after an hour and half we finally took off. Man! Was I getting worried! I needed to be in Vancouver to make my connection, but obviously - everything worked out alright.

March 9
I made it to Taiwan, safe and sound on March 9th (Taiwan time - 12 hours ahead of Winnipeg). I arrived at 5:45am Taiwan time, Faith picked me up at 10am. Before we left though, we needed to make a much needed stop at the Starbucks Coffee upstairs. She was craving some North American coffee.

Here I am finally updating my blog. I had intended to be very diligent and keep my blog updated during my holiday but unfortunately, Faith's computer was TOO protected and it wouldn't let me work on the blog site and internet cafes are non-existent where Faith lives. Now that I have so much information to upload - I will do it as I can. Since my return to Canada and work, my life has jump started at mach10 speed. 'So much to do and very little time to do it'. At the moment, it feels like it will take me a month to get back on track with work, so much built up while I was away.
One very exciting thing is this weekend, my parents, sister and nephew are coming for a visit. I am very excited about seeing Timothy. I haven't seen him since August. He was a little baby and now he is a little boy. He's changed so much! It's going to be great!
So, anyway - I will work as I can to update the details about my trip. Please come back!

Well, today is the day FINALLY. It seems that it's been coming so long I can't believe that it's here. I'm so nervous, anxious, unsure of what I'm flying into. Please pray for me that I may be able to relax and totally enjoy this adventure.

Here's a rough 'itinerary' for my next few hours: (in local times)
March 7 - depart Winnipeg - 7:55 p.m. via Air Canada
March 7 - arrive Vancouver - 9:08 p.m.
March 8 - depart Vancouver - 1:00 a.m. via EVA Airlines
March 9 - arrive Taipei - 5:45 a.m.

Please pray for me!

Greetings!

I just realized that it's been awhile since I've posted anything about what's going on with me. Well, life has been crazy lately. I thought with quiting my second job and finishing my class before Christmas, my time before my trip would slow down. FAR FROM! God has blessed me with unexpected blessings!

• We had a great banquet & National Council sessions for CSSM in January. But, that info is below.
• I was asked to join the Outreach/Evangelism team at my church. I'm very excited to see how I can get involved differently at church. To this point, I've been involved in only areas like youth, C&C and computers. I can't wait to see where God takes me!
• I've been meeting with three gals from church on Mondays. We are working our way through a book called 'Captivating'. I am looking forward to see where we go with that. Not that the book isn't interesting or anything, but I'm also excited that we are only doing that every second week. On the off weeks, we are getting together and just visiting. I am very much looking forward to getting to know these ladies more!
• Carly and I are still volunteering once a week at Siloam Mission, downtown Winnipeg. We really enjoy being able to help out!
• I went to a Jars of Clay concert with my 'twin' and good friend Bonnie. It was a fabulous evening! (She's my twin because she has dark curly hair, just like mine. I've never met anyone with the same hair as mine.)
  

Time has also been flying due to my weekends being 'eaten' up as I am getting to know a certain 'new' friend in my life. God does bring unexpected surprises to our lives, doesn't he? I don't know what the future holds, but I am having fun in the present - searching for His will. As you may have guessed, I've met a boy! :) His name is James and he lives in SK. So, the last few weeks we have been traveling between his place and Winnipeg as we get to know each other better. Here's some pics from our time together...

SKI-DOOING! YIPEE!

I was very excited to be able to go! It had been a long time! And, he even let me drive!

I've also been busy at work preparing for my vacation. Only 8 sleeps away! I am very much looking forward to my adventure in Taiwan, even though I am scared out of my mind! I've never done anything like this EVER before. I've never been one to take any risks. I've always been quite the 'homebody'. I can't wait to see what happens. I'm also trying to figure out what I need to take AND try to pack in my backpack. Now, that is going to be interesting - the next thing, is going to see if I can carry it on my back with it full. Fun times!

Please pray...
My dear and wonderful friends, Lee & Kathy had a precious baby girl, Melina Joyce, on January 18th. Since she was born, she has been in the NICU of the Regina hospital and now in Edmonton because they detected a heart murmur. Today she is having heart surgery in Edmonton. Please pray for her doctors, for her, and for her mommy & daddy.

CRAZY CRAZINESS...

I have just completed one of the craziest weekends known to man! We had our CSSM Annual Banquet and National Council meetings. The insane craziness started with...

• Thursday was filled with all my prep for the Friday/Saturday meetings. I have to put agendas together with all the extras of what is discussed in the meeting. And, put the last finishing touches on the banquet and other things.
• Thursday evening, we had the CSSM family supper. We had 6 branch directors and 7 national council from across Canada along with the 7 national executive and their spouses and national office staff. It was a nice evening.
• Friday I was up and out of the house at 7:15am in order to stop at the office and then make it to the church we rented for our meetings/banquet. Meetings started at 8:30am. We went all day - this year I decided to sit in as much as I could, even though some of it was VERY boring. At lunch, I had to run for pizza. After lunch, I decided to pull out of the meetings and concentrate on the banquet details. Two weeks ago, I was soo worried that we weren't going to have enough people. But, our attendance was 300. It was awesome. And, we had an anonymous donor put forth a challenge – they would match the donation up to $20,000! Isn't that amazing! God answers prayer!!! The evening went late'ish – I was home by 11pm but couldn't sleep because my leg was aching like you wouldn't believe. Guess I'm out of practice of wearing heels OR I shouldn't have been running around in them.
• Saturday our meeting continued on starting at 8:30am until 5pm. We had a new guy on the board that hadn't seen the office yet, so my friend Agnes and I met him and his host there. They walked in with roses. 2 dozen white roses! And, then they offered to take us out for supper. It was awesome. I feel so spoiled now.

Now life is going to seem so boring...or will it?
Below is a picture of me on banquet night...

January is indeed here!

Well, January is here for real now. This morning, us Winnipegers were blessed with -36 degrees celcius but -48 degrees celcius with the windchill. I decided to still walk. I had on 2 pairs of long johns, nylons, pants, and windpants. During my walk I had to keep rubbing my eyes because my eyelashes kept freezing. But, you can't say that it wasn't refreshing - it was definitely fresh air.