Yesterday I asked my sister if we knew yet for sure if our dog was pregnant. Her response:

"Yup. I milked her today"

disgusting.

I'd just like to state for the record that there is NOTHING good about Monday mornings.

or even Sunday nights when I know that tomorrow will be Monday morning.

Can you Interpret my Dream?

A few nights ago I had a dream that the world was going to end. The only way to be saved was to go scuba diving. But only three people wanted to go with me. And the two people that I really wanted to save by scuba-diving, who would LOVE to go scuba-diving period, didn't want to come. That was about 30 percent of my dream. The other 70 percent revolved around me trying to find the perfect scuba-diving outfit. I chose a purple one.

My Messed Up Mind

Yesterday's Verse:

People who accept correction are on the pathway to life, but those who ignore it will lead others astray. (Prov 10:17)

Last night I was reminded (again) that waitressing is a thankless profession. We do get a lot of abuse from mean customers. Here is what happened and my response.

One of the men at one of my tables stood up - fingered me over and then YELLED at me for a solid minute about not filling up his coffee fast enough. Yelling I can mostly handle, but he threw in a few choice swear words as well. I returned with the coffee pot - throughly embarrassed because it was the height of the rush and everyone in the restaurant heard.

Yesterday in my devotions on of the questions to go with the above verse was: How open to discipline are you? I responded "I'm not very open to discipline because I think that I am right all the time." - Well I do, and forgetting this verse, and remembering how I think I am right all the time I told the man as I filled up his coffee cup that I was sorry I took so long with the coffee, but swearing at me was not the appropriate response and it was offensive to me.

NOW I couldn't just stop there. As my mind reeled around and around what had happened I was tempted more than once (ok, more than 10 times) to return to the table and give him a piece of my mind. The speech I made up in my head went like this.

"Sir, I know you are upset about the coffee situation but you have to understand that I have been working for 14 hours straight today. I dealt with 19 7 year olds all day and then came here to work. I work this much because I live in the best country in the world that unfortunately requires me to pay out the nose for a post-secondary eduction so I can work in a career I enjoy - but doesn't pay enough - which is why I am waitressing in the first place. IN ADDITION to working three jobs to pay off my student loans, I am also raising my two younger sisters." NOW all of that is true - except the last part that I mostly made up just for sympathy. My parents are in Ontario for a few weeks so in theory, I'm taking care of my sisters. But they are 18! I thought I should spread that sick rumor around to all my tables just to get more tips! I'm hopeless.

Here's a picture of the two sisters I am 'raising'

updates

I don't blog enough for those of you who care to keep up with my life. Here are some things that have been going on.

I threw a hissy fit last Thursday at Harper Mountain because I fell off the T Bar. I threatened to never snowboard again. I hate that thing. It's hard to use. I always get hurt. I'm going snowboarding tonight.

My Aunt Dianne, from Ontario randomly showed (shew? shewed? whats the past tense of to show?) up on our doorstep last weekend. We had fun celebrating my dads 51st birthday. He is officially over the hill now.

I miss Romania this week. La Mult an Debroah!

I'm looking for a summer job.

My sisters are awesome and I love them a lot.

Bethany S is still my favourite person in British Columbia - followed very closely by Tiersa.

While at MissionsFest in Vancouver two weekends ago I had the opportunity to hear from Gracia Burnham - (In the Presence of my Enemies) about her time in the Phillipines as captives in the jungle. VERY thought provoking. I also learned that Tiersa and I not only share our fettish of soft fruit, but we also must sleep on the right side of the bed, on our stomachs - and must be facing the door to fall asleep.

I'm storytelling at a festival next thursday night.

My dogs are knocked up. All the puppies will have the same father. They will all be born the same week. Captain Hook (the stud dog - his really name. Really.) was very confused when he came over to 'fulfill his duties'.

I'm Radio Super Star

It all started when my sister Vanessa was SUPER EXTRA grumpy after school yesterday. I wanted to make her happy so I was trying to be funny in the car - when a contest came up on the radio. All you had to do was call in and tell the radio guy what annoyed you most about the opposite sex. I called in - hoping that my side of the conversation would make Vanessa laugh - and it did. Here's how the conversation went:

"97.5, The Great Debate"
"Yes Hi, I'd just like to say that boys with chest hair growing up their neck are gross"
"You don't like a hairy man?"
"Not so much"
"You don't think a hairy man is sexy?"
"uhhhh no. I'm mean come on! Chest hair does not belong above the collar!"
"ouch, I"m offended."
"Oh, I'm sorry, but it really is disgusting."

And with those amazing words of pure wisdom - stating what all girls secretly do believe, I, Nikki Gerrits became a radio superstar.

definitly NO Dr. Quinn

Two weekends ago I went snowboarding at Sun Peaks Resort here in Kamloops. About 40 people went from the church jr. and sr. youth and college and careers. Lots of fun. But my foot started to hurt around lunch time. The next day it still hurt and continued to not only hurt - but get worse for the next five days. I convinced myself that I had broken one of the little bones in the foot. I was really excited for the next time when I played 2truths and a lie, because I could now use "I walked on a broken foot for a week" as one of my truths.

I went to the doctor. She was definitly no Dr. Quinn. My foot was only "inflamed" from excessive snowboarding and too tight bindings. JUST when I was finally getting good. (Ok. I'll be honest. I was getting not-super-extra-crappy.)

Songs

Music is always around and I have realized that I attribute certain songs to certain people. I was just thinking about that so here is a list of songs and the people they remind me of. NOW - the words of the song do not remind me of the person - the time the song came out and associating the person with that time is what reminds me of the person.

Ya-Ta (The Chineese people) - Christy Bloemendale
I'm Like a Bird (Nellie Furtado)- Ben Shingler
I feel Good (LIttle Richie)- Gosia Szok
Try to Walk Away (Macey Grey)- Jordan Thompson
Fhwquhwaghads (Strong Bad) - Karmyn Bokma
King of Majesty (Hillsong) - Jimmy Bender
Anything by David Crowder - Chris Pot
Hanging Tough/Five Times - The Possee
Wouldn't that Be Something (Five Iron Frenzy) - Nathan Stretch
Since You Been Gone (Kelly Clarkson) - Sara Beth Fava

Things that make me unhappy:

1.) The sound of scratching, panting and whining from in heat dogs.

2.) Coughing my brains out (perhaps it is gallopping consumption??)

3.) One word... Phlem

4.) -20 degree weather

5.) Pain in my foot.

Things that do make me happy

1.) Puppies

2.) Building up my immune system so I am healthy the rest of the year

3.) uhh... there is nothing positive about Phlem

4.) My dad starting my car and warming it up for me at 7am this morning.

5.) uhhh.. nothing positive about pain in my foot.

A Moral Question

I really like Welches Grape Juice.

BUT I never ever drink it because it is what we use for Comunion Wine. I mean come on! It represents Jesus' blood, I shouldn't enjoy the taste. But I REALLY like it a lot.

We had comunion on Sunday.

There is a jug of juice left over in the fridge here at work.

I'm drinking it right now.

Does that make me a bad person? I mean it's just going to sit there, and it's not like its been blessed - or even put in the ridiculous little cups!

Introducing .... My Car

Well when Cheyenne (my car that I loved) died in Nebraska on my way here to Beautiful British Columbia, I knew that I would have to get a new car. So I decided to get a *NEW* car. It's taken a while for me to grow attached to it - I loved Cheyenne. But now that the new car has a name I feel like the love between us will grow.

And so, here is me and Fee-B. (as in Phoebe)




Things that makes my car unique.

1.) A tiger-tail rear-view mirror accessory. Used as a calmer-downer (just rub in a downward motion), a microphone (hello Kelly Clarkson), a duster.
2.) Snowboard air fresh-ner (because I am a pro snowboarder now).
3.) A very nice black steering wheel cover with purple and pink hearts.
4.) Not one, but TWO emergency kits. One for the car. One if I get stuck in an avalanche. I've used it twice. Not for avalanches though.... I broke it out for a sleepover. I needed PJ's and we were craving rice-krispie treats.
5.) 4 Poppies still pinned to the roof from Remembrance Day.

I'm a CowGirl Baby

Getting Warm and Colorful

I'm cold
I love winter but right now I miss summer. Here are some colourful and warm memories.



I love this picture from July. Dad took 'his girls' to... the middle of nowhere to some random ranch and we spend the afternoon on the back of his truck being silly, laughing, and driving all around the interior of BC where there were literally NO people. So warm, so colourful, so nice.


Remember when Andy, Rob J and Steven came over? I sure do.




Oh Mark Sinke. Please come visit again.


Horse-Whisper-er-Wanna-Bee's.

Introducing... my friends

I don't really have any friends. No one likes me.



Bethany S. My "favourite person in British Columbia". Bethany has been a great friend to me since day one, she threw me a big birthday bash when we had only known each other for a month and that solidified her as one of the best people in the world.


Tiersa. My "second favourite person in British COlumbia". Here are the reasons why I like Tiersa. She likes Dr. Quinn, She likes obscure musicals - AND knows all the words to the songs, she does not like soft fruit (just like me), She is 'neat'.


Ferin is cool.
Mike is a lumberjack so that pretty much makes him like Sully - whom we all know is at the top of my 'best people EVER list'


Jon and Heather. They are just nice and funny and smart and nice. I said nice twice because they are really nice nice.


Tom is a tree biologist. I don't know what that really means. You'd think that would make him a huge nerd - BUT he's not (really) He is quite hilarious and we always have fun.


Bowen ALWAYS makes me laugh. EVERY time we talk he makes me laugh. Arlan - my Huron County brother that I found in a van down at the park. (literally).


I just wanted to put this picture in to show you that Bethany is pretty. AND also because Tom thinks I am taking a picture of him - but I'm not. So it always makes me laugh.

And speaking of Laughing. Here is Bo wearing Jingle Balls underpants at our Christmas party over his jeans.

To the tune of Oh Christmas Tree

Oh Esther is coming
Oh Esther is coming
To spend Christmas in Kamloops

Shes moving here
to Golden Bridge
In the middle of nowhere.

The Gerrits' will be
together
for the first time
in over a year

Oh Esther is coming
Oh Esther is coming
To spend Christmas in Kamloops

Hot or Not

One time I heard about this website called Hot or Not .com. where you look at pictures of people and judge them on a scale of 1-10. Very mean. Also quite funny because people put pictures of themselves on it hoping to get a high 'hotness' rating.

I was going through my pictures yesterday and found two from this month. and so

Hot (with my friend Tiersa)



and

Clearly - - - NOT Hot

Dear Grade Two Students

A few things for you to take note of.

It is December, my name is NOT MRS. Gerruppps.

The fact that your foot hurts - doesn't impede your ability to print.

I dont care if someone is staring at your lunchbox, or touched your desk, or looked at your pencil, or spelled the word THE wrong, or, or, or, or etc etc.

Why is it that if someone touches you, the automatic response is a hiperventalating conniption fit? But if you fall during ice skating - on hard ice - you couldn't care less.

No you may not go to the bathroom 3 minutes after recess. Thats what recess was for!

You guys are pretty darn cute when you play and smile and are nice to eachother.

Introducing..... Kamloops

I thought that I should spend the next few posts introducing ya'll to my new life here in Beautiful British Columbia. And it is beautiful. I think that Kamloops is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. I love the rolling grass and sagebrush covered hills, bluffs and mountains, I even love the brown hue of the land. Now, to be honest, I must point out that Kamloops pretty much looks exactly like the set of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman - which plays a big part in why I like it so much.

The city itself is located where the South and North Thompson Rivers meet, hence the name "Kahm-o-loops", the Shuswap Indian word for "meeting of the waters". The surrounding countryside is a combination of dry forests, grasslands and desert like hills. While forestry has now surpassed ranching as the primary industry, ranching is still an important component in the makeup of the area.








How is that not a beautiful scene?



One of the things I love most about Kamloops is that no matter where you are in the city there is a view. You can be in downtown and see hills, you can be on top of the mountain and see a beautiful view of ranch and grazing land, you can be on the highway driving out of town and have a view. It's amazing.



This is a picture of Riverside Park in downtown Kamloops. It is a beautiful park on the side of the river that has swimming, a water park, tennis courts, rollerblade/walking/bike trails, and free concerts every single night in the summer. I spend a lot of time there in the summer.

What I like about Kamloops
1. Despite the fact that it is built on hills and no roads are straight, it is very easy to get around.
2. It is a city - but feels more like a big town.
3. It has all the stores you need to survive. (Well... except Old Navy...)
4. The people are nice.
5. TONS of activities to do - hiking, snowboarding/skiing, snowshoeing, concerts, theatre, movies, museum, art gallery, bowling etc.
6. It is the tournament capital of Canada.
7. The country music capital of Canada is only 60min away.
8. Living expenses are relatively cheap - even if buying a house is not.
9. Good radio stations
10. Great Cell phone reception - whether you are on top of the mountain or in a valley.
11. A fun history
12. Good tourist attractions (will be introduced later)
13. Cowboys and Lumberjacks make up 90% of the population.

I like grade 12

I would just like to say that my favourite class at KCS is probably the grade 12 class that I teach on Friday's. Number one because my super cool sister Vanessa is in it, and two because all her friends are in it and we have a lot of fun. They make fun of me, and I tease them and they often get away with calling me Nikki. They rarely pay attention to what I am lecturing "just show us the overheads! gash!" is an often repeated phrase. But they do respect me and like me and it is SO exciting to see young people who are nice and fun and who honestly LOVE the LORD and want to serve him with their lives and their actions. It's encouraging to hear them talk about God, or to see them worship in church and to see how they spend their free time volunteering together, or doing outreach or edifying eachother.

SmArt People vs. Smrt People

I've realized recently that some people are VERY smart, and that I am not one of them.

Example #1 The other day my sister was talking about some friends of hers that invited her to go to Cuba. I told her that it would be a very long drive. And I still hold to the fact that Cuba is attached to land. The internet and the encyclopedia are both wrong.

Example #2 I'm reading a paper on Youth Ministry written by the associate pastor of the church I work at and I was only at the third line before I had to look up a word.

Now, before I moved to BC I never thought of myself as stupid. Now I do. I began to think that perhpas BC is bad for my mind - and my self esteem. Then I realized I know more Dr. Quinn trivia than anyone else in the world. So I am just smarter in areas that don't require knowledge of geography.... or words.....