the speers

alaska

2010-11-08T16:10:00.003-06:00

it was a good honeymoon

marriage?

2010-10-21T14:42:00.003-05:00

my sister KRISTEN gets married in 2 days!!!!!!!!

i also recently got married. august 8, 2010.
it was a great day.

so im expecting saturday to be a great day as well. maybe not as warm, but still great :) i love my sister. she is such a wonderful, funny person to be with.

i am so excited that she is getting married to mark. he is also a wonderful person. not so funny though. haha. no no, hes funny, some of the time.

anyways, kristen, im proud of you. i love you. i cherish you. and things will only get better :) marriage is awesome. it's such a grand adventure. maybe find a new apartment, though. haha.

love love love you stinky <3

saturday night

2009-12-19T18:44:00.003-06:00

well,
in the afternoon
i worked on my quilt (which i still havent quite finished!)
while josiah played age of empires.
we practiced our skit for christmas eve,
laughed a lot at each other
i went on facebook and did facebook stuff,
josiah played the piano and practiced a bit more,
then he calls me over to the piano
(it's not really a piano, but an organ thing from mcc)
i go over there and sit next to him.
he starts to play a simple tune
and then he starts to sing
he sings to me a lovely song
and at the end he says,
i wrote that for you today.
i kissed him.

now i sit at the computer writing this,
while he's asleep on the couch.
it's 6:47 pm
and we haven't even eaten supper.

i love you, josiah.
you're the best.

kisses,

B

2009-11-01T21:47:00.002-06:00

these faces really make me miss africa.

it's been 5 1/2 months since ive been back. sometime africa feels like only a dream. sometimes it feels like it happened years ago. sometimes it feels like it never even happened. but whenever i look back at my photos, i feel the same emotions as when i took the photo (if that makes sense...) but yeah. im really starting to miss it. i really miss carla. she was my best friend out there and i confided in her so much. she understood what i was going through, all the emotions i felt, all the frustrations and struggles, everything. i hate taking things for granted. its really nice to be thankful for stuff, but its true that once something is gone, then the more you appreciate it. like family. like friends. like a loving boyfriend. like running water. like good tasting food. like a hot shower. like eating at a table with chairs and clean utensils. like ovens. like english conversations. so so SO many things.
i love Canada. i love Niverville. i love my Family. i love my Friends. i love my Church. i love my Job. i love my Home. i love Opportunities. i love LIFE.

i love Jesus. Only through Him was it possible for me to go there. He kept me safe and healthy. He gave me patience to deal with a totally different culture and language. He gave me Carla-someone who is exactly like me-equally crazy and weird (and loves to make funny faces!!). He made my dream come true-experiencing africa. i love the people. i love rwanda. i love the culture.

what a beautiful world.

thank you Jesus for life.

and thank you all for reading this, those of you who did. i love you all :)

blessings.

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-03T18:02:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm home. It's been just over 2 weeks and it's soooo great. I love home. SO MUCH. It's been very busy seeing family and friends and then this past weekend was Matt and Sabrina's wedding. Holy cow! My best friends are married! BAH!! They are currently now in disneyworld, lucky ducks. But I'm quite content here, working. In fact I mowed for 5 hours yesterday, and tilled 8 hours today. YAY!!! I don't mind the alone time with my music (and loud hum of the tractor). Just like the old days...or last summer. Yeah...things are good. I'm sharing in church this Sunday, for like 10 minutes so that's cool. If you attend Maranatha, then you'll get the pleasure of hearing it :) Hopefully I won't cry...haha. So you may ask me....what are you plans now? Well so far I'm working at home, pretty much full time, doing odd jobs and farm work. And a couple weeks during summer I'll be counselling at Winkler Bible Camp. I'm very excited for that.
It's just so good to be back home, that i don't even want to think about leaving again. but as i think about the world, i just yearn to travel and experience things. and if you've read sister kristen's blog, it sounds that we have a lot in common in the area of travelling--amongst other things too. And it's great because we get along so well. i love my sister and i would love to travel with her and go on great adventures with her. everyone should know my sister. shes the greatest ever. seriously...if you're reading this and dont know my sister, i encourage you to get to know her. Shes incredible and i love her so much.
peace out friends

i promised...

2009-05-13T06:27:00.001-05:00

I said I'd post a few photos...so here they are. But that's it :) You'll have to wait until I get home!!
ENJOY!!

what the?!?

2009-05-12T11:38:00.001-05:00

WOW

i'm back in civilization...how weird...

i will post photos soon...

and i will be home in 6 days...

HOLY COW!!!!

love you all and thank you for your prayers...

kisses...b...

I have experienced...

2009-03-27T10:14:00.014-05:00

LEADING THE BLIND

FUN PHOTO SHOOTS

INTERESTING TOILETS

AMAZING SUNRISES

BUYING TOO MANY GIFTS

BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES

PEANUT SAUCE AND SWEET POTATOES

SOCKS AND SANDALS

CUTE LITTLE BIRDIES

NEW TOOTHBRUSHES

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY

BEING SILLY

A TASTE OF SBS

SHOWERING FROM A BUCKET

WHATSUP WITH NOAH

SWEET DONUTS

RWANDESE DANCING

INSANE HAIR

LOOKING AFRICAN AND EATING CHOCOLATE

AWESOME HAIR

Sometimes...

2009-03-17T07:28:00.002-05:00

Sometimes...I forget that I'm white.
Sometimes...I forget I'm in Africa.
Sometimes...I only eat bread rolls for breakfast.
Sometimes...I forget to wash my feet in the shower.
Sometimes...I forget the taste of strawberries.
Sometimes...I miss my comfortable bed.
Sometimes...I wake up at 6 am.
Sometimes...I watch movies with Carla only in our igetenges.
Sometimes...I almost pee my pants.
Sometimes...I draw.
Sometimes...I enjoy cleaning the toilets.
Sometimes...I speak French.
Sometimes...I fart openly with our girls.
Sometimes...I really miss playing with Jett and Elleana.
Sometimes...I wear tank-tops.
Sometimes...I drink home made tree tomato juice.
Sometimes...I speak Kinyarwanda.
Sometimes...I miss my mama and papa.
Sometimes...I wish I could watch Braveheart with my Scottish friend, C.
Sometimes...I miss youth.
Sometimes...I talk to my family and Siah on Skype.
Sometimes...I miss baking cookies and cupcakes.
Sometimes...I sit in class and dream.
Sometimes...I wish I could cuddle up with Siah and watch a movie.
Sometimes...I miss eating poutines with Sabrina.
Sometimes...I miss Matt's jokes.
Sometimes...I miss Solomon's Porch and working with the greatest staff ever.
Sometimes...I wish I could drive in our little Corolla.
Sometimes...I miss singing English songs at Maranatha.
Sometimes...I wish I only had a little privacy.
Sometimes...I would like it if Africans didn't yell when they spoke to the person beside them.
Sometimes...I wish I could be home.
Sometimes...I remember how INCREDIBLY AMAZING God is.
Sometimes...Sometimes I do a lot of things.

I love you all and miss you all very much.

kisses and hugs from Africa.

...YWAM...

2009-03-14T03:44:00.003-05:00

I couldn't be a YWAMer for life. No no no. Here are my reasons...

a) I HATE, absolutely HATE good-byes.

that's about it. I said goodbye to the Hawaii team today. There were about 17 of them on their DTS outreach. Yeah, they were a great bunch. I miss them already. They each have a special place in my heart. They all love Jesus sooo much and they made a HUGE impact here in Rwanda. They will be missed very much.

Good-byes suck. But it's comforting to know that I will get to see them again. In Heaven. That's exciting! Well I must get back to life...hope you enjoyed reading this tiny blog.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

befa

LUNCH TIME!!!!

2009-03-10T09:56:00.003-05:00

our poor dinner all tied up...

headless dinner...

mmm goat! coke! and mutoki!!

It was a good day...

clouds

2009-03-10T09:12:00.002-05:00

Keanan, this blog is just for you :) Hope you enjoy

a different culture...

2009-03-02T09:36:00.002-06:00

here are a few things that have been a culture shock or things that i had to get used to in the past 2 monthish...
1. literally NO room in the taxis. theres the driver in the front, and 2 passengers. the next row of seats holds 4. the next, another 4, and then the last row, another 4. then the guy who collects the money just stands and sort of lays or squishes beside someone...but seriously, there is absolutely no room between you and the people beside you. which leads to my next one...
2. the smells...especially the B.O. Body Odour...anyways, some people are worse than others, but it's an absolutely horrible smell!!! it's like potent onions and worse. and then when you get into a small, squishy bus taxi...it penetrates!! and if you hug someone, then the odour is left on you and then you reak like no one's business!!
3. STARES. never in my life have i gotten more stares! people stare from across the street, from behind, from in front, on the motos, on bicycles...it's a little scary sometimes, because they look like any moment they're going to crash! i don't really know how to feel about it. it's just intimidating...i feel like i can't do anything stupid or embarrassing, because im being watched...it's...different.
4. Boys and Boys holding hands. I'm used to girls holding hands, and sometimes my close guy friends, but not down the street. or with their arms around each other. but the guys here hold hands because they're friends. homosexuality is almost unheard of here. it's quite interesting. and it's nice to see any kind of friends holding hands... im starting to hold hands with people more. i never really did that, but me and carla especially link arms or hold hands etc. it's so nice :)
5. Absolutely no traffic rules. the lines on the road...don't mean anything. actually today in the bus, around the round-about it was insane. we were in this huge bus, and its maneuvering its way through traffic. motos going in and out and anywhere they please. whether its on the other side of the road to pass a car, zooming to the front of the traffic line to beat the rush of the lights, or 1/2 a foot from a 3 foot deep trench at the side of the road...yeah it's intense, but SO much fun!!! and today i almost got run over by one. it just came up onto the curb, and i almost screamed/peed/rampaged etc. but i kinda laughed and kept walking!
6. No Communication. especially here at DTS. nothing is really communicated about little outreaches etc. like last week we went to street kids, and we were just supposed to talk to the kids, which is fine, but then we were supposed to do a program for these soccer players, so we go behind this building, introduce ourselves and then erick did a little testimony and then deo preached, and then like 5 soccer players became Christians! it was so interesting, out of the blue and pretty Spirit led. it's so laid back and it's great. but a little frustrating at times. when we prepared for our first sunday outreach we had to plan an entire service...but then it was only for a few sunday school classes, the bible study at the beginning and a little testimony. it was frustrating for me and carla, because when we plan an entire service it usually takes or planning takes like a month!! but everything went well! but as for communication, laura, an american girl who did her dts last year told us that we had to pay for our own VISA...yeah wasnt informed...it just seems like they dont really know any information about things that they should. like for our outreach, they dont even know what its going to be like...ah well!! FLEXIBILITY!!!
7.Cleaning methods. since there are no carpets or any mats or anything, soapy water is just dumped on the floor and its squeegied (sp?) into these trenches that flow to this big water filter thing...its very interesting... when we clean the toilets, we dump soapy water on the entire thing, pour vim in the bowl, brush that, and then dump clean water over it. then we squeegie all the water out! its pretty great, and easy. and not very sanitary!! especially for dishes. just dump vim in a pot, scrub it and rinse it with water. water of course that cannot be drinkin...so i think God is protecting us a lot against any diseases or sickness...!!
8. Touch. the hand holding thing is enough to get used, but thats not an issue anymore...our dts class is very ticklish, so guys can come up to girls or vice versa and just tickle them in the side (ribs)!!! which is like only for flirty people or couples back home....its a little awkward, but they dont mean anything at all by it! sorry, but this one is for the ladies to relate to, guys if you read this, you might not want to read this next part!! so for ladies, everyone is very touchy ad physical. anyways, so one time we were doing this thing for big group where we just going aroud complimenting each other and Anto my leader, was like Umuhoza, I like your eyes. and these,--and she just grazed my boobs!! i was like ANTO!! and we burst out laughing! Noella, the married lady in our dts, constantly walks around with her top and bra off...seriously ALL THE TIME!!! and she like grabs mine and carlas boobs, and well it's just very interesting!! awkward and funny and weird! yeah, thats alll i have to say about that.
9. singing or bellowing or even wailing...one girl has intense vibrato, one wails, one sings very low, but they all SING SO LOUD!! they definately give it their all when they sing. no holding back at all!! they clap all the time, off beats, on beats, whenever they want, and it always sounds good. they are rarely off tune, and if they are, they dont really care!!!
10. This isn't really a culture shock, but I'm jsut going to tell you what ive been dealing with lately...so most of you probably know that i deal with self confidence...well if you didnt know, i did. and seeing as everyone stares, i just feel like im constantly stared at (which i am) and in return because they dont smile, i feel like theyre just judging me. its really annoying. ever since i took my hair out last week, i dont feel as pretty because i really dont like my short hair, and yeah. its just been a little difficult...so yeah, its getting better, but if you remember to pray for me, that would be fantastic!!

thanks so much for listening and your prayers. i love you all. blessings from africa.

kisses and hugs.

bethany jade.

one saturday morning...

2009-02-25T12:28:00.006-06:00

So last Saturday, at around 7:00 am, there was a light knock on the door. It continued tapping and then finally someone got up. The girls, like usual were very loud and I lay there in my bed, thinking and trying to fall back asleep until my alarm would wake me...it failed. So I got up, rubbed my eyes, got some toilet paper and went out the room. As I walked out of the room with half open eyes, I turn to left and see Noella getting her hair done! Noella! Wow! Uri Mwiza!! (you're beautiful) she smiles and says her infamous OK!
and I go to the toilet. I figured out the mystery of who was knocking so early. Well not very early...6:20 is my morning time pretty much...I know, yuck! so early! Anyways, so I go back into the room and lay back down for a little longer...but Francoise, the girl who sleeps on the bunk above me was doing her make-up as usual, but something was a little different. There was a blanket over her back and a little lump underneath it..I thought to myself, there's no way that can be a baby! So I looked at Francoise and she shhhhed me and lifted a little of the blanket. I looked under it and I almost wet myself! It WAS a baby! A little sleeping beauty! It was the tiniest, sweetest, cutest etc. thing ever!! I didn't know how to express my excitement etc., so I went over to Carla's bed and was like, CARLA GET UP RIGHT NOW! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!! so she got up as quickly as she could and came over to Francoise. I lifted the blanket to reveal the tiny sleeping baby. Carla was SO surprised and in awe! I think she almost wet herself too! We ooed and awwed over it for a while, putting the blanket back, then lifting it then putting it back and then getting another look at those tiny squished cheeks. It was the greatest morning ever. Then we went outside and talked (well gestured) with the lady who was doing Noella's hair and we told her that her baby was SO CUTE!!!! Yvonne, one girl from our room who knows the most English, translated and we found out that her baby's name was Noella as well!!! Crazy! and she was only 2 months old!! It was a great morning, like I said earlier...Makes me really want to go to an orphanage or work with babies...sigh...All in God's plan and timing though....hope you enjoyed my little excitment there!!

My Berma

2009-02-22T09:50:00.005-06:00

My best friend's name is Sabrina. I call her Berma. i don't really know how...it started out Brina, then i guess i just got lazy and started to call her Berma...so that's the evolution of sabrina to berma. yay! so berma's my best friend, and i love her so much. she is such a wonderful friend and i miss her very much.

many people dont know Sabrina that well. shes a mystery. shes shy, and yet shes not. she doesnt seek for attention. she has a very soft, sweet heart. shes very discerning but lovable. she has the most beautiful bright blue eyes and sparkling white smile. i love her so much.

she doesnt always like being the center of attention, but when she is the center...she shines! for example: when she is acting. she only started acting in grade 10, but managed to snatch one of the main female roles. grade 11 she was the main female role. and in grade 12, she wasnt quite the main role, but she sure acted it! she was AMAZING!!! when shes in front of the church or youth group sharing her testimony. it makes me cry everytime, and i love thinking about that wonderful night at bird river. love you darling! and even though she doesnt seek attention, she managed to captivate a young man's attention...mr. matthew falk.

let me give you a little history lesson...me and sabrina have been best friends since about grade 8-9ish...inseperable from grade 10 on...matt and josiah(my love) have been best friends since about grade 4. they have always been known as those two...matt and josiah. the funny guys in high school.

so in grade 10, of course me and josiah started our relationship (if you dont know the story, theres a novel for you to read a few posts earlier) and 7ish months later, matt and sabrina began their little adventure of their own. it worked out perfectly. best friends with best friends. i always wanted something like that to happen. sisters marrying two brothers or something, me and kristen always played Barbies that we sisters and they married to brothers, it was great! anyways...so we all got to know each other quite well. being in plays, going to youth, double dates, etc.

3 yearsish later...they get engaged!!! BAH!!! its a good thing josiah told me when it was happening because i would have FREAKED out! i still did, but it had quite a while to settle:) it was really sweet talking to Sabrina about getting engaged...

I was with her a week before she was to get engaged. I knew that it was going to happen, but we were just talking and she was so excited about their date the following weekend. she was so happy that he was planning a proper date, not really suspecting anything. she was pretty giddy, and i was pretty amazed at that! shes not one to get all girlie and giddy and talk too fast when shes excited, which is good, because i do enough of that! ha! anyways...im so happy for her and im so excited for her wedding!!!!!!!!!!

of course, i had to take off and go to africa and experience tons of stuff, but my gracious Sabrina was ok with it. shes so understanding and i love it. she encourages me ALL the time, and in fact we have an entire notebook of encouragments, vents etc. i love her.

i miss her. i love her. she is my best friend. she is so fantastic, and if you dont really know her...i encourage you to get to know her. shes absolutely fantastic!!!!!

Sabrina, i love you so much. i hope everything is going swimmingly, and i sorry again about not really being there for you. you shine baby....XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

p.s. i think jane is calling us for another date...with pizza, milkshakes, tostitos, carrots, cheese curds and salsa... <3

DRESSES!!!

2009-02-20T11:55:00.003-06:00

Carla and I just got dresses (well top and skirt) and we are now Rwandese!!! with names and looks ;) woo! so here are a few photos of us:) ENJOY!

Street Kids

2009-02-19T11:25:00.003-06:00

we had our first outreach time with Street Kids. it was great. the first picture is of a football (soccer) team. we talked with them and laughed and whatnot. it was great!! hope you enjoy!

i love africa.

2009-02-16T11:19:00.000-06:00

my little valentine story...

2009-02-12T06:10:00.004-06:00

i love josiah. i really miss him. i talked to him the other night on skype, and it was the greatest ever. the topic this week is relationships. i love talking about relationships and whatnot. and its nice to have a whole week dedicated to friendships, husband/wife relationships, opposite sex relationships, and parent/child relationships. it has been going fabulous and it made me think a lot about mine and josiah's relationship. i love telling our story because it isnt like others. i really just like telling it, so it's more for my enjoyment, but if you want, go ahead and read it, you may get bored, but that's your problem. hah. ok well, in case you dont know our story, ill tell you briefly...ok maybe not so briefly...

me and josiah knew each other since gr.4 for me and gr. 5 for him, that's when i really remember. our parents were pretty good friends, and our older siblings were good friends, so we would see each other when we all got together or at church and of course school. we got to know each other more when i started to attend you. he was always the really funny guy and was liked by everyone.

in grade 9 we started to hang out a lot. we got to know each other more and more just as friends though. then after the summer of grade 9, i was going into grade 10, and he was going to grade 11, he sent me an email. he was on a family vacation on the east coast and i was at home working on the farm. so he sent me the loveliest email saying wonderful things about me and telling me that he liked me. i was so surprised!! i didnt expect it at all! so i thought about it for a day, although i had the BIGGEST crush on him. so i left it for a day and then i wrote him back telling him i felt the same way. it was the best ever!!

he got back a day before school, but i would only see him at school. let me tell you...i was so nervous to see him!! and the first time i did see him, i turned around from my locker and him and matt were walking down the hallway, talking and laughing and just as i turned around to face them, josiah yelled in my face and they walked away, yelling and laughing some more. i was so confused...i immediately thought, was the email a joke? did he forget all about me...i was just so confused. so the whole first day of school, thats all i thought about...later that night we had a sunday school meeting...i sat there, knowing that he was going to be there, but as we drove to the church, we past Gan's Kitchen, of course and there was the infamous martin weasel. So i knew that he would be coming late because they were celebrating Brenda's birthday, i think. So the meeting started and i was so nervous to see him. then he came in, and we did not make eye contact AT ALL...it was rather funny...so the meeting went on and then it finished. i left the room right away and was about to leave to go to my grammas, but i really needed the toilet, so kristen left and i went back inside. just as i was about to go to the toilet, josiah comes around the corner from the sunday school huts. we kind of looked at each other and i got so nervous!! we small talked for a little while, about school, summer etc. then we finally talked a little about the email. he walked me to my grammas and let me tell you, i was sooooo excited!!! we talked about the email and yeah, it of course wasn't a cruel joke or anything.

so days turned to weeks. weeks turned into months, and in december (4 months later) we shared a very special moment. me, siah, twila and matt were going to the city to watch a movie. king kong. ok let me back up a week. we had a phone conversation and siah asked me if maybe possibly he could hold my hand...so of course thats all that i was thinking about...so we get to the movie and we are both crossing our arms, with the hands underneath the upper part of the arm, i dont know if that makes sense. but anyways, we we leaning closer and closer together but we were both SO nervous to hold hands...then at the really intense part of the movie, when the villagers come up and they're all weird looking, well we finally touched hands and then awkwardly held them...it was so great. yeah, cheesy, lame, whatever, it was the BEST thing ever!

so i was 15 at the time. and as you know there's a rule in the mcmahon household and that is you cannot date until the age of 17. i know, how horrible!! hah, that's what i thought then, but i was very happy about it in the end. yes mom, i said it. i am happy for that:) thank you by the way. so yeah, it would be a long long time before we would actually, officially date. so that makes our story even more confusing.

josiah said one time: this is our story...we like. we love. we date.

and that's exactly what happened. we fell in love before we started to date...does that make sense? well...i guess so! we spent quite a bit of time together at school, with friends, and whenever my mom would ask, "who should we invite to dinner tonight?" my answer was usually..."Hmm...we haven't had the Martins over in a long time..." yeah, i'm so sneaky! so we would always spend the evening together when our families got together. we spent time together at youth, which was fun. and the fair, and so on.

we took things very slow. i mean VERY slow. i only hugged him in public after like pfft 6 months maybe...and holding hands was a VERY rare thing. the bubbles (or butterflies as some call those nervous goodies in your tummy) stayed for a long time. we held hands for two years, and it was still exciting! so two years of holding hands, kissing my cheek about four times in total, and putting his arm around me, sometimes was so wonderful! i vowed that i wouldnt kiss until i started to date.

christmas 2006. there was the annual talent show at school. i planned on doing the famous whale joke. but before that, josiah was scheduled to play a piano song. he usually did a song at the talent show, and i looked forward to it everytime. i love when he plays the piano, p.s. so he got up (i have bubbles as im writing this!! no joke!!) ok, so anyways, he got up there, and i had NO idea what he was going to play. he never told me. so he gets up there and he sits down at the piano and starts talking, something like this:
"16 months ago, i began to like this girl."
at that point, i almost peed and burst into tears etc...he kept talking about the past 16 months etc. and then he started to play our song...gravity by coldplay. not only did he play the piano, but he sang as well. i was just melting there sitting on the hard gym floor. i thought to myself...boy he must love me a lot to get up in front of the ENTIRE school and sing only for me. it was the most wonderful feeling:) i love how he singles me out like that. makes me feel very nice inside. at the end of the song he went to the microphone and said: "4 more months!"

only 4 more months till we could date. sigh...

a few more months past and we came to the spring drama, The Canterbury Tales. my first big drama. i was so excited! and i was one of the main parts, along with josiah and my best friend sabrina, and her boyfriend, matt (josiahs best friend). so that was terribly exciting! after months of practicing, we came to one of the dress rehearsals, Friday, April 27th...my birthday. the entire day me and josiah would count down the hours till we could go out. finally rehearsal ended and we were going to go on our first date...i drove him home, i went home and then had showers and got ready.

i picked him up because he didnt have his license yet...so i get to his house, and its only him at home because his family was away. and we had told each other that we would each do something special for one another. his was playing a piano song for me that he wrote. it was beautiful. again, i melted...so we hugged and then we off to the city. then we went to pizza hut for dinner. it was the best!! my special thing was to take photos in the photo booth to remember our first date by. then we went to the fyxx for coffee, but it was really busy and we met up with our friends there, so it was a little awkward, so we went back to my house and my other special thing was to sit by the pond and watch the stars or something...i know, so original, but the ponds are so beautiful at night. so we got picnic blankets, sweaters and headed out for the ponds. we set up the blanket on the hill that overlooked the pond, and it was absolutely beautiful. the moon was very bright, so we could see each other's faces, which was nice:)

now comes the best part...we had been sitting there for a while, just talking, basking in each other's presence and holding hands of course:) we started to talk in british accents, because we were talking about some british show, and we just kept talking like that. it was weird. and you know how you start with an accent and you just cant get rid of it, well yeah, that was it. we were stuck with these accents...and then we got on the topic of kissing. we didnt know if we were going to kiss our first date because it might all be too exiting for one day! we discussed the HECK out of it. in british accents. whether or not we should kiss, then we would get a little closer, than we would burst out laughing, then i would shake so much because i was so nervous. ok, when i get nervous, i start to shiver. my teeth chatter and i get little spasms of chills throughout my body. so whenever im nervous...siah knows. so i was shaking and shivering and SO nervous to the point where i just couldnt do anything! and still all in british accents. so after talking about it for hmm about 1 3/4 hours we got closer and closer and then for a few seconds....we kissed. it was so wonderful....sigh. and at that moment my shivers just went away. so lame, i know, but it was the greatest thing. i love josiah..mmm....anyways, i brought him home, kissed once or twice more and said good night. it was the most beautiful night. i went to bed totally star struck. i felt soooo girly!

months past and everything was fantastic. grade 11 for me started and grade 12 for him. the year went by great. we went to grad together and had a great year together. we went on a missions trip to vancouver and it was very wonderful. the summer was good, didnt see much of each other, but absence makes the heart grow fonder...mmhmmm so yeah...

grade 12 started for me and it was pretty good. i was very happy to almost be done school and just get to know people and be with sabrina. the first few months were good and then december came. i went to a hotel with the youth group and we had a topic of relationships. it made me think a lot of mine and josiahs relationship and God revealed a few things about each of our character and i was excited to share some things with him about that weekend away. we left on saturday i think and returned sunday morning. i got to church and told siah that we needed to talk later, but i reassured him that it wasnt bad and i didnt want to break up with them. but it was a mistake just mentioning those words, we need to talk, because it haunted him. and after church we had our Christmas party, so a few more hours would be spent in agony for him. so we went to his house after the party and we talked. i shared with him some things that i learnt and yeah...i dont even really know why or how things really came about, but we decided to take a break to focus on God etc. its not what i wanted at all, but i had to go and we said we would phone each other later.

so he called later and we decided that maybe we would just be friends for now and talk about everything in june, before grad. so we made a big mistake and set our own time.

on tuesday, two days later, he showed up at my house unexpected. we small talked for a while and then he said, i think we should just end it now, and really focus on God and in the future, maybe god will bring us back together, maybe not...

I was devastated.

of course i tried not to show it, but being the drama queen that i am, after i left i bawled my eyes out! i explained everything to mom, and she prayed with me. kume and dawite my cousins were staying with us for that week because my auntie and uncle were away in thailand on vacation visiting my cousin, danae, their daughter. anyways, so little dawite was like, uncle shaun, why is befany so sad? and my dad was like, well because her and josiah arent boyfriend and girlfriend anymore...he was confused, but he was very sweet and considerate to me:)

painful weeks went by and finally kristen came home from australia. so that was very nice. we spend hours watching movies, eating food etc and just getting to know each other more. it was the best. i missed her so much.

months went by and it hurt most of the time. i got to know God quite a bit during that time apart. mom was wonderful as she would always talk with me and pray with me. bless her giving heart.

i would see siah at church, and that was about it. we did the town drama together, which was very hard. i would try not to make any eye contact with him, but there were times when i was sitting on the side, listening to my music and i would be lying on the floor reading or doing homework etc. and i would watch him as he acted. i longed to be with him.

2 1/2 months past after our break up, and the town drama finally came. a day or something before the play i went over to his house to get a chord for editing and we talked a little bit. it felt a lot better. we finally seemed to be friends. he told me that he might go do an internship at IHOP (international house of prayer, not pancakes) in kansas for 6 months. of course i was devasted, but i was happy for him. honestly happy. he said he would probably leave in march. so i only had one more month, in my mind, only one more month to win him back! hah! but serious...so the drama came and went, it was hard because i had to flirt with him in the drama, and that made it even harder.

it was the beginning of march. march 9, im quite sure...and after church he asked if we could talk. we were both busy during the day, so only in the evening we could talk. that was SO hard!!!! mom prayed with me numerous times as i was freaking out! what do i do, what do i say, what do i wear?!?! BAH!!! yes, i know, im dramatic. im dealing with it... ok so i went there and it was only us two and Missy, his dog. so we sat on the couches, all "normal like" and small talked for a while. we told each other what we learnt and how it was really hard etc. i could tell he was really nervous and whatnot, and then he got up and went into the kitchen. im nervous just writing this! hah. so he got up and was standing in the kitchen, i thought he was just getting something to drink or whatever. so i sat there, awkwardly... then he was like, i want to show you something, or something like that, so i got up and walked into the kitchen area. we stood there a few feet apart, and i was a little confused and so nervous! missy stood between us. she looked up at siah. then up at me...it was such a movie moment... i could tell he wanted to say something, but then he wrapped his arms around me and held me there. i longed for that hug for 3 months.

what does this mean? i asked...and he said, mmm just friends and he kissed me. i melted. we were back together and i was the happiest girl on the planet.

we spent 2 1/2 weeks together and then he was going to IHOP for 3 or 6 months. we said we would have our "first date" again the day before he left. the weeks were good, filled with emotions, talks, movies, hugs, kisses etc.

now at the youth hotel, 3 months prior Roxanne, our dear youth leader told us to write down things we wanted in our future husband. i was the only one in a relationship, so it was hard not to write down all of josiahs characteristics. after we broke up, i wrote another list, kind of in spite of him, and i wrote down a few things. one was that my future husband would give me flowers on our first date. i pushed that thought aside and went on with life.

so it was the day before he was leaving, and it was very sad, but i was very happy for him. we would only be able to communicate through written letters, no email or phonecalls or whatever, so i went into it prepared to not talk with him for a long time. it was ridiculously hard. so anyways, we set our "first" date again and we had dinner, i helped him pack, we hung out with matt and sabrina and then we watch the village. we talked and cried and shared our hearts and it was amazing. i went over to sabrinas because i couldnt stay the night there, so for 2 hours i slept at sabrinas. at 4 in the morning we got ready to leave. we packed everything up, went over to cathys and drove to the airport. it was a quiet, sad ride there. i sat there thinking...hmm...i never got flowers...i doubted a little, but didnt want to base our relationship whether he would give me flowers or not. we arrived at the airport, had a little trouble with his ticket, but got it sorted out, checked his bags and headed upstairs to say goodbye. he said goodbye to cathy, to sabrina, to matt, and then me. the others left and i tried soooo hard not to cry....but of course, they came! we hugged, kissed and hugged and kissed some more. then he bent down and got something from his bag....can you guess what it was?

yes. it was...

a flower. a fake, pink gerber daisy. i almost peed. i laughed of course and then realized how ironic the situation was. we finally said goodbye, and then we left. it was an emotional day. i told sabrina about the flower and we had a good laugh.

more months went by, letters from him came, and they were always the highlight of my week. then two days before grad, he came home. praise the Lord!!! grad came and went, and it was great. i worked at camp all summer, he went to ontario for a few days, but then his dad was in a bike accident, so he came home. we shared our ups and downs of course, but it was altogether good. then i decided to go to Africa. and here i am now. but things are going good and im excited to see how things in our relationship will be when i get back. its wonderful! of course i miss him, but God is really working with me on that and hes being my comfort, so its a great feeling! i love him so much, and i just wanted to share that with all of you...

my dear josiah,
i love you so much.
you make me all bubbly inside
youre my best friend
and i cherish you so much
i love how you make me laugh,
talk, cry, smile etc.
i miss you
wish you were with me right now
kisses and hugs from africa.

your bethany

zimbeezee

2009-02-08T04:28:00.002-06:00

zimbeezee (sp?) means i don't know in kinyarwanda. I'm sure you are all aware that I love children. I love babies, toddlers, etc. But my heart is for children who have or are suffering. I don't want to sound so "i'm better than all of you", I'm just telling you where my heart truly is. And being here in my dream continent, being surrounded by children really erks my heart. I love having all the kids come up to me and hold my hand, give me a hug or whatever. They are all so precious and special.
And when I was at a church one Sunday, me and Carla were sitting down after the service and there were seriously like 20-25 kids surrounding us. They were touching our hands and hair and smiling and staring, and they LOVED being tickled. So it was so great to spend some time with them. They were so precious!
But then people just shooed them away from us, and told them to go away. We were going to leave, but still they are very rude to children and quite forceful, and I really don't like that. Yes they are clingy but most of the time, I don't mind.
At another church I was at there was this time of prayer for people who wanted to be healed of sickness, or prayer for work etc. And then after all the adults were prayed for, then they would bring the kids up, and when they would pray for them, they would just put oil on their foreheads and send them on their way, maybe saying, "God Bless, or In Jesus's Name"..but not taking time to pray for them. I understand about time and whatnot, but TIA. This Is Africa, and when does time matter? honestly, I'm learning that now...But it just hurt how they didn't care about the children. They're always shooed away or ignored or not even cared about.
Last night I went for sodas after dinner with some friends and on the way back, at like 8-830, there were kids following us and holding our hands and I talked to one of the girls who had done her dts last year (Laura, she's form USA) and were were talking about how tiny little kids are just walking around on the street at night, and their parents are looking for them or are worried about them. The kids walk with us mzungus for a long time, and they have no worries, and they aren't worried about either. It's so RIDICULOUS and so sad.
I don't know how to process some things quite yet, or where I'm supposed to fit in all this or where I'm being called or what I'm doing or what!?! Anyways, that was what I was feeling today.

I have a prayer request for all of you who read my words:
We still don't know for sure where we are going on our outreach. So if you could keep that in your prayers, that would be fantastic.

I love you all. Have a wonderful, peaceful day. Blessings to you all.

Bethany Umuhoza

Update from Africa...

2009-01-23T05:27:00.004-06:00

Hello there everyone!! So I'm in Rwanda and I'm safe and healthy!! Tomorrow I will have been here for 3 weeks!! Crazy to think about! Anyways...I'll tell you a little about what's happening...So I met Carla from Scotland in Amsterdam and we flew down to Nairobi. She's so great!! We are very similar and get along very well!! We arrived and there were greeted by MANY people. I didn't know that there would be so many people! There are about 14 people from a VTI Team from Calgary doing outreach. VTI stands for Venture Teams International...so yeah. And there are about 20 people from YWAM Hawaii, doing their DTS Outreach. So there were a lot of mzungus. Mzungu means white person, so keep that in mind! So we were very welcomed by everyone! I wasn't tired at all so we went for a walk outside of the base and had my first experience on an African street. We were swarmed by children, and we held hands with them and walked along the street with many people staring at us! We just relaxed the next day (Sunday) and met more students. There are 11 of us in total. 6 girls and 5 boys. We had three staff members, Antoinette (leader), Geoffrey and Noah, but recently Noah had to go to accounting because they need a lot of help there...so we were very sad that he had to go. But he still lives on the base, so we get to see him everyday which is nice. Me and Carla liked him very much! So there are 11 students...I'm the baby, of course. There's Carla who's 20, Francoise who's 19, Yvonne who's 22, Cecile who's 20, Noella who's married and 23. The boys there is Innocent who is 21, Erick who is 25, David who is 29, Charles who's 36, and Deo who's 40. It's a big gap, but we don't really notice the difference...Everyone seems my age, so that's pretty nice. We laugh all the time in our room! The girls teach us Kinyarwanda (their language) and they laugh at when we try and talk in it. But we've learnt a lot and improved very much!! On Wednesday actually, we were having small groups (guys and girls seperately) and the girls and Anto gave me and Carla names in Kinyarwanda. Mine is Umuhoza which means caring for those who are crying, and compassionate. And Carla's is Umugwaneza which means kindness. So that was a big, special moment for both of us...We have taken many pictures and almost peed our pants numerous times. We get along so great and we are so similar that it's a little strange, and we haven't quite yet gotten annoyed with each other...hopefully that won't happen...As far as the school goes...it's going great! The first week we only had a few hours of teaching because we were doing orientation week and getting used to everything...but by the second week everything was good and we were on to normal schedules. The first week we learnt about Listening to God's Voice, the next week was about the Character and Nature of God. And this week was about The Divine Plumbline. The second week we were supposed to have one speaker for the whole week, but certain circumstances, she had to leave the country and she could only stay for one day. But we got Titus Project Teachers come and they were absolutely fantastic!!! There were only four of them, so it was easy to get to know them. Their leader Katie, knows the leaders of the team that Shoshannah was on, so that was pretty cool. And another girl who did her DTS and SBS (i think) in Montana and she knows Randall Heier, so that was pretty cool!! But yeah, it's going great and I'm learning A LOT!!! I have a huge desire to get to know God, and every morning I'm taking a walk with Him and really thinking Him as a Father, or Dad. And seeing as I have an amazing earthly Dad, it's not very hard for me to picture God as my dad. I love you Dad, if you read this and I miss you so much. You have been the prime example of what a godly father should be like. Thank you so much!! So yeah...things are going good, I love reading the Word now, and it's just so great getting to know the language and the culture and the people. We went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre yesterday...it was... intense. Afterwards we had sodas and took silly pictures and just really lightened the mood, so it wasn't so heavy. I learnt a lot about the country and the people and its history. Pretty intense, but one thing that really bothers me is how uneducated people are about Rwanda. The war started in 1994, and it's been getting better ever since. There isn't any seperation in the people and it's grown a lot in so many ways. I love Rwanda. I love these people. I love Africa. Many times I don't know what questions to ask, but I'm learning that I don't always need to say something. It's really a lot about the actions. Especially in showing love to the girls in our room. And the people on the street. Which is always very interesting because I've never been so stared at in my life!!!!!!!! they stare and point MZUNGU MZUNGU!!! I've never had so many turned heads...I feel rather pretty:) Haha. Kids love is, they love waving and smiling at us. They are very sweet. And the men...well theyre another story...our names are either Sister or Mzungu... We went on motorbikes twice now, and let me tell you, they are the FUNNEST things in the world!!! zooming in and out of traffic, inches away from a trench thing, 70 km/h racing down the highway, yeah its a goooooooood time!!! so much adrenaline!!! but i must stop now because I have big group and we're going to do areobics, whihc i think I'm helping leading...ok. I LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOUSO MUCH!!!!! blessings to all of you and i will post pictures soon, for those who dont have facebook.

God Bless..

Bethany Umuhoza McMahon

what the!?!

2008-12-04T10:42:00.004-06:00

i leave in 4 weeks and 1/2 an hour. yikes. i'm going to africa. rwanda, africa. to do a dts with ywam. dts--discipleship training school. ywam--youth with a mission. so thats about it. i'm so excited and so nervous...if you ever think of me, please pray...thanks.
love you all

bethany jade.

who do i know in italy?

2008-08-26T10:56:00.003-05:00

so if you check out my last post like from a million years ago, (about my dislexic problem saying mittle liss sunshine) and you check out my comments, theres one from my dear youth leader, roxanne, and one from this anonymous italian girl. check it out, its really weird, and a little creepy at the same time. opens my eyes to have theres really not a whole lot of privacy anymore in this world. so so STUPID!!!! so any anonymous people out there that i dont know, please leave me alone and keep your comments to yourself. thanks:)

Mittle Liss Sunshine

2008-06-19T20:24:00.002-05:00

so the thing is, i was hanging out with my sister and we were watching tv. and for her birthday yesterday she got the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" from me and eric and mel. so i told her, go get little miss sunshine and she didnt really respond to me. so i asked her to go get mittle liss sunshine, and of course she answered me, laughing. ive realized that lately ive had more dislexic moments than ever. man a livin. and of course kristen manages to catch them ALL. like seriously all. sheesh. but its interesting. yep yep mmhmm... ok i should go. well whatever. tata
your truly,
b.

june?

2008-06-03T16:27:00.002-05:00

oh my gosh, its insane to believe that june is here already!!! BAH! and its just packed with little goodies!!! such as, ahem, sawatzky family camping this weekend!!! its gonna be so great! and its also an 'excuse' to get out of grad camping. which would be fun but a huge disappointment of people. (too many people getting drunk...)anyways...then theres the fair, but i have no special someone to be with, sad day, but itll be good either way. and then keanan's play!!! that saturday, which im pumped about because i have no idea what its about, and those are always the best:) then theres this potluck for the grads at youth, whichll be so much fun!! because i love youth, people and food, so WOO!! then JOSIAH COMES HOME ON JUNE 23rd AT 9:30!!! AHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am just so stinken excited!!! WOO!! then its grad on the 25th!! and i get to wear my gorgeous gown!!! yes! then i get to hang out with josiah, then i get to leave for camp on the 28th for like the entire summer! whoa!!!! anyways...its all going swimmingly and im enjoying every minute of it. well, the anticipation is a little unbearable sometimes, but itll come soon enough, right? ok, well theres an update for all of you. i hope your lives are just peachy and wonderful. love love love

just for you kenan

2008-04-28T16:12:00.002-05:00

Keanan, this blog is for you...
i dont really know what to write though...people mostly know what's going on in my life. my dear boyfriend, josiah speers is away to ihop(international house of pancakes--not, but it is prayer) anyways, #324 who has made that joke, (sorry siah) anyways, so im a little sad...ok really sad, but God is doing some wonderful things there! YAY! im still babysitting weekly. elleana and jett wiebe. 2 and 5 years old. wonderfulness it is. so adorable. crazy children, but its fun. preparing me for my future family, that is for sure:) mmmm to be a mom. im too excited. seriously though. yes...my 18th birthday was yesterday. had a great time with family and friends. kristen, my 'sister' (so she claims to be) had a play later on, and i guess she did a good job, well whatever. haha. love you poopie noonoo:) i was babysitting donkeys the other day. theyre my best friends. but not really when they fart. it sounds REALLY funny! the school play is in exactly a month (may 28-30) and we just started acting on the stage--wonderful! its all right i guess, lines still havent been perfected or learned, but itll all come together, right kenan? ok, good goood. grad is coming up. less than 2 months. BAH!!! than im off to camp (winkler bible camp) to work as the videographer:) im super excited. i get to work with my uncle mark sawatzky and my cousin carly. itll be great. and then after that, is eric and mel's wedding (YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) on october 18th, and i will be a beautiful bridesmaid:) woo woo!! than after that...travel to africa hopefully or get a job or just pray that God will direct me somewhere totally awesome...well as much as i like admiring my split ended hair, i should say goodbye, or au revior, or adios, or adieu or ding dong day!
love you guys.
ps. eat mike and ikes "theyre mighty tasty!!"-beth mcmayhem

blah blah

2007-12-30T15:20:00.000-06:00

kristen's home. christmas is over. new years is tomorrow. where has time gone? God bless you in the soon to be 2008. love.

FOUR!!

2007-12-07T16:55:00.000-06:00

four more long days till my sister comes home. YES!!! im so happy my mind is occupied with my mom's quilt show and sale and bake sale. otherwise both me and her would be going nuts. so thats been good and busy. yeah, this week has gone by very slow, but surprisingly well. i am doing quite good. but prayers would be appreciated. thank you guys so much for everything. i can feel the love. thanks:)
over and out.

seventeen

2007-11-24T11:31:00.000-06:00

so its officially 17 more days until my marvellous sister, Kristen comes home. *sigh* its all too wonderful. so, if you guys could pray for her, because she wants to come home, but she doesnt want to leave all her friends and the school etc. shes pretty attached, i think...so if you guys could keep her in your prayers, that would be great!!! and shoshannah comes home soon too!!! my other 'sister'. well shes like a sister to me :) yay! so keep her in your prayers too. ok, love you guys.
beth.

false alarm

2007-10-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

so last night i was watching the office and then i decided to go to bed at around 1230. i fell asleep pretty quickly, but then at 140am my mom comes in my room and says something that didnt quite click because it was so early. she wanted me to come downstairs or something, so i did. and i actually almost went up to bed again, but my mm said that there was smoke in our house, and there might be a fire, so by this time im half awake, totally confused, and getting the photo albums into the car. my dad called 911 and while me and mom sat in the car while dad checked things out. but he saw nothing. then a whole brigade of fire trucks, police cars, ambulance etc. come. tapenga (my dog) went nuts. so about 5 firemen went into the house to check it all out while like 11 more stood outside and "assesed the situation" just kidding, they pretty much stood outside and talked. two ladies came up to talk to us and ask us questions. they sounded like 12 year olds. so then, there was nothing and the smoke and smell had gone. there wasnt a lot of smoke, but it smelled a little. so then i went back to my room and thought about everything. it was kinda scary. so now im just really thankful for being alive (cliche i know, but its true) thank you Jesus

tuesdays and thursdays

2007-09-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

so...maybe some of you know, maybe some of you don't know. im a babysitter. but now its like serious, because every tuesdays and thursdays i babysit these two wonderful kids. jett (4) and elleana (18months) they are travis and lauren wiebes kids. they are so wonderful. i love hanging out with them and taking care of them. they make me smile lots. many stories to tell indeed. well thats an update on my somewhat busy life. love love
b

school?

2007-09-04T17:16:00.000-05:00

yeah...last year of school...
excited? you may ask...
kinda.
excited to be done, i am. but im also excited to what God is gonna do this next year. kinda scared but excited. itll be great to get together with the girls in my grade and grow closer to them. thats what im pumped about. and not taking that many classes. but your prayers would be appreciated. some of the people in our grade are hard to reach to...so if you could keep me and sabrina in your prayers. love love
beth.

get a load of this:

2007-08-29T21:57:00.000-05:00

people care.

hmmm....

2007-08-28T15:25:00.000-05:00

so its august. last post was may. wow. so i realized that im not a huge fan of the internet. yeah its great from getting info, pictures, emails etc. but i hate how overrated it is. mainly why i havent really updated my blog lately. i dont know how many of you read it, but thats ok. well what really started my anger to the internet is mainly myspace and facebook and all those things. i guess blogger is kinda like those, but everyone is just so addicted to it, its SUPER annoying. anyways...summers almost over and that means schools starting up again. im happy im almost done. that is exciting. ok well...that was my randomness for today.
over and out.
heres a funny pic of eric in australia...

Puppy!!

2007-05-21T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! i got a puppy! well on thursday i did. shes wonderful. first off, she was freaked out of her mind, and she threw up on the way home. well luckily we were at le bebe rouge eating ice cream. my best friend sabrina came, along with kume and dawite, my wonderful cousins. it was lots of fun. anyways, her name is Tapenga-from Boy Meets World. the old television show. thanks to Sabrina for helping me think of a name. my mom and brother thought of a few good ones too. like razzle dazzle-mom's, and guerilla warfare-eric's. but she still looked like a tapenga to me. anyways, i dont have a picture of her yet, but i will get one. if you wanna see her, just stop by some time;)

p.s shes a cross between german shepherd and a rottweiler. but shes all black, and really fuzzy!

Erics home

2007-04-23T19:20:00.000-05:00

For all of you who dont know...Eric Shaun Sawatzky McMahon is home from Thailand. It has been almost 7 months since hes been here in wonderful Manitoba. I did get to see him however, when we were in australia. which was wonderful. but all of you know that by now. so anyways, it was a joyous occasion and all of his friends are glad to have him back. ok, so now that i just ranted about Eric, which is totally fine and dandy, but i just realized now that that was the stupidest entry ever. ok, heres some other information that most of you might not know already. Ahem. its officially 4 days until my 17th birthday. and do you know what that means?? me and josiah can date! WOO!! but besides that wonderful fact of dating josiah and eric being home...the drama is coming together nicely at school, and my costume makes me look like mary poppins, but also despite that, i think i found a part of my future...k that sounded weird. but anyways, i think i found a ywam to go to, but its still and always in God's hands. and then in june i get to take care of my neighbours donkeys for a month, grad is that month and then the missions trip. yes, God is good. WOOHOO!!! this is fun. Life is a joyous gift. Thank you Jesus! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! tata
bethany jade.

just a picture of fun in the pool in Australia. fun fun fun.

picatures!

2007-04-16T00:06:00.000-05:00

here are some pictures for all y'all. oh man that was dumb...anyways, enjoy;)

first meeting with Eric after 6 months. it was a joyous occasion.
me at Keppel Island enjoying the reef...notice the faint object in the background...creepy or what...

Eric and I had quite the funny experience with those cows...

Me in Eden. And it was beautiful...

view of the new Sydney Parliament Building.

funny sign that we saw at one of the campgrounds we stayed at.

here are some oversized objects that the Australians love. ram, pineapple, banana. weirdos...

a big clam mouth in the reef.

so its about 2 am and im a little tired...so ill give you guys more some other time, okey day? tata.

im back!

2007-04-15T00:19:00.000-05:00

hello everyone!! im back from australia. now some of you may have been thinking, uhh bethany, youre only coming home on sunday the 15th...but no! i actually came back on the 14th!! it was all a set up!! for what or who you may ask. well to surprise a very dear person to me. josiah. i surprised him. it was difficult, but thanks to all of you who knew about, for keeping it a secret. it was a wonderful, joyous occasion. well its late. tata!
over and out.

The Land of Aus

2007-03-27T06:22:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone who is viewing this. were in Bairensdale, Victoria, Australia. its our third day travelling so far and im loving it. ive been TERRIBLY sick every single day to the point of barfing, but gravol is always handy! ;) but i do take frequent naps. so weve been travelling south the entire time. not much sight seeing, more driving than anything. on sunday we arrived at 6 am, then at 10 am we FINALLY saw Eric. that was the best ever! 6 months is a long time. so yeah, we got our car and travelled down south. later on that day we drove to moss vale-where kristen is staying in capernwray. it was a day off, because it was sunday, so we stopped in and said hello. she was SOOOO surprised! it was awesome to see her too. then we left and travelled closer and closer to melbourne. we stopped and rested and ladida...we saw many beautiful beaches, but the weather has been rather rainy and cool. about 15 C. but today (mar 27, your mar 26)was hot and beautiful. a high of like 25 C. sorry everyone, you must be jealous, but hopefully ill bring some warmness with me. ;) yesterday we had the experience of cattle on the side of the road(pic below) and then later on we nicked a roo (kangaroo) on the side of the road. IT WAS INSANE!!!! first roo ive ever seen! totally awesome! we went to my grammas friends house, allan and alma for tea. me and eric explored outside--it was BEAUTIFUL!!!! we kinda had cattle charge us(there was a fence between us though;)) it was great. ill show you all pictures later on. well i should go because this costs quite a bit. here are some pictures. first: stanwell beach, the first day and i almost threw up there, yuck! but it was very pretty there. second picture: cattle wandering the road. stupid animals. eric called them walking steaks. haha. third: black swans that were really funny. we fed them bread and the seagulls there made the funniest noises!!! i have it on videotape, so i may show you if you ask ;) ok thats the end. i gotta get off this, so tata for now. love you all and God bless

ah yes...

2007-03-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

some pics i want you guys to see. this is for my family whom i love so incredibly much that i cant explain. i love you guys. thanks for everything. mom, thanks for all the special talks, prayers and advice. dad, thanks for teaching me so much about everything. eric, thanks for being a great example and such a passionate person. kristen, thanks for all the laughs, talks, songs and just being there for me. i love love love you guys!
my wonderful parents.

the most insane picture ever! of eric.

wait, this one is insane too. of kris.

do i need to explain...

mom quilting away

not sure what he's doing...

oh my...

my sister, snow white!?!

my incredible gramma who still has the amazing health to go to africa after to 80th birthday. looking good gramma!! love you so much!

my sawatzky family at christmas. love you everyone!

thankyou to everyone in my life. i love you guys so much. my God bless you and keep you. hugs and kisses.
beth.

p.s.

2007-03-16T16:11:00.000-05:00

that last post wasnt serious. its shakespear that i needed to have memorized...

think about this...

2007-03-12T22:02:00.000-05:00

Be not offended.
I speak not as in absolute fear of you.
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds. I think withal
There would be hands uplifted in my right;
And here from gracious England have I offer
Of goodly thousands. But, for all this, when I
Shall tread upon the tyrant's head
Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country
Shall have more vices than it had before,
More suffer and more sundry ways than ever,
By him that shall succeed.

life on the farm

2007-03-09T16:35:00.000-06:00

life is like a box of chocolates. you never know what you're gonna get. yep yep mhmm. i dont really know why i said that because it doesnt really apply to me right now, but oh well. thats just the first thing that popped into my head. heres a countdown...14 more days until saskatchewan(really australia but my friend sabrina doesnt want me to say australia because it sounds like too much fun, so she wants me to say saskatchwan). so exactly 2 weeks! woo!!!!!!! then today it's exactly 7 weeks until me and josiah can date!!!! WOO!!!!! technically speaking, weve been together for 1 1/2 years, but im not allowed to date until 17 and in exactly 7 weeks its my 17th birthday, so yippee!!! anyways, i just figured i might as well say that because i have nothing else to write or talk about. lifes rather good. long weekend and this monday, i get my eyes checked out to see if my eye infection is gone!!! so please pray that it will be done, so that i can wear contacts for australia-i mean saskatchewan. anyways, tata for now
love love love

family

2007-02-02T18:07:00.000-06:00

last week thursday, as you all know, kristen, my beloved sister left to australia for bible school. eric has been in thailand since septemberish, my parents left the day after kristen to go visit friends in british columbia and alberta, and my grandma mcmahon who is about 84 and still incredibly healthy left for an african safari, also a day after kristen left. im familyless. all except for my auntie em and uncle ken, kume and dawite and my uncle tim and auntie colette. i miss my family, but i am having fun here at home with my dear friend katherine. currently we are making chicken fingers and spring rolls for supper and then we are on our way to youth. yippee! well thats a little update on my life. enjoy;)

over and out.

youth

2007-01-10T16:19:00.001-06:00

i love youth. its the best thing since sliced bread. i love everyone that comes. its so much fun. God has really been moving with the youth too. like on friday we were having praise and worship in the quonset and then this young boy came up and shared a vision that he got from God. (i wont share his name.) but anyways, in that vision he told us that he saw a pyramid with stairs going all the way to the top. at the top was this insanely bright light that shone in every direction. the stairswere incredibly steep but there were three people who were on them trying. there were crowds of people all around, but they took one look at it and said it was impossible and didnt even give it a try. but out of the three people that were trying, one gave up and went back down, the other stopped and was wondering what he should do, but the other one kept on trying. all of us youth were amazed and yeah, we were just blown away. it was amazing. wowwy. anyways, i just remembered that today, so i thought i would share it with you. it was a wonderful time. oh well then later matthew falk spoke about obedience and it was very helpful and great. i love you and i look forward to every single night. WOO!!!!!
tata

Christmas wonders

2006-12-29T23:45:00.000-06:00

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year...wow i sounded like a talk show host or something....ahem anyways......I love Christmas. the best holiday EVER. its an awesome time for joy with family and friends, but most importantly the gifts. no no not any gift. this gift is the best gift ever given. no one could have EVER given a gift as good as our Father. His own son, Jesus. isnt that awesome? yep yep it is. it hit me a lot this Christmas i think. that that's all that (thats a lot of thats..moving on) Christmas is about. Jesus Christ. we got all caught up in the good deals at walmart or sears etc. and we want to find the perfect gift for that special someone, but sometimes we need to stop and remember what happened 2000 years ago. we are so blessed. tell someone that you love them. and tell them that Jesus loves them too. love you guys;)

bethany jade

freaky friday

2006-12-17T00:46:00.000-06:00

well friday wasnt that freaky, but anywho....I GOT MY LICENSE!!! woot! after nine months of boredom, i have my freedom! yippee!!! and sabrina, my best friend also got hers!!! wooo!!!!! so both of us were totally pumped. well thats pretty much all i got to say, God bless.

over and out...

ticklemonster and playdoh

2006-11-25T21:16:00.000-06:00

i just got back from playing ticklemonster and playdoh. Samuel and Morgan Harder(Christy and Rolly's kids) are so adorable! yikes!!! Sam's 3 and Morgan's 4, and Christy has another on the way. they laugh and giggle soo much! they are such wonderful kids! silly Morgan tried to sneak off on me while we were watching toy story because she wanted to watch beauty and the beast-christmas edition. shes so funny. anyways, i hope i have cute, amazingly great kids some day. ok, well yeah, their such dears;) thats all i have to say...love love
over and out

winner week!-sarcastic

2006-11-22T21:17:00.000-06:00

BEWARE! if you dont want to hear me vent, then dont read this. im going to be talking about school and how much it sucks. i feel very negative, but anyways....school is terrible. its so boring with the same thing over and over again. im not enjoying my classes at all, nothing is interesting-except for the urinary system were learning in bio!- haha, NOT! ewww. hmmm....so thats pretty much it, because school consumes my life and im not enjoying it. im totally being a bum about this whole situation. but anyways, what i really need to do is pray about it, try and have a goood attitude and get through the days happy. but that is EXTREMELY difficult. well, theres more to say, but i dont feel like writing anymore. if you wanna know more, ask me. ok, thats it folks. tata
love love

uh huh....

2006-11-15T20:38:00.000-06:00

so im not gonna blog as much because i figured its slightly pointless to have a blog because im not going away, im not away, i dont have a child, etc...but yeah. i shall post posts now and then, but dont be expecting something SPECTACULAR!! anyways...love love
beth.

the battle

2006-11-05T22:11:00.000-06:00

i was watching pearl harbour with my daddy tonight and as you all know, its about the bombing in hawaii that triggered ww2. so i was watching and i thought, gee am i glad that i will never have to get in a plane or ship etc. and fight. like, theres a huge rush of adrenalaine, but tons of fear. and then i thought, wait a second, OF COURSE IM GOING TO BE IN A BATTLE!!!!! duh!!! im going to be in one of the biggest battles of all time!!! then i thought about it...i am FREAKED out!!!! and then i remembered the chronicles of narnia. WE ARE GOING TO WIN NO MATTER WHAT!!!! weve got JESUS on our side! that has to count for something, right? oh wait, that counts for EVERYTHING! its gonna be victorious!!! i am soo excited, but i have to keep on training myself for that day. and so do you! so be encouraged because God is raising up HIS army!!! you dont need to be afraid. the only thing you need to fear is the Lord. and thats a totally different type of fear! be encouraged!! be blessed!! give God ALL the glory and praise! He rules!
love love

volleyball 101

2006-11-04T18:25:00.000-06:00

so i pulled my GROIN muscle. it hurts like no tomorrow. sheesh. i guess volleyball was all right, but i am sooooo out of shape and yeah...i didnt have that much fun. i think i hd more fun yesterday(fri) but it was great that my parents came and then we went shopping afterwards. me and my daddy had an awesome time talking while my mommy was out shoping for fabric for her quilts. yeah, so im tired, sore and happy that its over. i forget what i said in my last blog, but i dont know if i shall play in spring. depends.-like the diapers....haha. nvm. anyways...im a gonna go watch good night and good luck hopefully or maybe curious george...if you havent seen it, do it!!!! the most ADORBALE little cartoon monkey. sigh...its adorable. anyways....love love love
betsy

so i was thinking...

2006-11-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

so i was thinking today, in the bathtub actually....and im very lazy. as you all know, im not playing volleyball for the first time in my 4 years of high school(i think...) anyways...and so i was offered today to play this weekend. i was pretty excited and said, ill think about it. my whole family and my teammates when i made the decison to not play, they were very mad or disappointed and yadda yadda. so...i get this offer because they dont have enough girls and so they asked me. what an honour, right? yeah. so then i was talking with some friends and then i was a little hesitant. hmm, i got thinking and i was dwelling soooooo much on it and then i talked to my mommy and daddy about it and then i decided that i would play....so anyways...after that convo and everything, i went in the bathtub and i was thinking. there were many reasons why i didnt join. (a) because i wanted to do many other things which involve youth and my weekends etc. (b) because it wasnt fun anymore, it was just getting to be a chore and it was no fun. it was WAY too serious. (c) because i wasnt a huge fan of the coached either. they made us work insanely hard. and some of the girls just had insane attitudes as well, so it also made it difficult to have fun. which games are supposed to be....fun. uh huh... so anyways, i was thinking and....i might play spring ball. i dont play vball because i want to impress everybody, i just love hitting that ball with my whole might. its a really good anger releiver. anyways, thats beside the point. and im a very lazy person, so i figured that if the coaches would work me hard, then i would you know, get in shape and accept myself more. hmm....so i think ima gonna talk to the coaches later. and honestly...if im takling alot to the girls and making them laugh--not to sound conceeded--but when they laugh and loosen up a little, we play better. so hopefully ill only lighten the mood and actually have fun;) please pray for me. love love love
betsy

writing

2006-11-01T19:52:00.000-06:00

i like to write. i consider myself a very ammature writer. even though i may not be that great at it, i love it. but passion must count for something, right? i like to write movie scripts and stories. i am currently writing a story for my younger cousins whom i love dearly. ive started a tradition since last christmas. its fun and immature at the same time, but the girls love it and so do i, so its all right ;) i am also re writing another one that i did like 4 years ago. anyways....not much else to say.... ok...im going. tata

yeah...ok...

2006-10-31T19:03:00.000-06:00

so ive come to a conclusion that this is a terribly boring blog. im sorry. but i did greatly enjoy writing those blogs about my friends and family. they are all too wonderful....so my blogs from now on may be few and boring, but if you choose to still read them, well good for you. but i dont have much to write about, but my terribly boring days at school and long life at home. its pretty lonely, but all right. my parents are awesome and i love hanging out with them. anyways....my bath is running, so i better go catch it! :) yeah, i know cheesy, that was a dad joke, hey Kris??? ahhaa.
love love.

my sis, kris

2006-10-27T16:32:00.000-05:00

as you all should know, i have a sister. shes 19, but acts like a five year old. well sometimes....yeah, so shes great. shes really small, so i technically intorduce her as my little sister. older, smaller and totally less mature that me. haha. just kidding. kristen heather sawatzky mcmahon is hilarious! we have our random spurts of hyperness and our parents constantly remind us to be quiet because they want to hear the tv. we do out funny walks, insane faces, stupid jokes etc. we have our date nights were are crazy. we get into british accents in the mall and everywhere else we go. we have our own language altough we have no idea what the other person is saying. its pretty fun. there are sometimes when we dont get along and we get pretty mad at eachother. but we forgive eachother and make up. we are two TOTALLY different people, but when we're together, were the SAME. Kristen is an amazing person. she loves Jesus, which is so great! shes going to Capernwray!! woo!!! AUSSY!!! shes an insane awesome actress. shes freaken beautiful. shes hilarious even when i feel like crawling into a dark, cold hole. shes there when i want to talk and shes always open for advice. she respects me and loves me for who i am and thats awesome. i used to feel like the insignificant little McMahon with no talents, because me older brother and sister got all the talent. but lately ive noticed that i have DIFFERENT talents. anyways, kristen is just an altogether great loving friendly beautiful funny sweet crazy weird girly awesome stinky zany sister. i love you sister running water. you shine, girl.

love love

Josiah

2006-10-20T16:21:00.000-05:00

so, I know this guy and his name is Josiah John Emerson Bert Speers. hes pretty much wonderful. in case you didnt know, i cannot date until i am 17 years old. currently i am 16 years old. soo....at the end of this past summer, we both vowed not to do any physical stuff. like, weve only held hands, arm around each other etc. nothing huge, you know?? ok. so, its been super difficult and we still have like 6 months left. *sigh* so...its a challenge. but as we dont focus on the bubbles as i like to call them (butterflies), it gives us more chance to get to know eachother. ive learnt a lot more about josiah than just being silent during a movie and holding hands. we converse a lot more and yeah...its just great. hes a very sweet guy. and its been so fun!! it has been a most wonderful almost 14 months. yippee!! Josiah is such a funny guy. he makes me laugh like crazy! he loves acting and making movies which are two of my favorite passions as well. hes so sweet and makes me feel very important. he is a very respectable guy. he respects me and my wishes soo much, its awesome. he listens and understands me. all this might sound clishe, but its true. hes the greatest! but above all, he loves Jesus! and thats sooooooooooooooo important! hes just such a passionate guy and having a passion for Jesus, is just the best!!!
ive learned alot about him, myself, God and his AMAZINGNESS and umm....a lot more! so...just waiting to see what God has in store for me and Josiah. God's good in all ways at all times!!! woo!

photo:: awards day(left to right):: matt- best actor, sabrina- best actress, josiah-best supporting actor, me-best supporting actress......that was awesome!!!! (The Canterbury Tales)

to my brother

2006-10-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

Eric, i miss you and love you. i know youre having a great time, which is awesome and im so excited for you. youre finally doing what you love most! i look up to you so so so much. you are such a perfect example of an older brother. you actually do look out for me, which ive only realized lately...sorry. and yeah, you are just the greatest! i wish i could visit you in thailand. but i guess ill see you in aussy! thatll be fun. im looking forward to that every much. Eric, you are so fun to talk to about movies and that sort of thing. that was how we really bonded i think. well, you are much missed and yeah, God bless brother bear! your awesome.

love, beth

p.s. remember that?? that was fun, and painful and yummy....

something to consider

2006-10-12T16:32:00.000-05:00

life's not about me. thats really hit me lately. ive been reading the purpose driven life with a special friend of mine and that was the first chapter. when i read it, of course i was like totally into it and like, YEAH, THAT'S SO TRUE! you know..and i didnt do it. but today it really hit me. well it also really hit me only about three minutes ago. huh. thats weird, eh? anyways....were always soo concerned about me me me. but it shouldnt be. it says in phillipians--favorite book--that you should be concerned about others and care for them and not always yourself.-something like that...its one of my favoritist(?) verses. yeah. God is good. yes....hes so merciful and gracious. yikes. thats awesome to think about....whoa....I LOVE JESUS!!!!!

Friends

2006-10-09T19:37:00.000-05:00

i have the best friends. i have tons of girlfriends , Samantha, Jelena, Kat, Twila, Carlie, Whitney, Chantelle, Brittany, Beth, Holly, Alyssa, Kristie, Katherine, Roxanne, Svea, Shannah, Melodie, Rebekah, Stephanie, Crystal...the list goes on. they are all so awesome. but then theres Sabrina. i also have some awesome guy friends, Matt, Rory, Keanan, Curtis, Jeremy, Chris D, Dave B, Nigel, Joel(tall, blonde), Joel (Jolly), Adam, Caleb, Jordan...the list goes on. but then theres Josiah.
Me, Josiah, Sabrina and Matt are friends....its like this:
me and sabrina are best friends.
josiah and matt are best friends.
me and josiah are a couple.(apr 27)
sabrina and matt are a couple.
its totally fun and awesome. we enjoy each other very very much. we all get along soo well and encourage eachother like crazy. im speaking for myself--but those three are like the ones who encourage my walk with God the most. they are all so wonderful. no words can explain how much they mean to me.---it seems that a lot of things in my life are just unexplainable because theyre soo good. sheesh. well i love them like the dickens and yeah. thanks guys for everything. you are the BEST!!!!!!

Sabrina

2006-10-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

I have a nice friend named Sabrina Lydia Poiron. Shes pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. shes Godly, smiley, sweet, funny, beautiful, trustworthy, wonderful, amazing, crazy, kind, sexy, intelligent, joyful, honest, friendly, darling, xellent:), and just altogether awesome. i came to know this great person through school pretty much. in high school we didnt talk much, but then in grade 8, me, sabrina, carlie and amber really started to hang out. i invited them all to youth and all four of us were like---inseperable. it was great. and then there was this one event at youth. yes Sabrina, its coming---and so we were off to this place called Bird River. it was a youth retreat in the fall and so the whole youth was off. we had a blast playing a game right off the bat, but sabrina wasnt feeling too well, so she left. the night came and we all went to sleep. the next day, we got up, had breakfast, a church service and then the whole afternoon was just hang out time. soo me and wonderful sabrina went canoeing. it was amazing because it was my first time canoeing before and it was awesome! then in the evening we had a service. but it wasnt jsut an ordinary service. it was THE service. man thinking about it makes me wanna cry.--in a good way!---but anyways, all the youth were just in deep worship and i was having a great time. everyone was! but then all of a sudden svea comes up to me and she starts talking to me about sabrina, because svea had just been talking with sabrina. and then svea said: "Sabrina will have something to tell you when she gets in from takling with her sister." so Sabrina comes in, crying her eyeballs out and im sitting there waiting for her and im shaking like a leaf, on the verge of tears. --man im totally reliving this memory---so sabrina sits down beside me and its silent. music is playing in the background with people worshipping all over...its amazing. the best setting EVER.. and i look at Sabrina and her beautiful blue eyes are filled with tears. she says something like: "do you know already?" i replied, "yeah i think so." just then tears burst out of both of us and we hug. not just any ordinary hug, but a passionate, Jesus-loving hug. she had just become a Christian!!!!! it was the greatest feeling EVER!!!!! we were crying like banshees and you know when you cry so hard you start like loosing your breathe and its all shaky and then you sniffle like crazy..yeah, well we were sniffling back and forth. it was funny, and then we would laugh, but then we would think of it again and cry and then laugh and then cry and yeah. it was God. thats pretty much it. so if you dont know Sabrina Lydia Poiron---get right on it because she is the best girlfriend ever. shes always there for me. likes its unbelievable how trustworthy and special she is. God is AMAZING!!!! i love how he worked through our lives together. it was amazing, and it still is. its the best!! thank you Sabrina for being yourself and the beautiful young woman that God has created you to be. i love you soo much that words dont even describe it. you are HIS!!!!

love you

family

2006-10-07T00:18:00.000-05:00

I have an amazing family. my mom, first of all is the most caring woman. she knows so incredibly much that its just crazy. she always has good advice and yeah, shes just wonderful. my dad is has a very serving heart. well both of my parents do, but my dad buys me and my sister cappucinnos when were sick! he always comes home and hes bought a movie for us, and he knows that weve wanted it. hes so funny and makes cheesy jokes constantly! and i can just cuddle up with him anytime. my brother, eric, whos in thailand is the greatest brother anyone could ever ask for. hes hilarious, caring, sensitive, sweet etc. i love going to the movies with him. our conversations might be slim, but when we do get a conversation going, its awesome. hes a very wise fellow. my sister, kristen is very helpful. shes there for me all the time. going on dates with her are the best things! we get so hyper and we have so many inside jokes and yeah. she has a very beautiful spirit. she has a lot of experience--along with the rest of my family, but i could probably relate to her the most because shes a girl, only 3 years older and were very much the same! thats a brief summary of my family. they are all very wonderful people. i think we just all have great genes! :)

life

2006-10-05T19:45:00.000-05:00

lifes goood. history test tomorrow, which im going to go study for after this. school is all right. i mean theres never anything to look forward in schoool . thats how boring and dull it is. some of you can probably agree with that... but seeing friends is always the best part. im not playing volleyball, so i find myself not very busy. but once youth events(drama etc) will start up, then i might be more busy. but right now im not. im taking care of donkeys this next weekend. Yes, donkeys. they are the most random animal and my neighbours farm them!! its quite interesting sometimes. well, im going to go study now. so yeah, tata

Well well

2006-10-04T16:22:00.000-05:00

well, this is the beginning. read it if you please, but im just gonna be posting random things on here, so yeah. erics in thailand, kristens going to australia and im stuck here in little old niverville. poo. i shall get my revenge! or my chance... whichever. anyways, not much else to say. but cheese curds are delicious!