a glimpse of sharon world...

Yours.

2012-02-24T15:35:00.004-05:00

My strength in life is I am Yours
My soul delights because I am Yours

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!"
- 1 John 3:1a

Your love never fails.

2012-02-17T17:03:00.004-05:00

book nook: midnight at the dragon cafe

2012-02-09T12:35:00.005-05:00

midnight at the dragon cafe
judy fong bates

the thing that drew me most to this book was the fact that it's centered around a chinese girl who grew up in canada, in a small town in ontario, after immigrating from china at a young age. as a canadian-born chinese female, i thought it would be a good fit.

this book tells the story of an immigrant family from china who makes the move to canada in search for a "better life". they end up owning a chinese restaurant out in the sticks and while there is no doubt that their immigration provides more opportunities for their daughter, their life is hard. plus there is the inherent tension that exists between the mash-up of chinese culture with canadian culture. oh, and there is definitely no shortage of drama in this family.

fong bates did a pretty good job of telling her story. while it isn't an autobiography per se, i think she probably drew from her own experience growing up in canada. i thought her writing style was good - clear and easily followable - but i found the strength of the story line to be inconsistent.

overall it was an ok read. i'm glad i read it, but it will be a book i only read once.

book nook: the millenium trilogy

2012-02-03T20:14:00.006-05:00

The Millennium Series
Stieg Larsson

It's been a while since I've done a book review, but this doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Au contraire mon frere. Instead, I've read quite a number of books in the last couple of months so I actually have quite a bit of catching up to do. In anycase I thought it would be nice to kick start this book review thing again by reviewing the latest series read: the Millennium Trilogy. (This move is also strategic since this would kill 3 birds with one stone, heh.)

I wanted to read these books before watching the movie(s), so when I saw the first and second novels on a shelf at the library, I borrowed them right away. Basically the story line of the series centers around its protagonists, Lisbeth Salander (a socially awkward, kick-ass, hacker genius girl with a photographic memory) and Mikael Blomkvist (an investigative journalist and editor of a magazine named Millenium) with multiple antagonists thrown into the mix at various times. Basically in each novel there are "cases" that need to be uncovered, but while each book in the series is connected to the next, they aren't directly related to each other.

Overall, I thought Larsson did a great job of telling his story (I thought all books were written well) and even though there were some scenes that were a bit too graphic for me and others that were dark and way twisted, he kept my attention throughout the whole series. It was my first time reading novels written by a Swedish author and at times I found it hard keeping track of all the different Swedish names, but I did appreciate the various references to Ikea, haha.

If you're looking for an action-packed thriller series (and don't mind some disturbing, dark, and twisted plot lines) then this trilogy could work for you! Just don't be expecting to read light-hearted chick-lit novels when you pick these books up, because they are anything but that. :)

ginny owens | if you want me to

2012-01-20T13:31:00.004-05:00

The pathway is broken
And the signs are unclear
And I don't know the reason why You brought me here
But just because You love me the way that You do
I'm gonna walk through the valley
If You want me to

No I'm not who I was
When I took my first step
And I'm clinging to the promise You're not through with me yet
So if all of these trials bring me closer to You
Then I will walk through the fire
If You want me to

It may not be the way I would have chosen
When You lead me through a world that's not my home
But You never said it would be easy
You only said I'll never go alone

So when the whole world turns against me
And I'm all by myself
And I can't hear You answer my cries for help
I'll remember the sufferin' Your love put You through
And I will walk through the darkness
If You want me to

p a s s e d.

2011-12-16T19:21:00.004-05:00

i passed the national OT certification exam!
now all i need is a job...

news!

2011-11-25T09:35:00.002-05:00

as of today, we are officially home owners!
how did this happen? o_O

i'm done!

2011-10-07T20:45:00.001-04:00

2 years of assignments, classes, practicums, late nights and stress up the wazoo has finally come to an end! my reward? a piece of paper that gives me the ability to add more letters behind my name.

now all that's standing in my way of actually being an OT is passing the national exam. oh, and getting a job. :P

when autumn leaves start to fall

2011-10-03T15:29:00.002-04:00

fall is back.
i love this time of year. :)

cameron mitchell | b l a c k b i r d

2011-08-09T12:52:00.004-04:00

i love this song and could listen to this cover forever. amazing.

book nook: the glass castle

2011-08-04T12:06:00.003-04:00

the glass castle
jeannette walls

i finished the academic portion of my program back in june and one of the first things i did (after celebrating, of course) was to visit my local library now that i actually had time to read.

anyway, this one had been on my list of books to read for quite some time now, so i was pretty excited to see that a copy was available and it definitely did not disappoint (unlike the other book i borrowed which i started over 2 weeks ago and still haven't finished...and can't remember the name of).

the glass castle is an autobiography documenting walls' childhood and her experience of growing up in her family. i liked her style of writing: descriptive, but not overly descriptive to the point where you get lost. overall it's a good and interesting read. at times i forgot that this book wasn't fictional - the fact that it's a non-fiction is just crazy.

i ended up finishing this book in about 2 days, which is a good indication of how much i liked it. yah, i definitely recommend this one.

rainy days

2011-05-18T13:36:00.004-04:00

this never-ending gloomy rainy weather is getting a little tiring, but i'm looking forward in anticipation of what's to come afterwards because after rain (and soggy worms) comes life in the form of bright green grass, flowers, and a new appreciation for sunshine and blue skies (can't wait!).

until then, i'll just keep listening to the sound of falling rain drops, put on my rainboots and maybe play in a puddle or two. not a bad idea at all. :)

term 6, last term.

2011-04-17T22:42:00.003-04:00

heading back to the classroom for our final academic term tomorrow.
term 5 was by far the worst and most stressful term ever,
but thankfully it's over, i made it through,
and i'm finally starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

let's end on a strong note, shall we?

cooking corner: giant chewy chocolate chip cookies

2011-03-29T20:12:00.011-04:00

i decided to try out a new cookie recipe for "giant chewy chocolate chip cookies" in order to take a break from school work. that was two weeks ago now, but i haven't had time to post anything until now. why? because school picked up again, but nevermind that for now...here's how my cookies turned out:

the original recipe yielded 12 cookies, but i thought no one in their right mind would make cookies that giant so i stretched it out to 24 cookies instead. even so, i had a little extra dough so i made one ridiculously huge cookie just because i could.

i wasn't sure how they would turn out since i made a few adjustments to the recipe (mainly because that's all i had), but the cookies ended up being great if not better than i expected! they were just the right size, had just the right amount of sweetness and "chew", and were gone in a few days - yum!

book nook: the bell jar

2011-03-23T21:34:00.009-04:00

the bell jar
sylvia plath

after living a mere 5 minute walk away from our local library in "the sogs" (for more than half a year), i finally went and signed up for a library card. after searching the catalogue, i found that all my 'books on tap' were unavailable. boo. luckily not all was lost as, after poking through bookshelves, i found a few that seemed interesting enough. "the bell jar" was the first i tackled of the three.

this book is a semi-autobiography written by sylvia plath which follows esther greenwood. it basically chronicles her depression, breakdown, suicide attempts, and subsequent institutionalization. the book is well-written and really liked how it highlighted the experience of living with a mental illness rather than the mental illness itself (if that makes any sense). i also really liked how things were described - everything was so poetic. i found it a little confusing to follow at times as esther's thought process seemed to jump here, there, and everywhere, but this was probably intentional to give the reader a sense of esther's experience, so i guess this was actually a good thing.

generally, i thought this book was good and finished it pretty quickly. it's explores some pretty dark (but real) topics so in this sense it may not be for everyone, but overall it's a good read.

books on tap

2011-02-24T20:56:00.006-05:00

there are a few books i really want to read, but just can't - not right now anyway. so instead of reading them, i've decided to think about reading them so i won't forget which ones they are when the craziness stops and i have a finally have a chance to sit down and read something i actually want to.

a few of the books on my list:
- left neglected (genova)
- the glass castle (walls)
- eat pray love (gilbert)

some of these have been on my radar for a while now, but i just haven't gotten the chance to get to them yet. i'm almost certain there were more, but i can't think of them right now. yah, it's been that long.

dream rangers

2011-02-22T09:15:00.004-05:00

not quite sure how a bank fits into this video/message, but oh well - i still like it.

cute squirmy peanut

2011-02-13T23:28:00.007-05:00

today i held the cutest little one month old boy.
he was sleeping, but then he became super squirmy.
turns out he was making a poo, right in my arms,
and when he was finished, he smiled.
and then he went back to sleep.

...and i gave him back to his dad, haha.

what a cute little boy. :)

snow day

2011-02-02T13:50:00.007-05:00

today my school was closed, my off-campus meeting was cancelled, and i got to stay inside and not go to hamilton.

all in all, a good day. :)

01.01.11

2011-01-01T10:20:00.002-05:00

new year, new beginnings.
happy new year everyone! :)

cooking corner: acorn squash soup

2010-11-16T20:00:00.008-05:00

there is no better way to warm up your taste buds on a cold, wet, autumn evening.
p.s. butternut squash soup also does the trick (and is just as easy to make). :)

term four academic, done.

2010-11-06T00:41:00.004-04:00

i can finally exhale the breath i had been holding in the last two weeks of this term. honestly, this term has been nothing short of tough with having to deal with a whole bunch of stuff both related and unrelated to school. needless to say, it's been difficult. i'm so glad the academic portion of this term is over - now i just need to wait and see how i actually did. and get through my placement.

good grief. i never thought OT school would be this hard.

term four, no one likes you.

2010-09-19T16:53:00.008-04:00

we were told, by the second years last year, that term 4 was the toughest term in the program with regards to the workload. well, turns out they were right.

i think this picture accurately depicts how everyone in my class is feeling right now:

good thing we only have to do term four once.

happiness is...

2010-09-07T20:42:00.007-04:00

walking down the street on your way home when all of a sudden you have an urge to look up to your condo to see if you can find your unit and you see this: your husband on the balcony waving down at you like a maniac with a huge smile on his face.

that totally made my day...and made me quicken my step so i could get home and hug him just a little bit sooner. :)

p.s. can't believe we've been married for a month already!

back to reality

2010-09-06T20:33:00.003-04:00

school starts again tomorrow. ughh.
goodbye summer, you were fun while it lasted.
(p.s. august 2010, thanks for being the month ever.) :)