do we look like family

this is kevan. best brother i ever had. actually, only brother i've ever had. but i got a sweet picture from him so i had to post it. do we look alike?

love ya kev.

WARNING....this may offend you

ok. so everyone seemed to post yesterday. yesterday being valentines day. i didn't. i posted today instead. mostly because i didn't have time yesterday but also because i'm flustered over the hype that valentines day brings. and not just the overrated red and pink flowers and hearts but also the hype of being reminded that you're single. as some have put it "singleness awareness day". hmmm.

~mushy kissy valentines day gives me a bad taste in my mouth (who needs to set aside a day to let someone else know that you love them....as far as i'm concerned, every single day should be given that priority).

~people feeling sorry for themselves because they are single also gives me a bad taste in my mouth (as far as i'm concerned, get over yourself!)

ok ok. go easy. i'm really really sorry if i've offended anyone (thats not my intent) i just want to express a pent up opinion. and not only an opinion...know that i've been there too.

yes, i'll agree when you say that we were created for fellowship and for relationships but...but....if we spend our time wallowing in our "lack" of a significant other, i think we end up walking in the opposite direction. why? because we are choosing to create within us...a discontentedness and an extreme unhappiness with our current state of being. desparation creates chaos. when we focus on what we don't have, we lose sight of what we do have. and frankly, then theres no room to be thankful.

i don't want to live my life like that. those are the kind of things that suck the life out of us. spend that energy on others. live. breathe. and remember that life doesn't start when you've found someone.....life has been moving all along.....stop wasting your time.......and above all, be patient knowing that there's someone out there thats got your back.

love....always love.....but not in the cheesy valentines day shallowness......love deeply as you are loved.

just some photos

thought i would post a few pics from my christmas in cranbrook. these are all taken by my uncle Arnold Janz. this first one is the view from "the bluff" which is an hour walk away from my uncle and aunt's house........

in which we had some crazy cames of table hockey......kevan, me, nathan, and cathy. if you are wondering why my nose is covered please ask nathan.....i'm pretty sure he knows why. *ahem

we did lots of hiking...
this was an especially long hike through tonnes of snow. the 2 people on the left are gwen and keith, my aunt and uncle who live here...thats their dog cale.


it doesn't get much better then this...

Risk

Please read thoughtfully. I wish I had written these things. I only honour those who spoke up.
Each seeminly providing a slap in my face.... especially the last one.

Andre Gide:
One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

Alfred Tennyson:
I hold it true, whate'er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all

American Proverb:
It doesn't work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps.

Charles DuBois:
The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.

Ella Williams:
Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it

Eric Kromm:
Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

Helen Keller:
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.

Keshavan Nair:
With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity.

M. Scott Peck:
There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.

Magdalena Abakenowicz:
It is easy to follow, but it is uninteresting to do easy things. We find out about ourselves only when we take risks, when we challenge and question.

Mark Twain:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Pable picasso:
I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.

Pearl S. Buck:
The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible -- and achieve it, generation after generation.

Winston Churchill:
Before you can inspire with emotion, you must be swamped with it yourself. Before you can move their tears, your own must flow. To convince them, you must yourself believe.

my coffee cup said it

These 2 things that i've read the past couple of days really slapped me in the face. I'll explain why soon. But not now.

The Way I See It #185---coffee cup
"A valuable lesson I've learned from making music is to never let anyone intimidate me. Every student, celebrity, CEO and math teacher in the world has experienced love, loneliness, fear and embarassment at some point. To understand this is to level an often very lopsided playing field."

The Alchemist--By Paulo Coelho
"Dreams are impossible when you fear failure."