part I - salt spring 2006

the past couple of days, i had the fortune of going away to salt spring island, where the hills are alive with the sound of music...and hitchhiking is a normal thing people do.
the island is breathtaking with its mountains and waters...they enfolded us in wherever we went: we could not have asked for a better relaxing spot!
when michelle and i decided on going on this trip, the intention was to breathe in lots of fresh air and enjoy the view. we wanted to take in God's creation, read a bit, worship lots, and eat, eat, eat. Teeheehee...I think our goal was achieved!

taking in God's creation: first day, after a LONG LONG STRENUOUS DRIVE (potholes galore uphill...thank God for our subaru george), we finally got up mount maxwell. once we got out of the car, we were greeted with this:

We literally let out "Oh my God"in unison, not in the slightly vulgar way, but in actual awe of God's presence at that very moment. Every pothole, every scream due to potholes, and the dust all over George didn't matter as soon as we got a peek of the view. We then spent some time just hiking around the area, checking out various viewpoints, and humming "How Great is our God" along the way.

read a bit: we both brought our books: nick hornby's "how to be good" for michi and bourdain's "a cook's tour" for me...and of course we had our handy dandy Word of God. lots of peace and quiet just doing devo's, reading novels, and occasional discussions about packer's "knowing God" and our favourite verses in the past year. oh yeah.....we also watched a couple of episodes of "house" on michi's laptop. ha!

worship lots: with a guitar handy, and our voices already ready...we also spent evenings and mornings at the forest retreat (where we stayed...more about that later) worshipping God in song. at first, we were a bit afraid that we would be too loud...especially when we were playing on monday night. after singing "god of wonders", we heard a knock on our door...and both of us thought that was IT for our music. to our surprise, paula (the owner of the retreat) greeted us with a big smile and said: "I love what you're playing! You guys sound beautiful!". Boy, you should have seen our faces! We then learned that Paula was a Christian herself...and a big fan of the songs we were playing! Heehee...that was such a great moment. When the spirit of the Lord is there...we need not be afraid!

oh yes, we worshipped with their ducks and goats (luna and kanga) too...they really loved the music as well!

alright, i'll end things here for now...part II coming up with more pics! (i promise embarrassing ones of me)

mmm...another thing, the two biggest misconceptions about our trip:
1) michelle and i got asked a LOT by you ppl (our friends, apparently), whether we were lesbians. let me clarify, that YES, WE ARE. (why can't we just go on a trip? you weirdos)
2) people at salt spring often thought we were starving musicians hoping to play some shows...it was pretty hilarious.