Mikey and Bonnie

This weekend we were inspired by the company of GREAT friends…we are so incredibly blessed by good friendships! It’s at times like these that you realize how good God is and see the beauty of people in our lives…We sure can’t live this alone, and the fellowship, fun, and encouragement that we experienced with Hoff, Whit, and Lacy (from Victoria/TWU, Salmon Arm/TWU, and Seattle, respectively), was that reminder that we needed. Plus, how can you NOT have fun with a log cake, pizza, a day of bouldering, good morning breakfasts, hilarity at Ellen DeGeneres, Farmer’s Market fun, and great people?!

…the Langs get their climb on!

Good feet and hands at the end of a great climbing day.

We are encouraged by people in our lives who pray for us, who laugh with us, who love deep conversations and hot drinks, who aren’t afraid to just go for it while climbing, who can be chill and sleep in the sun and so full of life around a log cake the next minute! What a fun weekend to spend with friends like these. Thanks for visiting and lighting up our weekend, Hoff (Christina), Varisty (Whitney), and Yank (Lacy)!

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:25

Hey everyone! The last few weeks of posting have been pretty quiet, but that’s because we were saving all the news for one big post. We have much to be grateful for these days, and we wanted to take a minute to let you in on a few developments in our lives… Last week, Mikey went in for a P.E.T. scan (think: the big magnetic tube you see on the hit doctor-drama, “House”) to determine the course of the cancer in his body at this point. Yesterday, he got the results and, in the doctor’s words, “[We] can start celebrating!” because all the tumors didn’t even show up on the scan – even the big one in his chest! This means that Mikey won’t have to undergo any radiation therapy after the chemo like the doctors originally assumed he would due to the size of his biggest tumor. We’re obviously thrilled at the progress of his treatments and it really feels like there’s a clear end in sight now. J We celebrated by getting a BBQ Chicken pizza from the local Nick and Willy’s pizzeria and are waiting to uncork a bottle of champagne…after he recovers from his most recent chemo treatment…which was today! So…8 down, 4 to go!  Another fun bit of news that just popped up is a job opportunity for Mikey! Although some of our American readers and friends may not be aware of it because of the political hype in their own country going on right now, there is indeed an election happening now in Canada too, and Mikey is profiting from it! He is registering voters in homes around the South West of Calgary and was just offered a second job organizing the incoming materials for the election. After being turned down from every other job due to his on-a-week, off-a-week availability, it was great for Mikey to be offered a job instead! …thanks, government of Canada! Bonnie continues to work away at GoodLife Fitness and is enjoying her job, although the hours lately have been long and hard…(it’s hard to believe that even I, an interpersonal-communications student, get exhausted from interpersonal interaction by the end of the day!). So now we’re both working stiffs! But the other piece of good news is that we won’t (hopefully) be working these jobs for the rest of our lives… We have been working on a project that we hope will raise awareness of young adult cancer issues through an adventure film chronicling the first descent of a remote river in Ladakh province, India with 5-6 young adult cancer survivors and their supporters. After we shared with you a few posts ago about how God has radically changed our perspective on this unique time in our lives and to really interact with what’s going on in our lives and thrive rather than simply survive in this time. It was then that this opportunity just fell into our laps! It began with us dreaming about traveling but desiring to do so with a clear purpose and turned into a trip involving this cancer experience for us. Thanks to Mikey’s persistence, emails, meetings, and well-thought-out proposal plan, we’ve made some strides and have all the big pieces in place. We’ve connected with a very experienced international guide to run the trip, two filmmakers to chronicle the trip, and a non-profit cancer organization dedicated to making this a reality. We don’t want to give too many details at this point because we don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but a lot of plans are already in motion. Hopefully in the next few weeks we’ll have things more nailed down so that we can share more info with you concerning these plans that have ignited a fire beneath our feet!  To quote my dad, after a long time of silence, God has been practically shouting at us lately! We have been encouraged by seeing His hand of provision and sustaining grace for us during this time and have been overwhelmed with good news and new surprises from Him in our lives. Thanks for your prayers and thoughts; we’re blessed beyond belief by the people involved in our story. Huck it huge and have a great week! We’ll be doing the same up here! Nerd Bonnie Nerd Mikey

Hey all! Well, it’s been a while since we’ve written, so we thought we’d give a little update via pictures and a few words. As the weather changes and the seasons turn, our thoughts move towards other things, like being thankful and bundling up…and towards CANDY CORN and HALLOWEEN! My favorite time of year is approaching and I’m welcoming it with open arms, although we’ll see how well I survive this first Calgary winter! Aside from candy and caffiene, though, Mikey and I are excited for my parents popping up for our Calgary wedding reception over Thanksgiving weekend.  We’re thrilled to see them and to show my dad, specifically, around Calgary! …so neat to share life with others, isn’t it? And since I couldn’t wait until October, and because most of the stores here don’t carry candy corn (I even got a few, “What is that?” from employees), I cannot wait for my mom’s package to arrive with Peet’s coffee AND candy corn in it…boy oh boy. Is this a time of anticipation or what!?

Moving on from talk of candy corn and coffee, more has been happening in the cancer-realm of our lives lately. Mikey had his first P.E.T. scan earlier this week to determine the course of the cancer in his body thus far. Hopefully later this week we’ll find out the results from the scan, and when we do we’ll let you know! He’s been keeping busy around the house and is feeling better this week as he moves into his second week after the last chemo treatment; 7 down, 5 to go! God continues to brighten our lives with good perspective, clear thinking, and incredible support from friends and family (read: Y-O-U!)… we’re so grateful for the way in which he’s worked in our hearts and has turned our thoughts around. As for me, I’ve been working more (yikes! I was at work from 5 am until 7:30 pm yesterday!) and enjoying it more as I learn and grow in my role as a personal trainer. There are frustrating times and rewarding times, like with any job, but overall it’s been a really positive thing. A life thing? Definitely fitness/lifestyle wise…but it’s a great thing to be involved with for the time being as we settle into Calgary a bit more.

Speaking of settling in, we went to two different church services on Sunday with friends, which gave us another feel for the city they call Cow-Town. We first went out to breakfast with Mikey’s uncle Brent at a GREAT little place downtown called Diner Deluxe…it made us feel like locals, there’s a wonderful little bakery that adjoins the diner, and they serving Kicking Horse Coffee (Cora T, you’ll appreciate that one!) - no Denny’s restaunt coffee there! It was a fun experience. We had a great time communing with him at his large and vivacious church, Centre Street, before later meeting up with our friend from TWU, Jess, to attend her smaller, more intimate, young-adult evening service over at West Side Kings. Both church times were very encouraging, fun, and hit us where we needed to be hit. It was great to reconnect with friends too!

Below are posted a few photos from the August-long weekend, where we were cold but happy camping out at Lake Louise with family and friends! Enjoy.

Dinner in Canmore with Steve and Amy!

Firelight fun with Marie, Tony, and Derek - friends from YD in Washington!

Canmore mountains from the Dairy Queen parking lot!

RoadTrek fun with Mo and Muriel!

The other day I consented to see a chick flick with Bonnie, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. (I’m not ashamed of watching a chick flick to please my wife). While the movie had its fair share of eye rolling and false hope moments (i.e. A gourmet roof top meal complete with pillows, flowers and hundreds of candles prepared for the beautiful but awkward heroin by the ridiculously good looking male nude model from her art class) both Bonnie and I cringed and rolled our eyes more at the conversation behind us which we were forced to listen too before the movie started.  A bunch of preteen girls sat down behind us and started a conversation about which celebrity was gay or not, which Jonas Brother they would sleep with, why one of the girls would not sleep with a guy from school, who at their school was a slut… along with the usual high pitched screaming and giggling. We were both stunned and Bonnie looked like she was going to be sick because she felt so bad for those girls. I wanted to find out who the parents were so that I could give them a piece of my mind. The whole conversation saddened us both. The loss of innocence and coarseness of today’s youth that Bonnie and I have witnessed working with kids at YD and in that theatre makes us both want to be better parents when the time comes.

            Anyway, just before the movie started there was a short film of a grotesque looking mouse trying to get some cheese from a mouse trap. One of the girls exclaimed, “That mouse is so ugly, it looks like he is on Chemo! He’s a Chemo mouse.” Bonnie and I looked at each other totally shocked and had to laugh because after all the awful stuff those girls had been talking about, what was the chance that they would say something more inappropriate. Since getting cancer I have made a few cancer jokes myself so how could I be upset with other people doing the same thing. That comment did make me think though. I realized that going through this whole cancer thing has fundamentally changed who I am. I have been given a whole new perspective on something I was completely ignorant of; in the same way that leaving home for the first time or getting married or standing on top of a mountain or traveling all over the world has given me new perspective on life. I have fallen into the trap of looking at this cancer time as a purposeless disruption of my life instead of a life changing, worldview altering time. That girl’s comment renewed the excitement I had for this crazy time in my life and made me want to encourage and be apart of other people’s life changing experiences; whether it is through travel, cancer, school, watching the sunset or even just driving to work. Whatever their life changing experience is I want to be apart of it and I never want to minimize it by joking about it or not taking it seriously.

Cancer has been one of the hardest trials I have ever gone through and I know that I have had a relatively easy time of it compared to many other people. My cancer has been difficult emotionally more than physically but it has given me new insight and understanding I couldn’t have gained any other way. My worldview has been changed dramatically because of cancer. I know this is true because I can’t even listen to a meaningless conversation in a movie theatre without going home and writing a whole page about it… hehehe

Checking out one of the absolutely amazing sunsets that we see from the back deck of our house almost every night!!

Great for me to practice with my new camera without leaving the house… 

Hey everyone!

Well, we recently had friends from down in Washington at YDA make us a video about their family hucking it huge their way (they have two little kids and a new baby so their style was different that ours, but super cute and intense all the same!). So we decided to make one as well in response, and it was done over chemo treatment #5. Although it’s more specific to the Bryant family, it gives a glimpse of our lives while at the Cancer Centre, so feel free to check it out! It’s a typical chemo day, complete with the IV, pushups in the hospital, and some jumping pictures at the end to boot. Enjoy! Here’s the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVSNKlbgSHw

Happy end of summer and we hope you guys are doing great wherever this post finds you reading!

Love, Bonnie and Mikey Lang

Well, it’s been a while since we wrote, but a few things have transpired since we last logged on to the site, so we thought we’d share some news with you! One bit of news concerns these beautiful photos that Mikey took on our recent trip to Petain Basin in Elk Lakes Provincial Park. We took advantage of a free Saturday and Sunday and headed out into the mountains, our excitement and passion having been renewed by the simple act of packing up our backpacks and getting our meals together. This has been a time of lost passion and purpose for us as we feel like our lives have been somewhat on hold…getting out there together to hike and cook and swim in rivers reminded us of some of our deeply shared passions together.

Not only were we blessed with incredible weather, but we were virtually alone once we made the rough trek up to the basin (after numerous people, including a Park Ranger, lifted their eyebrows at us when we told them where we headed with overnight packs and Chaco (sandals) on!), leaving us with a sense of refreshment between the two of us. We lived like Adam and Eve in a beautiful paradise for two days and loved laughing together, living in our tent out there, and getting to know how to use our new camera (that’s Mikey’s area of expertise).

After some incredible moments out there together, we headed down and JUST beat the weather as a tropical-feeling storm came in and the rain started pouring down. Our drive back home was full of smiles and tired, blistered feet and sore quads that were already speaking to us! We arrived home to meet up with Maurice and Muriel who had just been out using their new van-sized RV called the RoadTrek out in Lake Louise. Catherine arrived the next day from Edmonton, so everyone was out enjoying their weekends to the fullest.

The next day, however, was a bit of a jolt back to reality as we moved back into the flow of work at the gym with clients and the bi-monthly visit to the Cancer Centre for blood work and an exam. On Tuesday we went back in for the 6th chemo treatment…half-way done! Although it was good to get that one out of the way and overwith, our hearts were still down as we were hit with the stark contrast between our previous few days and where we currently were, especially knowing that the rest of the week won’t be an easy one.

We’ve been doing alright lately, but our hearts have been struggling to stay positive as we try to understand where God is in our lives. We trust and we continue to seek Him, but these days it’s harder to hear His Voice; we pray for clarity and understanding as we try to see Him in this time. This weekend should be a fun one as we say goodbye to Cath and her boyfriend Dave (not the fun part) as they head back to school at TWU with a Friday night BBQ and as Mikey and I enjoy the weekend together! We’re glad to hear of good reports from my brother, Taylor, who just left on Sunday to go to L’Abri in Switzerland for a semester, so the families on all sides are doing well these days. Thanks for your prayers and encouragements - we are surrounded by incredible people who help lift us up! Huck it huge and thanks for being in our lives.

-Mikey and Bon

This week marks the completion of the 5th chemo treatment in Mikey’s cancer process thus far! 

The treatment itself went really well as we had just bought a new camera and were thrilled about trying it out - even if that meant documenting the treatment day! We’re in the process of selling some other cameras and Mikey was so excited to get a great deal on a used one…so it made the day go by a lot faster overall. However, the days following have been hard again; it’s almost like we forget how rough it can be on his body and then are rudely reminded by some rough patches.  But today is a new day, and we trust that God will bring us through it as we live each day in the moment, anticipating what God will bring our way!

huckin’ it huge, cancer style!

sanitization: once, twice, three times in a short walk! 

the reality of chemo treatments…not too fun, but #5 is done!

Today in church we were encouraged with the reminder to remember from Hebrews 10: 32 and following. The author writes to his audience,

“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. ‘Yet a little while,
   and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
   and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.’

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”

And so we do not give up hope! but look back to God’s faithfulness and how He has carried us through different trials thus far; He has not taught us to swim through the storm just to let us flounder! Huck it huge with endurance through faith this week and every day, friends!

 -bonnie and mikey

We…love…to…jump. Praise God for bodies that can move and bend and fly and land, and for being able to do that with other people! We had a great long weekend with the cousins from Manitoba floating down the Elbow River and jiggin’ it up with other folkies at the Canmore Folk Fest! This week we’re back in the chemo groove with treatment #5 coming up tomorrow at 2:45 pm and followed by my second “real” day of working as a personal trainer! My first day today was great… it was excellent to actually get going, meet people, and work out with them; it was a confirming day of this new job I’ve launched into, all with my husband’s incredible support. More info on life to come later, but thank you for all the prayers and thoughts that you continue to send our way as we still go between days of struggle and days of joy - it’s all part of the process that we’re going through! We appreciate the people in our lives so deeply; a special thanks this week to the encouraging card from the Huskey family in Lynden and the Bryant family for the fun home video in Anacortes!

 We love all you guys! Huck it huge in the week ahead!

          Well, it’s been another neat week full of new blessings for Mikey and I through this cancer journey, which is more and more less of a “season” but rather our lives as we settle into routine here in Calgary. But out of the routine has come some family visits, including (da da da daaaa!): Sarah and Craig Portell! Mikey’s older sister (Sarah) and her husband (Craig - a fellow American!) have been up visiting for the week on a break from working down in WA with YD Adventures. It’s been neat to hear stories from them about trips down south with students and to get to know them as a couple a bit more. Plus, with their arrival, we’ve been able to hit the trails and see some sights around the area. Here’s a sampling of our time with them, beginning with a time at Sunshine Meadows: 

the “cute lean-over” pose 

lookin’ good! 

jump it!

in a flax field - they’re beautifully purple when they’re blooming! 

hiking along a ridge (think Beatles…) at Drumheller           

          It’s been a great week and Mikey’s felt better after one or two hard days of nausea and heart burn (chemo just really isn’t fun!)… and now Mikey’s family who visited in Manitoba is coming out here for the August long weekend, so the fun continues. :)          

          I’ve officially begun my job as a personal trainer and am going through my own training, getting in some face-time at the gym as I get to know people, and already have two clients! It’s great to have the free membership, get to know other people there, and get some regular days of working scheduled into our lives. I think I’m really going to love it! And Mikey applied to work at MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) downtown part-time, which not only means a discount on great gear and clothing, but a great job and a chance to get out a bit more.          

          So…things are going well! The Canadian side of the family has been doing great with visits from family and as Cath keeps working at the hospital, Maurice at his dental clinic, and Muriel baking amazing things around the house! It’s also been fun to hang out with Cath’s boyfriend Dave on occassion; we’re surrounded by neat Canadians up here. The California side of the family has moved into a new house about 10 minutes away from their home of 17 years in Walnut Creek, CA to nearby Orinda. On Monday, August 4th, my mom “reopens” for business after jostling around her gym equipment to a new location. I guess you could say that fitness just runs in the family! Even with the move (their wonderful and kind landlords decided to sell after 17 years of my parents renting there on a fun little cul-de-sac) and a time of uncertainty, God has continued to show Himself sovereign to them and provided yet again! So we praise Him for His action in their lives as we’ve seen it in our own as well. Man…God is good. We’ll write some more later, but just thought we’d jot a few thoughts down here and there with some photos. Enjoy, and huck it huge! :)                     bonnie and mikey 

          It’s been yet another unexpected and happily eventful week since we last posted, and we’re still enjoying the remnants of a spur-of-the-moment vacation across Canada! On Monday night Mikey was feeling really good earlier than expected in the chemo cycle. So after a fun and successful second interview with Good Life Fitness on Tuesday morning (I landed the job as a personal trainer with Mikey helping to “show” my credentials (aka my six pack abs!) to my new boss, and supporting me all the way!) we hit the road… Manitoba-bound! 1214 km and 11 hours, 24 minutes later we were at Ditch Lake and already felt that this was going to be one incredible holiday.

          We just returned from spending a jam-packed week in Manitoba with Mikey’s family: Aunty Betty Ann, Uncle Darrel, and Dylan and Katie (two of the most talented young musician cousins we know!). We even got to hang out with our cousin Andrew, back from teaching English in Korea for a month. On the last night, Darrel’s parents and Mikey’s Grandma Hilda came out from Brandon, making for a fun and full little cabin of people, conversations, laughter, pellet gun shooting competitions, and campfire singing. So it was a great time to connect with family and catch up on life together. As if that wasn’t enough, we even got some wakeboarding and waterskiing sessions in, two days of sailing (I didn’t know that I married a sailor when I married my man!), and an outdoor concert (featuring Dylan’s band, Open Highway, and Katie on guitar among others) in cute little Neepawa to boot. (And since Mikey’s hair was already coming out in chunks, we decided to do the deed and shave it off! He’ll fit into the cancer centre a bit more now, although his beard is still growing strong!)

          We had an amazing time being on that beautiful lake and sleeping in, eating great food, tooling around the quaint towns out that way, and even driving across Canada together. For us these days, car rides mean an energy drink for Mikey as the principle driver and hours of reading for me as the principle reader between us! We read through I and II Samuel, finished C.S. Lewis’ The Last Battle, and got half-way through another great book in the series, The Silver Chair. We’ve been really encouraged lately as we learn to read the Bible as the true historical book and epic story that it truly is - a Living Word that affects change and works and moves. As we read through the Chronicles of Narnia and continue to enjoy movies like The Lord of the Rings, we are more convinced that we should be reading the Bible not to seek for application or life principles to change us, but simply enjoying it as the stupendous (and often outrageous!) story that it is. Only then, after understanding where and whom we come from, can we begin to learn more about God’s character and then find our own place in this story. With this perspective, we zoomed through the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David. These stories came before stories like Robin Hood, Achilles, and other heroes of our films and folklore in ancient times and today, and they all seem to find their roots in these Bible stories! The lives of these men, the bravery of women like Esther, and the reality of this history amazed us and we completely loved spending time in the Word together across the prairies.

          So from reading great stories to sleeping in through thunder storms, from boating in Ditch Lake to sailing across Clear Lake, from great conversations to great music, we had a great holiday away with the MacDonald clan! What a blessing to be taken away from our routine for an unexpected week of fun with family. Today we write from the hospital, back at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, where Mikey’s getting blood work done before his fourth chemo treatment tomorrow. We hope that Mikey will recover just as quickly from these next 9 treatments as he did from the last one. So we’re back in the action around Calgary as we return to the rhythm of life with cancer and learn the new ropes of a job in Calgary. Hope all of you are enjoying your summer!!! Huck it huge.