Day 14 - A Picture You Love and Day 15 - Bible Verse

OK. I have to catch up here! I've got two days to post now. I was doing something else last night but can't really remember what!! Though, in case you're interested, I just posted some layouts on my scrappy blog! So, today my big excitement was that I got my brand new, one-piece driver's license in the mail. It's got all these strange security features and the photo is in black & white...that threw me at first! I couldn't figure out why I was so pale as I pulled it out of the envelope! The great thing is that I don't have to renew it until 2013 or something like that. On another driver's license note (funny story), this past weekend Jason realized that he had forgotten to renew his driver's license...in 2009! Ooops! Got that all rectified now, though. We even had to go through our records just to make sure we hadn't paid it and lost it, instead!

Anyway, here are my two days that I need to post. Day 14 is a picture I love. Well, I have a lot of pictures I love. There are many vacation photos that I love and cute photos of my kids but I didn't really want to search and the first one that popped into my mind was this one:

This is my sister with Jonathan when he was about a month old. I just love her expression and the angle on the photos. It's been one of my favourites since I took it. Guess I should scrap it now, too, eh?

Day 15 - Bible Verse

I actually did a post awhile ago about my favourite Bible verse. If you want to read the explanation and whatnot, you can go here. Otherwise, suffice it to say, that it is the following:

Daniel 3:17, 18

¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Now I have caught up and I cut and pasted into this post so it's doing weird things and I'm about out of patience with it so I will go and talk to you all tomorrow! Maybe I'll even edit some photos one of these days!

Until next time...

Day 13 - Goals

Well, we're off to a Christmas party tonight (ha ha...yes Jason's work has their Christmas party in the new year. It's kinda nice because it's not one more thing to add to December's calendar!) so I thought I'd post day 13 early (shocking, I know!) Day 13 is goals. I have lots of goals and dreams and aspirations. Here are a few I'll share with you - in no particular order:

1. Make this stay at home Mom thing work! I don't forsee this one being too tough, but it will be an adjustment. We've always been used to 1 1/2 to 2 salaries (not that we needed them but the extras were fun!) so it'll just be some adjusting the way we think. Right now I'm still getting mat leave pay so we haven't had to entirely adjust yet. That's coming up in a couple of months.

2. Renovate my kitchen. I don't like it now...it's lack of storage, tiny fridge and dishwasher, lack of light...I have great plans to open up the space and make it beautiful, it just takes money! It will come eventually and I can't wait to cook on a full size stove!

3. Travel with my kids. I got to see so much as a youngster travelling with my parents and I want the same thing for my kids. I want them to see the mountains and the ocean and the plains and everything in between (or as much as we can!) We've started this and have plans for a couple of big trips in the next few years so we're on our way! I'd also love to take them on a missions trip when they're a bit older, just so they can experience what other people who are not so fortunate, live like!

4. Finish my nephew's afghan. I'm so close but I tend to end up scrapping rather than cross-stitching and I really need to rectify that!

I can't think of anything else major off the top of my head. Those are some of my big goals and dreams for the next several years and we'll see how they all work out.

Until next time...

Day 12 - What You Believe

It seems strange to go from something so light and trivial as TV shows to something as deeply personal as what you believe! But I guess that is the point of this exercise...to get to know more about the whole person!

I've thought about this some and there are many things that I believe but they all stem out of one core belief in God and His Son Jesus Christ (and the Holy Spirit). I believe that the Bible is the only true Word of God and that it lays out everything we need to know. I believe that there is a God and He is part of a triune being composed of Him, his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I believe that God created everything and He created us to have fellowship with Him. However, we have all sinned (every one of us...me included!!) and that has placed a barrier between us and God. The only way to break through that barrier is through the work that Jesus did on the cross when He died and rose again. I also believe that there is a heaven and a hell and that those who do not believe on the name of Jesus Christ will suffer for eternity. I think I've covered the basic core of my belief system. This truly does shape what I believe in life about how to act and treat others and spend my time. I also know that I am not perfect and fail my God too often but He is merciful when I repent and turn to Him.

I hope this gives you a bit of insight into who I am at the core. I know there are some of you out there who agree with me and some of you who don't and that's OK. However, if you want to ask me any questions or have any conversations about this, I'd love to!

Until next time...

Day 11 - Favourite TV Shows

There hasn't been much going on lately, though did I tell you we're reading our first chapter book with Xander? Jason is reading The Wizard of Oz to him (on his iPod Touch, no less) and he is really enjoying it. We read about 2 chapters each night and he really looks forward to it. Now, we'll just have to figure out what to read when this one is done! We started doing this because there's a fitness/literacy challenge at school and one challenge is to read or exercise 15 minutes per day as a family. Since it's the middle of winter, we decided reading would be easier! Evan even listened today!

Now, on to Day 11! Well, I should have lots of these as the TV was always on in my house...I guess it's kinda been replaced by my computer now. A lot of the shows I love are no longer running like:

West Wing

Scrubs

My Name is Earl

Pushing Daisies

There are a few shows we still watch now (I mean PVR and watch later!)

Amazing Race (the only reality show I like!)

Top Chef

Hell's Kitchen

Canada's Worst Driver

I do like to watch most stuff on HGTV and FoodNetwork but just on a whenever I catch it basis. Good Eats and Food Network Challenge are two favourites and I have really started to enjoy Sarah Richardson's shows on HGTV. I do like to watch 'Til Debt Do Us Part on Slice but that may just be the accountant in me!

There are some really fun old sitcom reruns out there, too, like Home Improvement and The Cosby Show (though I'm not sure if The Cosby Show is still on) that I like to watch.

So, I guess that about sums it up! There are my TV shows.

Now, I really need to get some more photos edited and up on this blog but not tonight...it's much too late!!

Until next time...

Day 10 - Something You're Afraid Of

OK, Jason told me to post earlier in the day because my last post was so rambling. I guess you should never write when you have two different ideas and can't decide which one to follow (right, Andrea? - if you're reading). Anyway, it's a bit earlier so I hope I won't be too incoherent. Though, I apparently can't type tonight!

So, something I'm afraid of. I don't really know what to put here...I can't say I'm not afraid of anything because then I would never worry or stress, but I do. I usually worry more at the thought of something than the actual doing so I really just need someone to push me to do it! (Ex. The thought of driving on icy roads is usually much worse than actually doing it!) I believe that God is in control and that should drive out all fear - unfortunately, I am less than perfect (shhh, don't tell anyone) and I am working on this! I can't say that I'm particularly afraid of snakes or bugs, though I have no desire to be in close proximity to poisonous ones and I do not enjoy picking up a container and finding a pile of those little bugs we have in the basement. When I was younger, I was terrified of bears but I even saw one of those in the bush when we were walking one day and I survived so that's OK, too. One of my biggest fears growing up was of going blind (not unreasonable given my eye condition) but now that my problem has been diagnosed and I know what I'm dealing with, that's not such a big deal. I guess I could sum this up with I do have a bit of a fear of the unknown and, as I said above, I'm working on that! Actually, my Thursday morning Mom's group is going to be doing a study on anxiety and worry so that should actually be very helpful (and probably convicting!!) That's it for today!

Until next time...

Second Post Today! Day 9 - A Picture of Your Friends

Friends is such an interesting topic. I've had trouble deciding where to go with this. I don't feel that I really have a lot of friends. Some people call me outgoing ;) and I will admit I have a lot of acquaintances...but I wouldn't necessarily call them friends. Especially in this day and age, I think we're a little loose with the term "friends" - just because you're on my facebook, doesn't necessarily mean we're actually friends. Would I call you in a pinch? Would I cry on your shoulder? These people are actually friends. Now that I think about it, I have had groups of friends throughout my life, so maybe I'll talk about them...and no I don't have pictures - what I do have is mostly on film and I'm not scanning it tonight!

There was my best friend in grade school - Hannah. We were the smart girls and the outcasts but we had each other and we could talk up a storm!! She moved a town over for high school but we kept in touch and then we went to the same university. Life has taken us in different directions but we occasionally email and that kind of thing, still.

There was a group of us in university that I would consider friends. We went through the same program and then went through professional training together, too. There were four of us and some of us still live in the city but life has gotten so busy that we have kinda lost touch. I've been meaning to get ahold of the girls to go out for supper again! The one I keep in best touch with actually lives in New Zealand and I wish I could see her more often!

Often, I consider my family my best friends :). In high school, I was one of the few Christians in the school and a good chunk of the others were related to me! So, we hung out (and fought - as in my brothers). My brother and I moved in together when we went to university and had a group of friends through our college and career group. We used to hang out and play games and just have a ton of fun...again, I am now related to a good chunk of those people. A subgroup of this were "the guys"...my two brothers (once the younger one came to town and moved in, too), my boyfriend at the time (now my husband), and three other guys. I loved these guys like brothers and still do. Every Sunday night was X-Files, Simpsons and Golden Eye at our place! Now, some are married and some have moved off. I count it a privilege to have connected immediately with one of the now wives and though they live several hours away, we still try to keep in touch and can visit for hours on end! Another of them lives in town with his wife and I also count her among my friends. I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the years (though we really need to see more of them :D ).

There are other friends but I don't want to bore you - though our care group at church deserves a special mention, too! We meet weekly and have for several years to care for each other and grow in God's word - I consider these people fabulous friends!

I hope that's not too rambling. I kept having a couple trains of thought go through my mind and I think they may have met each other in this post, making it a bit confusing! Sorry!

Anyway, I'm done now in case you actually made it this far! Also, it's late so maybe I'll be more coherent tomorrow!

Until next time...

Slacker alert - Day 8 - Place You've Traveled

Well, I guess I'm doing two days today!! I didn't get around to posting yesterday...I was scrapping instead. Also, I was sitting on the couch under a blanket because it got COLD here yesterday!! It was -35C (-31F) with a wind chill making it feel like -44C (-50F) - while this isn't unusual for these parts, we have had a snowy, warm winter this year so we haven't had much of this, yet! So, I will post day 8 now and day 9 later tonight!

Day 8 - A Place You've Traveled

How do I pick a place? Especially since a later post is about favourite vacation and the two would probably overlap so I will just talk about some of the places I've been! I love to travel. We did a lot of it growing up - when your Dad's a teacher, there's plenty of time in the summer! We never did exotic trips as kids but we saw a lot of Canada and the United States. I've been to all 10 provinces (PEI has to be my favourite!) and many states...though some of them were just passing through. When you drive from Regina, SK to Orlando, FL in 40 hours you go through a lot of states but don't really remember many! I married a man who hadn't been very many places but I convinced him that trips were good things - he still dislikes the actual travelling part (ie being on the airplane etc) but enjoys experiencing the places as much as I do! So, as the adult planning the travels, I have been to Hawaii (spring break with a friend), Vancouver Island, Quebec, the Maritimes, the Redwoods & Oregon coast, Midwestern US (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska etc), Mexico, France, Monaco and England. There are so many more places I would love to go...I've always said I would love to see every country in the world but the top of my list are Galapogas Islands, Egypt and the Antarctic! I would also love to see New Zealand, Austria, Italy, Africa (not sure exactly which parts, yet) and a multitude of other places! Closer to home, I'd love to visit New York City and Washington, DC. Hopefully they will fit into our plans in the next 4 to 5 years. The biggest problem is that we also have a house and life and this all takes money!! Now, I will leave you with some pages I've scrapped of some of the places we've been (a lot of the photos are still on film so I haven't done many yet!) Also, please be kind...some of these were scrapped when I first started and need to be redone!!

From our trip to the Redwoods & Oregon Coast:

Kit - Coastal Getaway by the ScrapMatters Design Team

Alpha - Vintage Summer Bonus Alpha by WM[Squared] Designs

Template by Happy Scrap Girl

Kit - Floating on a Breeze by Scraps of Ellay, JennCK Designs and Dream Big Designs

From our trip to London (tour to Westminster Abbey, Stonehenge and Bath):

Kit - Modish by geniaBeana Scraps

Flower buds (recoloured) - Easter Morning by Stolen Moments and Man in the Moon Designs

Leaf - Sweet 'n Blue by Elo Desings

Stones - Ohe Matelot by Cjournet13

Template - Fine Waves template by a'nyi

Waves at Peggy's Cove in the Maritimes

Background paper - Meliage by Petit Moineaux

Stitched circle - Hello Easter by Scrappy Cocoa

Greenery, flower stamp - Stop the Time by Melancolie

Seashells - Sea Life by Cajoline Scraps

Pearls - Remember Me by Sarah Bennett

Bow (recoloured) - Like No Other by Eva Marina Scraps

From our trip to Mexico (the trip that got me digi-scrapping - this page has obviously been redone!)

Kit - Tropical Sunshine by LDrag Designs and Siamese Studio

Template - Fabulously Negative v8 by WM[Squared] Designs

From our trip to Indianapolis to celebrate Jason completing his degree!

Kit - Fatherhood by Scrappergirl Designs

From our trip to France.

Kit - Chloe by Digi-Designs by Nicole

Ribbons (recoloured), Green & Brown Paper - Fresh Collab by Digi-Designs by Nicole

Buttons - Rustic Grass by Digi-Designs by Nicole

KIt - Mon Amie Collab by Stacey Towers and A Work in Progress by Vicki

Template - MandaKFreebie12x12Template#1 by Nibbles Skribbles

From my trip to Hawaii.

Kit - Another Day in Paradise by GingerScraps Designers

Kit - Vintage Summer (and bonus alpha) by WM[Squared] Designs

Template by Canadian Mommy

Date Blots by Stolen Moments

There is a taste of "a place" I have travelled! Can you tell this is one of my favourite topics?! This is also making me really want to scan in and scrap all these vacations!!!

Until next time...