I discovered this blog through someone else's link.
It is absolutely hilarious!!
Check out Cake Wrecks.
It is a blog devoted to cakes that have been purchased from a professional cake maker. I have been laughing and crying from reading through the posts.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Future Star?
At Brie's request earlier this week, she wanted to pose for the camera while we were sitting on the beach.
As you can see...she really likes posing lately!!
I love my crazy beautiful girl.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
What An Awesome Week
Yesterday we returned from a fantastic camping trip!
I must say that if you like the beach and you like shallow warm water, Good Spirit Lake is THE PLACE to go!!
Seriously!! The girls could walk a very long distance into the lake.
We all went on a hike in the sand dunes that surround the lake and the sand is absolutely wonderful. I would definitely compare it with resort-quality sand. It was great to walk and play in.
The one drawback to Good Spirit is that there really isn't much else to do. Fortunately there is a great playground that we frequented quite often. There is only the one hiking trail (which splits into 2 at one point) and there is mini-golf or real golf, which we didn't try.
AND...the best part........it didn't rain this time!!
We had the best weather possible. John might
I am one of those crazy people that would ALWAYS prefer hot weather over cold. I just hate being cold!
The girls were good, for the most part, and we had an excellent time away. They loved the lake, the sand and the park. Brie's favorite thing about it was that there were "no leeches"! (At Madge Lake last month, she had one stuck on her) They spent a lot of time on the tire swing at the park too.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Going Away
We are leaving tomorrow for another small camping trip.
I am so thankful that this week's forecast is clear skies, hot and sunny!
Hopefully it will be much more successful than the last rain-filled trip in July.
The girls are pumped. It was almost impossible to get them to wind down before bed tonight, but I absolutely love that they are excited. I just wish that I could bottle up some of that enthusiasm!
I will post pictures and stories when we return.
******Can I just say that I watched Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal tonight and it was incredible!! I actually cried watching his mom and sisters as they celebrated with him in the crowds. What an amazing story for the history books.******
I am so thankful that this week's forecast is clear skies, hot and sunny!
Hopefully it will be much more successful than the last rain-filled trip in July.
The girls are pumped. It was almost impossible to get them to wind down before bed tonight, but I absolutely love that they are excited. I just wish that I could bottle up some of that enthusiasm!
I will post pictures and stories when we return.
******Can I just say that I watched Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal tonight and it was incredible!! I actually cried watching his mom and sisters as they celebrated with him in the crowds. What an amazing story for the history books.******
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Story of Us: Dating
This is part 2 of a series all about John and I.
Click here to read Part 1 "The Beginning".
Dating for John and I lasted for 4 years. I was just about to begin my final year of high school when we started dating.
Things started out like you would expect of awkward teenage kids. We were shy and unsure of ourselves. Yet we (I) did lots of talking. We spent many nights chatting in the driveway before I went in the house for the night.
On our 1 month anniversary, John surprised me with a wonderful bouquet of roses as well as a box of good chocolate. Well after that, I was hooked!
My best friend at the time also began dating her now husband within days of when we did, and slowly we began to drift apart as we spent more time with our boyfriends.
John was working while I was in school but for most of the time, we were together. We were rarely apart.
As you may recall, I was not impressed with my previous boyfriend for using the "I Love You" term just because. So for this reason, I wanted to be Very sure before I would even consider saying this to someone. I was struggling with my strong feelings towards John and I wasn't wanting to admit just how serious this was becoming, even to myself.
It wasn't long after that John said it first.
Was I scared? No. Was I upset? No. Was I relieved? Absolutely! Did I say it back and mean it? Definitely!
I remember still being in Grade 12 when John gave me a promise ring. It's a beautiful little ring with a small solitaire diamond and I still wear it to this day. Friends of mine at the time asked me if I thought it was meant to be more than a promise ring, but at the age of 17 I knew better. We were obviously too young to make any legal commitments to each other, but we always knew that we would get married someday.
When the summer was creeping up, John decided that to make more money he was going to go treeplanting in BC. This meant that we would be apart for several months. I was devastated to let him go and I remember lots of tears thinking that I would never see him again.
We wrote many letters back and forth to each other and occasionally we were able to speak on the phone too. It was a great way to build up the communication between us, and it is true....absence does make the heart grow fonder.
For the next two summers we were also apart. The next year I worked at a bible camp and the year after John went treeplanting again. I guess we were getting used to the distance between us, but we didn't like it any more.
After the summer of John's first treeplanting experience, we both started working. I was saving up to go to bible school and after a boring semester at the U of S which John decided was NOT for him, he decided that he would go to bible school also. So 1 year later, we did go together to CBC (Canadian Bible College) which was in Regina at the time.
I am truly thankful for the experience that was dorm life and Christian education but 1 year was enough for me. John ended up going back for a second year with thoughts of becoming a youth pastor but in the end he didn't think that was where he was supposed to be.
I was able to get a job not too long after my school year at Canada Trust, which I worked at for many years. I was waiting for John to return home from his second year of treeplanting, which was also the end of 3 years of dating for us.
In phone calls and letters, John was fairly disappointed with the funds he was earning this time around. He said that he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to afford an engagement ring so we could start planning a wedding. For the previous year, we had talked a lot about getting married so this left me disappointed as well. I only had a part time job, which didn't bring in much money, and he was going back to his job at a machine shop, also not a lot of money.
How would we ever make it work?
Click here to read Part 1 "The Beginning".
Dating for John and I lasted for 4 years. I was just about to begin my final year of high school when we started dating.
Things started out like you would expect of awkward teenage kids. We were shy and unsure of ourselves. Yet we (I) did lots of talking. We spent many nights chatting in the driveway before I went in the house for the night.
On our 1 month anniversary, John surprised me with a wonderful bouquet of roses as well as a box of good chocolate. Well after that, I was hooked!
My best friend at the time also began dating her now husband within days of when we did, and slowly we began to drift apart as we spent more time with our boyfriends.
John was working while I was in school but for most of the time, we were together. We were rarely apart.
As you may recall, I was not impressed with my previous boyfriend for using the "I Love You" term just because. So for this reason, I wanted to be Very sure before I would even consider saying this to someone. I was struggling with my strong feelings towards John and I wasn't wanting to admit just how serious this was becoming, even to myself.
It wasn't long after that John said it first.
Was I scared? No. Was I upset? No. Was I relieved? Absolutely! Did I say it back and mean it? Definitely!
I remember still being in Grade 12 when John gave me a promise ring. It's a beautiful little ring with a small solitaire diamond and I still wear it to this day. Friends of mine at the time asked me if I thought it was meant to be more than a promise ring, but at the age of 17 I knew better. We were obviously too young to make any legal commitments to each other, but we always knew that we would get married someday.
When the summer was creeping up, John decided that to make more money he was going to go treeplanting in BC. This meant that we would be apart for several months. I was devastated to let him go and I remember lots of tears thinking that I would never see him again.
We wrote many letters back and forth to each other and occasionally we were able to speak on the phone too. It was a great way to build up the communication between us, and it is true....absence does make the heart grow fonder.
For the next two summers we were also apart. The next year I worked at a bible camp and the year after John went treeplanting again. I guess we were getting used to the distance between us, but we didn't like it any more.
After the summer of John's first treeplanting experience, we both started working. I was saving up to go to bible school and after a boring semester at the U of S which John decided was NOT for him, he decided that he would go to bible school also. So 1 year later, we did go together to CBC (Canadian Bible College) which was in Regina at the time.
I am truly thankful for the experience that was dorm life and Christian education but 1 year was enough for me. John ended up going back for a second year with thoughts of becoming a youth pastor but in the end he didn't think that was where he was supposed to be.
I was able to get a job not too long after my school year at Canada Trust, which I worked at for many years. I was waiting for John to return home from his second year of treeplanting, which was also the end of 3 years of dating for us.
In phone calls and letters, John was fairly disappointed with the funds he was earning this time around. He said that he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to afford an engagement ring so we could start planning a wedding. For the previous year, we had talked a lot about getting married so this left me disappointed as well. I only had a part time job, which didn't bring in much money, and he was going back to his job at a machine shop, also not a lot of money.
How would we ever make it work?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Caught A Bug...
I caught a bug.
A work bug.
I have felt very motivated to get some stuff done around the house that should have been done LONG AGO!!
I reorganized closets and through away some stuff. Boy that feels good to toss things that we don't need or don't use anymore. I took out some boxes to the shed and got everything looking nicer.
After the success of that project I felt like starting up another one. Actually this one was started about 3 years ago when we moved here and seemed to be on hold permanently.
All the doors in our house are mahagany. Dark depressing mahagany. No offense to anyone who likes that color, but for me it's gotta go!
John had begun this project when I was pregnant with Ella. She is 2 1/2 now. I think it's time to just get it done.
So I have been busy sanding closet doors (which have been down for a LONG time!) and priming them afterwards. We also need to work on the door frames which were also dark mahagany.
The girls bedroom doors were finished long ago, but we still need to do the bathrooms, our bedroom and the linen closet, along with all the bedroom closets. Ambitious, yes I know!
Here's what the linen closet currently looks like:
And here is Brianna's door and frame. It's still the same dark wood but just painted over.
This was a way of having some cheap renos done in our house to brighten it up. It's a lot of work (or it will be!!) but I know that it will be worth it in the end. We didn't want to throw away the cost of new doors and know that we wouldn't get that money back when we want to sell someday. We are just buying paint and new trim to go around.
Speaking of trim, hopefully we can get our floor finished (right dear?!?!?) while we are still in "work mode". The floor is 1 year old already. Yep, we are highly motivated and not procrastinators at all.
A work bug.
I have felt very motivated to get some stuff done around the house that should have been done LONG AGO!!
I reorganized closets and through away some stuff. Boy that feels good to toss things that we don't need or don't use anymore. I took out some boxes to the shed and got everything looking nicer.
After the success of that project I felt like starting up another one. Actually this one was started about 3 years ago when we moved here and seemed to be on hold permanently.
All the doors in our house are mahagany. Dark depressing mahagany. No offense to anyone who likes that color, but for me it's gotta go!
John had begun this project when I was pregnant with Ella. She is 2 1/2 now. I think it's time to just get it done.
So I have been busy sanding closet doors (which have been down for a LONG time!) and priming them afterwards. We also need to work on the door frames which were also dark mahagany.
The girls bedroom doors were finished long ago, but we still need to do the bathrooms, our bedroom and the linen closet, along with all the bedroom closets. Ambitious, yes I know!
Here's what the linen closet currently looks like:
And here is Brianna's door and frame. It's still the same dark wood but just painted over.
This was a way of having some cheap renos done in our house to brighten it up. It's a lot of work (or it will be!!) but I know that it will be worth it in the end. We didn't want to throw away the cost of new doors and know that we wouldn't get that money back when we want to sell someday. We are just buying paint and new trim to go around.
Speaking of trim, hopefully we can get our floor finished (right dear?!?!?) while we are still in "work mode". The floor is 1 year old already. Yep, we are highly motivated and not procrastinators at all.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Target Practice
Yesterday I was able to try something that I have never done before.
John's parents were out for the day and brought along one of our nephews to play with the girls. We had a great visit, and John has now started another homemade wine.
This time it is with sour cherries. I'm not sure how much (if any) I will like that one. The sour cherries came again from my inlaws yard. Last year I tried a cherry and it was awfully sour. The pucker-lips-you-can't-really-swallow kind of sour. But it's almost free and will make close to 30 bottles of wine so I guess I will wait and see how it turns out.
Several times in the last few years, John has taken members of his family out to the shooting range. By shooting range, I really mean gravel pit, but it's far enough away from town and people and is used occasionally for targets.
I have always wanted to try it too! In fact, John invited me to tag along last year, but I wasn't able to go that day as I was busy doing prep for his surprise 30th. He went with his dad and brothers instead and got a big shocker upon his return that evening. I'm so glad that we were able to surprise him.
Last week I mentioned the possibility of the two of us going out to give it a try while his parents were here. So we did! It was a fun experience.
John is very good at accuracy. Each year they have to do a requalification and every year he gets a near perfect score. (Actually it seems he gets the perfect scores during practice right before his qualification) So while I'm standing close and just trying to hit the target, John is aiming for the small corners or pieces of glass bottles nearby. Show off!!
I actually did better than I thought I would. I hit the center several times (and from about 25 feet away) and I also hit the jugular and the head too. I was quite proud of myself.
I also felt like a weak girl. That sucks. I hate being the "weaker sex" sometimes! This may be my stubbornness coming through, but I can be one of those girls that has to prove that I can do it no matter what. Maybe shooting was one of those times.
Pulling that trigger was a lot more challenging than I had expected. It actually takes a lot of effort to pull it all the way back, and I also learned the hard way to use my fingertip and not the joint to pull with. My fingers were very tired!
I remember when John was at Depot in Regina. He would call home telling me about their days and what training was like. They each had some practice pistols that they needed to work on simple trigger pulls. Each person had to do 50 pulls with each hand. He would laugh and tell me that some girls could only do 8-15 pulls each.
I know understand how difficult it is and it's dumb to say that my finger is too tired to pull the trigger again. I just shake my head. John was very kind and didn't laugh once. Well, maybe he laughed on the inside and just humored me by smiling politely. What a guy!
Well now I can say that I have gone out shooting with my husband. Probably not something I ever would have thought I would say 10 years ago! But it was fun and I might try it again someday.
John's parents were out for the day and brought along one of our nephews to play with the girls. We had a great visit, and John has now started another homemade wine.
This time it is with sour cherries. I'm not sure how much (if any) I will like that one. The sour cherries came again from my inlaws yard. Last year I tried a cherry and it was awfully sour. The pucker-lips-you-can't-really-swallow kind of sour. But it's almost free and will make close to 30 bottles of wine so I guess I will wait and see how it turns out.
Several times in the last few years, John has taken members of his family out to the shooting range. By shooting range, I really mean gravel pit, but it's far enough away from town and people and is used occasionally for targets.
I have always wanted to try it too! In fact, John invited me to tag along last year, but I wasn't able to go that day as I was busy doing prep for his surprise 30th. He went with his dad and brothers instead and got a big shocker upon his return that evening. I'm so glad that we were able to surprise him.
Last week I mentioned the possibility of the two of us going out to give it a try while his parents were here. So we did! It was a fun experience.
John is very good at accuracy. Each year they have to do a requalification and every year he gets a near perfect score. (Actually it seems he gets the perfect scores during practice right before his qualification) So while I'm standing close and just trying to hit the target, John is aiming for the small corners or pieces of glass bottles nearby. Show off!!
I actually did better than I thought I would. I hit the center several times (and from about 25 feet away) and I also hit the jugular and the head too. I was quite proud of myself.
I also felt like a weak girl. That sucks. I hate being the "weaker sex" sometimes! This may be my stubbornness coming through, but I can be one of those girls that has to prove that I can do it no matter what. Maybe shooting was one of those times.
Pulling that trigger was a lot more challenging than I had expected. It actually takes a lot of effort to pull it all the way back, and I also learned the hard way to use my fingertip and not the joint to pull with. My fingers were very tired!
I remember when John was at Depot in Regina. He would call home telling me about their days and what training was like. They each had some practice pistols that they needed to work on simple trigger pulls. Each person had to do 50 pulls with each hand. He would laugh and tell me that some girls could only do 8-15 pulls each.
I know understand how difficult it is and it's dumb to say that my finger is too tired to pull the trigger again. I just shake my head. John was very kind and didn't laugh once. Well, maybe he laughed on the inside and just humored me by smiling politely. What a guy!
Well now I can say that I have gone out shooting with my husband. Probably not something I ever would have thought I would say 10 years ago! But it was fun and I might try it again someday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
.jpg)
