Fun Meme

I saw this over at Penless Writer and Praying Karen's blogs. It originally came from an e-mail so a few of the questions don't apply. I thought I'd take a crack at it!

1. Who were you named after? No one - my mom wanted to give me and my siblings each a name that kids couldn't tease. My middle name is my mom's first name.
2. When was the last time you cried? While watching a movie on Friday night
3. Do you like your handwriting? Sometimes. I have a messy style (don't care for it) and a neater one - I prefer the neater one.
4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Probably chicken or turkey but I'm not much for lunch meat; I keep thinking about how many chemicals must be in it. I never used to think like, but with Jeremy trying to eat healthier, I tend to think of these things more.
5. Do you have kids? Yes, 1 boy & 1 girl (apparently it's called the "million dollar family"!)
6. If you were another person, would you be friends with yourself? I hope so!
7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Who me?! (I guess I do!)
8. Do you still have your tonsils? Nope - they were taken out when I was 8 or 9 yrs old.
9. Would you bungee jump? Not a chance!
10. What is your favorite cereal? Shreddies
11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Every time!
12. Do you think you are strong? Physically - not really; spiritually - it's a work in progress; mentally/emotionally - I like to think I am!
13. What is your favorite ice cream? Funny thing - when I was growing up I didn't really like it. Now I prefer vanilla loaded with everything; either that or sherbert.
14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Probably their clothes (Wow, that sounds so shallow! Guess I'll have to work on it!)
15. Red or pink? Pink, although neither one is my favorite
16. What is the least favorite thing about you? My negative attitude
17. Who do you miss the most? Hmm, probably my sister - Karen, but I also have lots of friends I miss...Leila, Pam, Danika, Susan B, Cindy & more if I thought about it longer (be sure to leave a comment if you're reading this)!
18. Do you want everyone to send this back? (One of those "doesn't apply" questions)
19. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? I'm wearing grey sweatpants because my favorite jeans are in the wash; and I don't wear shoes in the house, but I do have socks on.
20. What was the last thing you ate? Left over birthday cake last night; I have eaten breakfast yet. Although I think my tummy's getting ready to talk to me!
21. What are you listening to right now? Kids playing quietly (a rare thing - quietly! Or maybe they are into things!)
22. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Definately blue!
23. Favorite smells? Fresh coffee (don't care for the taste as much but love the smell), Freesias, lilies, lilacs - any beautiful smelling flower!
24. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Good question! I haven't been on the phone yet this morning; I can't remember if I was on the phone yesterday; maybe it was Saturday!
25. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Not really applicable, but I do like Susan & Karen whose blogs I saw this on!
26. Favorite sports to watch? I'm not really a sports person - they all have pretty much the same excitement level for me - not much!
27. Hair color? Brown with a touch (more than I would like) of grey!
28. Eye color? Blue
29. Do you wear contacts? Nope, but I have been wearing glasses since I was in grade three
30. Scary movies or happy endings? Definately happy endings
31. Last movie you watched? "Reign Over Me" with Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle (it was pretty good by the way! There were definately some parts that were inappropriate, but it was a very touching movie - made me cry, hence the answer to Q. 2)
32. What color shirt are you wearing? My cozy grey fleece sweater
33. Summer or winter? I've always loved the summer but not my skin gets super itchy from the sun so I prefer Spring.
34. Hugs or kisses? Hugs, but when I'm hugging my husband and kids, I can't help but give a kiss with the hug. The two just seem to go together!
35. Favorite dessert? Depends what time of the month it is! I'm beginning to appreciate cheese cake more, and most chocolate things appeal to me at certain times.
36. Most likely to respond? Another "not applicable" question.
37. Least likely to respond? Another "not applicable" question.
38. What book are you reading right now? Besides reading the book of Daniel in the bible, I am slowly working through "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" by John Piper.
39. What is on your mouse pad? Don't have one - we have a laptop
40. What did you watch on TV last night? Not much - there wasn't a whole lot on; did a lot of flipping
41. Favorite sound? Silence, good worship music or good piano playing
42. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Neither
43. What is the farthest you have been from home? I guess that would be Switzerland, but France, Spain, England & almost Germany (I was about 15 mins away) would be in close second.
44. Do you have a speacial talent? I don't think so - maybe someone else knows better?
45. Where were you born? British Columbia, CANADA. I will omit the name of my hometown, but I was born at home. I guess I was coming too fast for my mom to make the 20-30 minute drive to the hospital!

If you decide to do this meme (either on your blog or via e-mail), please let me know by leaving a comment on this post so I can read yours!

Weigh-In Saturday

Jeremy weighed himself yesterday. He was a little shocked at the number he saw...248 lbs. He gained about 8lbs.

Once again, this next week will be another attempt at trying to decrease the number on the scale. Jeremy has realized that over the past couple weeks he has been looking at the week as a whole rather than taking his weight loss one day at a time. He is hoping that with refocusing on the current meal for that day that he can get back on track.

Losing weight isn't easy! Especially when things around you are stressful and make you not care about eating healthy. Maybe this week...!

Newest Addition to our Family!

Announcing...





Our newest addition to our family!

A new-to-us dryer!

Our old dryer (I'm not sure how old it was but if harvest gold says anything...!) has made it's way to the garage as it waits for it's final trip...to the dump. The dryer has been acting up for the past couple years and we've known that it will eventually have to be replaced. But, never seeming to have the money, I would start to pray when it would make more weird noises and the noises would stop! I love how God cares about our every need!


When I cleaned out the lint trapper yesterday and discovered silver sparkles in all the lint I knew the inevitable was upon us. Our dryer has been making horrible sounds lately. Almost like metal scraping metal but without the high-pitched screech. When I saw the silver sparkley dust I figured it must be from the metal sounds we've been hearing. The last thing I wanted to do was to put my nice clean white laundry into this dead dryer. The conclusion - time to look for a new dryer.


I found a guy who has been in the business for 20+ years and works out of his home selling new & barely used major home appliances. He was very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. So today after Becca's party, we decided to give him a try and ended up buying a almost new dryer. It is only about 2-3 months old and looks to be in perfect condition (although it think it sustained a small dent and tiny scratch from us transporting it home & installing it). The best part is that because we've been saving up for a dryer, we didn't have to go into debt for it!


I've already used my new dryer and it works like a charm!

Birthday Party Fun!

We celebrated Rebecca's birthday today with her friends. She had 3 little friends from church come to help her celebrate.

I won the "You're the Best Mom Award" by finding matching plastic tablecloth, plates & cups that have the Disney princesses on them! Becca enjoys pretty much any of the girly stuff out there, but if it has princesses on it - BONUS!

The sun was shining and quite warm today so we just let the kids play outside or in Becca's bedroom rather than any organized games. They had fun jumping on the trampoline, playing on the tire swing and playing "house" inside with the dolls.

We had the party over lunch time so sat them down to a kid-friendly mac 'n cheese lunch with a fruit tray. The kids loved all of it and actually ate better than I expected.

After they ate, we set up bowls of icing and sprinkles on the table for the kids to decorate their own mini cupcakes. This was a combined idea of mine & Becca's. After they gobbled those down (they decorated two each because time was running out!), I lit the candles and brought out Becca's cake.

Funny thing - all week Becca just talked about being able to decorate the mini cupcakes with her friends. She never at all mentioned about having a regular cake. So I figured I'd let the kids decorate the minis, display them nicely, put 4 candles in them and that would be the "cake". But last night Becca kept saying that we forgot about her cake (yesterday was her actual birthday). So, 9pm last night - after a quick trip to Michael's - I was baking a heart-shaped cake and this morning while Jeremy took the kids to the chiropractor, I decorated the cake! It wasn't anything fancy but it seemed to do the trick. Whew!

After washing up from the cake, Becca opened up her gifts - just in time for the parents to pick up their children. Perfect timing! All in all, it was a good party! Now to get used to the fact that my little girl, my youngest is 4!

Happy Birthday, Rebecca!

Four years ago today, we welcomed our little girl into our lives. Getting to know her over these past four years has been fun.

As the months go by, her personality develops more and more. "She's all Girl!" That's how I often describe Rebecca. Becca is a lot like me: doesn't like change, stubborn, sometimes shy, loves babies and little kids...! And the way that she is often quick to forgive or give comfort to someone makes me proud to be her Mommy.

I remember when Becca was quite little (I'm guessing about 12-18mths), she would walk around gently bouncing her "baby" on her shoulder, pat it's back and say, "Shh! Shh! Shh!" I don't know where she learned it from but that mothering instinct is definately a strong part of who she is.

Rebecca has a great sense of humor and sometimes, when she's not intending to be funny, we end up enjoying a great laugh. Her facial and hand expressions are just priceless!

Our time together has not been without it's challenges (health, stubbornness, etc), but that is also what causes us to love you more!

I thought I would share some pictures of her life so far!

April 4, 2004

Minutes after being born with a very proud Daddy!

Daniel & Richard (our former foster-son) visiting at the hospital

(Becca was born on Richard's birthday!)

Daniel holding Becca

This picture reminds me of one of my baby pictures!

(Approx. 2-3mths)

Mommy & Becca at her first Canada Day parade (July 1/04)

Grandma & Becca (July '04)

Getting into the pancake mix!

(Approx. 18mths old)

Auntie Karen & Becca (Jan. '06)
Cute Becca! (Almost 2yrs old)Becca & Daniel on the ferry (Summer '06)

Becca (June '07)

Mommy & Becca after our haircuts! (Summer '07)

Spring Break (March '08)

The Birthday Girl - today!

Joy???

I don't have joy in my life right now.

That is the conclusion I came to today. Jeremy and I are in the midst of some potentially major changes in our church. The processing within the leadership has been going on for close to four months now. We are tired of the processing, yet at the same time know that it is a very important step in the decision making.

Because I am on our church board, I have had a number of extra meetings to attend over the past few months. Each of these meetings brings with it a big weight of consideration, prayer, seeking God and discernement. That can get tiring after awhile!

Today as I sat down to do my devotions, I opened up a book I started reading awhile back, "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" by John Piper. I picked up where I had left off and wouldn't you know it, the chapter is called "The Indestructible Joy"! How fitting! To be honest though, when I started reading the chapter, I had to re-read several sections over and over again because my mind just wasn't connecting - until I got to a verse that Piper quoted:

John 15:11
"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

Suddenly, my wandering thoughts came to a hault. "Joy. I don't have joy in my life right now." I am almost at the point where I just don't care anymore. I know that apathy is NOT from God, so that means it's from Satan. Suddenly I am wanting to run as far away from apathy as fast as I can.

How can a person have joy in the midst of struggles?

Philippians 4:4
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Philippians 3:13b,14
"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6,7
"Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I am seeking God for His joy.

A Perfect Weekend

We began this weekend without any major plans. I had a breakfast meeting Saturday and we had church Saturday night. Other than that our schedule was clear. But in the end, we had a fun, full weekend!

I got home from my breakfast meeting and found out that Jeremy had taken Daniel, Becca and Taleigh - one of my daycare kids - for breakfast at Rickies. After a bit of chit chatting, I remembered that I was supposed to take Daniel for his follow-up blood work for the mumps that he apparently didn't have! And Jeremy was supposed to have blood work done too (just his annual check-up for his thyroid levels).

After a bit of figuring things out, we all hopped in the van, went to the pharmacy to pick up some Emla for Jeremy (saying he is scared of needles is an understatement!). By the time he got through the line up to pay, there wasn't enough time for him to apply it and wait the minimum one hour needed before the lab closed. So we just had Daniel's blood work done. Daniel was very brave again. This time he knew what was going to happen so he was more nervous and told me he didn't want the needle but when they put it in, he didn't even flinch! I'm so proud of my boy! We've been very careful not to put Jeremy's fear of needles (and dentists) onto our kids. So far, so good!

After that, we dropped Taliegh off at her house and went to do some shopping. On a whim, we ended up taking the kids to a matinee to see "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who" (or click here for a review from Plugged In Online). It was pretty good; a couple scarier parts (one of them made Becca cry because she was sad for Horton) but soon there was something funny and they both laughed. We probably won't show it to our kids again anytime soon, but the moral of the story is good, "Even though you can't see them or hear them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small!"

After that, we finished up our shopping and headed home for a bit of R&R before Jeremy and Daniel headed off to church for Crosswalk (our children's ministry for kids in Kindergarten through grade 7). Becca and I joined them later for church. After church, we had some friends over. They are the couple we bought our house with 3 1/2yrs ago. We bought their 40% of the house from them in the fall and they bought a townhouse. It was nice having them over and catching up with them. (You can check out their blog here).

Sunday morning Jeremy & I woke up with a start! "What time is it? What time to we need to be there?!" We quickly jumped out of bed and got ready to go to some other friends' for brunch. The kids had a great time playing with their daughter.

After a wonderful brunch, we all jumped into the vehicles (us ladies were quicker so we left the men to bring the kids!) and got to the river in time to see Christine, a friend from church, paddle up in her kayak. She was participating in a Paddle-a-thon for our church conference camp - Camp Squeah. There were a few of us from church there to cheer her on. It is a two-day paddle trip on the Fraser River from Hope to Fort Langley. This time, consideration was given to postponing the trip because we had snow on Friday! But they were troopers, braved the cold and elements (it didn't snow for Saturday or Sunday but it was sure cold & windy) and made the trip. Where we met them, it was their lunch break. Here is a picture of a few of us shortly after Christine arrived for lunch. (I'm on the right in the brown coat and sunglasses. Jeremy & the kids were off playing somewhere!)

After we said our good-byes to Christine, we took our friend Marlene home (the lady in the red coat) and ended up staying and visiting with them. Her husband, Ron, had to leave early to help their neighbors with installing some new fencing. By the time we were about to leave, it was supper time so we all headed off to Wendy's.

We arrived home, tired yet feeling rejuvinated, just in time to put the kids to bed.

For not having much on our schedule, we ended up having a full weekend, lots of family time and visiting with friends.

Weigh-In Saturday

Ummmm! Ya!

So there was supposed to be a weight loss update about Jeremy. Right. Ummmm! So for a variety of reasons, or maybe no reason at all, Jeremy didn't stick to his diet. And I have to be honest...once he said he wasn't really working on it (or figured he might as well give up for the week), I didn't help. I went to the store and bought ice cream, brownies (just the mini ones - can you hear the attempt at justifying myself?!) and sherbert (it's not that bad for you!??!).

I know, I shouldn't have bought those things and rather encouraged Jeremy to continue eating healthy, but it had been so long since we've bought stuff like that...I had a craving...!

Needless to say, Jeremy didn't bother weighing himself.

After a little chastising from a friend and fellow co-worker who is Jeremy's inspiration (check out Barb's Journey of weight loss here), I think we're back on track for this week. Thanks, Barb!

Our goal this week is for Jeremy to get into the 230's. He's been teetering at 240 lbs for some time now (although I think he did sneak down to 2398 a couple months ago). When I first met Jeremy 12 1/2yrs ago, he was in the low to mid-230's. It will be great seeing him back there again.

And just to let you all know, I seem to be losing some weight too. While I was pregnant with Rebecca, I had a craving for Dairy Queen, or anything with ice cream, chocolate and whip cream! I even started wondering if we were having a girl because I don't usually care for the sweet things. I've always been a "salty" person. Then, after Becca was born, I was nursing and still had a big appetite. Once she stopped nursing, I kind of kept eating lots and enjoying the sweets!

Needless to say, for the past few years (and Becca's turning 4 on Friday!) I have been the same weight as I was being 9 months pregnant with Daniel! My tummy has looked about 6 months pregnant for some time.

Last spring Jeremy & I started eating healthier and that did help some to shrink my tummy and lessen my cravings. But I still had more weight to lose. I have now dropped in pant sizes and am hoping to go down one more size yet. Most of the weight I have lost is since Jeremy began dieting these past few months. I don't weigh myself every Saturday and I haven't been all that careful about what I eat, but I have been noticing that I'm losing weight. I think in the past 5 months I've lost about 10 lbs. Not too good considering how long we've been at this, but I'm happy that the numbers are going down and not up!

Perhaps I'll post a before and after picture of me at some point!

Here's to Saturday, with positive results!

The Messy Garage

I read a short devotional awhile back over at Faith Lifts (a group blog at 5 Minutes for Mom website). They have short devotionals that are often very impacting. This devotion was no exception. The devotional, written by Melissa, is called "The Messy Garage" (click on the highlited title to read the original post).

Melissa shared about the spiritual dry spell that she had been going through. Then she shares two things she has learned:

1. I experience times like this periodically in my walk with the Lord. They do not, however, define my walk with Him.


2. The more discouraged I allow myself to become, the longer I will stay in this state of distracted and dry prayer time.

I really like point number one; dry times happen but they do not define my walk with Him. Until last fall, I didn't believe that. I would think (or at least feel) that if I wasn't doing daily devotions then I must not be a "very good Christian". I would be overwhelmed with guilt which would shame me into not spending time with God. I figured, "How could I come to God when I have such a long list of things I need to ask forgiveness for. I have such a long list, I don't even know where to begin!..."

But somewhere along the way, I came to the realization that Satan was the one making me feel guilty, not Jesus; that God was waiting, aching for me to come to Him. God didn't expect me to come and ramble off my long list, He just wanted me to come! And when I did just come before him, hand my list over to Him and say, "I'm sorry! Please forgive me", then He took me from there. He forgave me for my long list of wrongdoings. And when there was something more specific that I needed forgiveness for, He showed me and we worked on it together.

"He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy." (Titus 3:5)

Since then, when I come to Jesus, I don't have guilt and shame; but rather an excitement of hearing from Him. I still have plenty of things to ask for forgiveness, but now I approach the throne of God with confidence! It's so exciting!

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)

I hope and pray that you also know that you can come to Jesus without guilt or shame. You can hand Him your list of things, ask for forgiveness and know that He will forgive you. He loves you SO much! Feel free to leave a comment sharing about where you are in your journey with Jesus!

What Season Is It Anyway?!

Yesterday afternoon I posted some pictures of my front yard flower garden (click here to see the pictures).

Now that you've seen those pictures, here are a few from this morning.

Yes! It's snow! The snow is coming down hard and fast. The flakes are big & fluffy. The snow is swirling around down to the ground, reminding me of a snow globe after it's been shaken. Here it is past the middle of April and we have snow! All I can say is, "Crazy!!!"

A Glimpse of My Garden

I know this is the second post I've done today, but I wanted to share this with you!

The last of my daycare kids just went home, the sun was shining (notice the past tense!), so I thought I'd take advantage of the sun and take some new pictures of the flowers blooming in my front flower beds. I can't take all the credit for the flowers - most of them were here before we moved in 3 1/2 yrs ago.

I also gave the camera to the children, much to their excitement! Besides just letting them get snap-happy I asked them to take pictures of something that God made that they are thankful for. Daniel ended up taking pictures of our neighbor's basketball hoop and a passing van, but he did end up with a couple of very good pictures. And Becca ended up managing to miss the dandelions everywhere (except for a couple)!

Here are the results of our little photo shoot this afternoon!

My Pictures

Becca's Pictures

Daniel's Pictures

Date Night

Last night Jeremy & I were supposed to have cell group (cell groups are the name of our church's care/small groups). We ended up cancelling because the wife of the other couple (there are only us two couples at the moment) was sick. My body is trying to fight the same "sore throat, achy, swollen gland..." thing that I've already had twice. Between me trying to fight against getting sick and our friend being sick we thought we'd better cancel.

I decided to take advantage of the fact that we had a babysitter booked and made plans for Jeremy and I to go out for dinner. It's been so long since we've been on a date. We usually try to go once a month (more if time & money allow), but between someone being sick for the past couple months, extra meetings (we have some church stuff going on and I'm on the board), being away for spring break..., I don't think we have been on a date since Valentine's Day! We were long overdue!

I don't know about you, but for Jeremy & I, we notice that we start to squabble more and have less patience and understanding for each other when we haven't had a date for awhile. We seemed to be getting to that point again, so despite the fact that I am fighting getting sick AGAIN, we decided to go for it! And I'm so glad we did.

We received a $100 gift card awhile back (it pays to go listen to a "schpeel" every now & then!). So after confirming the sitter, I called Jeremy to make sure he'd be home on time and got supper made for the kids (gotta love mac & cheese!). When Jeremy knew we were going on a date, he brought home a sleek, blue, convertible Mustang for us to drive for our date - one of the perks of having your husband as a manager of a car & truck rental business!

We went to the KEG - a wonderful (expensive) steakhouse that fortunately, is in our city (it saves money on having to pay the babysitter for travel time). With the gift card, we were able to have a free dinner! I'm all for free dinners! We didn't take our camera with us so I don't have any pictures to share, but we enjoyed our appetizers, fabulous steak dinners and drinks. I don't like alcohol so I always ask for a mixture of fruit juices with a bit of Sprite / 7-Up. It's cheaper and I love the flavors!

When we got to the restaurant I wasn't all that hungry (I was starving 2 hours before so I had a little something to eat and wasn't quite hungry yet) so we took our time. We ordered our drinks and appetizers. After enjoying those, we ordered our entrees. By the time our food arrived I was ready to eat! It was a perfect way to linger and enjoy ourselves, not feeling rushed or stuffed and we were able to have a relaxed conversation. It is always nice to get away from the kids and have a conversation where you can finish your sentances and thoughts!

We got were able to get home at a decent time but knew that the kids would be sleeping. I always figure what's the point in going out in the evening if you only have to come home and put the kids to bed!

All in all, we had a great time! Life feels good again!

Bring the Rain - The Story of Audrey Caroline

I just came across a blog through Mel's World. This blog, "Bring the Rain, The Story of Audrey Caroline", is not just any ordinary blog. It is the very real story of a family's journey as they experience God's grace and mercy.

I encourage you to read their story of their daughter, Audrey Caroline. Click here if you would like to start from the beginning, otherwise click here for their most recent post.

"It Is Well With My Soul"

I found this video today on Praise and Coffee. I have always loved this hymn and the story behind the words. I just had to share it with you as well.

Six-Word Memoir

I was tagged by Susan of Penless Writer so here goes!

The Rules:
1. Write your own Six-Word Memoir.

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.

3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to the original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.

4. Tag at least five more blogs with links.

5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

Here is Susan's Memoir: "She loved the word of God."

I enjoyed trying to come up with my six-word Memoir. I wanted it to represent where I'm at right now and for the future. This is what I came up with:

"A Woman Striving After God's Heart."

I tag the following ladies because I'd love to hear what their six-word memoir is:

Leanne of Impressions

Yvonne of Life as a Gronau

Kristen of Janzen/Larsen family

Karen of Karen's Ramblings

Telma of CanadaBrazil

...and anyone else who would like to participate!

False Alarm

I received a phone call this morning from our local Health Unit.

According to the blood work Daniel had done last week he tested negative for the Mumps! Yay! We still don't know what he had (it could have just been the flu or perhaps something more serious). I don't know if we will find out - I'm not too concerned. Daniel's huge swollen gland is back to normal now and he seems to be feeling fine.

Daniel also had a mouth swab and a urine sample taken. We haven't received the results from those yet, but I'm really not expecting anything from them. Becca had the throat swab done too, just as a precaution.

The great thing about this is that I don't have to give a detailed list of everyone Daniel was in contact with for 2-3 weeks (most of which was on our holidays - how do you determine who he was in contact with on the ferries or at the museum?!). Now we can move on from here and not worry about whether anyone will get the Mumps becauase of Daniel.

I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel of us being sick-free!

Movie Review

During Spring Break, my sister and I rented a movie called "The Ultimate Gift".

Plugged In Online describes "The Ultimate Gift" in the following way: "As the self-absorbed grandson of billionaire oil baron Red Stevens, Jason Stevens lacks nothing—except purpose. But when the old tycoon dies and leaves behind an unorthodox will, Jason embarks on a journey that will yield an inheritance cash alone could never match."

As the movie plays out, Jason Stevens begins to learn 12 important lessons (as listed on Wikipedia.org):

1. The gift of Work
2. The gift of Problems
3. The gift of Friends
4. The gift of Giving
5. The gift of Gratitude
6. The gift of Family
7. The gift of Learning
8. The gift of Money
9. The gift of Laughter
10. The gift of a Day
11. The gift of Dreams
12. The gift of Love (which leads to the Ultimate Gift)

The movie reviews weren't all favorable, but I loved it for it's strong message that money isn't the most important thing in the world, even if you have billions of it! And the fact that they mentioned God, and even Jesus, both in a positive light was a plus for me. There were some downsides to it (alcohol, the insinuation of a premarital relationship, etc) but these things weren't offensive to me. For a detailed review, you can check it out on Plugged In Online. I found the acting to be fairly simplistic, but I chose to ignore that and enjoy the movie anyway. My tears were flowing by the end and I was so glad I had watched it. Jeremy even enjoyed it!

I encourage you to watch this movie and let me know what you thought.

Weigh-In Saturday

Last weekend Jeremy wrote a post about his weight loss update. He was discouraged to find out that he had gained 12lbs over four weeks.

This past week he got serious about eating right but didn't go extreme on things. He was hoping to lose 5lbs this week.

When Jeremy called me into the bathroom this morning I had a feeling that the scale results were in his favor. And right I was! Jeremy lost 11 lbs! He is down to 240 lbs now! He was pretty excited this morning to say the least!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On another note, I am typing one handed today. I woke up in the night with my right wrist in extreme pain. I think it's from writing on the cake yesterday. I used the store bought tube of icing for decorating / writing. It was quite difficult to squeeze out. I'm hoping that my wrist is better by tomorrow as I need to take minutes at our church's congregational meeting. I sent Jeremy to the store this morning to buy a tensor bandage. It is already helping but I think some Ibuprofen is next on the list!

Happy Birthday to Daniel's Teacher!

I am on the Staff Appreciation Committee at Daniel's school. It's an easy committee to belong to because you only have to provide snacks for the staff once during the school year. I chose to bring the snacks on Daniel's teacher's birthday, which is today!

Yesterday I was trying to think of what to make. My imagination was getting very extravagent but reality set in and I settled for a rather simple birthday cake and a plate of fruit. Last night after the kids were in bed, I went shopping for the things I needed. I came home and began mixing ingredients before realizing that I was pretty much out of cocoa! I was planning to do a double layer cake which meant doubling the batch. So much for that idea! I quickly called my Mom. The line was busy so I called my sister. She saved the day! She recommended that I use hot chocolate mix in place of the cocoa! In the end, I was able to scrape about 4 1/2 Tbsp of the 6 Tbsp that I needed so I didn't need to substitute with very much hot chocolate mix. That's when I scrapped the idea of a double layer cake. I guess I won't need to second container of icing I bought last night (I decided not to spend the time making home-made icing)!

I iced and decorated (nothing fancy) the cake and prepared the fruit this morning and managed to get it to the staff room just before the recess bell rang. Of course I forgot the birthday card I bought last night so I quickly touched base with Daniel's teacher to let her know it was from the Staff Appreciation Committee.

I quickly took a picture of it before whisking it off to the school. Of course, Rebecca & Elliott wanted to "help" so I humored them by taking a picture of them with the goodies!

Now I'm changing gears and thinking frozen suppers! I'm going to a baby shower tonight for a lady in our church. She is pregnant with her third child so instead of giving them more clothes (they already have a boy and a girl) or toys, we're showering them with gifts of dinners that can be put in the freezer. That way when the baby is born she won't have to worry about making supper for her family for a couple weeks. That's probably better than any gift!

This is No April Fools!

I just received my prize that I won from the Ultimate Blog Party! I won the second Canadian prize from the PMS Club. I found out I won just before we went away for Spring Break.

It's a bright & cheery display photo album with a quote on the front that says, "A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face. Proverbs 15:13 ~ The Message". It's a perfect little album to put pictures in from a certain event. I might just put our Spring Break pictures in it (see here and here)! It came with a cute homemade card.

Thanks again, Amy and the PMS Club, for the gift! It has definately brightened my day!

Spring Break (part 2)

This past weekend we tried to download some video footage of our holidays from our new camcorder to our computer. As it turns out, we need to have FireWire on our computer in order to do this. The "funny" (except we're not really smiling) thing is that when we bought this camcorder and did our research, we didn't see anything that said we needed FireWire. We actually bought one originally and returned it because of the same problem! The camcorder we have now we bought from the internet so returning it isn't really an option. Now we have to figure out if there is a business that will transfer our footage onto a DVD for us. Then we can use it on our computer.

Anyway, because we weren't able to get the video working, I'll just post the pictures from the rest of our holiday. Enjoy!

Jeremy went on the logging truck with my Dad

At the end of the day, Daniel & Becca had turns going for a ride in the logging truck!

Visiting GG (Jeremy's Grandma)Couldn't resist taking pictures of the deer Snuggle time with GrandpaSnow during Spring Break?!

The kids with Great Grandma (my grandma)
(picture courtesy of my Mom and sister as I was "home" sick!)Grandma with my sister, Karen

Becca (r) with her twin cousins, Lauren & Elise (from Nanaimo)

Daniel (r) with his cousins Brenden and Connor (from Nanaimo)

On the ferry heading back home (with Auntie Karen and cousins)

My sister and her kids stayed with us for a couple days before heading home up north. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law wasn't able to come for the week as he had to work. I realize that I didn't take any pictures of our time with my sister and the cousins at our place. But we all had a good time and look forward to seeing them again in the summer. We will venture up to their place and have fun trying to avoid all the nasty black flies! But it will be fun!

So that's our Spring Break in a (large) nutshell! Hope you had a good one too!