Memory Lane 2011

It was a bit of a stress filled, harder beginning for 2011.  But as life is, it ebbs and flows in different waves and  there is always many good memories to look back on too even through the tough stuff.  And that's why I love to do this meme.  You just look back over your year of blogging and find one thing that sticks out for you for each month.

January

January was presenting itself to be a really tough month with Hubby's Mom having a stroke.  But this little guy was now into his second month with us and he was doing his darndest to lighten the mood around the house.

February

January and February brought snow so we saw these guys out a few times clearing the roads.  A perfect opportunity to use the new camera.

March

Apparently I was in full on cooking mode this month because I cooked and shared quite a few recipes.  Upside down pizza, firecracker chicken, my sloppy joes,  and avocado chicken and shells all made it onto the blog that month.  At the beginning of the month we took in the Titanic Exhibit in the big city.  Sooo interesting and worth it.

April

There was more of the white stuff providing more fun camera time.  And hubby's beloved Mom went to be with the Lord on the Easter Sunday.  We still miss her greatly!

May

We celebrated my Dad's 80th with a suprise party in his condo party room.  He had no clue until we literally dragged him into the room.  We had to weave quite a convoluted tale of why I was there in dressier clothes to play pool.

June

Todd continued to amuse us with his antics.  One less person to keep an eye on him as T, our youngest, went to a 3 week youth missions course.

July

July found us on the road for an 7 hour one way trip to deliver our oldest daughter her new to her car.  We sure miss that girl and after 3 years still think 7 hours is much too long of a distance.  We'll never get used to it.

August

August saw me fullfill a bucket list wish of parasailing when we took a family vacation to the Okanagon Valley in British Columbia.  Yes, that is really me up there and it was one of the most thrilling yet peaceful things I have ever done.  I'd do it again in a nano-second!

September

Apparently September saw not a whole lot happen in my real life, blogging life, or picture taking life.  I talked a lot about the weather and books that month.  Hmmm.

October

Fall arrived in beauty.  I was blessed with boxes of fresh garden tomatoes so a lot of October found me making vats of spaghetti sauce and salsa to freeze.

November

November saw a real drop in blogging for me.  Only 9 posts.  I think I just got tired.  November also saw the craziest wind storm we have ever had around here, whipping a grass fire to extremely scary porportions as it sped towards the west side of our city.

December

Christmas was wonderful in spite of the fact that the beginning of December I was pretty darn unmotivated.  Surrounded by my family is where I'm most content!

So that about wraps up my year.  It's fun looking back to see where it started and the journey through it.  Happy New Year to everyone!  I'm looking forward to getting back to some more blogging fun in 2012!

Friday's Fave Five #171

Well good morning guys!  So sorry, I have no excuse other than I just plain got mixed up on what day it actually was.  That's what happens when I take a week off and there's a holiday thrown in there.  Total shut down of day recognition.  But you all have to forgive me, please, 'cause today's my birthday.  You are not allowed to be mad at me on my birthday!  :v)

This week was filled many blessings so it's going to be hard just picking five but here goes:

1.  Seeing loved ones over the holidays.  It just wouldn't be a holiday without the ones I love most thrown into the mix.  I loved having my immediate family together as I mentioned in the 5 last week.  With K now living in another province it makes it extra special to have her home safe and sound and with us for the holidays.  J is in second year EMT and will be moving at some point to get his Paramedic degree and T is in 12th grade and will also be moving at some point for schooling too so I feel the empty nest thing coming on.  Seeing them all together and enjoying each other and the holiday is a blessing indeed.  And seeing my sis's family, my mom, and hubby's sister over the weekend was all a blessing. I know in this day and age it is a huge thing to be able to see most of one's family over a holiday so I am very grateful for that.

2.  The week off.  So nice to just relax and enjoy the holidays and my kids without also having the dayhome up and running.  One of the best decisions I've ever made in my business life was to take the week after Christmas off as one of my holiday weeks.

3.  The day trip to the big city my hubby gave me for my birthday!  It's a favorite thing to do as a family.  Took in a big mall, the kid's got to spend some Christmas money, got a couple of really, really good deals myself,  had a nice birthday dinner at Chili's (which we don't have in our city), then came home.  A wonderful, blessed family day.

4.  Laughing till I cry.  I just love when an opportunity arises for a good belly laugh and there were several over this holiday.

5.  Watching people open their gifts.  I love sitting back and watching others open their gifts on Christmas.  I love to see their faces.  It's as much fun as opening my own gifts.  One of the belly laughs actually came from this as my sis opened a bag that was actually a "part II" of her gift and made no sense whatsoever without the first part.  It was a riot watching the play of emotions over her face.  First came trying to figure out what on earth the stuff was and then what she was supposed to do with it.  Then the look was why on earth would I get her that and then it was now how do I say thank you for this thing?  LOL.  Cracked me right up.  Of course once the first part was open it made sense.

I could go on and on and on but alas, I am a "rule" follower and stress if I have to stretch the limits.  LOL.  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and am looking forward to the new year and all the new blessings we share with each other each week!

Enjoying the Peace

It's a peaceful, albiet windy, morning this Thursday morning.  I can't believe I've  haven't even opened my computer in almost a week.  And, if I have to be honest with myself, I have enjoyed the break.  We had a wonderful family Christmas and I've been enjoying having all my family together for the holidays.  We've laughed together, ate way too much together, spent time just hanging out together, caught up on lots of episodes of Flashpoint together and just basically enjoyed life and relaxing over the past days.

Oh and we made a little day trip into the bigger city, a little birthday present to me from my hubby.  So much fun.  We went to a newly expanded mall, expanded with all sorts of designer stores.   There was lots of teasing and laughing as we looked over items that were just crazily priced.  I think I jokingly tried to get hubby to purchase a ridicuously priced purse, basically a box with handles in the designer's signature pattern, that was priced at $1000 something dollars.  Seriously?  Who buys this stuff?  It wasn't even nice.  Or cute.  Or practical.  But I guess when you're buying status, cute and practical are not on the list of desired elements of the purchase.  Name is what it's all about. (And if you think that one was ridiculously priced, check out this one on their website. I am at a loss for words.) Oh, and the matching wallet to the one I saw was a steal of a deal at $365.  Cloth and plastic.  I cannot fathom that craziness.  My son got me an oh so much nicer wallet, leather to boot, for a heck of a lot less than that!  Like $340 less than that and I'll have it any day over the "designer" one.  Yeesh.  I guess you can have stores like that do well in an oil rich city.  It would never fly in my city, that's for sure.  But it was fun to go and touch and look at all that kind of stuff.  And more fun, to me anyway, than laying down that kind of money for one item, was walking away with two great sweaters, boxing week priced, for under $30 which was under what one of those sweaters would have cost before the sale.  Now that felt so much more satisfying.  Yes, I'm the girl who gets a high off of a great deal rather than a brand.  Lucky hubby!  :v)

Friday's Fave Five #171

One more day!  Christmas is on our doorsteps so I know how busy everyone must be.  So thank you for popping by and joining in on taking a moment to find the blessings in the busyness.  So in no particular order:

1.  Christmas cards finished.  Albeit late, but they are done.  I always have such good intentions of getting them out the first week of December but this year that just did not happen.  But they did get done.  That is the main thing.

2.  Ladies study group Christmas party.  Always a nice time to share an evening of laughs and fun and gifts.  I love not only studying with this great group of women but getting to know them as friends and the Christmas party is a looked forward to tradition with us.

3.   My mom ended up in emerg with a kidney stone.  A blessing in disguise because it was dealt with by that night rather than her having to wait until the original appointment in the 3rd week of January.  Now if you know my mom, you know she is a worrier and that long wait would have wreaked havoc on her sleep and mind.  Now, though it was a horribly long day (she went in at 3:30 a.m. and didn't have surgery until 8 p.m.), it is over and done with and she is onto recovery and a nice Christmas!

4.  Oldest daughter home for Christmas.  Arrived safe and sound and ready for a rest before she starts university the first week of January.  I'm so glad to have her home for two weeks.  

5.  Having all the family together for Christmas.  What a blessing it is.  I'll take every minute of it because I know that won't last forever. 

On this last Friday before Christmas I want to take the opportunity to wish you and yours a Very Merry Christmas full of God's love, peace and joy!  As you share blessings and gifts with your loved ones, may you remember the most precious gift of all, the Reason for the season, Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

(image courtesy of Vector Open Stock)

Fall Into Reading 2011 Wrap Up

Today is the wrap up for the Fall Into Reading Challenge.  How on earth did that come up so fast?  That means there is only  4 more days until Christmas!  Now that's a reality check.  Help Me!

So how did I do with the challenge I gave myself here?

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - done and loved it.  Reads like a novel but is unbelievably true.

Sunrise on the Battery - done and found it a thought provoking and enjoyable read

Sacred Marriage - wasn't even able to crack it open

Possession - didn't get to it

The Bait of Satan -  still working on with study group.  Very challenging and very good.  Promotes lots of discussion

Angel Sister - finished

The Wishing Trees - done.  Sad story. Felt like I traveled to the places in the story along with the characters, though.

How to Bake a Perfect Life - Set aside.  Couldn't get into the story after the description of the sexual exploit of a teenager.

The Orchard - Done.  A sweet love story.  Learned lots about the perfume and flavor industry.

Faithful - Still reading

The Secret Life of Bees - didn't get to it

So 5 completely done and 2 half finished.  Out of eleven.  Yikes.  But in all fairness, I did add a few review books as they came along:

Softly & Tenderly - enjoyed.  Looking forward to the next in the series awaiting on my coffee table

The Encounter - quick, easy, moving

Hope Underground  - Amazing true story

So all together I read 8 and 2 halves.  And I did read a portion of one book I set aside.   Not bad considering how busy my life has been lately.  I don't know if I could name a favorite this time around.  A lot of the ones I finished were really good.   But if pressed, I'd probably make it a toss up between "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and "The Orchard".  Least fave would have to be the one I set aside.  And I set it aside because I was no longer interested in the story after the young teenager's sexual experience was described in way more detail than I wanted to know.  Call me a prude.  I just don't like that in my reading.

Most of the author's for me were new this time around.  All except for Ann G. Gabhart whom I discovered in the last challenge.  I can tend to get "stuck" with certain authors as once I discover I like them I want to read everything they've written.  So if was fun this time to branch out so much and to branch out a bit from the Christian genre which is my usual reading fare.

I learned lots this time around within the stories whether they were fiction or not.  "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" taught me stuff about scientific research, it's history, and ethics that I had no idea about.  Sorta scary actually.  "The Wishing Trees" took me to countries I'll never visit with beautiful descriptions of the lands and culture.  "The Orchard", though fiction, taught me things I never knew about the perfume and flavor industry that I totally didn't even imagine.  Very interesting.

If you're interested in reading any of my full reviews you can go here and scroll down to #32 - 39.

Thanks Katrina for organizing challenge and allowing us to share all our great reads!  To read other's wrap ups (and probably get more ideas for great reads) you can join the wrap up party here!

Friday's Fave Five #170

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  A place to just reflect back upon our week and find blessings, big or small.  What has made your week worthwhile, what has brought a smile, a little happy or helped you to carry through.  I know for some of us, this season is just plain hard and the blessings are harder to find.  But I encourage you to try to find them.  If not five of them, then maybe even just one or two.

1.  Performance that moves my emotions.   This performance at this year's Royal Variety Performance is beautiful.  I am not in any way an opera fan but I cannot stop watching this. I love the voices and I love the arrangement of the instruments. I'm driving my kids nuts 'cause it's one of those songs I have to play loud.   I wish I could sing like that.



Boy, who knew Nicole S. could sing like that?

2.  A good movie comes in handy when one is flaked out on the couch sick.  And I really enjoyed "Miss Potter" when I wasn't feeling good last week.  Several times I hummed and hawwed over it when at the video store, that is when we still had them.  Finally I picked it up at the library and I'm glad I did. It's the story of Beatrix Potter who wrote the children's books about Peter Rabbit.   It is not a fast moving or action picture by any means, but unfolds it's story, piece by piece.  Perfect for the time I watched it. 


3.  Homemade cream of potato soup.  With bacon.  Everything's better with bacon.  Yummy.  Comfort food, nice and hot, at the end of a busy day.

4.  Purchasing snow tires for my daughter's car.  I feel a bit better about her driving home for Christmas and then back again to where she lives.  She absolutely hates taking the bus especially at busy holiday times.  And even then we drive an hour and half to go pick her up at the station. She is an adult so insisting she take a bus is no longer an option.   So the plunge to get snow tires, while costly, is peace of mind.

5.  My first Christmas card via snail mail arrived this week.  Thank you, Laura.  You made my day.  I love getting cards but they are getting fewer and fewer every year with less people sending them.  Makes me kinda sad and long for the days from childhood where every surface in my Mom's living room was covered with cards by Christmas time.

Join us and share your favorites from the week.  Don't forget to sign onto to Mr. Linky linking directly to your post for the day and not your home page, please.  Have a wonderful and, hopefully, restful last weekend before Christmas!

Moments in Time 12/11

Well it finally happened...

the snow came.  The white stuff fell.  And it's cold, but not overly so.  Just perfect to kick in the motivation to get the Christmas decorating going.

The mantle is done.  The stockings are hung.

I love my nativity.  Purchased at Costco a few years back.  I try to switch it up a bit every year.  This year I left the stable off.  Kept my mirror up and didn't hang the big star.   The palm-y looking plant on the right is a bamboo my hubby gave me for our anniversary in the summer.   Seemed to fit so it stayed.

I thought the tree was so full.  Looking at it in "real life" it does look full of stuff.  But looking at the picture...not so much.   So it's probably a good thing that Oldest Daughter will yet hang all her decorations (about 21 of them) when she gets home on Sunday.

Ye Olde Barricade.  Not an option when one has a dayhome.

Not the coffee table decorations I dream off.   Plain and minimal also not an option.

Not Christmas decorations.  But ever present.  There's always kids toys scattered around it seems.

As are dog toys.  Those are all exactly where he left them.  I really need to train him to put them away in their basket.

Guess he's too busy.  Good thing he's cute!

The other day I posed the question:  "What books are you giving for Christmas?".  Well, today Katrina at Callipider Days took the words right out of my mouth, or rather my drafted post, and asked the question for Fall Into Reading.

"Christmas is quickly approaching. What book- or reading-related gift would you love to receive for Christmas?"


A book always, always makes my list.  This year these are on my list:

The Touch by Randall Wallace . 

       The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Mennonite Girls Can Cook by the girls that contribute to the blog by the same name.









It's also a well known understanding that a gift card to any book store in town rocks my world.  One of my favorite things to do is to take that gift card and browse for hours deciding what I would like to spend it on.

So what books or book related items made your list this year?

Friday's Fave Five #169

Welcome to Friday Fave Fives everybody.  Only a few more until Christmas is upon us.  The perfect opportunity to slow ourselves down in this very busy time and look for those God moments in our weeks, those moments that have brought a blessing, a smile, an uplifting of our hearts.  Join in with us as we take this moment.  

I'm fighting a touch of the flu today (Thursday) so I'll join you all in the morning (Friday) after a good night's sleep!

I'm back and feeling much better!  Thanks everyone for your kind words!  So I'm betting you'll know what the first one on my list is:

1.  Feeling like a new person!  A total 180 degree difference from yesterday.  And from the last couple of weeks in fact.  I, all of a sudden, feel motivated and raring to go on the Christmas stuff.  I'm thinking my ol' body was telling me enough is enough and if I wasn't going to purposefully give it a break, it would make sure it took one itself.  I don't think I've ever spent so much time on the couch.  I have a whole new appreciation for the comforts of couch.  The sick part wasn't so much fun but the total day of rest and sleep did me good.  Christmas here I come!

2.  Houston, we have a dress!  We had a budget, I thought it would be tough because she's quite particular.  But she laid her eyes on this beauty and knew it was the one.  Not the style or color she was thinking she wanted but once it was on her, there was no giving it back.  It's gorgeous, looks like a nighttime sky with stars sparkling all over with the clusters of shiny beading on the skirt!  A smidge above the budget but she kicked in the rest and we don't even have to do alterations!  And bonus, we got a great deal because the lady was selling out stock she had been building up to open a store which didn't happen.  T is going to be one gorgeous Grade 12 grad in the spring!

3.  Blockbuster rentals now at the library.  Since all the dvd rental stores have shut down in my city, the library has taken up the slack and now they have lots of copies of the blockbuster releases as soon as they come out.  For Free!  Free is awesome!  Free for 3 days!  And then the fine per day is cheaper than what we would have paid to rent for a day at the rental stores.  I loved the library!

4.  Dinner date with hubby.  Trying a new restaurant, a moment of unhurriedness together, having a chance to discuss Christmas gifts and plans.   Always a favorite with me.  

5.  Kid's laughter.  Gotta love the cuteness of preschooler's belly laughs.  Totally lightens up the day no matter how stressed it is!

Christmas is coming fast and I have just a few more things to get.  At least there will be presents under the tree.  Now whether they are wrapped or not , we'll just have to wait and see.  Just kidding, they will get wrapped.  I always like to try and throw some books into the mix.  I love to read and love to pass that along to my kids, even though they are not little anymore.

So enquiring minds want to know, well at least my enquiring mind, what books are you giving this year for the 13 and up to adult crowd?`

Unmotivated...That Would Be Me

Oh dear.  I'm seriously lacking the ho-ho-ho motivation this year.  As I type, the mantle is empty, the tree sits naked for 3 days now in the living room, the window is wreathless, the cards have been sitting on my cart for a week now and there is a distinct lack of snowmen sitting around the house.

Maybe it's the odd, nicer weather we've been having.  We haven't really had a major snowfall yet this year and the temperatures have been pretty darn balmy for what we should be getting by now.  These nicer days however, do make for nicer shopping.  I mean who likes lugging packages and bags while trying to locate one's car as it's blizzarding around you. To say nothing of sweeping off your car and scraping ice off the windows.   It has been seriously windy, but that doesn't stop us Southern Albertan's from getting out there.  We just get a firmer grip on our stuff, put our heads down and charge ahead.   But just a few more things and I can say I'm officially done with the gift shopping.

Maybe it's the busy October and November I had.  It left me t.i.r.e.d.  But November has waved goodbye 7 days ago.  So I'm running out of excuses.

Time to buck up, put on the running shoes and get to it.  Christmas is coming and will wait for no one to dawdle around.  Maybe I'll watch Christmas with the Kranks tonight and remind myself what can happen if I leave it to the last minute.

Friday's Fave Five #168

It's the first Friday of December (can't believe I just typed that, where oh, where did that year go?).  Anyway, that means it time to look for blessings that happened over the last week.  Are you ready to take a look no matter what you're week was like.  I encourage you no matter how the week shaped up, whether good or bad or indifferent, to take a moment or two and look for those things that brought a smile, a lifting of your heart.  If you are new, you can go for the guidelines here and then just join in.

It's been quite a week around here and I feel like my brain is really muddled but I know there are blessings that have snuck up on me if I just take the time to look.  So here are the five that I've chosen to share for this week:

1.  A day with no wind.  The day before yesterday was a day with no wind.  And for that I am very grateful. It has literally been windy since Monday before last.  Howling windy.  And Sunday Southern Alberta saw an extreme wind storm like I don't remember before.  I mean we're used to wind.  But this one was crazy.  Anyway, we had a one day reprieve on Tuesday.  A chance for my 7 day headache to subside and disappear before the howling all started again.  And for that one day, I am very grateful!

2.  Tea that relaxes.  There is just something about a cup of nice, hot tea that relaxes and soothes the soul.  Lemon/mango, organic peppermint and my favorite: lemon meringue have all done their job this week to bring the calm in a chaotic type of week.

3.  A cozy fireplace burning (or at pretending to) even if it is electric.  With the wind and snow blowing yesterday, I turned on that handy, dandy switch and got the electric fireplace blazing.  Not actually, though it did give off a nice glow of fake flames and gave the cozy feeling.

4.  Watching my crazy dog playing in the snow.  He loves snow, my crazy doggy.  He was out there throwing his tennis ball around and prancing around in the blowing snow.  Watching him definitely brought some smiles.

5.  Ladies Bible Study.  This week's study was sooo good.  Even though what we are studying is very challenging (we are taking on a book about offense) the conversation was lively, hearts were open and vulnerable to God's truth, we learned and we laughed so hard we couldn't breathe.  So good for the heart and soul!

What have you're favorites been for the week?  Share in post and sign in on the Linky, grab a cup of warm coffee or tea and have a nice visit with the others.  I hope you all have a very relaxing weekend.  With no wind!  :v)

Book Review ~ The Encounter

"The Encounter" by Stephen Arterburn


Publisher's Summary:  
A wealthy businessman travels to Fairbanks, Alaska, to learn why his mother abandoned him when he was a child, and in the process learns that not everything is as it appears to be.

The Encounter, the unique new book from best-selling author and counselor Stephen Arterburn, is a moving parable involving Jonathan Rush, a wealthy and famous entrepreneur, who is tortured by bitterness toward his mother who abandoned him when he was four. He travels to Alaska to find her but instead meets an enigmatic old woman known only as Mercy. Mercy has the information he needs but is strangely reluctant to talk to him. Somehow Jonathan must find a way to persuade a frightened woman to unlock the secrets of his past.

The book includes an invitation to the readers to verify the facts of their own stories, to accept the reality of their existence, especially the most painful ones, and to live in forgiveness. The end result is a healthy new way to look at life with an ability to share hope with others for the future. Healing is possible but requires truth, acceptance, and forgiveness, including of oneself.

My Thoughts:
A very quick and easy read, "The Encounter" was nevertheless a very moving story of the deep pain within a man's life.  Through Johnathon Rush's story the topics of rejection/abandonment, deep seated pain and rage and their consequences in a life, fear, healing, acceptance and restoration are touched upon as are learning the truth and not making assumptions.  Written by the man who started Women of Faith, the story stems from two real incidents in his own life.  It shows that confronting the pain and allowing forgiveness opens God's doors to healing and freedom.  The story is very relatable in the sense that most of us will face deep pain brought on by rejection at some time in our lives.  We may not face the same circumstance as the characters but the consequences of holding anger and bitterness deeply affect us all.  There are  questions in the back of the book to help the reader take a look at their own lives and start the steps towards allowing God to intervene.


Thanks to BookSneeze for providing the book for free for my honest opinion.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.


You can purchase "The Encounter" here and here.