See you in April!

Well, now that I'm all caught up, I thought I'd take a break. :) I know I'm not Catholic, but a course I took about 8 years ago talked about Lent and what the meaning behind it is. Ever since then I have given up something every year and most of the times it was sweets. It was hard at the beginning but I admit that it got easier every year. For the last few weeks I've felt God challenging me to give up something harder this year and I felt Him telling me it was my computer. So, starting Wednesday morning, in case you email me, Facebook me or leave comments here on my blog and I don't respond, I thought I'd let you in on what I'm doing and that I'm not ignoring you. I will only be available via telephone (phone or text).


In the meantime I will be heading to Ottawa for a few days for work, hanging out with my parents for their last few days in town, figuring out what to do about my job situation (oh, I forgot to mention that I didn't get the job that I had you all praying for. I know God has something else in store for me, but I do admit that I was disappointed - thanks again for all your prayers) and counting down the days until I go to Vegas at the end of March.


Have a great 40 days and I'll see you in April!

Great quote

for a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. but there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. at last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. this perspective has helped me to see there is no way to happiness. happiness is the way. so treasure every moment you have and remember that time waits for no one. happiness is a journey, not a destination ...

- souza

10 things I like ...

Sonya did this on her blog and she gave me the letter N:



Nations - it's my way of saying I like to travel without having the letter 'T' given to me. :)

Now - there's no time like the present!

Notoriety - I'll admit it. I don't go seeking attention, but if it comes my way, I don't run from it, either. My face will usually go a million shades of red, but I'm usually not actually embarrassed. It's just how I handle the attention ... that's the part I don't love because I'll hear, "I've never seen someone's face go THAT red" or "You must be SOOOO embarrassed!"

Novels - I LOOOOOOOVE to read. When I was a little girl, my friend, Susie, and I would each have 10 books and we would read (out loud) a chapter from one book, put it to the bottom of the pile and start with the next one. We had 20 books on the go at the same time and somehow we kept all the story lines straight.

Nativity - because it's God's love for us sent down in human form

Nutrition - ha ha! Had ya goin' there!!! :P

NBC - because this network has brought us great TV shows such as The Office and ER.

New York City - one of my favorite cities that I've ever travelled to. I could sit and people watch all day ... or go to a Broadway show ... or go to the top of the Empire State Building and sight see ... or walk over the Brooklyn Bridge ... the list goes on. I would highly recommend a trip to New York.

Number Nine - it's three 3's :)

Nerds - the candy, not so much the people ... and not because I don't like them ... I doubt they would like me because they are WAAAAAY too smart for me.

So there you have it. Wow. That was harder than I thought it would be. Maybe it was just the letter N that was particularly hard. I'm sure for the rest of the day things will just randomly come to me and I'll think, "Oh shoot! Should've said Northern Ireland because my friend Lisa is from there, or Narnia because those were great movies." Oh well. This was a fun one. Thanks, Sonya.

February ... most of it

To kick off February, Karen asked me to go to her school for a fundraising basketball game - the Mouat Hawks (and a few other local players) vs. the BC Lions. One of the Hawks was diagnosed with leukemia and one of his team mates is closely connected to the BC Lions, so they put on this fundraiser. I always forget how much I love the game of basketball until I'm inside that gym and hear those shoes squeaking and see that ball being fired at that basket. It was a lot of fun and had a very touching half time speech from Jeff (the boy with leukemia). Here are a few pics (I forgot my camera - what kind of blogger am I? - so the pics I took during the game were really bad with my cell phone because I couldn't zoom in). The Lions names that I can remember are: Geroy Simon, Ryan Phillips and Paris Jackson.

The highlight of the night, for me, had to be reuniting with my 2 high school basketball coaches. I made a hard decision in Grade 10 and left MEI and went to Mouat. If I had stayed at MEI, I would've played with great players, but little did I know that going to Mouat I would be coached by 2 of the best coaches in BC ... ok, maybe Canada! Allison McNeil was my coach in Grade 10. We had no Jr. team so I had to play on the Sr. Girls team that year. We weren't so good, but we had fun. She's now the Head Coach for the National Women's Team. For Grade 11 and 12, my coach was Pat Lee. In Grade 11 we had 2 players, so Mr. Lee sent us out in the halls scouring for girls to join our team. We did eventually get enough players, but they were fresh. Most didn't know much about basketball or the rules, so it was an interesting year, but we made it through. I think we won 1 game. Grade 12 was a little better. Mr. Lee has coached all over the Fraser Valley and has a great reputation. He's an excellent coach. Anyone who's had him as a coach is extremely lucky.

Last weekend I went to see Linda and Drew's new arrival, Joseph. He was their beautiful Christmas gift, born on Christmas Day at 4:00 am ... and she was home by 4:00 pm! Crazy, hey? At first, my excuse for not having seen him was all the snow. I couldn't tell her that the real excuse was because I hadn't finished his quilt yet. I finally got it done and off I went to meet this fine fellow.

Isn't he adorable? I was so proud that he smiled so much for me and now Linda tells me that he smiles at their teddy bears all the time. Hmmm. Thanks, buddy. :)

Joseph is a little brother for the beautiful Sophie and cute, little Adam.

Look what I did! Yes, that's me holding him, swaying away until ...

Awwww, so cute! :)

Next up was a mini Borne reunion. My parents have come to town for almost a month so my cousins decided to have whoever could make it out to their place for supper. I was so hungry that I completely forgot to pull out my camera until the food was all gone and my Grandma and parents had left. Oh wait, there's my Dad in one pic, so maybe I just didn't get good shots of everyone. Sorry about that. It was lots of fun and how better to end a night then by playing Dutch Blitz! Thanks, Rosie (and Gord, of course) for having us over. I can't wait until Bornefest this summer.

My Mom promised me that while they were out here she would make me my favorite meal ... roast beef. She did not disappoint. I forgot my camera so I took this pic with my cell phone. The meal looked MUCH more appetizing than this picture shows (and I got 3 sandwiches out of the leftovers! YUM!). Thanks, Mom. You're the best.

I took this picture because it made me laugh how interested my Dad was in my T4 slip. I heard about how when he started working he made $1.25 an hour and they paid $50 in rent a month ... or was it $25? I can't remember ... all I know is thank the Lord times have changed. :)

Almost caught up!

The month of January was filled with MORE snow ...

A baby born for a dear co-worker. Welcome, Brayden ...

Games night with great friends ...

Reconnecting with old friends (via games night again ... my first time playing Settlers ... and seeing their toddler again) ...

A birthday party where I got to see the old gang ...

And it ended with a bang ... Blogger Get Together!!!

What would a blogger get together be without great food and taking pictures of said great food. :)

Lots of chatting ... Looking through old pictures ...

and trying to get a good group shot with a timer ...

There we go (this one courtesy of Kori's camera ... and hubby)! I had a lot of fun, ladies. Next time ... Dutch Blitz!

I must say, though, that I was a tad disappointed with the lack of cameras with this many bloggers in the house. What? I'm just keepin' it real, ladies. :P Love ya!

Christmas in February!

Ok, it's not really Christmas in February. I'm still finishing my recap. In mid-December we had one of our first snowfalls. Everyone told me that since my car is front wheel drive, it will be totally fine in the snow. I didn't worry when it started snowing because I believed everyone. Remember, I used to have a 4 x 4, so I'd gotten used to being able to go where I want, when I want in the snow. Let's just say that the place I'm house sitting at now is atop a very steep hill and after my 3rd attempt, I had to abandon my new little car at the bottom and walk up ... in the blizzard that it was. This is how it looked the next morning when I walked down to it. I did have to shovel it out as the snow plow had blocked me in, but it wasn't too bad.

The other 2 pictures above were taken on Christmas Eve morning. I went out and shoveled very early in the morning before work and an hour later you couldn't even tell I'd shoveled. Needless to say, I was a little nervous about my flight that was supposed to fly out that afternoon. We got sent home from work at 9:30 because there were only a few people in the office so I went and sat at the airport hoping to maybe catch an earlier flight. Pretty much all flights were cancelled.

Lucky for me one of my best friends lives just down the street from the airport and they welcomed me into their home to spend Christmas Eve with them (collage below) and she even got up at 5:00 am to drive me back to the airport in the morning. Thanks Rachel!

My flight was supposed to leave at 6:30 am, however, we didn't board the plane until 9:45ish and after de-icing, we hit the runway and got up in the air at about 11:00.

FINALLY descending into Calgary!!!

I was so happy to get to spend time with my wonderful family. Parents, one sister, one bro-in-law, a niece and a nephew and even a crazy cousin that they let out of the loony bin for the day (just kidding, kind of). We played Chicken's Feet, napped, ate wonderful meals prepared by my wonderful mother and just generally had a great time.

The 3rd last picture is of the quilt I made my sister for Christmas. I was also making 2 baby quilts for friends. These are the reasons I didn't blog much in October and November. I couldn't tell you about them as they were supposed to be a surprise.

As you can see I got quite a few books for Christmas. I've already finished one of them and the others will come in handy starting next week. I'll tell you why ... soon.

The days of Jennie (oh, and Jon, too, of course) :)

A shower, some pampering, a rehearsal, getting ready and finally ... a Wedding. Couldn't get a better post for Valentine's Day!

In October my dear friend, Jennie, got engaged. I felt SO privileged to be asked to be her Maid of Honour. We didn't have a ton of time, so in November, as per my duties, I got to throw her a shower.

Then in December, just a few days before the wedding, I also got to accompany her to the spa for some pampering. Aaaaaahhh!

Then there's always the rehearsal the night before.

And then the glorious day. We gathered together to get ready and it all came together SO well. She looked stunning.

As I was in the wedding (and my friends forgot their cameras), I only have pictures from the reception.

Jennie, it was truly an honour to stand by your side on this special day. You mean the world to me and I am so happy for you. May God bless you and Jon with many wonderful years and may you always look above for guidance on your journey together.

Catching up via pictures - Round 2

For Thanksgiving I was lucky enough to go to my sister's place and spend some time with family.

Although these animals technically aren't family, I always enjoy playing with the fuzzy creatures so I had to include them in my pictorial.

They have 3 miniature donkeys, 2 horses, 2 rabbits, a bizillion cats and only 1 dog at this time.

Here's me and my beautiful niece, Bailey.

My Mom, my sister and I.

Me and my Pops.

The weekend after Thanksgiving I decided it was time for a change and I dyed my hair dark auburn. The day I got it done was also the day of my Bible School get together. Not everyone could make it, but we still managed to have fun.

I then had the distinct honour of accompanying Jennie on her quest to find THE PERFECT wedding dress. I believe she did a wonderful job.

These were the only real Fall pictures I took this year. I know, strange for me to not have a million pics. This old car stands on my friends yard and it looked so great with all the colours around it.

Then it was time for me to say one last good riddance ... errr ... I mean, goodbye, to my truck (I had it for 7 years which is the longest I've had any of my vehicles) and hello to THE MINI!!!

Ta DAAAAAA!!!

In October we also celebrated Karen's birthday. Happy Birthday, Karen!

At the end of October my boss retired. Her and I have been friends as well as co-workers, so although it was a lot of work, I was happy to make her a scrapbook ... here are some of my favourite pages.

Then we went out and partied at The Sandbar on Granville Island. The food was very good and everyone seemed to have a great time.

I'm going to have at least one more review via pictures and then I'll hopefully be caught up. Thanks for indulging me. :)

Catching up via Pictures

After I finished blogging about my trip this past summer, I feel like I skipped ahead to the present, but missed a whole bunch of Fall and early Winter stuff. I know I did my year in review poem that kinda said it all, but here are some pics to go with it.

Before I left on my trip, my friend Carmen got married to the love of her life, Chris. It was a beautiful wedding. Congrats, you two!

Since I was away for my birthday, we celebrated once I got back at the always yummy, Greek Islands.

At the end of summer I got a call to dog sit. Initially I did it because I knew they had a lovely house with a pool and hot tub (sorry, just being honest), but in the end I loved the dog more than the pool and hot tub. Her name is Maddie and she has made me seriously consider settling down and getting my own dog.

One last trip out in the boat (with my friends Mark & Rachel - their kids and Steve and Bren were along as well) before it starts getting too cold. These pics are of Rachel wake boarding, Steve water skiing and Aiden peeing off the end of the boat (can you tell which picture that is?).

I was so proud of my wonderful, friend Jennie who diligently trained for the 10km Police Run. She completed it in September minus her training partner (Jon) who had unfortunately received an injury that withdrew him from the race. Jon's brother ran the race as well and his wife and kids were there to cheer them on.

Road Trip time! Off I went with 3 friends to see So You Think You Can Dance (the tour, I wasn't trying out) in Tacoma. Got as far as Lynden and my truck broke down. We didn't let that stop us, though. After waiting for what seemed to be forever, we rented a car in Bellingham and drove as quickly as possible to Tacoma, sitting down JUST as the show was starting. I had gone to their tour a few years previous and had seats in the 11th row. As fun as it was to be there this time, it just wasn't the same as being able to make eye contact with the performers, but we still had fun, right girls?

Since my truck has been breaking down off and on for quite some time now, I decided it was time to upgrade. Let the car shopping begin. Below are a few pics of the serious contenders, but I test drove at least 5 other ones on top of these 3.

After much deliberation, I decided upon ...

I'm sure most of you know what I chose, but I'm going to leave those of you who don't, hanging for now and save the rest of my pictorial catch up for another time.

This one's for you, Kori

I've had a request to review a few lighter hearted movies, so here goes. Last weekend I went and saw New In Town with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr.

Renee plays a high powered executive woman who's company sends her to Minnesota to run a plant that needs some restructuring. She's the one sent because she's single. Hmmm, understandable, but touches a bit of a nerve with me.

Anyways, she's used to her city life so living in rural Minnesota has it's challenges for her. There to help her ... well, not at first ... is Harry Connick Jr. At first they are at each others throats of course, but eventually, over time, there's a minor crisis that has them acting as friends and so on and so on. If I'm ruining the movie for you ... you didn't see the previews. Don't you hate when a preview pretty much shows you the whole movie? Leave something to suspense!

Well, the movie definitely had it's funny and cute parts, but I didn't think Renee was very good. She was supposed to be this high powered executive but at first I thought she was playing the role of a Barbie. It was really weird. Once she started to loosen up and enjoy rural life, it got a bit better. Harry Connick Jr was ... well ... Harry Connick Jr. Very cute. :) There was a part where I believe Rachel (one of my longtime movie going companions) was wiping her eyes she was laughing so hard. The movie is fluff and predictable, but if you're looking for just a fun night out where you can escape to somewhere fun and not think much, this would be a good movie for that. I obviously needed a night like that last weekend and it's always fun to hang out with Rach, so I'm glad I went.

This weekend I went with Mark, Rachel and Karen to see He's Just Not That Into You.



Where ... do ... I ... start? Yes, it was pretty much a "fluff" movie again and I went to see it as a gentle reminder of how people (notice I didn't say "guys" because I know it can go both ways) can treat each other in not so nice a manner when in relationships. There were definitely some very funny parts and we laughed a lot, but let's just say when I got into the car, I let out a loud, frustrated scream. Yes, I did. The movie starts off by being very honest (mostly from the guy's point) about how a girl needs to get it into her head that if a guy really likes you, he'll call. He'll do something to make the relationship happen. Parts of it were embarrassing to watch because we girls can get sooooo analytical and yes, I've been there. I remember the days when I used to come home after being out and thinking, "Why did he say this?" or "What do you think he meant by that?" And you know what? That's how God made the female species so I don't believe that will ever fully go away, however, we as females do egg each other on when we ask our friends, "Do you think he likes me?" and we ALWAYS answer either, "Of course! I'm sure he's just busy this weekend ... and the weekend before," or "He's just intimidated by you," or my personal favorite, "You're too good for him anyways."

What if he's just simply "Not Into You?" Does that make him a bad guy? No. Not every guy is going to be your next potential husband. So, that part of the movie I liked. It was honest and gave us girls a real head shake.

Then it took a turn. I'm not trying to be pessimistic here and I know it had to have a Hollywood ending (again, not trying to ruin it for anyone), but it so fed into that "this is a chick flick - we must give them a dangling of hope" ending. I won't tell you anything specific about the ending, but let's just say that those who ended up together were blissfully happy and those who didn't, were either looked at as the a*#hole or the depressed.

Do I sound like I need counselling? Seriously? Well, if you answered yes to that question, it's a good thing I had my counselling appointment already booked for today. :) I've been meaning to talk about this for awhile but haven't gotten around to. Back in November I started seeing a counsellor. When I tell people that, the first thing they say is, "Why do you need to see a counsellor?" That always makes me laugh and my answer always is, "Why not? It can't hurt." I guess I should be flattered that people have to ask that question and aren't like, "Oh, that's good. I've been thinking you should be seeing a counsellor for a long time," but there's nothing embarrassing about going to a counsellor. I'm just trying to better myself. My counsellor has said that the best time to go to a counsellor is when you're not at your wits end and thinking "I have to figure this out or I'll die." You know what I mean?

The first time I went to see her I really didn't even know what I was going to talk to her about but we just started chatting and it's amazing how you can pour your heart out to a stranger if you feel comfortable with her. After a few sessions she told me that she thinks I'm a very well balanced person. That was good to hear ... but I want to keep it that way ... so I'm going to keep going.

Sorry, Kori. It started off being light hearted. :)