Fun with Friends - Part 2a

On Saturday, Bren, Carmen, Steve and I were heading into Vancouver to go to Taste of the City when I remembered that I'd heard on the radio about a 7-11 in Coquitlam that had transformed itself into a Kwik-E-Mart (which is the store in The Simpson's). We made our way there (with help from Natasha and Google) and fun was had by all! Apparently this store usually has about 20,000 customers each month and they went up to 80,000 this past month. I think it's now been made back into a regular 7-11 (it was a promotion for The Simpson's movie and the movie has now opened), but if you want to try and check it out, it's on Landsdown St. in Coquitlam.

There were sprinkled donuts like Homer loves and Squishees (our slushies) which we all purchased.

I got my picture taken with Apu, Homer, Barney and Marge.

I decided to help Marge with the groceries and Steve wanted to read Barney's comic book with him.

Good times and good squishees!

Then we were off to Taste of the City.

This year it was held on the PNE grounds which was much better than last years BC Pavillion location. There was way more room to stand in line and when you wanted to sit down and eat, if you couldn't find a picnic table, there was plenty of grass to sit on.

I got to eat mini burgers. They were so cute and quite tasty. The top one was Barbeque flavour, the middle one was Honey Mustard and the bottom one was Pesto. Very fun! I also ate a lamb hotdog with crispy chips, but I forgot to take a picture of them.

For dessert we had waffles ...

And deep fried, carmalized bananas. Mmm, mmm, mmmmmmmm.

And here we are enjoying those bananas.

Good times. We were so full that we rolled to the car and headed off downtown.

Stayed tuned for pics from the fireworks......

to be continued.

Fun with Friends - Part 1

Last weekend, Jennie, Jon, Carmen and I went bowling. Why we don't go bowling more often, I don't know ... well, kind of. Anyways, we had a great time. Here's a little collage of our "moves."

Here are the scores: Mildred = Fiona, Gertrude = Carmen, Helga = Jennie and Spike = Jon.

Gertrude and Helga did better on the second game (which is shown above). Mildred always bowls better in the first game and then her arthritis starts to kick in and her arm is sore for the second game and she doesn't do as well (she got 100 on Game 1). Spike also did better on Game 1, however, felt sorry for the old ladies and decided to let one of us win.

After bowling (fyi - almost every time I type bowling, I type blowing ... not, nice) we went back to my box .. errr, I mean, place and Jon taught us how to play Killer Bunnies. It's a really mean card game that could only be moderately mean, except when you have someone like Jon who kills everyones bunnies and takes no prisoners. :) ha ha Carmen and I had a hard time with the "mean-ness" of it, but we did enjoy it and said we would play again sometime. I actually won!

Thanks for a fun night, you guys!

Mock Away!!!

Yes, you may want to mock me, but I don't care. I really like his music and I love to dance ... and if anyone can dance, it's this boy. So yes, he is the 3rd concert of the summer and I'm sure it'll be well worth it. :)

This Sunday is The Fray concert. Hopefully it'll stay sunny because it's an outdoor concert.

Have a good weekend, everyone.

I'm Baaaaaaack!

Microwave - check (borrowed from a co-worker, although I found one in the house in the basement on the floor underneath a bunch of baskets ... and it's plugged in! I know I always heat up my food in the basement, don't you? - strange!)

Dishwasher - sort of check (that would be me)

Cable - CHECK!!!

Laptop - CHECK, CHECK!!!

Internet - CHECK, CHECK, CHECK!!!

I am now fully set up, my friends. I went to Staples and spent an hour and a half with a lucky fellow who I'm sure was ready to strangle me by the time I left, but that's ok. I walked away with a new laptop and I'm very happy and having a lot of fun with it. Yippee!!! I feel so self sufficient. :) Thank you to all my friends who let me spend countless hours using their computers and internet services. You've been GREAT!

So, let's catch up. Since my last post with pictures (the fireworks), I was lucky enough to be invited to a wedding on the most popular wedding day of the ... well, ever ... is what I've heard. 07/07/07 was apparently the busiest wedding day ever. I got invited to watch Keldy wed Jeremy. Here are some pics.



It was a beautiful ceremony with tears, worshiping God, laughs and the most amazing vows I think I've ever heard. Seriously, I think after Jeremy finished his vows there was a collective sigh throughout the church. One of my friends said her husband even leaned over to her and said, "Now I want to marry him." :)

There were a lot of people that I knew at this wedding. Watch out, Nance. You never know when someone's watching you. :) This is my friend Nancy with her beautiful boy, Ethan (who I went out for coffee with lately and totally forgot to take a picture - Nance, can you send me the one you took of Ethan and I?) It was just so cute how she was talking and playing with him that I had to take a picture.

And these were some more fun friends that were at my table. From top left - Mike & Kelly Toews, top right - Ken & Lisa Toews, bottow left - Karen Bowater, Me, Carmen Koop and bottom right - Bruce & Brigita Beer. Thanks for a fun time, you guys. It was nice to see you all again.

I'm sure you're now asking yourselves, "Where was that reception held? It's beautiful." And you would be correct. The location is called Sweet Dreams Bed & Breakfast and although you feel like you're way out of town in the country, you're really only 5 - 10 minutes outside of Abbotsford. The owners are GREAT people and incredibly hospitable .. oh, and she's one of the best cooks/bakers I've ever met ... seriously. You should even just go for a drive and check it out. Stunning!

But back to the wedding. Thank you, Keldy and Jeremy for letting me be a part of your special day. You really are the poster couple for Abercrombie & Fitch. Waaaaay too beautiful. :)

Congratulations and may God bless you richly as you set up your new home in NC!

Quick Update

I've been absent for awhile because I've now moved into a house with no computer, no cable, no microwave and no dishwasher. How can people live like this????? Ha ha. I know it's not the worst thing that could happen and it's better than paying rent, so I'm trying to still be thankful for a roof over my head. I've been looking into laptop's, but I found out there's no wireless for me to hook up to around my place, so it'll still be sporadic once I get a laptop how much I get to hook up to the internet ... or else the Starbucks people are going to get to know me REALLY well. I tried to get cable TV hooked up today, but between the lady on the phone and myself, we figured out they don't even have a cable outlet ANYWHERE in the house. Isn't that crazy and quite unheard of these days? I guess the house is quite old, so it kind of explains it. Wow, though. I was shocked. Luckily a co-worked lent me her extra microwave and I can handle being my own dishwasher ... I can even handle coming to the library with all the other nerds to check my email, but I'm having a really hard time with not having cable. Oh well. I'm sure God's trying to teach my something. I should go home and stare at the wall now and listen to what He's trying to say. ;)

Don't miss me too much!

Hearing God's Words through song

The other day I went for a walk around Mill Lake and I was listening to my iPod and I had it on shuffle so I'd get a variety of music. Awhile ago I bought the Kendall Payne CD (mostly because her song Scratch was on Grey's Anatomy), but I haven't gotten a chance to really listen to the whole CD yet, but her song called Stand came on and the words really meant something to me. I wanted to raise my hands to Heaven and sing out loud as I was walking, but I decided to wait until I was home where I wouldn't scare anyone. :) Click here to go to her website, scroll down to the bottom and find the song, Stand and then click on the part where it says MP3 and have a listen.

Here I am still waiting

For how long I don't know

It's a long way back from where I've been

But there's no where else to go

So I'll stand

With my face to the wind

And my back to the world

I'll follow You

And I'll go where You tell me to go

No I won't be afraid

No I won't be afraid

I feel Your wind is moving

I'm not sure where it's going

But I'll let it carry me away

Cause I'm not staying in this place

And I won't turn around...

Very simple and she sings it through twice, but she's got a really great raspy voice and it totally caught my attention. Kinda goes with my "honest" post awhile back and how I've been feeling lately. That second last line to me meant that I'm not going to let myself stay in this place of discontentment .. not that I'm not going to stay in this town. :) I just want to wait patiently on God and if He wants me to wait longer, then I'll wait longer, but no matter what, I'll follow Him and go where He wants me to go!!! Anyways, just wanted to share.

Hope you all had a great day. :)

Fireworks

I forgot to mention that yes, we did get to see the Fireworks on Canada Day after being kicked out of my house early so we couldn't watch it from the view on the hill. I did go back to that house the next day though, and the lady said they couldn't see the fireworks very well from up there, so it all worked out for the best. Here are some pics. Carmen and I both figured out that we have a fireworks setting on our cameras, so we went a little snap happy. I guess the shutter stays open longer than normal, so you can get some crazy, psychedelic pics if you move your hand slightly.

FYI - Jon's just being silly. He doesn't normally sit like that ... does he, Jennie? :)

These first few were off in the distance, and then I remembered I could zoom in.

Doesn't this one look like something from under the sea ... or a choosh ball?

The Grand Finale. Not bad for little ol' Abbotsford .. and an amateur photographer. :)

Support your local talent - Greg Neufeld for Canadian Idol!

Greg Neufeld is from Abbotsford and he's in the Top 20 to become the next Canadian Idol ... but only if YOU vote! Watch the show tonight at 9 pm and then vote, vote, vote!!! Support your local talent, Abbotsford, and help him get to the top.

This past Thursday, Greg was home and he put on a little concert in the 7 oaks parking lot. It rained quite a bit in the beginning, but it didn't seem to dampen anyones spirits. About halfway through it cleared up and it was quite fun.

He looked and sounded much more relaxed. It's got to be nerve wracking to have to sing and then be judged. But listen to this Killers song he sang. It was GREAT and I hope he gets to sing in on the show. Good luck, Greg!

The tribe has spoken ... and I've been voted OUT!

At least, that's a little how it feels. This is what went down. Last week I got an email from the people I was house sitting for saying they were coming home a week early. They wanted to beat the long weekend rush and would be home on Monday, July 2. I thought that was kind of funny to be home on the day that would probably be the busiest, but he said Monday, July 2, not Sunday, July 2 which could've meant he meant to say July 1. On Friday I emailed them again to make sure they were still coming home on Monday, but I got no reply. So, on Sunday I packed up and loaded my truck up with my first load and took it to my next house sitting place (yes, I am blessed to have another place to go to yet again). I did have a weird feeling in the back of my mind that, "what if the owners come home today instead of tomorrow?" but I didn't take it too seriously. Monday I would pack up the last of my things and then clean the house.

When Jennie called and said, "let's go for supper," I met her, Jon, Carmen and Karen at Earl's and we enjoyed a leisurely supper because the fireworks didn't start until 10 pm. I mentioned to everyone that the place I'm house sitting at has a beautiful view and we could probably see the fireworks from there if we wanted to opt out on the crowds. They said yes, and off we went. I told everyone my weird feeling about having the owners come home early, but we all just sort of laughed it off (can you see where this is going?). Since we had a bit of time before the fireworks, we decided to play cards. We had just set it up and Jon was explaining the rules to us when the doorbell rang. When I got up to answer it, Jennie said, "Is that them?" Sure enough. They were home! A day early! What to do? Well, as Carmen put it, I was in a frenzy. They said they thought they told me July 1, to which of course I could only say, "Oh. Really?" You know that feeling when you KNOW you're right and then start doubting yourself? That's what I started feeling. I started running around the house like a chicken with my head cut off. Jon, Jennie and Carmen were wonderful at helping me out and when I had one thing packed, they carried it out to my truck. I pointed out which food was mine, and Jon threw it all in a bag. Carmen pulled out the broom and Jennie cleaned the bathroom. There are a few things I can't find yet, like my makeup (Jennie, do you remember where you put that?), but I really appreciate their help.

After the initial shock wore off, the owners were very gracious and told us not to rush and that it was just a misunderstanding (yeah, on their part! ... sorry). They even offered to go to their daughter's for the night, which was sweet, but of course I would NEVER have allowed that. I apologized over and over that the house wasn't up to my standards of how I usually leave a house when I move out, and the part I felt the worst about was that I hadn't washed their sheets yet. I was going to wash them in the morning and have it all nice and ready for them. Well, luckily, like most responsible adults, she had a second pair of sheets (I'm obviously irresponsible because I would NEVER think to have 2 pairs of sheets .. haha).

Well, it was an experience and as Jennie said, "One for the book." (She wants me to write a book about all my house sitting experiences.) I know that God had that all orchestrated out because if I had stayed out after supper and then come home at 11 pm after the fireworks, the situation would've been even more embarrassing and to have to clean up and move out (by myself) that late at night .. well, it wouldn't have been pretty. So, thank you, God, for letting me have wonderful friends and for making a potentially REALLY bad situation only slightly embarrassing. P.S. I went back and checked the email they sent me and it in fact DID say, Monday, July 2. :)

Let me show you what I will be missing out on.

This doesn't look like much, but that's Abbotsford in the distance. My camera couldn't quite capture how beautiful the view is.

The Matsqui flats.

They also have a beautiful pond in their backyard.

With many beautiful flowers.

Here's the sad part. While I am EXTREMELY thankful to have another place to go to, this new place has no cable (heaven forbid!) and no computer (Zut alore!). How am I typing this post, you may ask? Well, lucky for me, my friend Bren is out of town and she left her laptop behind so I am at her place using her laptop. I know what you're all saying, "Are you going to go buy your own laptop, now?" And the answer would be YES!!! I will do a bit of research and hopefully buy one in the next week or so. But I have realized that just because I have a laptop doesn't mean that the house I'm staying at will have Internet access for me to plug my computer into or it doesn't mean there will be a wireless connection that I can tap into, so I'm just going to have to take my chances, or get really friendly with the Starbucks barristas.

So, I'm going to try to get a few posts in today because I don't know when I'll be able to post next.

I was going to let Jennie post about Friday night first, but seeing my urgency (paragraph above) and her lack of posting lately (sorry Jennie, but it's true, no?), I have to post about this now. On Friday night we celebrated Jennie's birthday (it was on the 20th, but she had the kids that night and that weekend). We went to Sammy J Pepper's. Don't try to make a reservation there. Not going to happen (but if it does, I'd REALLY like to know). Food was good, fellowship was hard because the restaurant is QUITE loud (maybe I'm just getting old) and Jennie finally got something she's been talking about for quite some time.

This was when she got a sneak peek as to what the gift was and she said her infamous, "SHUT UP!!!" She's so cute.

I think she's excited and surprised.

A bunch of us got together and purchased her this fine Kitchen Aid. Like I said before, she's been wanting one for ... oh, EVER ... ok, at least since I've hung out with her, so we figured she deserved it.

Happy Birthday, Jennie. You are a wonderful friend who deserves the very best. Thank you for making me feel so comfortable with you that I don't feel I always have to be "on." You know what I mean? I think you do. I love you very much and look forward to many new memories this year.

When we walked out of the restaurant, there was the most beautiful, vivid rainbow I think I have ever seen. Usually you can only see one end of it and then it disappears into the clouds, but we could see the full rainbow and it was so bright AND it was a double rainbow. It literally made us say, "WHOA!" when we saw it.

What an amazing reminder of God's love. Do people who don't know Jesus as their Saviour think about His promise when they see a rainbow? I know the story of the flood and Noah is "out there." I hope it crosses their minds.

One last thing on this entry. Remember when Bren and I went and test drove that BMW? Well, she didn't buy that one, but she did buy this beautiful Nissan 350 Z. It literally purred when she pulled into my driveway. SWEEEEEEET!

Congrats Bren! I look forward to many fun drives in this beautiful car.

Ok, that might have been the worlds longest post. I might do another post later on today, but for now, this made me very tired and I don't want to look at this computer anymore. :)