May Long

It has been a good weekend.  Great and most wonderful friends came to visit us on Saturday.  They should be a little ways from home right now. Getting a good night's sleep before the last few hours home. Thx so much for coming, love you guys!!
Sunday flew by and it is already Monday night. The Neighbors are such good company and terrific friends. Even caught a glimpse of an adult Wierenga!  That's something I don't see very much. Great food too.  MERCI!
Got to chat with my sister this weekend. Miss you!
I am kind of excited about tomorrow, taking the company car to Calgary for a course.  Neat.
Well off to bed for some zzzzz.  night world.  jy

Busy Anyone?

I now know what the word means.  I thought I understood the word 'busy' but I guess up until now I was really not busy just moving and getting things done whenever.  Busy is not a bad thing, it just has to be an enjoyable-still-able-to-get-everything-done,-and-say-no-to-many-things,-in-a-reasonable-time busy.  Working on it.  Still overly happy with my work.  Just had a three day course on leadership and safety in the workplace.  Great teacher and I enjoyed the material. I am quite sure many found it a little dry but not me!!  Going through a few hiccups right now but I am trusting in the One who can and will work them all out.  Merci, mon Dieu!
Having some great friends coming for a visit this weekend.  Looking forward to their visit.  First time seeing their little cutie, Lincoln.  YA!
Also anticipating different things that are in the immediate future with work and family.  till next update, jy

safety, safety, safety

So it is safety week at work and wow,  I will be more prepared next year!  Lacey said grown men would not want to play hide and seek and games... boy was she wrong:)  Her hubby was leading the pack.  I received good comments about the new 'hide and seek' safety week feature.  Let's hope this enthusiasm carries on through till the end of the week!
Two more months of school for the kidlets. Caleb had a dentist appointment tonight.  Neither of them have had supper, it is shepherd's pie.  Who doesn't like that comfort food?  oh well, they will be hungry in the AM.  Till next time.  jy

short update

Have't written a whole lot lately, not because there is nothing going on, cause there always is.  Let's see, my two boys are loving soccer.  Troy is the assistant coach for Caleb's team and I am the stand in for Joshua's when his assistant coach is policing the streets.  I really do like coaching, it makes the time go by real fast.  My boys, the three of them, have been hired to set up and take down the nets, balls, and cones.  I had my doubts, practically begged Troy not to do it but it is going okay.
Busy week ahead with the Safety BBQ and safety week.  I think I want it to be over already so I can try again for next year.  I guess we will see what happens.
I am so looking forward to seeing my sister and sweet Carter.  That will be so great!!
I thank God for my life!

Weekends rock!!

I am still enjoying my job, weekends, and most everything else.  I am looking forward to seeing my sister in July.  My Dad is doing better which is such great news.   I am more than lucky or fortunate, I am such a blessed woman.  I am thankful for the children God has given me, the husband I celebrate life with, the family I have and the family I have been grafted into. That is both physically(through a promise before God) and spiritually(being born of the Spirit). I would not have the friends that I consider family if I did not know Jesus as saviour.
I am so thankful for what is in my sphere of Life.
This blog went a direction I had not planned but it is a good one.  Be thankful for what you have! You have a lot to be thankful for.

Fire extinguishers!!

I just need to say something about my work week, I do not think fire extinguishers are light enough! 250 extinguishers, a couple of helpful guys, and long days, sore arms, fingers, neck and shoulders...That's it.

Family Day

On Thursday, Grandma Gerry and Auntie Kelli came up for a most wonderful visit.  It was so nice to see them because it has been months! Kelli took us all out for lunch, which of course was an adventure all in itself.  We wanted to pick up lunch from A &W and from Subway and then bring it home to eat.  A&W was closed due to water issues because of the hotel being built beside it.  So we stopped at Burger Baron for the kids meals.  While waiting a while for our fast food, Kelli compartmentalized the box of the truck in front of us.  Kelli treated absolutely everyone, that great gal.  I got a London Fog too.  They are quite a treat.  I love my family.
We had a great time with the boys making coloured eggs with faces.  You can check out the eggs on my Facebook albums.  They are fantastic!  Egg trains, super heroes, princesses.
We celebrated Grandma's birthday as well and had Kelli's best steak without her :( We also had ice cream cake from Dairy Queen for the event.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day.  Grandma slept over 2 nights. What a great time we had together.

Saturday!

What a joy it was to wake up this morning without an alarm.  A Saturday to sleep in.  I was up at 8:30 and it was marvellous.  Just a lovely relaxing morning.  I did not consciously think about the fact that I did not have a day to get up without an alarm clock.  It is still strange not to have to set an alarm Friday night. Today is going to entail some cleaning, some outside time of some sort, it is beautiful out there, and some soccer tasks.  Getting all the coaches and assistant coaches and managers set up.  Getting there. I can see the end of the tunnel :)
Looking forward to seeing my mother-in-love and sister-in-love this week.  It has been a while.  Spring break for the kids, they are excited about it.  Had a great evening with friends last night. Playing games and visiting. Probably another reason I appreciated this morning so much! Well, can't put this cleaning thing off anymore, until next time.  jy

Titleless

No title, I really need to improve my typing skills so I thought I might blog a bit.  Although I must say, for only a couple weeks into this job and my typing skills have already tripled!  It is good.  

So, Lets see...wow, I can tell this is going to be a short blog, it might not even become one, lol. 

Been finishing up the soccer registration, that is going well.  Final day is Monday. Then I get to help put the teams together and stuff.  It is good.  Both my boys are anxious to start playing.  They practice in the driveway with our student and with their Dad. 

I am posting this, but hopefully, I will have some more interesting things to say next time.  Until then.

jy

Bergen

Off to the Bergen Store with my family.  The owners are so great! I love them.  Being off on Saturday is very good!  I am spending more time with my family as a complete group.  Lovin' it!  The work weeks are much longer but the fact that I find this job so amazing and great makes everyday a joy to go to the mill!
Thinking of John Boyes as he is in Rwanda, praying for his safety and wisdom for those he is teaching about God.  It is a great day! Although I hear my boys arguing... they might not think it is a great day ;)

Work and Cake

(So I am not as consistent as I had planned but I have surprised myself because I am really enjoying writing on this blog when I do it.)

The employment situation for me is the greatest.  I am officially the hourly safety representative all by myself this week starting March 6th.  I have had the opportunity to be with the prior safety rep for many weeks of training and it has been well worth it.  The guy is terrific and I have learned a lot from him on what to do and what not to do.
I am, however, looking forward to making the position my own and having my own desk and space in the office.  Life here is good, as much as there are many things I would like to change, there are so many countless things and wonderful people to be thankful for!
Upcoming events include day trips to some training courses, Pastor John's trip to Rwanda, the Easter movie service, Pastor Mel's no retirement party, anything else that will pop up along the way and of course the things I have just forgotten to mention  :)
Thanks to James, my sweet sister-in-love and her brother (aka my husband), I have a terrific painting of Troy and I on our wedding day.  It turned out so great!  Thank you James for taking the time to do this for me.  If you want to see it you should come over for coffee and cake!  I found this most wonderful Chocolate Cake recipe that is decent on calories and amazing on taste.  I even brought some (hopefully Troy will not be too upset I gave some of "his" baking away) to my boys at work today 'cause I had a new employee observation to do and figured why not get some other things done too.  Turns out she was not there today so I could have slept in.  Oh well, I really did not mind, I am still in the honeymoon stage with my job. lol.
Well, time to put my finishing touches on the third cake I have made this week, Troy will still have his cake!!  Love you, my husband...

Montreal Airport

It is 7am in Montreal as I write this. My Albertan family and friends are probably still sleeping soundly as 5am is a little early for most. I say most because I know a few people that possibly could be up, by choice or by force:-)
Well, my longing to see my family in Quebec was satiated somewhat this past week. Occasionally, visiting just makes it worse but not this time. I am so fortunate to have been able to spend some time with my Dad. I love him very much and the time we spent together was excellent. What an opportunity to be able to see beautiful and wonderful Claudia, handsome and smart Carter, mischievous and energetically sweet Samuel, little and most terrific Kate. My nieces and nephews that I do not get to be with as often as I'd like, definitely not near as often as I'd like. Their parents are a blessing to me as well. It does not matter how much time passes between visits, in the company of Evan and Jennifer or of Christopher and Claudia, I will always feel welcome and at home. Thx.
Church on Sunday at Church at the Elm was uplifting and purposeful. It is so great to see God's hand at work consistently from across the country. A lady spoke about her trip to Rwanda and it just made my heart glad due to the Word of Life investment in Africa, the lives that are literally being rebuild from nothing. The Children being cared for physically and healed spiritually. With Pastor John going to Kenya, Rwanda and the Congo, we as Word of Life Sundre can be a part of that rebuilding and hope. What a great thing to help in!! :-).
Well, Looks like I will be boarding soon... Until later.

Fitness

Not a title that is synonymous with me.  I want to get healthier and become more fit so a 30 day challenge lies ahead.  I have done two days.  The second day, today, almost killed me.  Wow.  Hopefully there will be some drastic improvement in my abilities after these 30 days.  :)
My friends are being quite helpful, almost too helpful if you ask me.  But I do not call them my very good friends for nothing.  Good friends offer the direction and advice you need, not the ones you want, necessarily.  So I am liking this challenge, as hard as it is.  It is from Body Rock. TV if you are interested in seeing what the challenge is.  it is the February one.
And on a different topic, I will be in Quebec on the 15th through the 20th.  I really want to see my Dad and this is a perfect opportunity to go for a few days.  See you soon family.  Okay, so that's about it.
One more little detail, a special mention to my sweet Snow, love you.  jy

Family

When I got up this morning, it was the middle of the night to some(that shall remain anonymous).  This really is my most productive time, if I can get out of bed:) I am family-sick.  I miss my sister and her terrific awesome family.  My sweet nephews and gorgeous niece who just turned 15!!  Happy birthday beautiful! I miss just saying hi to Evan and hearing his great not-so-sure-about-that laugh.
I want to see my Dad very much.  He is not feeling so great and I want to hug him.  I want to spend time with him just sitting or drinking coffee together.
Then there is sweet Christopher and his Claudia (I said her name in french in my head because that is how we know which Claudia we are referring to:) I have only seen Kate for one visit to Quebec.  Sure want it to be more.
My most cherished of humans that I rarely get to be with.  Spending the first part of my life with you is filled with such amazing memories and great times. I miss my Mom too.  Woke up a few nights ago really longing to see and be with her.  To hear her say my name in that loving and exasperating tone.  The memories of her filled me that night and I cried.  It is a sadder than usual morning.  Sadness rarely finds me, I much prefer to embrace the happiness I have.  Yet there is joy still in this too.  Joy because I have these people in my life and they have and are still touching my heart.  I love you, my family, I love you.

Work

As many of you know I am beginning a new job this month.  I am anxious to get going on it but I have to wait for some other factors before officially starting this new position at work.  In many ways, it has been good to spend time reorganizing things and getting ready to be a full time employee.  My free time will get much smaller but I know it is time to get out of the house and get back into the workforce at the mill full time.  I will get weekends off(yay) and be able to do more things as a family then we have before.  If it ends up just being the boys and me, so be it.  Troy is not too keen on doing a bunch on Saturday, which is fine with me.  Either way I will get to spend time with my entire family at once.
I was at the mill this morning for a meeting and I finally have an official start date: February 21st!  A very special day in other ways as well!! So, that is what I wanted to blog about today, a date, finally.  Can't WAIT!!!   Until next time,     jy