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

Work this morning

This is what I was working on this morning.  Now I shall take them to the flower shop.  The heart button card was the one that took the most time.  only one I am making any time soon!!  Pictures are supposed to say more than words so that's it for words today.  Off to the flower shop.

First Day of the Week

Today is Sunday, the first day of the week.  For me, Sundays are usually a six o'clock morning, although it wasn't this morning, today was a lot closer to seven.  With the new short do, a wetting of the hair or, better yet, a shower is usually a must. Due to the lateness of the getting up this morning it was a taming of the hair more so than control of it :) I was up earlier because Caleb was asking to watch a show at 5:35am. Why you might ask, well it isn't a school day.  The boy needs a lot of coaxing on those days to make it for 6:30, not Saturday and Sunday.  Enough said.
Needless to say, I fell back asleep.  So I was a little rushed but made it to church set up for 8:09am, a few minutes behind but no big deal.  Spending my morning in the house of God, listening to Pastor and friend John,  I enjoy Sundays to no end.  Can you say PEOPLE! (or my PEEPS!) Had friends over for a turkey lunch, and a different set of friends later on in the afternoon for Pillsbury chocolate chunk cookies and some games.  Just EXCELLENT company from the early am until late night.  Even now as I type, my hubby and a terrific friend are visiting.
People are so essential to me.  People, in general, fascinate me, but friends and family are priceless in my book.  In God's book too, for that matter.  I know I fall short(who doesn't) in some areas, but relationships are at the top of my list in importance.  I could see you only once a year but I do not love you any less than the ones I see everyday.  I might not get the opportunity to connect with some as much as others but you are all precious to my heart.
Sundays remind me that this is a relational world.  That God designed it as such so that we need each other to succeed in life.  I am not an island; neither are you, regardless of how you perceive yourself.  Thanks for being part of my life, I need you ;-)

My boys

Today is a snow day. The boys are home due to the temperature being -38 this morning! It's a great day so far. This pic is for you aunties and uncles out there:)

Brrrrr

Well, it is -30 here in Sundre, Alberta.  The kids did go to school and my plan is to stay home and keep warm.  BTW, I now have short dark hair with lots of vibrant red in it.  Post a picture later, when it isn't slept on hair.  It has been an excellent start to the week. Went to Red Deer Word of Life to hear Steve Murrell speak.  He was great!!  Spent a terrific day with my hubby yesterday, and topped off the night with the last episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" season 4. (Thanks for the addiction, sister Jennifer)
Now to go downstairs where I have turned on the heater and make some cards for the Forget-Me-Not Flower shop here in town. :)

New Year

My wonderful brother-in-love Damon had the most fantastic idea: blogging everyday for the year 2012. He is taking a picture about something that happened that day or what is important to him and writing a short paragraph. I want to do it too... With slight modifications. I do not promise a picture with every post or a post every day. I would like to do a post every day and I will try that but my commitment is for three posts a week. Thank you Damon for the idea and I do look forward to getting to know you better this year.
So that is my first blog.