Beautiful

I saw this sunset on my way home last night and stopped to get some pictures.

"Being together and Sweet Fellowship"

I got home last night about 9pm after an amazing six days with family and friends. It was such a fun trip!!!
Great speakers, fun times, yummy food, good memories.

The Easter conference was back at Martin Grove this year =) It was great seeing people that I hadn't seen in awhile. The speakers were excellent, and I really enjoyed their messages.

Sunday the youth group did an amazing Easter production. I was very impressed.

I left Stouffville yesterday about 1, dropped Amanda off at her place in Hamilton, then continued on my way, getting home just before 9. I love long drives SO much!! =)

It was great to get back here to Paul again - I missed him so much!!


I think I am still too tired to write intelligently, but I promised pics to a bunch of people, so here they are:

The girlies

~Alison, Jessica, me, Amanda, Esther~

It has been AGES since we had seen Alison!!
We had to take a picture since our last one of us together was... well... 'nough said.

*

Saturday night a group of us decided to go out to Williams Coffee Pub.

Ben tried taking a group picture of us, and it didn't quite work!
The nice waitress came over and took the second one for us!

~Ben, Essie, Ryan, Andrea, me, Manda~

Much better!!

*

Sunday night at D.Q.

Spenny, Andrew, Priscilla, Gail, Dave, Amanda, me

Sarah, Andrea, Amy, Danielle, Tim, Stephen

Essie, Ryan, Carolyn, Ben

*

The subject of this post was in honor of the 'sweet jokes' with Ryan!! Hehe... sick minded people...

From my childhood bedroom....

SURPRISE!!! I managed to pull off a surprise 'day early' visit up here!! Paul and Manda were the only ones to know that I was going to be driving up. I had a rather late start to my day, leaving about two in the afternoon. But it was an enjoyable drive - bouncing and singing along to loud music, and when I got bored of that I listed to a Mary Jane Clark book on cd - why would someone write books under the name of Mary Jane Clark when there is a Mary Higgins Clark?! I was disappointed in the quality of the book, and quite surprised at the dramatic writing style change... til my sissy pointed out that it wasn't Mary Higgins Clark I was listening to, but Mary Jane Clark. Oh the complexities of life.

I am rather hyped about this week. It is sad that my darlin' can't be here with me... he is in Ohio still working away, poor dude. I am super excited about the conference - Mr. Atwood and Joe Mikhael are the speakers, both excellent Bible teachers.

More pictures

Our trip

Our trip was amazing!!!

It didn't start out too well - with three hours sleep Thursday night, a rainy morning, a car that wouldn't start, making it to the airport with only minutes to spare, Paul's name being on the 'most wanted' list, resulting in him being both frisked and having an extra long and thorough search done at security, severe motion sickness on the flight... who in their right mind could call that fun?

Once we got to Phoenix everything got better. A sunny day. Eighty degree weather. An upgrade to a Jeep. And beautiful scenery.

We took our time driving from Phoenix to Lake Havasu. So much to see along the way!! We spent Friday night sleeping in the back of the Jeep in a Walmart parking lot. Not the best idea if you're hoping to get a good nights sleep. But it was fun, and provided many great memories.

Saturday we hung out in Lake Havasu City. We went swimming in the Colorado River, did some site seeing, and drove through the neighborhoods admiring the gorgeous homes and lawn work!
Saturday afternoon we headed to Las Vegas. We spent the evening walking the Strip. Saturday night was spent in the Jeep again, this time sleeping in the parking lot of a 24 hour diner.

Sunday we took our time driving back to Phoenix. We went by the Hoover Dam, and stopped by a 'beach' we discovered at the end of a long, winding road.

We drove a total of 695 miles!! It was pretty sweet, the speed limit is 75 mph on some roads, though trafic was almost a consistant 85 mph. We got up to speeds of 100 mph... which was probably my favourite part of the trip!! I love driving fast!!

Here are some pictures from the trip:

Us in Las Vegas

Cute little us on the side of the road
We followed a hiking trail for a bit


Hunky hubby in Vegas
I had fun with 'sun glasses' pictures!
Our Jeep
A couple more sunglasses pictures!

I found this heart shaped stone... aww!

Emergency underwear

We are just about all ready to go!!! WOOHOO!! In seven hours we will be on our flight to the dessert sun! Our bags are all packed, we just have to pick out some music to put on some cds to listen to on our trip - then we're set! In the process of packing I learnt an interesting thing about my husband. He is one of those emergency packers. Not just that, he is an "emergency planning for an emergency for an emergency" packers. He has packed, and insisted on keeping packed, ELEVEN pairs of underwear. For one weekend. All I can say is that he gets to do laundry on Monday =)

In honor of 'Nelly'

When I was little I had a life size baby doll named Nelly. She somehow got lost, and I mourned the loss of her throughout my childhood. Now that I am completely over Nelly, my mum reveals her secret talent - she can make Nelly look alikes!!

These are two of the dolls my talented momma has made (the one on the left now has a face!!)
I think they are so adorable =)What a great new business!! "Nelly dolls"!! =)

We're outta here!!

Woohoo - vacation time is nearly here and I can't wait!! Friday morning we are leaving for Phoenix, Arizona. Our flight leaves at 6 am. Then we will be back here 9am Monday morning. We have plans to go to a lake and Las Vegas. But the schedule is open to any cool things we see to do along the way. The weather forecast says it could be as hot as 89!! Sounds perfect! We are so ready for a vacation. Sunday night we spent our evening making shapes out of the bumpy things on our ceiling, and then playing chubby bunny with each other. Paul won.

On Friday I won something from another radio station... I am just not quite sure what I won!! I think it is gift cards to Brown Bag Burger - but I don't know how much. I heard the woman say "Call now! I will take called 9..." So I called, and was number 9! I just have to go downtown and pick up my prize.

How well do you know me?

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/linkemail02.php?quizname=060403113727-381050& Take the test and find out!!

Trivia game

I woke up this morning to a very annoying chirping bird. I wanted to shoot it. But I didn't.

I found a cool site that lets you host trivia games. Each day is a different trivia question. You register, and it will keep track of the winner. How cool is that? Check it out here:
http://my.funtrivia.com/tournament/Fun-Daily-Trivia-50024.html

For future reference, it will be with all my other links, at the bottom of this site (for some reason I just can't keep those links at the top!!)

April Fools!!

I pulled a great joke on Paul. He is with the reserves for the day, so I sent him a text message that said "A Mrs. Beahr called for you and said it was urgent and for you to call her back asap." Then I included the phone number to the zoo!! Haha. He called the number and got the automated message for the zoo. What a great joke =)

A fine Spring Day

springday 067, originally uploaded by pandjmorris.

Anita, Levi and I spent several hours at the park today, walking around "woo-woo" hunting and having a picnic! It was such fun!! =) I took 65 pictures of this little dude. Digital cameras are such fun!! I am not sure how to upload a slide show of all the pictures, but if you click on this picture it should take you to the "Spring Day" set where there are more pictures of him!

Adventures with Icy Hot

My muscles are so sore. This weight training stuff is intense. My daily relief is my bottle of Icy Hot just before bed. It is some good stuff! And works wonders on the stiff muscles. I slather it on pretty thick, and then pile on the hoodies and blankets, as I end up shivering from the cold!! But my muscles do relax, and I am able to sleep.

Other than last night.

I somehow managed to get a piece of hair in my mouth. Paul was fast asleep - so he was no help and trying to "lick" it onto the pillow wasn't working.

I had to stick my fingers in my mouth to find the hair.

Only I couldn't find it right away.

It took a while.

I ended up with the burning cold all over my lips and tongue for the rest of the night.

Not a good sensation.

From the fingers of a lifeless blogger

Today has been a super fun day for me. Not that I really did anything super fun. But I bumped into several interesting people, and that made my day fun. Living vicariously through other people. And to top it off, I am blogging about it. How is that for 'no life'?? Haha. (Caleb had the nerve to tell me that he read somewhere that the more a person blogs the less of a life that person has. I love you too brother dear.)

My morning consisted of me making up excuses to myself why I shouldn't go to the gym. It's amazing the excuses I came up with. But finally, at 2, I decided to go to the gym. It has to be done. If I didn't go on my own, then Paul would drag me there with him tonight, and I would miss my weekly appointment with The Apprentice. So I went on my own.
I have never done the free weights room on my own before. I have always followed Paul around, doing as he instructed me to do. And I have always gone about 9pm, when the room is packed with people of both sexes.

Who knew that 2 o'clock on Mondays the only people in the weight room are massive men with nothing else to do but get even massiver?? (I just made up that word :) I was the only female in that weight room. And by far the smallest person. (What a way to feel good about yourself!!) While I was there lifting my, what?, maybe 30 pounds, these men are doing 200 pounds and up. What a hoot.

I couldn't find one of the benches I needed, and was standing in the room looking completely confused. This huge black man asked me what I was looking for. I didnt know the name of the bench, it's just one that your feet are in the air, and your head near the ground and then you lift the weights up in that position. He was roaring with laughter at my description of that bench. But he found the bench for me =)

While driving with my window down I was waiting for a red light to change and this boy no more than 11 years old (who was on the sidewalk with his friends) called out to me and told me I was a "hot babe." Hmm. What was I to have said? "Thanks kid"?? "You made my day"?? "Grow up"?? I decided the best response was to stick my tongue out at him. After all, a mature comment requires a mature action, right? He got a sheepish look on his face.

On my way home I saw a "hiring full time" sign outside this flower shop. It's right by our place, and since I am not working, I thought I would go in and get an application. If Leah Mayo could work at a flower shop with no prior experience, I could, right?! The woman who gave me the application thought I was a nut case to ask for an application with no prior experience. So maybe that's not the job for me!! Her response to finding out I had no experience was humorous though, and worth the stop in for an application. I don't know that I will even both filling out the application. I can't keep any of our house plants alive.

MY PHILOSOPHY OF HOUSECLEANING!

I don't do windows because ... I love birds and don't want one to run into a clean window and get hurt.

I don't wax floors because ... I am terrified a guest will slip and get hurt then I'll feel terrible ( plus they may sue me.)

I don't mind the dust bunnies because ... They are very good company, I have named most of them, and they agree with everything I say.

I don't disturb cobwebs because ... I want every creature to have a home of their own.

I don't Spring Clean because ... I love all the seasons and don't want the others to get jealous.

I don't pull weeds in the garden because .. I don't want to get in God's way, HE is an excellent designer!

I don't put things away because .. My husband will never be able to find them again.

I don't do gourmet meals when I entertain because ... I don't want my guests to stress out over what to make when they invite me over for dinner.

I don't iron because ... I choose to believe them when they say "Permanent Press".

I don't stress much on anything because ... "A Type" personalities die young and I want to stick around and become a wrinkled up crusty ol' woman!!!!

Who I am today

So many people have contributed bits and pieces of their own lives to help mold me, to help make me who I am today. By others examples I have seen what I want to be, and what I do not want to be. I have been introduced to some of my greatest passions by different people who took the time to show them to me.

The greatest contributors to my life would of course be my parents. There are so many things they taught me, and there is no way to list them all. There are however several life lessons that stick out at the top of my head. The most important of them all would, without question, be the fact that they introduced me to God, and surrounded me with teaching about Him. No person could ever offer anything greater to my life.
From my dad I learnt to not take short cuts if it meant that your quality of work would suffer if even only slightly. How frustrating that was when delivering mail with him and I couldn’t cut across some ones lawn!! I always had to go back to the sidewalk, then walk back up the next drive way.
From my mom I learnt the importance and power of a positive attitude and leaving everything in the Lord’s hands. I learnt to make do with what you have, and to be satisfied with it.

It is hard to chronically record the people that have influenced my life, so the following may be slightly out of order.

I don’t remember much of my “formal” years of education, otherwise known as school. I do remember one incident with my second grade teacher very well. The grade two students were always paired with a Kindergarten student to assist them with reading, or to read to them. I was paired with the sloppiest and slowest kindergarten student. I was so upset as all the other little kids were so cute and sweet, and I had the ugly duckling. My teacher took me aside, not knowing about how I felt, and told me I had been paired with that little girl because she knew I would be patient with her and kind to her. What a difference it made, knowing I had been paired with her because my teacher thought I was the best one for the job!! A silly little thing? Perhaps. But it has been a reminder to me over the years. When I am in a situation that I don’t like, when my peers are in “better” situations, I think back to my teacher. She knew I could handle that little girl. She knew what she was doing. And how much greater is God, who has put me in the new situation that I don’t like or I don’t think I could handle. He knows I can handle it. He knows I am the best one for the job.

Camp was always a huge deal to me each summer, and two people stick out in my mind that have influenced me in positive ways. One was an elderly lady that lived on the camp grounds. She kept tabs on which girls received mail and which did not. That week I was one of the girls who did not get any mail during the first half of the week, so she wrote me a letter, just so I could have something to open at rest hour. That was such a sweet thing for her to have done, and really spoke to me about looking out for the needs of others. The other influence from camp was one of the Bible teachers. During one of her lessons she mentioned that when she was driving and would find herself tapping the steering wheel out of frustration from the slow traffic, bad weather, etc. she would change her thoughts to positive ones and make herself list ten things she was grateful for. A variation of the “Glad Game” if you would. It struck me as being such a great idea, and when I catch myself getting frustrated in the car, I start to list the blessings I have in my life.

Markham Bible Chapel is, I believe, where the majority of the people who have helped mold my life came from. They say you don’t know how good you had it till it’s gone, and that is so true. My church family was just that, family. I grew up with the people there. Laughed and cried with them. And the people there had such a huge part in making me who I am. How do I even start to list the way my life has been impacted as a result of attending MBC and knowing the people there?
I will just list some of the ways I have been effected, for like with my parents, there have been so many years invested in me that there is no way to recall or mention them all.

-I was taught leadership by the great examples I had with the elders, Sunday School teachers, Awana and youth group leaders, and then by the opportunities they provided me by putting me in places of leadership. I saw that leading was serving.

-An interest in missions was developed and encouraged, both by the endless amount of missionaries they brought in to speak about their work and by providing opportunities and the means for mission trips, locally and overseas.

-I learnt by example the power of encouragement, and how important it is to encourage others.

-I saw the creativity and the enthusiasm of countless women at the chapel who by example (whether to a large group or one on one) gave me a deeper love and appreciation of our Savior.

Being married has changed me and helped to further develop who I am. It has made me see much more clearly (or for the first time!) my vast faults and weaknesses and selfishness.

My husband is a constant source of encouragement for me to continue in my walk with the Lord. He has encouraged old interests and hobbies, and has introduced new ones to me.

God has richly blessed my life with incredible people throughout the years that have pulled or pushed or walked along side with me. I am very blessed to have had all these people in my life.

Double date and Rubbermaid seat

Last night was great fun - "stinkin' hilarious" I should say. It was the Chonda Pierce "concert" (she is a comedian, so I am not sure what to call it! A 'show'?!) We had won four tickets to it, so we invited Scott and Mindy to go along with us. The four of us (plus baby Grant) had a really good evening together. Chonda Pierce was funny for the most part. A bit long. Some strange beliefs. But it was a good evening out with Paul, Scott and Mindy. And the late night dinner at Chipotles was very good! Yum!!

We had Chris, Barb and JC Schroder and Davis for lunch today. With Paul and me that made 6. And we, for some odd reason, only have 5 chairs for our table. We forgot to pick up an extra chair at the chapel, and our trusty-borrow-it-all-from-them neighbors were out for lunch. So that left us to "invent" a make-shift chair. It ended up being a rubbermaid container with one of our African beanie chairs on top of it!! It was hilarious. I think we should perhaps invest in a chair!! Ah well, good memories!

My new vase

Date night

Sheridan Heaven, originally uploaded by mrlipring.

"Date night" is an offical day in our week. We spend alot of time together, but we decided that having a night to romance, woo and do something a little bit different would be a good idea. So at the beginning of each week we pick a day in the week (usually Thursdays) to have our date. Cell phones are turned off - or ignored - and best manners are a must.

Last night was date night. We went to a tanning salon. I have never been before, and it was really different. The first five minutes in the tanning bed I was completely freaking out, telling myself I would come out of it alive, reminding myself how to breath -totally not like me! I finally managed to relax, and enjoyed the last five minutes of it. And I would do it again for sure =)
After the tanning we were back in the car driving home and Paul gave me a bouquet of roses he'd kept hidden in the back seat!! Aww! So sweet!!! I had no idea they were back there.

We then played our nightly game of chess. I am so sick of chess, but the mister now loves it. He actually studied how to play it while dialing numbers at work. So now he wants to play ALL the time - showing off his new moves.

Scrapbooking Sale

Check out http://www.addictedtoscrapbooking.com for a great deal on scrapbooking things! You get $10 off your purchase of $10 or more - just enter SBCKNCK into the promotions bar. Your purchase must be made by March 31. Enjoy!

Should be cleaning...

It is almost embarrassing to post this... but we have won something else this week. Actually, two some things! We really DON'T pay people to let us win!! =)
The first thing we won was from a radio station and it was two tickets to a screening of a movie. That should be lots of fun =) It looks like a good movie, though I forget right now what it is called!
The other thing we won was from a cafe that drew Paul's name, and he won a meal there for up to 15 people. Pretty cool, huh? Would you believe that I almost never won anything before in my life? And Paul never won anything either. But since October we've won SO much...
* $50 gift card to The Cheesecake Factory
* $30 worth of dairy products
* Two tickets to the Globetrotters game (good seats too!)
* $50 gift card to the spa (twice!! So $100 total!)
* 8 tickets to the Gaither concert
* 4 tickets to see Chonda Pierce
But the biggest thing we want to win is a contest at Paul's work where they send the winner to NYC with an all expense paid trip and some spending money. NYC is my dream city, and Paul, Esther and Amanda have all been there. How unfair is it that I, who have wanted to go since I was 12, haven't been? We have probably stretched our winning abilities to the limit for our lifetime, but I am still hoping. NYC would be a blast! Especially with money =)

I will keep ya'll posted on that.

Saturday was tons of fun. We got up early and went over to the airport to check out what to do with our free flight voucher that we got last year right after the wedding when we gave up our seats. We got a number to call to make reservations... now to decide where to go!! Any ideas? Any where within the continental USA. We are leaning towards Florida, maybe Daytona. After the airport we drove around Cleveland taking pictures and exploring new roads. Then we stopped off at the West Side Market. They had strawberries for $1! I couldn't tell you the size, but everywhere else is selling the same size for $2.50 and up, so it was a great deal, and they taste really good =) Paul bought some really good beef jerky, and I bought chocolate covered pretzels and Gerbera daisies. They only had two left - orange and pink! Here they are:




After the market we went to the library to pick out some things to read and then went to a coffee shop to read. My new hobby! =) Except I wasn't able to read as there was a man right behind me who owned a business that offered wedding planners, djs and photographers and he was trying to sell the works to a lady. I was highly entertained by his elaborate sales pitch and was unable to focus on my book. Here is Paul at the coffee shop with his book and coffee. He's looking a little scruffy, but it's cute =)

Dressing the apartment

We have been doing a little more decorating around here =) By "we" I mean me picking out the pretty things and him nailing and (shh! don't tell!) drilling things up. I think we make a good team!!
I found a mirror that I like, so it is on the wall on one side of the table, with the sconces on either side (and they really are straight! The picture makes them look a little crooked!)
The other new thing is the picture frame. I like it so much. We wanted to re-frame the picture Paul's grandma gave us (she took it herself!) and we found this great wooden frame.
Next on our list for decorating? A rug for the living room and bookshelves. It never ends, does it??

An addiction

Jen Goodstadt has made me an addict. Though it is not an addiction that I really mind.
http://www.gymboree.com has the cutest baby clothes. After nearly a year of not going near that store (since there has been no Emma or Sarah in the picture for that long now) I have never had a reason to go in. But last night was hubby and my date night. And we ended up strolling through the mall. And *voila* we ended up right by Gymboree!! And since we were right outside of it, we might as well go in!! I loved it =) Every thing in that store is adorable. And over priced. Sigh. The downfall to name brand clothes.
It was very funny though as the over eager sales clerk came to welcome us to the store and to let us know she would be more than happy to assist us in spending our money in her store. I told her straight out that we didn't have any kids, weren't expecting any kids, and were not buying for anyone else. I simply like to look at the clothes. She definitely thought I was strange, but she left us alone after that!! And Paul had fun in there. He was picking out outfits... whales and frogs were appearantly big last season as they were all on the sale racks =)

Amish Country

I have been meaning to upload these pictures from Friday when Jennifer took me along to Amish country!! I wish I'd had an opportunity to take more pictures, as there was some great scenery and interesting things to see. These are pretty much all I took.

A girly thing

A good thing may come of Paul being gone for a good part of the month of May. There might be a girlfriends weekend thrown in there. Esther and I have been scheming and planning something for awhile now, and yesterday the idea of a girls weekend was created. Because plan number one didn't work. But that is all a-okay with me. A girl weekend sounds marvelous to me. So, the message is out. Any current or former MBC gals, over the long weekend in May there will be a party here.

"Voice Of Truth"

Waves at Galeria, Corsica
Originally uploaded by PhotoBob2006.

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
To the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out his hand

But the waves are calling out my name and they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. 'Boy, you'll never win!'
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a Sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on tell me
Time and time again "boy, you'll never win!
"You'll never win"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves don't seem so high
From on top of them looking down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

The voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says "Do not be afraid!"
And the voice of truth says "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

A bunch of nothingness

I have been on a reading binge in the last week. I had forgotten how much I love books. I finished Princess last week, and am currently in the middle of Execution by Hunger. Both are excellent books. I have a long list of books to try to put a dent in. Yay for books.
Since getting married I have learnt that I can lose myself in a book in a coffee shop. A feat I once thought impossible, I have conquered. Yesterday I had a mystery shop to do, so I took along my book and spent two hours lounging in their overstuffed chair in front of their cozy fire lost in a Ukrainian village that is being over taken by the Soviet police. Every now and then I would get up for another free refill of coffee. It was a grand way to spend part of my afternoon.

Paul and I were to have been up at 5:45 to pick Eric up and get to the gym for a little after 6:00. Some how both of our alarm clocks got turned off - and neither of us actually woke up until the sun came through the window at 7. By then it was too late to go together. I haven't actually made it to the gym in weeks, so I decided that I would go later on today on my own. And I did =) I weighed myself on their scales - and I have lost weight! Hurray. I still have lots more to go to get to the before wedding weight. I told someone today how much I had gained since getting married and she looked at me and said "Were you anerexic?" It was very funny the way she said it. Sadly, my body hides the fat well. I cannot fit in any of the pants that I could fit in before. I am not willing to hand them all over to Esther yet though! I will lose the last of the weight. With summer just around the corner and the possibilty of going to Nigeria still looming over my head I am all the more enthused about getting rid of the weight. Losing it? No, because I never want to see it again. I will get rid of it.

Little neighbor