Aren't they cute! 

At the fort 

Pete decked out for the cold Saskatchewan winter... and yes they are real furs!

Fort Carlton... good Saskatchewan history 

Pete and the Kriste/an's 

James, Pete and me 

2nd anniversary 

WE are playing X-Box 

I am 5! 

Stuffy (again)

STUPID SINUS INFECTION...... ARGHHH
So yeah, ANOTHER ONE. If you read my blog enough you should know the rest.... blah... blah ... blah!

Anyways, the start of my week has been pretty good (apart from Tanyaès car getting bashed when she came to pick me up the other day). Weève decided to try out some different gymès see if we want to, or can afford to join one. So far weève only tried one, but it should be fun looking.

10 points to whoever can work out the stupid mistakes that, for some reason, my keyboard insists on doing!

Something I nicked from Tanya

1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A SECOND HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE? A villa on the little island of Rhodes.
2. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING? My floaty 'going away' top that I wore the day after our wedding.
3. THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT?The new Phatfish album "Favourite (something)"
4. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?On weekdays - 6.20am, weekends when I wake up (around 9ish)
5. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE? Potato ricer (thanks Aunt Susan for buying me it)
6. IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Piano, which is stupid because I had lessons and gave up, I'm too lazy by far!
7. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV? Sports car
8. DO YOU BELIEVE IN AFTER LIFE?Yes indeedy
9. FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK? Mr Men and Little Miss
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? An English spring
11. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? To fly
12. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT?I don't have one.
13. CAN YOU JUGGLE?No, not at all.
14. THE ONE PERSON/PEOPLE FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD GO BACK AND TALK TO? Emma
15. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE DAY?Sunday.
16. WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR? Depends on what sports equipment L last needed
17. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SUSHI OR HAMBURGER? Sadly hamburger
18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER? Not sure anymore, I do like roses, lilies and orchids tho.
19. FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Strawberry cheesequake from Dairy Queen
20. BUTTER, PLAIN, OR SALTED POPCORN?Butter & salt.
22. WHAT KIND OF CAR DO YOU DRIVE? 2000 Alero Oldsmobile.
23. FAVORITE SANDWICH? Chicken salad
24. ON VACATION, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? England or Greece
25. FAVORITE BRAND OF CLOTHING? River Island or Next
26. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Stockton on Tees, Teesside, UK
27. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH? Football! (The real football)
28. COKE OR PEPSI? Pepsi
29. ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL? When I was in my teens night owl, now (I'm such a granny) morning.
30. WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? The first in Michael Phillips Caledonia series 'Legend of the Celtic Stone', it stirs the small fraction of Scottish blood in me.

Catch up

July seems to be flying by which is a good and bad thing. I want summer to last as long as possible, (I want a good tan), but Mum is coming to visit at the beginning of September (YAY), so I want it to be then already. And I'm enjoying Cameco but miss YFC BADLY, I am such a bundle of contradictions right now.
Last Thursday night we went to 'Taste of Saskatchewan' down near the Bess, man was it heaving! We bumped in to Darren, and spent the rest of the evening very enjoyably catching up with him, and he gave me fresh lettuce from his veggie patch...SO GOOD!
Friday we went to Kristins parents place for her birthday BBQ, it was fun, eating, chatting , being goofy... I love our friends from church! And then we nipped over to L's parent's new place which at that point was empty as their stuff in storage couldn't be delivered until today.
Saturday L went to play basketball, then in the evening Darren came over, I made Souvlaki (it was really good if I do say so myself), and we watched Hitch.. good movie.
Lindsay and I had a well needed alone day on Sunday (apart from a burst of Joy which was GREAT;-), and just spent time together. I love my husband, he is SO GOOD! So good.... the best, such a very huge blessing.... did I mention that I LOVE HIM! Yeah, so Sunday was great.
Last night we went to L's parents place and L helped do some of the heavier jobs.
Tonight I had a good long chat with Tanya (I missed her while she was away last week), and then Derek and Dawn came over and brought Hannah to see us. Unfortunately evenings aren't Hannah's best time of day or she hates me, so I didn't get a good cuddle cos she always started screaming. But they had brought an ice cream pizza which was really nice, so I was happy with that, and it was just really good to hang out and catch up.

I'm sorry to be repetative but I am feeling pretty homesick right now, it's funny how it comes in waves. Just seems to keep crashing over me. But I don't want to not be homesick, I love my family, friends and country very much. Sometimes I feel like I don't do it justice when I try to explain what it's like back home, let me just say that to me it will always be the most beautiful place on the planet, Great Britain is beautiful, with an amazing history and heritage, I am very proud to British.

Anyways enough slushyness.

No blogs

Haven't really blogged much in the last week or so because I haven't really felt like it. The biggest thing from last week wasn't good, and I didn't feel like I had any right to even blog about it... Allison and Ryan lost the baby... I feel awful for them... every thing else seems trivial. Please pray for them, they would really appreciate it.

Some good warm weather

It looks like we are gonna have at least one good hot week this week...hooray!

We planted some plants tonight, they were donated to us by some friends from church, Peter and Helen, who are a really sweet couple (and so funny). So I am very grateful, it's good to have some nice plants in our border. I love having a garden, it's so good just to have our own little patch of grass, and some pretty flowers.

I keep meaning to say how much I really like the Spearmint and Lavender Source Shower gel that Bob and Marie-Ann gave me at Christmas (Marie-Ann must have remembered that I always used to buy it), so I'm hoping Mum brings me some over in September, cos it is a really good shower gel to wake you up. Along those lines I miss Boots, such a good shop to get good smellies.... ah well. Oh yeah, and some bath confetti from there would be good too Mum ...ta.

So I had my first day back at Cameco today. It was a good day, it was nice to be working in that office again, the people are just really nice. But I do miss YFC, I miss the ministry and fellowship. But I'll be back there again soon, I'm thankful God has blessed me with such a good job for the summer.

Some prayer requests:
Please, please continue to prayer for Dwayne Harms and his family, cancer is such a hard thing to deal with as a family. To read his story go here www.dhjourney.blogspot.com
We would really appreciate prayer for the YFC ministry:
- the safety of staff members as they travel to different camps to teach
- preparations for the coming school year
- my support both financial and prayer
And it would be great as well if you can pray for me while I am working at Cameco, that God would be continuing to teach and discipline me, and that I would be a shining light in that place.

THANK YOU

GOD BLESS

Grey day (in more ways than one)

Well after sunny warm days earlier in the week, yesterday and today have been grey. It's helped cool the house down, but I'm hoping it is sunny this weekend, as we're at our friends cabin and I want to go toobing. Plus we're going to the Riders game tomorrow night and don't want it to rain.

I'm feeling a little sad today. I'm still feeling homesick. But I was reading Dwayne's blog this morning, and it made me think a lot about David, my step-dad, I miss him so much. And I can't help feeling pain for what Dwayne and his wife are going through even though I don't know them.

Prayer request

Please could you pray for Dwayne Harms and his wife, he is a pastor here in Saskatoon, and he may have cancer. Please could you also pray for 2 of Nicole's (the other admin lady here) supporters, they are both struggling with cancer. Please could you pray for healing, strength and comfort for themselves and their families.

God bless

Blogging

I'm funny, I go through spurts. Sometimes I just want to put an entry on here every day, and then other times ... I just can't be bothered... I'm so lazy.

WOW we had a HUGE storm last night. Where we were we had thunder, lightening, rain and hail. Apparently not all the city got the hail....lucky them, it was so noisy, plus I'm lying in bed wondering if the hail is leaving dents in my car.

So I'm tired, grumpy and homesick today. What I would really like to do today is go for a walk from the Golf course, by the river, to the Blue Bell and get ice cream from the cute coffee shop in Yarm..... homesickness sucks... I have a big, I'm-not-gonna-cry, lump in my throat now.

Congratulations Allison & Ryan

I am SO excited about this. Allison & Ryan are having a BABY! And we are SUPER pleased for them. For more details click on the Link to Allison's blog.

2nd Anniversary

Last night was so great, I LOVE my husband, he is so sweet, kind and just so HOT. We went to red Lobster courtesy of our realtor (from buying the house thru him), Linds had Ceasar salad to start (yes vegetables) then steak and shrimp with fries. I had Clam Chowder, then the Ultimate (snow crab legs, garlic shrimp, lobster tail) with cheddar mashed potatoes, it was REALLY good. Then for dessert we shared a Vanilla Bean Cheese Cake. And to wash it all down we shared some Pinot Grigio wine. It was fun and relaxing, then we rented The Aviator (L's choice), which was good, but we stopped it an hour before the end as I as falling asleep (such a granny), so we'll try and finish that tonight (at some point).

Got so much on tonight, meeting Daryl, Dawn & Kristin at Wendy's for a supper meeting concerning YFC @ 5pm, then have our care group at our house @ 7pm (which we need to clean for and make snacks for), and then we want to finish The Aviator.... how many hours in the day are there? But I'm not going to complain because I love all the people we get to hang out with tonight.

Such a good weekend

We had such a fun weekend. Friday night was the Snr High Grad Banquet, where all the grads bring their families and all the other youth serves the banquet. It was really good, the food was SO GOOD, and all the parents spoke about their grads.... it was really good to hear parents really sharing their hearts about their child, so positive.

Then Saturday night Lindsay went to Marks stag do, so I had a few ladies over (meaning about 15) and we had fondue, played games, chatted and watched St Elmo's Fire. SO good.

Church on Sunday was celebration Sunday, so there was an orchestra and everything, the worship was just great. And instead of Russ preaching they had people sharing how God had been working over this last year. There was a BBQ after the service, which was fun, all the church just ate, chatted and had fun, it was nice.

And as our anniversary is today, after we were done the BBQ yesterday, Lindsay & I went shopping together to get gifts for each other, we put some money aside at Christmas for this purpose, so I was excited. So I got Lindsay a nice GAP shirt, and he got me a really beautiful pair of earrings.

Music

Bare Naked Ladies ..... people just love them here. I'm not too sure, mainly because I only know one song: 'One Week'. Which is a great song, I just don't know any others, cos it was the only song I ever heard of theirs in the UK. But since I have 6 hrs worth of their music available to me here at work, I'm sure I'll have a better knowledge soon.

Along the same lines I LOVE Hillsong United, they're so good. And my passion for Phatfish is being renewed, I love when you listen to CD's that you haven't listed to in monthes, and you remember just how GREAT they are.

Sore with blisters

We didn't jog last night, we decided we were too sore and tired for that, so we decided that instead we should just do a good long brisk walk. Which we did, a good hour and 10 minutes, I was quite proud of myself and I feel suitably sore this morning too. But I stupidly just wore my sandals, so now have really nice big blisters, plus it started to rain 5 minutes before I reached home, BUT there was an amazing double rainbow, which was SO bright it totally made up for all the little stupid annoyances.

Allison came over last night to get our money and give us tickets for the fundraising dinner her soccer (football) team are having next week, I'm really looking forward to that, I love spending time with Allison & Ryan.

Jogging

I went jogging with Tanya last night, to be honest it was a couple of short bursts of jogging and lots of walking, but I still feel pretty good about it. And I do need to start somewhere ... right?

I hate trying to lose weight it is one of the hardest things to do, and the suckiest thing is when you've worked really hard for a couple of months, and actually managed to do really well and then in a few short weeks you can spoil it all. Christmas is one of those big spoilers, so I've decided (I know it's monthes away but you gotta plan) that I'm gonna work really hard over the summer on the eating thing and exercise thing, and pysch myself up for Christmas, ie learning how and when to say no.

Looking forward to tonight, not got much planned except for maybe tidying up the house and jogging with Tanya, I like when there's no rush.

I just remembered, a big FAT warning for all you drivers in Saskatoon. I keep getting parking tickets when I park just across from my work, even tho there is no sign there not to, but there is a sign on the other side of the road. Now I have been twice to City Hall now to try and sort this out, the first time I was told that if one side of the street is 2hr only then the other side is too, which sounds crazy to me and most people I have talked to, but when it was looked in to they cancelled the ticket and said it was a mistake. So I went yesterday with my new ticket and the old ticket and letter of cancellation, and asked if they would just sort it out, cos I don't want to keep getting a ticket if I'm not parked illegally. If I'm NOT meant to park there then just PUT UP A SIGN! Grrrr this has really annoyed me, but hopefully it'll get sorted out soon.

New blogger

My good friend Kristan is a new blogger! YAY. She is such a cute, funny, friendly person, and how she writes is TOTALLY how she talks, so check out her blog at: http://kristanperpeluk.blogspot.com/

She's fun!

Repeating repeating

I have the C-stone blog open right now, and The Foo Fighters just keep repeating themselves 'It's times like these...' . Anyways, man the last couple of monthes have zoomed by, moving house, Pete being here, YC, work... I feel like my feet have barely touched the ground. Pete's visit was SO good by the way, the house seemed emptier after he had left, I kinda got used to him being here.

L's parents are moving so they have given us their really nice love seat and sofa, I LOVE them.

We went out to Taunte Maria's for dinner last night (Mennonite restaurant), which was nice, it was for Diane's birthday, so her parents were there too which was good cos they're really fun. Daniel and Steven were on top form entertaining everyone, I love them, they are so cute, and they adore Uncle Lindsay which is so adorable to watch. After dinner we had our care group, so we went over to William & Lisa's. We're studying the Beattitudes right now, which raises some interesting Q's, last night we were focusing on the 'pure of heart', it was a really good discussion. Baby Hannah is suddenly finding her voice, which mummy (Dawn) apologised for, but none of us mind at all. Later I got to have a nice cuddle with Hannah, which was so good.

On the YFC front thngs are a little bit not so good, but we're working on it. Basically I haven't been able to fundraise what I need as quickly as I need to, so I am being laid off for a couple of monthes while we work on the fundraising thing. Not fun, but that's OK. I know this is what I am meant to be doing so I just need to trust that God will provide. But please pray for us, we would really appreciate that.

I am really sorry for lack of photo's, but our computer, at home, is dying a painfully slow death, so I haven't been able to put any on here yet, and may not be able to for a while, so you've been warned, this isn't a picture book anymore, you'll just have to be content with reading the words!

YC Edmonton

Hey, we had SUCH a good weekend. I missed L lots (he didn't go), but had great fun hanging out with youth and friends. I managed to sunburn my forehead and nose, and get a HUGE bruise on my leg due to moshing.

Check back later for all the info and photo's (if our 'puter hasn't died).

Sleeeeeeeeeeeep

After 3 nights of none existant sleep, last night was sooooooo good. I felt so much better this morning. I have to say that I am now in awe of new mothers who for monthes don't really get a decent nights sleep, HOW DO THEY DO IT?

With this weekend being a long weekend, we are hoping to go away, still don't have anywhere to stay, but we're hopeful.


Oooooh and we're trying to decide what to do with our little patch of dirt... do we plant veggies or flowers.... choices choices.

Sleep deprivation

When everything is good and normal, I sleep like a log, Lindsay gets annoyed when I can fall asleep and stay asleep during the noisiest thunderstorms while he tosses and turns. And I am a person that SERIOUSLY needs her sleep, not that I can't do a weekend away with youth, I just prepare myself for a lack of sleep that weekend.

What I can't hack is when without warning I have 3 nights in a row without proper sleep. Yesterday wasn't so bad as work had a 'God morning', which meant I got up and spent the morning watching a Nooma DVD, then praying and reading my Bible, it was awesome to have a quiet morning with God. But this morning I feel like the walking dead, and to make it even more special I have stomach cramps too.... oh the joys.

Just 6 days to Pete arriving...... hurrah!

Loves

I LOVE:

Cornergas - it is just so 'split your sides' funny!!!! And I don't care if others say otherwise.
MSN 7 - I'm becoming a bother to Matt cos I just nudge and wink at him all day, bless.
Lindsay - he puts up with so much, I had the runs last night and he was such a sweety, I have an AWESOME husband!
Spring/Summer - BRING ON THE SUN
Steak - rare and bloody ... YUMMY
My Snr High Care group - they are such sweeties, I love our little group, I'm very excited going to Fuddruckers this Friday.
Saskatoon YFC - the team here are just 'class' to work with, and I love watching God work through this ministry.

Announcements

OK, OK, OK. Before anyone else gets their knickers in a twist, I have a couple of announcements, lets call this the 'Births, deaths and Marriages' of this blog (without the deaths thankfully).

Lets start with babies, I am REALLY pleased to announce the birth of Hannah Joy, the proud parents being Dawn and Derek, Hannah is SUCH a good baby, I love her lots already. Also my colleague at work Barb, has just had a little boy called Alexander. And our friend, who was on Y1 with L, Seth and his wife Lesley are expecting their first baby in November (I think). And last but not least one of my boys from Norwich, Dan, is getting married this coming summer to Naomi, who I haven't met yet, but I've been assured that she is a lovely girl.

On the Norwich note, Pete is coming to visit me in 2 weeks!!!! YAY. Very excited, just hope he doesn't hate the prairies, it's an acquired taste don't you know.

On a YFC note, we had our Youth Pastors day yesterday, so I was running around organising the food and taking lots of notes. I loved it. It was such a good day :-)

My random thoughts

This morning's random thoughts.... please don't rain today, I want the sun.... Man this song reminds me of Tim (my ex boyf), that was a stupid relationship..... I wonder if Daryl will take a picture of me in this T-Shirt for my mum... I can't remember when mum said she'd be arriving at my bro's.... what on earth do I buy Bob (bro) for his b'day.... stupid boys, they're so hard to buy for..... ooooh, I should send something for Ben (nephew), forget Bob, there is LOADS of cute stuff for Ben..... can someone please move those clouds out of the way!

And my mum wonders how I can veer off a subject so quickly;-)

Stupid weather

I can't believe this (although I should really, I've lived here almost 2 years now), it was +20 just a week ago, I was wearing t-shirt, capri's and sandals. Today it's snowing and -1, it SUCKS.

On the bright side, I'm having my Snr. High care group over tonight to watch a film, so that should be fun.

Mid Morning

So I'm quickly taking a 5 min respite from filing, organising, computer dry eyes and such.

We moved in to out new house at the weekend, so good to move in to our own home. But a BIG bummer was that mice had taken up residence in the room our stuff has been stored in over the winter, and chewed, pooped and wee'd all over the rug David (my step-dad) had given me as an 18th birthday gift ... when we found it I cried ... but I think it's salvagable (if that's spelt right), but I'm still gutted, I still miss David, it still makes me sad.

One step up the property ladder

Yes, we have bought ourselves a house. A townhouse condo to be exact (3 bedroom terrace - Brits). We are very excited and will be moving in the next week or two.

Man, it is stressful buying a house, and flipping complicated. I don't know how people can do this more than once or twice, seriously.

But, YAY we own a house......WOOHOO!

Whirlwind

As in I feel like I'm in one. This week has been CRAZY! The staff that were on Calbreak are all back now, and making the office alive again, and we're all running around like headless chickens trying to get stuff ready for the banquet (which is going to bo SO GOOD, by the way).
Plus me and Lindsay have been making a big decision this week, which has been a tad stressful, but watch this space for further up dates on that one.

Can someone please tell me what the deal is with repeats over here??? In the UK, you usually know when a show is being repeated, you know the whole series is being repeated, whereas over here you switch the TV on expecting the next episode of the new show and can be greeted with something you only watched in the last 3 monthes....this happened to me TWICE last night...it's disgraceful! So I ended up going to bed early last night, just after 9, which may not have been a bad thing as I was out like a light fairly quickly, and felt pretty refreshed this morning.

Banquet

Well, now that the Calbreak is over, we are focusing on the annual fundraising banquet, which is just over a week away ... YIKES! So we're all working hard. I've been making so many calls to people, I always get the impression, when I first talk to them, that they don't know why I have called them, I think they think I'm telesales or something, must be the accent ;-)

The office is coming back to life, after last weeks hibernation. Some of the staff is back in the office and I think we will be back to full numbers tomorrow, including.... wait for it ... KRISTIN ... YAY!!! So excited, although she isn't starting properly until she's raised most of her support, so...

Speaking of excitement, were looking at houses right now. I'm feeling a little anxious about this, as it is a lot of money and a HUGE commitment, but we're really sick of throwing away money on rent, when we could actually afford a mortgage now. So pray we find the right place OK? Thank you!

I can see blue

Although getting up at 6.20am is definately not a favourate thing of mine, it does have it's bonuses, like hearing the birds, and seeing bright blue skies, and the office still being peaceful for a while. A bonus of living in Saskatoon is having so many sunny days, I miss home, but not the rainy days or gray skies.
Right now I'm just getting excited about it not being minus anything, that you can walk out of the door without wearing a huge ski jacket!
Bring on flowers, the smell of fresh cut grass, the splash of sprinklers, and warm sun on skin ... I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT SUMMER!
Anyways back to the start of my work day, the crazy boys will be here soon, best get moving.

Weekend away

Here are the pictures from our weekend away (last week) with Joy, Allison & Ryan. We had a blast. The boys went snowmobiling a lot, while the girls played plenty of games, it was great. And they even persuaded me to have a go on the skidoo, although I have to admit that toobing is definately more a preference for me. Plenty of good food and fun was had by all.

This week has been a bummer for me, as I've been quite sick for most of the week. I won't go in to detail but I spent far too much time in the bathroom for my liking. AND I was still bad Friday so didn't even get to enjoy the bank holiday.....BAH. I have only really been feeling anywhere close to being normal, today. And I still don't feel that great...ah well. I welcome going back to work tomorrow, it'll be great to be out of the house.

So most of the YFC staff have taken 4 coach loads of kids down to California for 10 days, I have to admit that I'm envious, so it's going to be very quiet this week, I'll miss the crazy boys. But we really would appreciate prayer for the trip; that the leaders would have good opportunities to share Jesus with the youth, that everyone would be kept safe during the trip, that God would really bless the time that they spend away, and also for the families of the staff while their loved ones are away. Thanks.

We spectated while Ryan & Linds made a hole in the ice......just because..... 

A very cute Allison & Casey 

Ryan taking Casey for a ride 

Me & Linds on the Skidoo 

Joy, Allison & me 

XBox is serious you know! 

Stephen trying to get in on the XBox scene 

Lindsay & Stephen wrestling (kinda) 

Eating birthday cake with Wes, Diane and the boys 

Some of my favourite ladies, from bottom left clockwise Allison (cousin), Kyla, Kristan, Joy (cousin), Dawn and me. 

I LOVE Kyla, she's the best hairdresser EVER!!! And a good friend too.

My (recent) life in pictures

You can tell that I'm working full time now can't you, I don't seem to have much spare time to blog anymore.

I keep getting told my blog needs more photo's, so here they are in abundance. I feel they speak for themselves.

L's parents house and all the snow 

Our street after a big snowfall at the beginning of February 

Me, my cake and roses...1,2,3 Aaaahhhhh 

Trying to get a photo of us with the cake 

My Valentine ice-cream cake surprise