Busy Week

Ooof! What a busy week awaits us. It's a little overwhelming and quite a bit anxiety inducing. I know that I can do all things through Christ, but I seem to be having a powerstruggle with laying these anxieties at his feet. I lay them at the foot of his throne, then a few minutes/hours later I pick it up again. Okay, so here goes:

Today is Simeon's birthday. I made him a GREAT Larry Boy cake yesterday. I am hoping to get a picture of both cake and birthday boy...but our camera isn't working, so it will have to wait. We are supposed to go to the Amusement park this afternoon, but they are announcing thundershowers this afternoon. Hard to believe considering the sun is shining so beautifully. We'll see once we're closer to lunch time. Our backup plan is to go see Prince Caspian, which he's been begging to go see. Finally, we'll have cake and gifts with Nana and Grandpa late this afternoon.

Monday, we have our usual Biblestudy. Tuesday we have Trisha's chorus concert. Thursday we have an infant and child CPR class we need to take for our adoption. Friday I go to have my wisdom teeth out. Just typing Friday's "chore" makes my heart do flipflops. I'm thankful for a dentist who will put me out completely so I won't hear or remember the actual process of having my wisdom teeth out. BUT I am terrified of feeling groggy and out of control after I wake up, and dread the pain. I also don't like the thought of taking a narcotic pain reliever.Oie...I can do all things through Christ. Needless to say, if you can keep me in prayer, I would very much appreciate it!

Fresh Donut

Mmmmmm... I can't remember the last time, that I've had a donut. You see, when I was still in Canada, I lived within a 5 minute walk of THE BEST donut bakery around. Nothing compared to those donuts. It's been 8 years since I moved from that apartment, and though I tried early on to find a good donut, I have always been disappointed, so I've stayed away from those tasty treats. Today, Rich came home at lunch and brought me a fresh donut. Oh My Word! It was one yummy donut. It was so fresh and sweet. It rivaled my memories of the donuts from 8 years ago. Okay, back to reality...I'm so glad I had a good hard run today!

Bits and Pieces

Just bits of news from our home...

Simeon is doing extremely well at reading. I'm amazed at how quickly he has been catching on. We are almost halfway through the Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten program. I have had the pleasure of "catching" practising reading his books. What a joy to see my son enjoy something that brings me such pleasure, reading!

We are getting ready to celebrate Simeon's 5th birthday. Where has time gone? He is TOTALLY into Veggie Tales, and so that is the theme of his gifts and cake. We were talking about a party, but decided against it. We are going to go to York's Animal Kingdom on Sat. afternoon, and go on the rides. Now I'm not much of a ride person, but both Rich and Trisha enjoy them, and Simeon has been asking to go since last year.

No adoption news for now. Simply praying that God would prepare all involved and to grow our family in his timing. In the meantime, I have been busy doing some sewing. We've decided to do cloth diapering, and so I've made 20 newborn size prefold diapers. They are the cutest little things. I have the fleece and yarn to make a crocheted border blanket, I just haven't had the patience to sit down and start it.

My garden is doing well. It has been a cool start to this spring, and so the plants are growing slowly. My lettuce is doing fabulously, and we have enjoyed simply going onto the porch and picking lettuce leaves for salads and sandwiches. I'm hoping my delphiniums will get stronger. I saw some beautiful ones at the cemetary the other day, and I'm hoping that mine will grow as strong and beautiful as the ones I saw. Out of the 6 I started with, I have one left...grow beautiful flowers, grow!

My breadmaking has been fun. I tried sourdough oatmeal bread over the weekend, and it was a huge hit. I brought a loaf over to the inlaws when it was still warm out of the oven, and it was gone in no time. Nothing beats warm bread right out of the oven. Just one of those simple pleasures.

On the health front, I've managed to get a grip on my out of control eating. Focussing on more fruits and vegetables. Lean meats and trying to cut some of the refined carbs, and simply carbs over all. Not a no carb, nor even low carb...more like carb choice counting. It's been working and the scale has started its downward descent. As for exercise, I've realized I have to keep changing it up. So, I do some running, and I've started to do some jump rope. I alternate between 5 minutes of jump rope and 5 minutes of jogging. I'm telling you, its a workout like no other. Finally, I've been going to the beach with Rich and Simeon when Rich comes home from work. The tide has been cooperating. There is nothing like a nice brisk walk on the beach, with the sun shining, the breeze blowing and the sound of crashing waves soothing away the stresses and worries of the day. I LOVE THE BEACH...Now if only the weather would warm a little.

Overall, life is good and full. Enjoying being me!

Life at 30

I turned 30 at the beginning of May. Most people kind of dread this milestone, but it has been one that I have approached with much thought and introspection. I've been realizing so much about myself in the past few months. So much about how MY VIEW of the world around me, has much more to do with me, than the people I come into contact with.

I want to LIVE life, I don't want to let it happen. I want to embrace where I am at. I don't want to wait for my ideal to actually live and enjoy. Too often, I'm so focussed on the future and what I hope and dream of, that I forget to enjoy the process and end up frustrated. I don't want to hold back on what will happen in the future. As Rich and I wait for a match in our domestic adoption, I want to live today for today, not today with the thoughts of what if we get matched. Am I making sense?

This may not be a revelation to many, but I've realized that living in the "if only's" and "what ifs" have been holding me back. I've built a little "protective" bubble around myself, because I feared being hurt, but have realized that its lonely in this bubble. I feel isolated and out of touch way too often. I want to break the anonymity and live in relationship with the people in close proximity to me. I want to enjoy today, not grasp at what I hope may come tomorrow.

So...I am hosting a weekly ladies biblestudy at my house this summer. I am so looking forward to this. I want to have people over, go for picnics, take a coffee night and just overall build and develop friendships. I have immersed myself in gardening...there is something so wonderful and calming about working with God's creation. I'm enjoying some sewing, and the scary process of learning how to bake artisan breads with sourdough starters.

With all of these awesome new things, have also come some sad moments. I've said goodbye to things/places that are near and dear to my heart...but as I held onto them, I realized that I was looking back, or forward, not in the immediate.

So today, I embrace where I'm at. Praise God for today, it is a good and perfect gift from HIM!