Lethbridge Visit

This last weekend I finally went down to see my niece. I hadn't seen my nieces since Christmas! It was crazy, so mom and I headed down there on Friday night and stayed for the day on Saturday.

We saw the girls briefly that night, in time for "reading time". They were jumping all over the room and loving that we were there to read to them.

I sleep on the couch when I'm there, so it's always an adventure to wake up to the sounds of children. And then to pretend you're asleep until they come to wake you. That's probably the happiest you'll ever find me in the morning!

Lisa had a doctors appointment that morning and Cameron was out for a run, but I had brought them some new princess stamps, so I made sure to keep them busy and happy.

So big and grown up! Little Cadence and Meggie.

 Alanna and I. She read me a full story while I was there. I can't believe she's reading already! 

I didn't recognize this one at first either. A lot changes for a baby in 2.5 months! I love her red-ish hair and I think she looks like her oldest sister!

 Megan is the definition of sweetness.

We decided to all go swimming for the afternoon. Mom held Monica, while Lisa, Cam and I manhandled the three other girls. Alanna loved hanging out in the shallow end, Meggie loved the waterslides, and Cady wanted to do things on her own (as usual)!

Back at home we were all pretty tired (me esp!). But not too tired to continue the the crafts.

Lisa with her baby girl.

The girls love their Nanny!

The slobbery little one...always wet...

This was the note and picture Alanna made for her Uncle Reid. It says "Sorry I can't see you". (She puts a __ in the places where she isn't sure of the letters.

 And my note. Which says, "Auntie Leanne, I love you. You are special to me. Love Alanna". Or something of that sort...and we're hugging in the picture.

It was so wonderful to see them all again! I love my family.

The Lifter of my Head

"But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head." Psalm 3:3

What a comforting verse. He is the lifter of my head. I'd heard this phrase before and never really took it to heart or understood it. 

The feelings of worthlessness and shame aren't lost to me. They are very real. The feeling that I want to curl into a ball and disappear. The feeling of  just standing there with my head bent in shame from the stupid things I've done and said. But He, God, the Creator of the Universe, *my* Father takes His finger, puts it under my chin and begins to pull up, until He is eye level with me. He looks me in the eye and tells me He is my Protector and I'm *worth* protecting. 

In all my wanderings away from His throne, in all the turns I've made away from His path I've made, in all the days and hours I haven't talked to Him, He still takes my head in His hands and tells me I'm His daughter.

I'm a daughter of the King who protects me unto death, and that's worth lifting my head about. 

It's OVER

Well, it's over. My two weeks of laziness is over. I'm so happy that now I can get back to normal life (sort of). I'm still somewhat concussed, but can start to get back to it.

I tried to hit work for a few hours on Monday (even though it was a holiday). I did last for a few hours, but continued to feel a bit dizzy after awhile. I tried to ignore it, but it was there. 

On Tuesday I didn't need to go to the office, but had a bunch of moving to do. I moved for a good 5 hours, and felt fine. Wednesday, I decided to give my eyes a rest and wear sunglasses at work. I know, so cool. I felt great. But, a few "co-workers" weren't convinced that I should be working yet. Needless to say, I was not impressed and definitely spoke my piece about it. (Side note: Don't you hate when you do that? Embarrass yourself by opening your mouth a little too fast and a little too much...sigh.)

So, Thursday was another day off. I had a super long lunch with a friend (bonus) and did manage to work on some stuff at home for most of the evening.

As promised, I went to the doctor this morning and I'm back. I'm still having symptoms but am cleared to work as much as I feel comfortable and with instructions not to push it. However, she wanted to send me in for a head CT, just to be sure. Therefore, blood work to be done and waited for...hopefully I don't have to wait too long for it and everything is okay.

I'd been thinking about getting some prescription sunglasses, as I recognized that light was want I was having issues with. I went into the eye doctor to pick out some frames. But, it couldn't be that easy. My prescription was more than one year old, so I got into see the doctor. Of course I mentioned the concussion, which was cause for the full "work-up". An hour and a half later, $400 poorer, and with my eyes still blinking like the night sky from the lights and drops, I left the doctor. Definitely exhausting!

I was planning on hitting the office afterwards, but as I couldn't focus my eyes on anything, I hit home for some rest.

So now I sit here, knowing that I'm back into the swing of things.  Back to busy, back to on the run, back to stress. Hmmm, now I guess I have to be ready!

I milking a few more days of rest, but look out Monday. Because you may have a grumpy girl on your hands. ;o)

I love my brother!

Can we just talk about my brother and how amazing he is? I love my brother! 

He recently headed off to law school in Saskatoon and boy do I miss him. He's home for reading break right now and I got to hang out with him all day today. 

Even though we are four years apart I can safely say that we're friends, obviously more so in the last five years. He's one of the people who I can be very, very real with. He's not afraid to call me out of anything or afraid to tell me when I've completely lost my marbles. On more than one occasion he's had to put up with my venting about family, friends, work (that's the most common), or anything that availability to vent about (I'm pretty darn good at it).

We enjoy to hang out, however my picture selection is very spare (how terrible is that).

Hanging out with Keith Urban

He loves his nieces, even if they aren't too keen on the whole skating thing.

He's a little crazy when hanging out with Nick, but you're in for a few laughs when with them.

Living the childhood dream at Whit's End with a Wod-fa-choc-sod!

Enjoying God's creation.

Enjoying family.

Playing uncle.

I can truly thank the Lord for the *amazing* brother He's given me. The boy in my life. :)

The Power of Encouragement

You know, there is never not a time to encourage someone. Hmmm, let me rephrase that: 

*NOW* is the time to encourage!

I'm not sure why I feel like I should write about this. Maybe because I've been the recipient of it recently, but also have seen places where it would have been helpful. I think sometimes people get caught up in themselves or judging others. And while I do think there are times for to strive to personal bests and situations to have rules and regulations, encouragement is a very Biblical concept.

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

1 Thess. 5:11

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 

Ephesians 4:29

Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Romans 15:2

I'm not sure why encouragement is so hard. I have a very difficult time doing it. Maybe it is because I'm putting myself "out there" and making myself vulnerable. But, really does go a long way. When I'm having a bad day (which shockingly does happen!), someone saying they appreciate me can turn my day around. It doesn't have to be this long, gushy speech about how much I mean to them, just a simple little way of saying they were thinking about me. I do notice when someone goes out or their way to appreciate me and often keeps me going on my task.

So, have you encouraged someone today? Have I? Because it goes a long way!

I'm here...

I don't have much to say, but I thought I should resurface for a post. It's been a strange week. Last week I was away in Kelowna, only to come home on Saturday and receive my second ringette injury in my 17 years of playing. A concussion.

A concussion does very weird things to you. My symptoms: feeling dizzy, heaviness of the head, tiredness, forgetfulness, and lack of all spelling and grammar correctness. I know, strange. I think that last one was the one the scared my mom the most.

Coupled with that, I had/have a very sore jaw. When I collided with the girl, our face masks were the first things to hit, so my jaw was thrown back and is now out of place. I can now close it all the way, but it's still strange. Chiropractor visits abound, as does the pain of the treatments.

So, I'm here. Housesitting for the next five weeks, and I'm bored. I mean, I do have stuff to do, but do you ever find that laziness breeds more laziness? For me to be productive, I need to be *really* productive. Hmm, perhaps this is a character flaw? But you know, you watch one TV show and it leads to another. You read one chapter and it leads to another. 

Today I'm going to do some work at home, so I can rest when I need to. But I can't sit here and do nothing for much longer...so I'm here and blogging, mostly about nothing. At least I'm doing something. 

Loving Life!

So, it seems I'm a bit of complainer. No one has been quite forthright enough to actually tell me, but I've realized this on my own. Whenever something isn't *perfect*, then I tend to complain about it. 

I'm busy, so I complain. In reality, I like to be busy and definitely choose to be busy.

I'd like to go on a warm holiday, so I complain. This one is quite ridiculous, considering that in the past 3 years I've been on 5 major trips or 12 countries (Quebec City, New York, Caribbean Cruise, Kenya, Europe [Switzerland, Germany, Sweden] .

Work is too hard. Hmmm, I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to hard work. Yes, work is hard right now, but so good. God has blessed me with this amazing job and seriously it's amazing!

I complain about practicing violin. But, how often do you hear me say that I love playing? The two go hand in hand and I think I just need to deal with not liking to practice.

When looking at my list of complaints they all seem very ridiculous. VERY. I do recognize this!

 So, clear this all up. Here are some things that I love about my life:

I love my family, even if they drive me crazy sometimes.

I love my nieces and I'm not sure how they'll get cuter (but they always seem to...)

I love to play Jolie and praise the Lord with her. This is something that truly brings me more joy than anything else, even if I don't like to practice. This was in Hamburg, Germany:

I've been so blessed to travel so much. May it never end! My trip is already in the works for this summer. :)

In Sweden:

In Mukaa, Kenya with Mumo and Ndida.

At the Alps in Switzerland

 I love crafts/hobbies. I don't seem to do them too much anymore...recently it's been quilts for friends (and making them with friends too).

I love Judith. :)

I did a whole post about loving my friends, but it is so true, I can't get enough time with my girls (even if they drive me crazy too!) :)

And yes, I do indeed love my job. Certain parts more than others, but I truly love it. This is one of my show suites that I'm in charge of.

Mmm, I love shoes. Huge fan of Nine West heels, but also of my Chucks. Lookin' for a new pair...

I love weddings. I lost count, but I think I went to about 10-12 last year

 Concerts. Make me a happy girl by taking me to a concert. Favourites so far are: 

TobyMac

NewWorldSon

Keith Urban (below is Reid and I at KU)

Hmmm, huge fan of Starbucks (that's where I'm sitting now!)

 I love my youth girls. They bring me joy every Sunday morning and evening.

I love to wander (or huff and puff) my way through God's creation. We truly serve an amazing God.

There is seriously so much about life that I love, but I figured I'd stop boring you with it. BUT, I just wanted to clear this up: I *LOVE* life. :) It just keeps getting better and better and I thank the Lord for the blessings and adventures He's taken me on.