Day 12: Tofino

Today has been purely awesome. Awesome.

Breakfast in Port at Millers. Leisurely drive to Tofino. Stopped at favorite rock and river spot to sunbathe (and makeout). Visit to Long Beach, complete with turkey sandwiches and a brief nap on the beach. Chesterman Beach visit. Check in to Cabin, swim, dinner, sunset. So happy. So so happy. Well the sunset hasn't happened yet but I've been told it will be awesome.

We are two happy campers. We feel so happy, lucky and ridiculously in love.

Was going to upload pictures but it was taking too long...but please know that the photos would have shown that we are HAPPY, and enjoying some kick ass beautiful scenery. WOW.

Day 11: Off to Tofino!

Off to Tofino! Can't wait!

Busy day...training a temp to take over for me on Monday so we can have a long anniversary weekend. Wahoo.

Crazy day, helping lawyers. productive. usefull. good.

Off to be with my sweet love in our tiny car!

Day 10: Almost forgot to Post!

Today I had 33 things on my To do list.



After a productive morning I now have 14…one of which is write blog entry….so 13!!!!!


Phew! Plus I did other things that weren’t on the list! And 10 of the things on the list I can’t do until tomorrow (they have a small red F marked next to them, for Friday). Woo!


I am one happy camper.


Last night was lovely, we met up with friends of mine downtown for dinner at a pub. Mark and Stacy. I used to be in the theatre program with her back at Malaspina on the Island years ago. We had great food and conversation. After that we went home, drank some Timmies, watched a show and were both in bed by 10pm. Excellent.


Tonight we are having Paul’s grandparents (Ted & Doreen – his Dad’s parents) over for dinner. I’ve made a tasty casserole, breadsticks and I’ll be making salad when I get home. After his grandparents leave I will prep the last of the food for the weekend, re organize the fridge with what’s left so Candace can see what she can eat and pack my bags for our get away!


Paul got his grades back and he did as well as expected I most and better than expected in the rest…so that is definitely good news. Especially during a semester with 5 courses, 1 summer semester away from Graduation.


I’ve created a new keeping track of things and to do list system at work and it’s been working out really well. I’ve also NOT folded my laundry yet from Monday. Still an epic fail there.


I was just about to walk out the door when I realized I had written this entry and not posted it – so here…posted!

Day 9: Update and the Canucks

Looking back at the things I was hoping to accomplish starts out sad…but ends fairly produvtively.


• Read my Bible more. I have forgotten to do this one. Sad.

• Do 10-15 minutes of exercise a day. Have not done this…but have continued to eat healthy and follow Weight Watchers strictly. Also have researched where I want to exercise now that I can’t do boot camp anymore and hope to pick a place to start at for the beginning of May.

• Drink 6 cups of water a day. I am failing miserably at this. So hard to drink that much water!

• Fold the Laundry as soon as it’s out of the dryer. Not doing awesome. There are two laundry baskets full of clean clothes on my floor.

• Blog more regularly. Am succeeding! Yay, thank you Laura and the 30 day challenge!

• Pray regularly. Yes. I am enjoying finding extra time to spend with God. And in new ways. Finding those special meeting places between him and I.

• Be creative / have fun. Yes! Designed magnets on the computer to be handed out at our women’s retreat. I so enjoyed the creation process!

• Read more often. I am actively working my way through all the books that need reading and doing a lot more reading than normal.

• Sort out the boxes/bags. Nada. Nope. Not at all.

• Get more sleep! I have been succeeding until last night. Sunday, also, we were in bed until almost 2 (we briefly got out for breakfast and lunch). Success!

Last night was game 7 of the 1st Series with the Blackhawks versus the Canucks. They were tied 3 games each, and the winner would be decided. In the past (years and even weeks) we’ve cancelled Life group (our churches name for our small groups or bible studys or homegroups, etc) to watch the game as a group, but there has been an amazing momentum in our lifegroup lately and myself and the other lifegroup leaders really felt we shouldn’t cancel AGAIN for the game. So we still had lifegroup (I was so impressed that we had as many people as we did – tho you could tell some were very antsy to get to the game); we had an awesome night prepared for a talk by Lyndsay on Worship, and then some rad worship. The night was amazing! It was so clear that God was there, and we saw another healing! That’s two healings in two weeks. So freaking cool.

What was also cool was that we were able to catch the first 5 minutes of the hockey game before we started LG and got to see the first score. We made it back to the Mitchell’s house to watch the final 10 minutes of the third period and OT. In essence we were able to see every goal, and miss a lot of the tension of waiting and hoping to win, and still got to enjoy Life group and the game! It felt so win-win! The joy in the room when we won was so great to see. Grown men jumping and hugging each other. People going from stressed and angry looking to pure elation in a split second. I loved reading my Facebook newsfeed through the game; so many great comments from people when we won.

My favorites were:
• “Alex Burrows, I want to have your baby” –Jon
• “We’re coming for your Nashville; Carrie Underwood you better watch your back” – Megan
• “Yeaaaah! BC you can exhale now.” – Karen

I love the “patriotism” that is shown in that moment; despite the often appalling lack of support we give our Canucks whenever they aren’t doing so well.

Other than that today is a bit of a sad day as one of my favorite co workers is heading off to Toronto. There is a 6 months period here were people are beginning to relocate to our new head office in Toronto. Eventually this office will close once they’re all gone. She’ll be the third to leave. And during that time my other good friend co worker left to go travelling. It definitely gets quieter and quieter here!

Day 8: Getting Ready for our Anniversary Weekend

This has been a productive morning. And I am very glad of that.


I also got to have lunch with Laura which is always a treat.

Later tonight is Discipleship Group (where I meet with lovely ladies and eat and talk) and Life group (tonight we’re taking on Worship, woo!).

Right now my fridge is FULL of leftovers; they are slowly being eaten and so there are many half full containers. It’s also almost time to go grocery shopping so there are many half empty veggie containers. I want to clean it out but am away from home so often I haven’t had the chance. So tonight before D Group I will conquer the fridge…right now it’s pretty hard to find anything in there it’s so full looking!

I can’t wait to have it all organized!

I’ve got a section in my freezer that is for this coming weekend away. So far it has a tasty rose sauce casserole for 2, 2 steaks, a bag of jumbo prawns, a pack of bacon (obviously those three go together), breadsticks and our favorite Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. In the back pantry I have bottles of red wine (for Paul) and Sangria (for me), chips, snacks, and everything coffee tea related. Everything else is fridge related and will be grabbed at the last moment. So excited!

We are going here:

 

Day 7: Family

I love my family. This is the entire Mitchell clan (Austin’s even there – but he’s still in Jenna’s belly in the picture).

And THIS is all the older cousins with my grandma. I really like my family.

This was the first Easter that I did not attend a Mitchell family dinner. Last night Paul and I joined his family for a great Morgan family dinner. My sister joined in on Saturday for our “friends” Easter lunch, and other than that there were no Mitchell’s involved! My parents are in Port Alberni looking after my grandma and visiting friends. My Aunt and Uncle from Port Alberni are in England visiting their daughter who is also my awesome cousin – the bride in the photo above (hence the need for my parents to be in Port Alberni). My sister spent most of the weekend with her husband’s family. Strangely enough, I didn’t feel sad at all. Holidays change as you get older. These past two Christmases were the first that I did not wake up at my parent’s house in Port Alberni. In fact, this past year we had my parents and our friends over for dinner and didn’t even see my sister until days later. This next Christmas Paul and I will be in Austin with his sister visiting their mom, Nancy. I’m quite excited.

I like starting new traditions with Paul. I like hosting friends AND family together. That is something my family did a lot of when I was young. Actually they never really stopped doing that. We still always have a few extras at the table, and it’s something I am so grateful for!

I am so full today; I didn’t realize it was possible to be so full from dinner that you don’t need to eat breakfast the next day. Ridiculous! Though by lunch I was so hungry…my vegetable soup definitely filled the spot (and helped make amends for all the crap I ate this weekend).

And what follows below is things that make me laugh. I’m tired, I’m full and I’m working on a Holiday Monday. I need me some laughs!

Day 6: Oh Sunday

Sunday Sunday Sunday.


Today I finally had my husband home and all to myself. Glorious. We slept in, had breakfast and went back to bed. Naps, talking, laughing...it was wonderful. We are now about to play settlers and have tea. I feel sad to miss church, but Paul and I need time to be together. After a week apart and 20 hours awake of travelling, we've also had Easter lunches, baby showers and house guests (who were lovely!) around. I am glad for friends and family AND I am very thankful for the time alone together.


We will be heading to Paul's family dinner out in Delta in a couple hours and are looking forward to some quality family time. 


Happy Easter to all.

Day 5: Paul's return, Easter lunch and Morgan's Baby Shower

Phew! Today has been busy!


Paul arrived home at 11am today and boy was I glad to see him! I woke up early and put the Turkey in the oven at 9:30am, visited the chiropractor and by the time I was back Paul was there! Yay!


I worked with Candace and a new friend Chloe to prepare a Turkey Easter Lunch for 10 people. 
The menu:

• Turkey (cooked in an oven bag for tenderness and speed)
• Mashed Potatoes with bacon and gravy
• Roasted Veggies (so colorful, so many types!)
• Green Bean Casserole (a holiday favourite)
• Biscuits

It all went so smoothly!

Joining us for lunch was Crystal and John (friend from the Island), Arpit (my coworker from Toronto), Candace (our "roommate"), Chloe and Ting (International Students from Langara), Laura (our dear friend from Church), and Jenna (my sister). We had a great time of food, laughter and chatting. 

The last of them left by 5pm (with the first arriving at noon!) and by 6 I was on the road to Langley for Morgan's Baby Shower. What a great time of visiting with friends, some old and some new, and celebrating the new life Mark and Morgan had created. 

Alright, I need to get my husband to sleep. It's 11:05pm and he's been up since 1am....with travelling and all. 

Day 4: Martinis and Friends

My friends' John and Crystal are here for the weekend. They arrived back in Vancouver from Hawaii at 5am this morning. I did not wake up to welcome them.

This evening we went to the pub together, then came back to my place to sit on our computers and have Martinis. Oh yes, we are in the big city...not taking advantage of that at all.

Paul was supposed to come back tonight but due to bad weather his flight was delayed. He should arrive at 10am tomorrow and I hope hope hope that is true because we have 8 people coming over for Easter Lunch at 1pm!

Last night was wonderful though; I skyped with Paul and then spent the evening with Jenna and her husband Colin. Fun and relaxing. I came home late and cleaned the entire house. It took 1 hours; I washed and put away all the dishes. I cleaned the living room, and inflated the air mattress (and made it with blankets and sheets) so that John and Crystal could come in early and sleep there. I cleaned our room and folded and put away all the clothes. The room was spotless! I went to bed feeling very proud of myself.

This morning I slept in until 9:30 (woke up without an alarm!!!!!), had a shower, washed and blow dried my hair, had a cup of tea, ate a bagel while reading and was out of the house in time to meet my friend Lydia at 11am at Starbucks. After a great hangout with Lydia I drove to Metrotown to meet up with my friend Ana and then buy a baby shower gift for my friend Morgan. After that I went to Broadway and Cambie to get a trim and style, and then headed to Oakridge to buy leggings (I have given in to leggings...so ashamed and yet so comfortable).

It was great to have Crystal and John here though because it definitely helped me feel less sad that I was not welcoming Paul home at 11pm tonight. My friend Rebekah swang by for a bit, which was lovely.

I need to start chopping up some potatoes so that I can be prepared for my MARATHON cooking session in the morning, as we are serving an Easter Turkey Dinner tomorrow. So excited! I love a chance to cook a turkey in an oven bag. Woo.

Alright, potatoes and then bed call my name. Those are two separate thoughts though....potatoes and THEN bed.

PS.....if Laura hasn't blogged her Day 4 entry I may have forgotten entirely. The weekend is SO MUCH harder. The week days are totally do-able.

PPS. Paul bought an iPad 1. Awesome and out of character. and he joined Facebook. What has happened to my husband? Where did my cheap, non FB husband go?

Day 3: On High School Reunions

I am trying to valiantly to stay awake. I started with a cold glass of water. Then a hot cut of CAFFINATED tea. I’ve been getting up and walking around. I’ve had conversations with each person that has walked past my desk. I have been taking big breaths in and out. I have been making sure to find reasons to laugh. I have given up and have now moved on to an energy drink. I know, I know….evil right? But I hardly care if it means I can get through the day awake!


I have been having a great week, despite Paul being gone. But oh yay, Friday gets closer every day!

Last night after work I went to see Dr. Dan, my chiropractor (felt so great after, partially from having him work wonders on my back and partially because he told me I couldn’t do bootcamp anymore; though he did say to start aquafit and swimming). After that I skype’d with Paul for half an hour while eating healthy healthy veggie Zero point soup. Then I met up with a girl, Sheena, from my grad class to purchase 10 year reunion tickets and catch up. We hadn’t talked since graduating…so there was lots to catch up on!

After meeting up with Sheena I headed over to the Elephant Walk, a favorite pub of ours, to meet up with some friends from Life group for Music Bingo, Beer and Wings. It was a great way to end an evening.


________________________________________


   This whole 10 year reunion thing is interesting to me. It took me about a month to decide if I would actually attend mine. It was a big decision for me. Many, most, of the people I graduated are awesome. High School was a good time for me. I made some amazing friends (most of whom, I’ve sadly lost contact with) and had some very fun moments. Two of my friends from Junior High even came to my wedding; so cool to have dreamt with them about our futures and be walking them out together!

   Some of the people I graduated with are people I went to Junior High with, and some I even went to Elementary with. Most people would think, cool, you go way back. Except that Elementary to Junior High were terrible years for me. There are a handful of people that will be there who I would happily never see again. Even thinking about them, makes me feel like the awkard 8 year with no friends, constantly bullied, all over again. The decision at first, seemed to be, do I willingly want to subject myself to go to a place where there will be people who made my early school years horrible? Why would I choose to go see people who as kids and early teens were absolutely cruel to me? Especially since everything thinks that now that we’re adults we should all just move on. Except I don’t know how to act normally around people who have hurt me the way they have.


   I have chosen to forgive the classmates in my life who were so hurtful. I know that God has loved and forgiven me and the only response to that is to offer the same forgiveness. When classmates from that period have come to me since leaving school to apologize, I am always happy to start over. It’s the ones that aren’t sorry (or don’t act differently) that I don’t know how to trust or be around. Forgiveness doesn't mean I'd like to see them again. What does it look like to be hurt, forgive, and move forward when everything and nothing seems to change?

   After years of letting the words of classmates from my childhood and teenage years haunt me, I discovered who God had made me to be. I discovered that he made me on purpose. I discovered that he made me with a plan and a future. To learn that I am not loud, ADD and excitable by accident, but that God specifically made me that way, was a huge gift. God has shown me where he has put his gifts in my life. God has shown me how he has used past hurt and turned it in to strength. He has taught me to choose love and forgiveness, and given me the power to make that choice.


   The decision regarding my reunion ultimately became, not why would I go, but could this be an opportunity to be used by God? Each time I meet up with a former classmate and we talk, I feel healing in my heart. I know that God uses opportunities to heal us. What if I have an opportunity to help others experience that healing? What if Paul and I go to this reunion full of faith? What if we go, believing that God would use us? Believing that God would move in hearts that are hardened or wounded?

So we’re going. We’re in and, truth be told, I’m pretty excited.

Day 2: Semi Successfull

Lets see: How am I doing so far on the daily tasks?



1. Read my Bible more. 1 Chapter on the skytrain – Done!
2. Do 10-15 minutes of exercise a day. Did bootcamp last night for 1 hour and will do 15 mins at home
3. Drink 6 cups of water a day. 4 drank at work, 2 left for dinner
4. Blog more regularly. Happening right now!
5. Pray regularly. Had an amazing time of prayer at Life group last night and have been praying on and off throughout the day. Had a great time of Worship in the car on the way to work today.
6. Read more often. I remembered to put a book in my bag and have read it – though no transit today, so less reading, but I did read a few chapters last night.
7. Sort out the boxes/bags. Unsuccessfull.
8. Get more sleep! I was in bed by 10:30 and woke up at 7am. Though, unfortunately I had a few nightmares and had to get up and lock the door in my bedroom, I thought a robber might come in.


Last night I made roasted Tomatoes with Mozza Cheese, Breadsticks and veggie potato casserole for dinner. So good. I got to eat with the 4 wonderful friends I eat with each Tuesday. It was a wonderful time, despite knowing that the Canucks were losing as we hung out. Though I still think they can do it, and have in no way jumped off the bandwagon!


After that we had Life group where my friend Kathleen shared on prayer and I got to be reminded of God’s amazing, loving heart for us. “He has compassion on all that he has made”. Wow. We had an amazing time of prayer and honest conversation and I felt so blessed.


Then I headed back home to Skype with Paul who had stayed up ridiculously late to talk to me. I’m having a great, busy week…and I am ok without him here, but OH MAN, do I prefer life with Paul around.


This weekend I am making Easter Turkey Lunch for 10 people. It will be intense. I am stoked. I love Turkey leftovers.


Paul comes home on Friday night and I am very happy to see him soon.
Ok…I almost forgot to blog today and then was reminded..but only had this brief time because I have to head out to the Chiropractors. Hopefuly I can remember sooner in the day tomorrow so I have interesting things to say.

Day 1: Resolution

My friend Laura and I were talking about things we wanted to do more. Well to be honest, she blogged about it, then I emailed her in response and then we talked over lunch. One of these things we wanted to do more of was blogging. So we are starting the 30 day blogging challenge. The name is fairly self explanatory. We will blog for every day for 30 days. I wonder how this will pan out when I’m out of town as I plan to be a lot during the next month! There is one weekend where I am pretty sure I will be without internet, so it will probably 30 days minus one.



To start here is a list of things I’d like to accomplish in the next year:


1. Read my Bible more. 1 Chapter on the skytrain each day.

2. Do 10-15 minutes of exercise a day. Squats, crunches, plank and jumping. (on top of this I do bootcamp for an hour, twice a week, with my sister Jenna)

3. Drink 6 cups of water a day. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this as I tend to go to the washroom so much already and really can’t afford to keep going so much at work.


4. Fold the Laundry as soon as it’s out of the dryer. And put away! This is a big issue for me


5. Blog more regularly. 30 day challenge accepted!

6. Pray regularly. I pray regularly, but for me it’s taking solitary time with God at least weekly. That would be wise.

7. Be creative. Make cards once a month

8. Read more often. I have many books I want to read. I need to stack all books to be read in one spot. When finished one, grab a new one!

9. Sort out the boxes/bags in my house. I can do 5 minutes a day and some day be done, instead of just never doing any.

10. Get more sleep! Be in bed by 10:30 at latest on weeknights! This would give me just over 8 hours a sleep a night.


This past weekend Paul and I had my Nana (my Grandpa’s second wife) over for dinner. She is one of my favorite people in the world. We had a wonderful time.


Saturday I hosted a Bridal Shower for our dear friend and houseguest Candace. Afterwards we joined Paul’s Dad and Stepmom (David and Carole) for dinner. When we got home, our friends John and Crystal were there to spend the night so they could head out to the airport in the morning.


Sunday Paul left early to go to Buffalo, NY for a week of training to raise support to go in to ministry. After driving him to the airport I lined up with all the other crazies and waited for costco to open. Shopped and in line within 15 minutes! Went home, made a vat of soup, attended a women’s ministry meeting, run coffee service at church, helped in kids church and then had a dear friend, Lyndsay K, over for dinner. Phew! I was glad when Sunday was over!


Last night I went to bootcamp with my sister and then hung out at home with Candace and had martinis. It was a wonderful evening.

Tonight is D Group with my girls, and then Life group. We get to worship, pray and talk together. It will be great.


I miss Paul while he’s away, but as you can see there is barely time to miss him…life is so full! And he’ll be back Friday night…so I have some time Friday during the day to relax and then welcome him home later.


I’m not in a super bloggy mood right now; so I’m going to get back to work.