Learn new things every day...

So...normally I'm pretty bad at learning something new every day. It would be fun to, but it just doesn't happen. So then, on days like today, I need to make up for other days when I don't learn anything. Today I learned:

How to golf: My brother was down and gave me some pointers on how to hold the club (I know...really starting from scratch), where on the club to hit the ball, correct posture, how to come close but still miss bystanders, etc. All the critical things that you need to know to have a successful golf game. Thanks Andrew!

How to change the oil in my car: Again thanks to Andrew, I learned to change the oil in our car. I never knew it was so easy! Warm up the engine...unscrew the plug...let the oil drain...take off the oil filter...let that drain...put the plug back in...put on the new oil filter...fill with oil...start car for 10-ish seconds to get everything running again...check oil level...clean up. Done. I'm pretty excited about this newfound skill...

I also bbq'd burgers today, which is something that I haven't done since high school. Nathan usually does the bbq-ing in our household, and I'd heard that you never infringe on a man's grill. So I don't infringe until my hubby is 20 hours away at a Nascar race! Then I just need a quick, easy meal! So that was kinda learning, but mostly just doing something that I don't normally do...which is also something that is fun to do every once in a while. So that was my day. It was a beautiful day. So much learning...so much bbq-ing. Mmm-hmm!

This is me. Honest. True.

Being honest and giving an answer with depth is harder than I thought...

Could there be exceptions to honesty?

Like maybe as long as I'm alive, I can say that I'm "good"?



I'm wondering if it's the polite thing to say you're good...

Unless someone really asks... There's something great about giving and seeking honesty and openness in close relationships...




I seek to be myself all the time, whether I give the standard "good" answer or not.

But I promise you this...

If you ask me how I'm really doing...I will tell you. And if I ask you how you're doing...I'd love to really know.

Fluffy.

So often life seems so fluffy. There's no depth. Everything is hidden from everyone...(what would people think if they knew I had a bad day?!) And yet I'm subject to this game of hide and seek myself. I want to be that person who overcomes the world of fluffiness and really digs deep...into myself, into others, into God. It's tough. Where do you start? You ask how someone's day is...good, and you? Of course I say good back, because I'm don't want to be a burden. Fluffiness. Good. Fine. Whatever.

I'm hurting. I'm having the best day I've had in weeks. I feel like I'm losing it. I could dance on the rooftops! Don't just give me fine. I'm done with fine. My goal is to be honest. My goal is to seek more than one word fluffy answers.My goal is to give more than just one word fluffy answers. No more fluffiness.

Life is about more than perceptions. Life is about what is.

God is.
Love is.
Hurt is.
Struggle is.
Joy is.
Pain is.
Confusion is.
Support is.

Fluffy isn't.

What can happen in 90 minutes...

So yesterday I was completely sick of my long hair (had been growing for a year and a half)...I had a quick supper and started cutting. Now, this would sound completely random and shocking if one didn't know that I regularly cut my own hair between the end of high school and the point at which we moved to Altona. After a few moments of panic and "what did I do?" I think it turned out alright. I'm loving the shorter style, although it may take a couple days of trimming for it to be just right. It's shorter layers at the back, and longer layers at the front. No more hair in my face... I love it!

Before:




After:

(here you can kinda see the back in the mirror)




(please excuse the bright green bra hanging in the background...I don't usually hang my bras in the bathroom...)

Mother's Day in our house...

Mother's day this year is very much like the mother's days of the last two years. We will head home from church in a few minutes and spend our afternoon napping, watching some Lost and Grey's and I'll steal a cuddle on the kitchen floor with Lennox.

No special meals...no family gatherings.

It gets lonely sometimes on days like today when everyone else is spending time with their mothers and ours are 8 and 10 hours away. It would be nice to be able to cook lunch for my mom. Say (in person) thanks for raising me and teaching me so many things. Thanks for loving me and for being mom to me for 23 years. I'll call my mom, and perhaps write a list of things that I appreciate about her and mail it tomorrow (because this holiday snuck up on me like crazy this year!) but somehow it's not the same as a hug on Mother's Day.

Maybe next year we'll make the trip and there will be a hug...

New Toys...

With our income tax rebate this year, Nathan and I bought ourselves some toys...

A brand new Canon Rebel Xti...

So much fun...we're trying to post a picture a day that we take with it on our blog (mccorkindale.blogspot.com). We've missed a few, but are still trying!

Also, having just arrived today, our new (to us) refurbished macbook!

I can tell, after playing with it for 10 minutes, that it's going to take alot of learning, but it's going to be fun!

It's so weird to have two new toys like this because it never happens! The last big purchase we made was our house two years ago! We figured, though, that our income tax money could be fun money to buy toys. A treat every once in a while is nice, now before there are other things to eat up all our extra money!

So…here is my long-awaited update…

I’ve sat down at the computer numerous times in the past two months, intending on updating my blog, but nothing came. I guess you could call it a severe case of writers block. Either that or not thinking my life is exciting enough to blog about…but excitement is not the point, is it?

Since February:

I’ve been working more hours at my job. We’ve been getting busier and busier since one of the other lumber yards in town closed its doors, so I’ve been working a lot more than I used to. I am currently working 10-5 daily (unless I leave early or have something up like babysitting at the church or teaching piano lessons). These feel like good hours. I was afraid of getting really overtired (like I did when I worked at my first job here in town), but I am finding that when you enjoy the work and the people you work with, it is much easier to be at work. It’s not quite as draining…

Since February, I have also ceased to be an active Creative Memories consultant. Because my last order was so large though (people stocking up), I made my quarterly sales and will still “technically” be a consultant until June sometime. But as far as stress goes, I’m done! Whoo-hoo! I loved it while I was doing it, but I was always thinking of how I was going to make my sales and ended up buying a lot of stock to fill my quota. That left me with a few things I will never use, but I was mostly smart about what I was ordering so that I’ll be able to use up my stock in the next couple years.

This weekend Nathan and I are going on a jr youth retreat. I’m excited-ish. I’m excited for how many connections get made during youth retreats, and how we get to know the kids so much better than we do for an hour and a half each week, but I’m SO tired just going into it and I find it VERY draining to be around people for so many hours with no break. I am definitely an introvert! Pray that I’ll have energy to hang out and have a good time and be there for the youth.

Next week, Nathan is taking a week-long intensive class in Winnipeg to go toward his seminary studies. That means he’ll be gone for a week. L I do get to go visit him and eat supper with him one night though. J I’m kinda looking forward to having the house to myself for a week (read: SPRING CLEANING!!!) but I always hate being away from Nathan. I miss him too much! Some people say, “Just wait till you’ve been married longer…” I don’t know about that. We’ve been married almost three years and it hasn’t really changed. It’s probably a good thing that I enjoy spending time with my hubby.

Speaking of my hubby, we just started a new blog! You should all check it out. The address is mccorkindale.blogspot.com. It’s a blog where we are going to try to post one picture a day that we’ve taken with our brand new Canon Rebel XTi. It’s our attempt at letting our artistic sides shine! I’m pretty excited about it. I posted today. I had to post two pictures for today though, because I couldn’t choose just one. It doesn’t matter what you take a picture of or whether the picture worked or not, when you take a picture with a DSLR (digital SLR), it looks good!

Well, I can’t think of anything else. There’s not much new around here. Just continuing on with our routine…working, going to youth, hanging out…

Until next time, keep fit and have fun!

Psst...blog

So...I got a nice reminder from a good friend that I should really update my blog.

Apparently people check it every now and then.

Who knew?

Well, this isn't much of an update...

It is just a quick post to those of you who still check back to let you know that I'm going to update soon.

And let me tell you...

When I post, it will be a doosie of a post!

Worship - "to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion"

I just came out of a worship night. Our youth band led it. We sang for an hour and a half, with loud, beautiful, honest music. The book of James was read, chapter by chapter, by 5 different people throughout the night. People were singing. People were dancing. People were clapping. People were smiling and worshiping and loving. Just loving.

I just came out of a worship night and I feel like I'm still there. My heart is singing. My mind is inspired to seek God and know him. My soul is fed. And I know that God was blessed through everything that happened tonight...the music, the sharing of HIS words, the fellowship over 3 kinds of chocolate afterward. Isn't that what worship is about? Bringing God's people together for fellowship, personal growth and inspiration, and ultimately glorifying Him with everything?

Worship is about more than music. It's about more than dancing and clapping. It's about way more than any one thing. It's about focusing our minds fully and completely on God. Through music...through Scripture...through nature...through photography...through painting...through cooking...through writing...through playing...through fellowship...through being...what more should there be to life than worship?

This is what I strive towards; this is what I seek: To live fully and completely in worship of God. To not look to the left or to the right, but to keep my eyes on the goal...to keep my eyes on Christ and to do everything for him. To worship.

Ever wonder?

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to make twice as much money as you make right now?

I've been wondering that lately. I think about people who make twice or three or four times as much as Nathan and I make and wonder how they do it! Not so much how they make the money (though partly that) but what they live like...how it feels...what their budget looks like. I guess that's kinda snoopy of me. Money is such a personal thing. But really. Have you ever wondered about it?

And while I'm thinking about that, I think...well, we live on as much as we make now...would we be able to live the same way if we made twice as much and just give the other half to either the church or a charity or something completely outside of ourselves? At first thought, I think, sure, we could do that. But then I think about the little raises that we've gotten since being here at the church and how our budget just swallows those up like they never happened and we don't even notice much change. Our lives just adjust and come to expect that things like internet, satellite, cell phones and eating out are a normal part of life. (that said, of those things we only have cable and rarely eat out) But you know? Isn't it kinda sick how we pad our lives to our comfort and use as much as we are given (sometimes more, when you consider credit)?

That's something I've been thinking about lately...and I've been trying to be content with what we've been given...because it's really not that bad. I am most content in every area of life, however, when I don't compare myself and my life to others. I don't need all those things. When I focus on what we DO have, it's plenty and we really are blessed.