Sunny days, sweeping the clouds away...on my way...

Does anyone else sometimes miss Sesame Street? I guess Nate and I need to have kids, just so I can watch stuff like that again. Sesame Street, Under the Umbrella Tree, Mr. Dressup...oh the good old morning line-up of quality children's programming. Of course, who needs kids to justify watching these shows? If I would notice when they're on, I might watch by myself anyway, without kids! Of course, nowadays kids aren't allowed to play in the street anymore...

Well, I'm not seeing green...

So, for those of you who are wondering...my open house went alright. The weather was perfect (only a few small drops of rain on Saturday). And I had some people stop by...one in particular who I might get together with this fall and have some scrapbooking/stamping evenings with (inviting other ladies too - this alone may make the open house worth it). As far as sales go, they weren't great, but that's alright. It was mainly an advertising weekend (advertising that I'm here and that I sell scrapbooking supplies) but that goes a long way (let's hope!). So here I am today, looking at numbers and profit and seeing the deadline for my minimum sales approaching quickly and wondering how big an order I make on faith that I will sell some of it (and getting a huge headache quite rapidly). The start of these home businesses are TOUGH!!! I thought people would be flocking to me with all of their scrapbooking needs as soon as I started up! Just kidding...I didn't really think that, but I did hope that doors would open a bit easier than me having to push and push and hope for the best. You know? Anyone out there (Rachael, Kelsie, Marsha) have any advice for a struggling business owner over here? I'm open to any tips/encouragement/words of wisdom that you may have!

Yay, the sun's coming out!

I must say, when I woke up this morning and the sun wasn't shining and I heard rain on the radio, I was a little disappointed. See, today and tomorrow I am having a Creative Memories open house at my place and I was really hoping to have it outside (because how many people go to open houses when they are inside and they have to knock?!). I know I don't. I'm hoping that this open house will be productive. So far, I haven't made any money (well...does negative money count???) with this whole Creative Memories thing. I'm hoping this weekend things will turn around at least a little bit, because I don't know how much longer I can keep up if I'm not making sales. There's only so far backward you want to go before you start going forward again, right? I'm about at that point. Oh well. My up-line was gracious enough to lend me some of her stock that I can sell and then replace at cost. It might be a good chance to hold even or gain some ground. Also, maybe me being visible will spread awareness that I am a consultant here in town and bring in some business. If anyone thinks of me this evening or tomorrow, you can pray that people will come by and that the open house goes well. And that it doesn't rain over 2nd Street this weekend.

On the Road Again..

I just can't seem to stay away from the car this month. After getting our second oil change in a month, Nathan and I packed the car AGAIN and headed off to the lovely Saskatchewan. This is my third trip to Saskatchewan since the beginning of June. Surprisingly, I don't loathe the words "road trip" yet. I still love the idea of getting into a car and taking off for a couple days! It is especially good when I'm with my honey. He's wonderful to travel with.

So this time, we're in Hepburn again. It is the weekend for our annual EMMC convention. There is always something for pastors before the whole thing starts, so we drove up yesterday and the whole thing starts today at 1:00. It is very convenient that convention is in Hepburn this year because it was not hard at all to drive up the day before and have somewhere to stay. Nathan's parents live in Hepburn, so we are crashing there.

Another advantage of driving up a day early is my being able to see my friend, Marsha. After driving 10 hours from Altona to Hepburn, I dropped Nathan and Lennox off, packed a smaller bag for myself, and drove another hour and a quarter to PA (Prince Albert) to see my wonderful Marsha. I am sitting on her couch right now (she's at work) and looking around her beautiful house and thinking what an honor it has been to be here and to sit here all evening until the wee hours of the morning talking weddings and marriage and LIFE. It's always way too long between those talks. But it's been good to be here. Short, but better than nothing, right?

Well, I should get going. In a couple hours I head back to Hepburn and to start the first of four days of sessions and meetings. Fun fun. Hopefully I'll be able to stay awake!

We're back!

Our trip to Saskatchewan was wonderful! Lennox travelled SO well! (Why were we worried?) The first hour heading out he seemed pretty whiny, but after that I think he just resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't getting out. After that, he looked pretty sick and uncomfortable the rest of the way, but didn't have any "accidents" in the back seat, so all was well. On the way home, he was an old pro and we only had to stop twice in ten hours. Not bad at all. It's such a relief to know that he can travel well and that we can take him with us when we go places! He did wake up this morning with swollen eyes though...anybody out there know anything about dogs? We don't want a huge vet bill if we don't have to have one...advice?

Back to the trip...it was great. The wedding was beautiful. You know when you go to a wedding and it is just so perfect for the two people getting married? Well, that's how this one was. It was two friends who were in Nate's freshman class. And because they were both at Bethany for 4 (read 6) years, there were tons of Bethany alumni at the wedding. It was SO good to see people we hadn't seen for a while. It was mostly people that Nathan knew who were there, so we ended up hanging out with his friends and their wives/girlfriends/baby for the weekend. It was such an encouraging time of just being ourselves (outside ministry and responsibilities and everything) and catching up with friends. I can't communicate how good this weekend was. It was a blessing to be there.

Now that we're home, there's tons of stuff to do around the house. Unpacking and doing laundry. Mowing the lawn (which I LOVE). Weeding (which I need to do but don't enjoy at all). Baking (buns and bread...because fresh is much yummier than bought). Piano lessons (I started teaching about a month and a half ago...I LOVE teaching...). I should also start thinking about how to make my Creative Memories business survive over the summer months. It's been painfully neglected over the past two months (when youth got busier) but hopefully it will be resurrected this summer and grow quickly come fall.

Well, I should get going if I'm going to get everything done today! Talk to you later!

Going to Saskatchewan...the promised land...

Thanks for your comments about Facebook. So am I right in summing it up by saying that it's about connecting with long-lost people and looking at pictures? I'll have to explore a bit more and get hooked one of these days... : )

So today, Nathan and I are heading out to Saskatchewan for a wedding. Two of our Bible school friends are getting married. It'll be great to see a bunch of familiar faces again. I always look forward to that. I was just at a wedding in Hudson Bay three weekends ago and saw some faces from high school. Now I get to see faces from Bethany. Could life be any greater???

This time we're taking Lennox with us for the drive to Saskatchewan. 10 hours in the car with a dog. Hmm...are we insane? Hopefully he'll sleep most of the time and not have too much...shall we say "doggie-smells"? I guess if worst comes to worst, we'll leave him there (at Nathan's parents') and pick him up in two weeks when we're back in Hepburn for the EMMC convention. It'll give him a chance to recover and by then he'll have forgotten the "badness" of the car. Maybe?

Well, I've gotta get going and pack. I'll let you know how the trip goes when we're back!

Facebook...

So, I've gone and done it. I've registered with Facebook. Now all I need to know is why? I haven't quite caught on to the "wonderfulness" of it yet. Can someone please help me out? What is so great about Facebook???

Not Responding

Now that computers have been common in households for about 15 years, and the internet for 10, you'd think that they would have them pretty close to problem free. I've been sitting here for half an hour already, and all I've done is check my account balance (internet banking) and add 6 people to facebook. The rest of the time I've been waiting, watching the "Not Responding" appear and disappear on the top of my screen over and over, all the while not being able to do a thing. Couldn't they have this fixed by now? With all this technology, you'd think they'd have home computers working a bit better and faster than they do. There's my rant for the day...
Moving on...
Last weekend I was at my friend Cheryl's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. I was there alone, without my other half, but it was good to see friends again that I hadn't seen since my wedding or before. It was also wonderful to be in Saskatchewan again. I hadn't been in Hudson Bay (my hometown) in summer since '05 and never there for more than one full day since my wedding (May '05). It was high time for a visit! Everyone who was in town for the wedding was invited to the rehersal supper out at the farm where Cheryl grew up, so it was a good chance to be surrounded by friends again. It really emphasizes how much time has passed since high school though. We've all moved on...we're getting married and working and school-ing...it's fun to catch up and see where everyone is. So encouraging.
This week, my parents were out. They came down to help shingle our roof. It took the guys one full day to strip and re-shingle the roof. It's taking more than one day to recover though. Nathan is pretty sore, and, though dad didn't say anything, I'd say he's hurting pretty bad too! While the guys were on the roof, my mom and I went to the local greenhouses and bought some plants. Then we spent five straight hours weeding the flower bed and getting it ready for flowers. Then we planted. It's nice to have our backyard and roof looking a bit more put together! Now we're looking forward to the siding coming on and getting our grass looking a bit less patchy. Then, we'll be able to sit back and enjoy our yard and house's makeover and ponder what the next thing to do should be! I'm sure we won't be able to sit for long without another project...a deck maybe??? Hmm...

Most disgusting thing in the world...

Yesterday morning I woke up with that terrible, tingling sensation in my upper lip. At first I thought it was my imagination, but before long, I realized that it was indeed that feeling that I hadn't missed at all in the last two years. It was, definitely, a coldsore. Now, if anyone out there has ever had one of these, you know that it is not fun. You feel like hiding in your house until it is completely cleared up. And, in fact, you even feel like hiding from the people/dog in your house, for fear that you will become the recipient (and cause) of one of the most disgusted looks of the year. Well, alas, I am an adult and cannot hide in my deep dark basement for the next week. I must face the world...big disgusting coldsore and all. I can't help but praise God this time though, because this time I am not getting married the very next day! That's right...two years ago, on May 13, I woke up at 6 in the morning with that same tingling feeling in my lip. Of course I panicked because my dream of being a beautiful bride was about to be shattered! I ran to my friend Kellie who is a pharmasist and asked her for something that would clear up a coldsore in 24 hours. She gave me some stuff that I thought worked and it was (mostly) cleared up by the wedding. Whew! Thank goodness for makeup, is all I have to say! Today, though, I am more certain than ever that it was God who saved me from my coldsore on my wedding day, because the medication that I received from Kellie has not been working at all this time! I have a huge top lip and am quite ugly (self-proclaimed...Nathan continues to insist that I am beautiful despite not being able to kiss me). So that is my story. It is sad, but true. So, if anyone out there would mind sending up a prayer for my lip, that would be great. I have a wedding to be at on Saturday in Hudson Bay (yeah, road trip with my sister!) and would love to be looking beautiful...Nathan won't be there to convince me otherwise if I am not. Thanks alot, guys. Have a great day!

Being alone vs. Being alone

Last night I was writing in my journal and was thinking about the two sides of being alone. On one hand, there's solitude.

Solitude: A spiritual discipline, designed by God, and practiced by Jesus, created as a means of developing and growing an intimate relationship with the Creator.

I have enjoyed practicing solitude very much in my life. When I was in high school, living on the farm (a secluded 10 acres with the closest neighbour being 1/2 a mile away), I would often wander out into nature and enjoy just being. I would go out to places where I knew that nobody would be able to find me and I would spend hours there. I would forget about time and not tell anyone where I was going. Sometimes I would take my journal and sometimes I would just take myself. I would go out there and just be with God. If I felt like praying, I would pray. If I felt like singing, I would sing. If I would have been a dancer, I'm sure I would have danced. There's just something freeing about being somewhere when NOBODY on earth knows you're there and NOBODY on earth can see you. There's a sense of being able to be completely vulnerable that can't be experienced when someone is watching. That's something that I really struggle with some days here on the bald prairie. You see, even if I'm out in the middle of nowhere, there's a pretty good chance that someone, somewhere, even if they're a couple miles away, can look out their window or out of their car and see you across the fields. There's no way of being completely in solitude out here (at least not that I've found). No trees...too many people. *sigh* It's one of the things that I miss.

The other side of being alone is being without friends.

Lonliness: Being without a support system of people, who know you beyond just the surface.

Loneliness is the other side of being alone. The best I can figure is it's the feeling that is experienced when you don't have those people who know you beyond just the surface. It's when people think they know you but really haven't had the chance to. As opposed to solitude, which gives life and hope, it's a hopeless feeling...much less lively. It's being alone and, instead of feeling free and perfectly yourself, you feel clouded and much less yourself. It's an interesting thing to think about. Both sides of being alone can look exactly the same from the outside, but are complete opposites in definition. I believe both can be experienced at the same time, too... It's such a strange thing to think about.

Solitude vs. Lonliness

Being alone vs. Being alone

Hmm...