Aiming High

I found this list in a mother's letter to her baby girl posted on her blog here. And while I don't have children yet, it is a list of attributes and qualities we can pray and aim for ourselves with the power of Christ in us and the Holy Spirit guiding and building us up. I asked permission to share this list with you...

We should pray to have:

-The courage of the Egyptian midwives (Shiphrah and Puah) who saved so many Hebrew children against their Pharaoh’s wishes.
-The intelligence of Miriam.
-The loyalty of Ruth to family and those you love.
-The perseverance of Hannah in your prayer life.
-The boldness and speaking ability of Esther.
-The obedience of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
-The hospitality of Martha.
-The learning spirit of Mary.
-The bold witness of Corrie Ten Boom.
-The accepting and positive attitude of Helen Keller.
-The adventurous spirit of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
-The creativeness of Joni Eareckson Tada
-The love for God’s Word of Beth Moore.
-The ministry of Elisabeth Elliot.
-The traits that only God can place in your unique personality.

And finally...
-The attitude and attributes of Christ Jesus Himself.

And as Ashley states here, "This is a daunting list, I know. But I will be praying these things for you, not so you can try to copy these women, but emulate their positive and godly traits."

Vacation Recap - Cape Breton

How much can you fit into a week of vacation? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

We flew out of Pearson Airport Thursday, August 5th after work, beginning our whirlwind vacation. We booked a hotel room very close to the Halifax International Airport so we could get an early start on our trip to beautiful Cape Breton the next morning. We had a wedding to attend! My sister and brother-in-law met us at Tim Horton's (a necessary first stop!) and we hit the road together... the two of them in their cute "Smart 4-two", and us in our rented Nissan Maxima (I think)... onward to CB!

Thinking we had plenty of time to get there, we were quickly thankful for our early departure as the duration of our road trip was extended by summer road construction, very very very slow cars, fog, a few bathroom pitstops, and a long stop at the Causeway because the bridge was turned to let water traffic through... and not just any ol' boat, but a snail-paced barge. *sigh*...  (I don't adjust well to the slower pace of life when I go "home"... )

We made a stop in Mabou for lunch and hit a fantastic little restaurant called the Red Shoe Pub... yum yum yumm! But since we were short on time, we didn't have time to savour each bite. Next time!  Then, because we'll likely never see these people again (despite the fact I just said I'd savour the taste next time), we all trooped in to change for the wedding...  :)

We made it to the wedding site with 15 minutes to spare... according to the intended start time. ;) And what a wedding site it was - breathtakingly beautiful... as Cape Breton is. It was held in a cute little high-top tent on the edge of a  bluff overlooking the ocean... there was  refreshing breeze and beautiful sunshine. It was perfect! Here are a few pictures to tell the tale...

Beautiful flowers - My mom did the arrangements! :)

Look at these two beaming with love! I am SO happy for them!! :)

My funky family :) x0x

I have to mention the meal.... because it was done Chiasson style... the meat, the vegies, the fruit - it all came from the Chiasson's yard and my Uncle's tender loving care... it was amazing, and delicious! Here's my very full plate... (apparently I have no shame!):

We stayed in a little motel in Margaree, which allowed us to be close to any family activity on Saturday. We went out for breakfast (closer to noon) with Dad, Mom and my brother at the cutest little cafe called the Dancing Goat. Love the original name!

We dropped into the Chiasson residence where all the hustle and bustle was taking place.... here we were surprised to see the Bride & Groom! :)

They opened gifts, cleaned their car from the wonderful "pranks" their friends pulled at the wedding, packed their car and hit the road. The rest of us planned for an afternoon and evening at the beach... yay!

It was definitely a beach party (once everyone else arrived), and we enjoyed hotdogs cooked over an open fire, a refreshing swim in the waves, lots of family time and singing around the bonfire... it was perfect.

My man checking out the surf :)

My brother doing what he does best at the beach :) Almost non-stop...

I love this picture... they were having fun together :)

The crew is here, food devoured (Thanks Uncle),
and the singing started! Thanks ADS :)

awwww :)

A lovely sunset.... 

And what's a beach bonfire without roasting marshmellows?

Yes.... it was a perfect Saturday!

Sunday morning we enjoyed fellowship with the Baddeck Christians - a packed little building with all the visitors! - then my man and I said our goodbyes and headed to Halifax.  It was a wonderful but brief visit to Cape Breton... we both love it there.

Lonely already...

My favorite man is flying out momentarily for Vancouver... he has a week of work there and is getting in a weekend with his parents. I'm happy for them; sad for me. But here is where I insert how thankful I am that he doesn't travel very often and has never been away longer than a week. I'm not sure how my mom and so many others do it... there's such a vacancy when he leaves and takes my heart with him.

It does sound silly, seeing he will be home a week from tonight... but it's times like this that I get all morbid (my dad has passed this wonderful trait down to me unfortunately! ;) ) and wonder just how I would survive if the Lord chose to take him home... I'm sure most of you sane people don't get that type of thinking. Lucky! You wouldn't believe how many funerals I've been to in my mind (yes - with tears on my face) of loved ones who aren't dead yet!! :P

Anyway, to entertain myself this weekend, I'm driving to Grand Bend after work to hang out with my friends and their kids. Hopefully at the beach all afternoon tomorrow. mmmm :)

Don't worry - I don't mope around the whole time he's gone... just the first day and a half usually... then I just get excited that he's coming home soon. :)

Thankfully he'll likely never read this and see just how crazy I am... ;)

Back from Vacation

The end of vacation always brings mixed feelings - especially when it involves saying goodbye to family and good friends.... but there's something nice about "coming home."

Just thought I'd awaken my blog again by posting two pictures... you'll get the long rambling notes another day. Here's a shot from our Stewart Family Reunion that was held this past Saturday outside Amherst, Nova Scotia.... we came together in honour of our beloved Grandmother who turns 80 in September - an early birthday party! :)

This is one clan that loves to love... loves to laugh, get together, sing, play, and.... eat! Love you guys!

And the Birthday Girl sitting pretty - our "Super Grammie" (a new name over the last few weeks... I think it will stick!)

Love her so much. We are so blessed to have her as our God-honouring role model!

Grey Matter

Is it possible to lose the ability to speak your mother tongue without having any medically diagnosed breakdowns?? I can't seem to string together a complete sentence that makes sense this week.... yikes.

I saw a blog titled "Scratches in my grey matter"...  I think that suits me this week!

Summer

Sunny skies, BBQ's, the rare day trip to the beach, the smell of freshly cut grass (my favorite!), flip flops... these are just a few of my favorite things about summer... it's a little hard to fully grasp the summer loves when in the city, but I'm trying to be optimistic! :)

July has been a busy month...  I loved having my Dad in the city for a few weeks, and was thankful we could at least steal him on the weekends. Maybe next time we'll be able to convince Mom to join him and she can camp out at our place... since Dad did our garden, put out our garbage on garbage day, washed his own sheets and towels and made up his bed before he left (!!), I figure Mom could find a few ways to keep busy too... I have a list of rooms she can paint and recipes she can bake... oh, wait, what did you say? That's not the best way to tempt her to visit??? oops... Mom - I TAKE THAT BACK! :)
 
The July long weekend was also our anniversary - three years! We went to a little town called Gananoque for an overnight escape... you can get a short boat cruise from there to tour the "Thousand Islands"... we took the four hour cruise which brought us across the border to New York State and dropped us off to tour Boldt Castle.  Here are a few pictures of our little escape:

I love this man... (sorry, couldn't resist)

One of the smallest islands I remember seeing with a home on it... There's barely enough room for the chairs out front!

And then one shot of the castle (I won't bore you with house after house):

A few shots of the God's handiwork :)

The Inn where we stayed - we had one of the rooms in that one level building out front:

My view from my chair outside our room ;)

We got back Friday afternoon and then Dad joined us for the weekend. At noon on Saturday, we made a wonderfully impulsive (not very characteristic of us) decision to drive to Grand Bend for a few hours at the beach. So we jumped in the car and drove 2.5 hours... yes, the BEACH is worth that kind of driving time. :)

Here is Dad strolling along the beach... if you can spot him.

We met up with friends who cottage in The Bend, and this is their youngest... love him!

Dad found some shade as he catches up with old friends... I promised I wouldn't post any bathing suit pictures, so .... hence the crop. :(

Another weekend... Dad spent the day studying, and we experimented in the kitchen... Evan slowly cooked ribs on the BBQ for the first time, and I..... wait for it.... made my first ever pie. Evan's only been begging since we umm... met?? Why is pastry such a big hurdle to overcome?!

It at least smelled good... and looked "okay"... I found it too sweet though... will have to play with that...

On Friday, July 16th, my Man's boys were in town... Manchester United! I had no idea they had such a big North American following, but there was a good sized crowd wearing jerseys and singing "football" (soccer) anthems and chants... it was really quite fun!

1:1... but Man U pulled ahead in the end... not bad, boys, not bad.

The Rogers Centre with the roof open:

And then to finish off July, a picture of Dad playing the piano... something I miss very much about being home... he didn't play it nearly enough while at our place!

So while July is drawing to a close, we're looking forward to August! Summer is going quickly though...

Love Story - End of the Beginning :)

Winter of 2007 was the coldest winter I remember experiencing... there might have been one year in Halifax when it was just as bad, but Winter '07 in Toronto will forever stand out in my memory! There was hardly any snow - it was that cold. Bitter bitter bitter biting wind. It was dreadful. Our theme song of the winter was "Baby it's cold outside..." ;)

It's easy to sum up those first few months... I was staying with a family who lived not far from My Man's place, so he picked me up bright and early every morning - actually it was dark and early... felt like midnight every morning around 6:40am when I stepped outside to face the bitter cold. We took the Go-Train downtown every morning for work. I learned my way through the underground path and only came up for air the last 5 minutes of my walk to work. brrrr I worked long hours at a PR agency - definitely not my favorite job, but worked closely with 2 great girls out of the crew. The evenings seemed short - My Man and I usually grabbed supper, and hung out a bit before parting ways to fall into our beds -- starting the cycle all over again the next morning. I felt blessed to be able to see him almost every day... it was a very rare occasion when we were unable to spend some time together.

I think it was late February or early March when My Man decided it was time to look for a house... he had been renting a this point. We drove around, he looked at some on his own, and took me through a few. For me it was SUPER awkward... he was asking my opinion, trying to gage what I liked, talking about what it would be like to live there... yet he had not asked me THE question yet. How was I to respond when I didn't have the security of having been asked to be his wife? To him it was assumed and the question was just a technicality to get to. For me, while yes it was pretty much assumed, being officially asked wasn't just a technicality... it was security and proof that he really did intend to keep me with him forever.  Until then, it felt downright uncomfortable to tell him what I liked and didn't like in a house that he would be purchasing. aaahh

It didn't take long, and he bought a house we both loved... He knew I was excited, yet I'm sure he was slightly frustrated that I was guarded with my excitement... but until he asked *the question*, I wasn't going to act as if I had any rights on the house... maybe I was being petty... but the forwardness that I showed starting our friendship/relationship was uncharacteristic of me, and this guarded protection of full-fledged dreams was more like the real me...

At some point at Christmas time, My Man had given indication he would likely be asking me *the question* in March... I forget his reasoning, but I had March stuck on my brain... come March 1st I was eagerly dissecting every word, action, facial expression - anything that might give me a clue that he was going to pop the question... one week went by, nothing. Second week went by, nothing. Maybe it was the lack of sunshine and summer warmth, but my insecurities were piled on big time. Maybe he had changed his mind?? Christmas was a long time ago, and we had spent more time apart then together in our relationship... maybe now that he's been around me so much, he's having doubts?? AAhh... the enemy loves to play mind games with us, and I let him. I wasn't doing very well with hiding my emotions, so one afternoon we had a heart to heart. The poor guy... he was all but forced to reassure me that he intended to ask me to be his wife!  (There... you're getting the ugly side of me!)

His boss gave him a gift certificate to this incredibly fancy and expensive restaurant for his work on a project. My Man booked Thursday,March 22 as the night to go... ah ha! This was it - it had to be. He wouldn't waste such an event in the month of March... would he?  I work all day, stomach in knots for what the evening might hold... the clock ticked by SO slowly. Finally I was able to leave... I met My Man - looking so handsome waiting there for me... we had some time to kill before our reservation, so he suggested a walk down to the waterfront... I smile. This had to be it. So down the street we go, walking hand-in-hand... we pass the restaurant where we had our first official date the August before... it was a bit chilly as we walked, but the sun had come out. We get to the water and he sits down on a bench and pats the spot beside him. Oo Oo Oh.... this HAD to be it.  My Man starts talking, with his arm around me - pulling me in close... he says all these sweet things and makes me feel truly like his one and only... my heart pounded. Oh how I loved this man. He pulls out a beautiful solitaire ring and asks the question as simply as he asked that first question the previous August ... and I breathlessly hug him saying "Yes, yes... I love you!"  I couldn't wipe the smile off my face... for days. ;)  All those years of my life when I wandered into jewelry stores gazing at the diamond rings, imagining what it would be like... well, when this day finally came, I realized that while I L.O.V.E. my ring, it was the question that mattered the most. I would have said the exact same thing had he been holding nothing in his hand... I loved him, and I wanted to spend the rest of my days with him... wherever he was - I wanted to be there.

The rest is a whirlwind of working, planning a PEI wedding from Toronto, and realizing he had more opinions than I thought he would... ;)  I would have joyfully eloped, skipping all the stress... but in the end, when *The Day* finally arrived, it was a beautiful wonderful day.... and then I was glad we didn't elope. But I was thrilled we kept it as small as we did (112 people) with mainly family and a handful of friends across Canada and one American (my NJ Girl friend doesn't count - she married a Canadian!)... :)  The Lord blessed us with perfect weather and I can truthfully say we had fun on our wedding day.

Minus my walk down the looooong outdoor aisle... I thought I was going to die. Literally. Even seeing My Man wasn't keeping my imminent death away... it wasn't until dear Mr. McIlwaine, performing the ceremony, cracked a joke to make me laugh... then I relaxed and realized it was a *great* day to be alive!! :)

Here are a few pictures from the day...

 

I think this is after Robert made me laugh... :)

I love this of my parents and my brother... 

But my parents look just a little too joyful to be handing me off... 

Socializing after the ceremony... thankful that the rain stayed away once the ceremony started!

At one point we were posing for the guests... I had to post this one for a certain someone... 

Not sure how she was wanting us to pose?! ;)

Before the ceremony, we did almost all our pictures... 

Here are just a few from our photographers - Alex and Kate MacAulay:

You can see more of their incredible work here

Note the difference between the Vancouver Boys and the Island girls in this next picture...

There's really no end to this Love Story... Our God preserved us for each other and drew us together in His timing... He alone could have pulled this off -- bringing My West Coast Man and this East Coast Island Girl together.   This is just the beginning... :)

I might do one more post on our honeymoon, because really - how many couples start off their life together driving a U-Haul for 20 hours??