adventure time:)

so this is actually two days combined cause i didn't write a post for yesterday.

so firstly yesterday:

so i got to spend most of the day with isaiah while lydia went and helped her hubby out at work. its so much fun spending time with isaiah. I love spending time with him because the outlook on life from a 2 year old is so fun and you cant help but get caught up in his way of viewing life:)

so i took him to the park but before we could leave he insisted that i bring his friend hippo (a really cute cuddly teddybear) So we went to the park and isaiah insisted that hippo go in the swing next to him so i ended up having to push both hippo and isaiah on the swings. and then it was off to the slide where...yep hippo and isaiah both took turns going down:) so a little more playing and nap time. After nap time we made our way to isaiahs kiddy pool. so yesterday like the rest of this week was hot..so the only to cool down was to get into the kiddy pool with isaiah. We spent a long time sitting and playing-so fun! and then it was inside for both of us to watch the lion king for the umpteenth time-i can pretty much quote the film word for word now. yeah i know i don't think that skill will get me too far in life! all in all a pretty awesome day with isaiah.

Went for coffee with Avery at coffee culture. It was great to just chill and chat. The thing about sundays at church -its hard to to really talk cause there are so many people to talk to and time is limited so i really do enjoy times i get to spend with people when its a more relaxed.

Part 2 (thursday)

so yes another beautiful sunny day:) isaiah had a doctors appointment in downtown toronto at 10. We left at 8.30..which if there was no traffic would have been plenty of time..but this is downtown toronto and traffic is just a way of life it would appear. So we sat in traffic..and then sat some more..moved a little and then sat again and this was pretty much the theme of the trip. So we managed to get onto the right street a little after 10. So as we were running late we decided that i should just take the car and park while lydia and isaiah ran for their appointment..so lydia pulled over so we could switch drivers. So in the rush of trying to switch drivers (while being double parked) we somehow managed to lock the doors with the keys inside..and also with isaiah inside while me and lydia stood outside helpless! Thankfully the car was still running and the air conditioning was cranked up high so isaiah was fine inside. So i can't even imagine the panic a mother must feel when your two year old is stuck inside a car and no way in. Lydia was just about to bust open a window...don't ever mess with a mother when her kid is in harms way! So i ran accross the road to try and get help at a TD bank. God really blessed us with some lovely people who came to our rescue! There were some construction guys working on the street who came over and managed to get the window down and we got into the car! Really its so great when strangers come to your aid! So I think isaiah may have been in the car for about 20 minutes but at the time it felt so much longer! Even though lydia and isaiah were super late for their appointment the doctor still saw them:)

After the hectic morning we made our way down to the harbour front. It was my first time to walk by the harbour front and it was beautiful (especially with the cool breeze coming off the water) We decided we should try and get something different and exciting for lunch..something we couldn't get at home..so we got pad thai (which we always get in bradford;) well the day had already been different and stressful enough so why get too crazy right! and then we sat by the water and had our lunch:) so what had started out as a disaster morning turned out to be a wonderful day:) I was thankful for fun times with isaiah and lydia.

our view from we ate lunch:)

(so across this street is where we had double parked!)

hyped up on sugar!!!!!

so i've noticed a theme in my blogs - I usually start off my blog commenting on the weather...its such an irish thing to do..but i can't help myself. I need/want to comment on the weather! very odd..but today was 28 and felt like 32..oh yeah:) so i just finished googling the highest ever temperature recorded in ireland...33 degrees recorded at kilkenny castle in 1887 (yeah i kid you not!) in contrast Canada's highest recorded temperature is 45 degrees recorded at Yellow Grass Saskatchewan.

The coldest ever recorded temperature in canda.. -63 degrees in Yukon Territory (where ever that is)..yikes..i just got a chill..well that could be from the air conditioning but still oh i can't even imagine what -63 degrees would feel like! The lowest ever recorded temperature in ireland -19.1 recorded at Markree Castle, Sligo 1881..wow the 1800s in ireland had some crazy weather!

well all that to say..another sunny day in canada:) ok yeah i know..enough with the weather;)

right so today...what did i do...mmhmm...what did i do... ok the day is not even over and i am struggling to remember what happened. This is why its good to have a blog to look back on:)

ok so i woke up..went outside..worked in the office for a bit..then went outside to warm up...the basement which is already a touch on the cold side is feeling increasingly chilly. But its actually a nice feeling to come in from outside where its roasting and then have to wrap up in a blanket. Its like the best of both worlds:) although definitely have to close the vent in the bathroom..a cold bathroom is never pleasant!

Lydia washed out isaiah's little pool which was class. Isaiah was so cute splashing about. I have pictures but I can't remember where i left the camera..(yes another common theme..i tend to loose track of three things pretty much everyday..1. my wallet 2. my phone and 3. my keys)

But it was fun to sit outside and chill with our feet in the pool and watch Isaiah play:)

Oh and the meat man came..yeah i should explain the meat man. Josh and Lydia buy Ontario natural fed (or something like that) meat from..well they just call him the meat man.. I've never questioned who this meat man is..all i know is that his meat is awesome. Well anyway it makes me laugh when the meat man delivers cause who knew a delivery of meat could bring someone so much joy...well for Lydia it does:) its almost as good as when she gets flyers on Thursdays (or well used to get).. I've never seen someone get so much enjoyment from flyers as does our Lydia:) and actually i must admit i too enjoyed going through the flyers when they came and looking for good deals. I also find myself in the grocery store now that i too gain much amusement if something is on sale! stuff is always better on sale.

So i watched prison break - the final break tonight...absolute pants! it was so bad. They really should have stopped making this tv show after the first two seasons. There is only so many times someone can break out of a prison in all fairness! ok so it goes like this

season 1 : break out of prison

season 2: on the run after breaking out of prison

season 3: back in prison

season 4: break out of prison again and bring down "the company" yeah its just called "the company"

the final break: wait for it..go to prison (shocker i know), break out & finally die in the process.

but hey at least the first two seasons were good so i can't really complain!

so i'm still running high after getting a slushie from petro canada and eating sour patch kids and sour cherry things..not wise to do if you have any desire for sleeping!

song for today - phil wickham - you're beautiful

i like trees:)

another beautiful sunny day today! a touch on the hot side but still so nice:)

the first day that the air conditioning was turned out..i still find it so strange to hear myself say.."close the door and keep the heat out" This i guarantee you is not a phrase you will ever hear uttered in Ireland..that is for sure! You will hear instead phrases like "were you born in barn, shut the door and keep in the heat" or as my mother pronounces it "hate" yes not sure how someone could pronounce heat like hate but thats the west Clare accent for ya! but yes, that is definitely phrase i associate with my childhood for sure..and no my mother did not ever appreciate the smart ass comment of "oh no, actually i was born in hospital..swinging doors"...my mother really was a very patient woman!

I almost had a sleep in this morning..but unfortunately the neighbours next door were not aware of my desire to have a sleep in! but i can't complain too much as they happen to be really nice people with a strange need to cut grass every second day it seems sometimes!

so another nice drive along the canal road today which reminds me I promised Lydia today that I would grow out my nails..I will grow out my nails..I will grow out my nails..I will grow out nails..I hope I can grow out my nails. Wouldn't it be great if sometimes good intentions could be enough!

But I'm going to look at this as a very minor and probably not too important test of self control..something i greatly lack! so i figure if I write it down then hopefully that will help me remember not to bite them!

k so what else did I do today...the day is not even over and already the day is a blur..oh i remember now..

ok so i had this strange desire to make homemade lemonade today:) so i did..i'm not going to bother to put down notes because well i can't remember what ratio of lemon to sugar to water to ice it was but it turned out ok. Actually i was thinking on my drive home from the Kerrs that next time i should use carbonated water instead of still water to give a little fizz..yes i will try and remember that for next time.

so Isaiah cute moment of the day had to be when he opened my guitar case and realised that the inside lining of my case is super soft...so adorable..see pictures:)

So tonight i went to the kerrs to play..dun dun...MONOPOLY:) its the only board game i like. It was such a good game..and yes i am just saying that cause i won! i'm such a bad winner too..i should work on that-i have such a competitive nature which comes out in games..as some may testify too i'm sure!;)

but yeah it was fun to chill and relax and drink more lemonade and count out how many $500 dollar notes i had..hehe..oh good times indeed!:)

so my goal for this week is to have half of romans 8 memorised. I have up to verse 11 learned although its not exactly word for word so i need to work on that. But yes that's my goal for Sunday.

oh and new music today - Paul Colman - The one thing

Victoria Day Weekend

(watching Fireworks..oh danielle i love you!)

so i guess the fact that i didn't write a blog for saturday and sunday just means i was too busy having fun and didn't feel the need to blog to combat boredom:)

so saturday - quote to remember for the day had to be from Lydia:

"no isaiah you can't colour the puppy" when isaiah was hovering over samson with colours in hand:)

Danielle came over to hang out and eat dinner and watch a movie. so my lame attempt to get out of cooking dinner didn't work and actually it was a good thing cause i learned to cook steak on the BBQ:)

[notes to remember about cooking steak on the BBQ]

marinate steak for a bit

start the BBQ on High and let heat up

throw the steaks on the BBQ and leave for a little bit to get done on both sides

then switch the heat to MOM (medium Off medium) and wait for steaks to be done]

So yeah we watched the series finale of grey's anatomy which was unbelievable! it seemed like someone was getting shot every couple of minutes!and then we stayed up until 3.30am chatting..something that i haven't done in such a long time! i miss mira! we used to always stay up chatting and watching tv..i miss that. wow that seems like a lifetime ago when we used to work accross the street from each other and she would come over every friday to stay.

So yeah probably not the wisest thing to do to stay up till 3.30 and then have to get up for church. But we did it. I even learned how to make french toast.

[Notes to remember about cooking French Toast]

1 egg per two slices of bread

a little bit of nutmeg (about3 shakes of the container)

sprinkle of cinnamon (not to crazy with it though)

a little bit of milk to get consistency right

poke holes in bread to let it soak up the egg

cook both sides and serve with an unhealthy amount of syrup:)

ok so on Saturday Hannah text me to say she had made something to combat my complaints of boredom which she gave to me on sunday at church. For the record she said i just had to wait until i was home with 2 1/2 hours to spare and i followed the instructions..well kinda;) so yeah i had some time to kill before the Kerrs came for dinner. So she made me two mixed cds (2 1/2 hours long) with accompanying notes. The notes were hilarious and cute and had pictures included too! apparently i was only supposed to read the notes as i listened to the cds but i couldn't help myself..i wanted to see what she had wrote:) it was such a thoughtful and cool present! Thanks Hannah:)

So off then it was off to the C&C..it was mostly about organising for NEXT. Its a pity i can't go but it would be so stressful trying to do another border crossing! And then it was off to watch fireworks at canadas wonderland.

So it was fun packed weekend:) and i'm getting better about taking pictures too which is cool!

nice hannah:)

have you ever seen a kid with cooler hair:)

Thank crunchie its friday:)

so as fridays go..this friday was pretty relaxed indeed! and the weather is getting so nice now! It makes you want to be outside all the time..i have to remind myself that it will be sunny again the following day so its not like i have to get my quota of sun all in one or two days, unlike at home, where, when the sun comes out from behind the rain clouds for that handful of days each year you pretty much camp yourself outside while at the same time wishing and praying that it doesn't rain. i like canada. Even in the winter when temperatures drop to that not so pleasant cold stage..the sun is still shinning! that's nice.

also nice to go driving in this weather - a nice drive along canal road and also hitting the back roads to avoid the holiday weekend cottagers (cottagers is probably not a real word is it..ah well)

Emily and Hannah (better known as mikala 1 and 2 ;) came over for dinner ..pita bread cooked in the oven with basil and rosemary on top (i actually wrote that just for me because for some reason i can't seem to remember the herbs that go on top..yeah i know its only two but i can't seem to make it stick!..it would be nice if i had a better memory! oh yeah its cooked in the oven not broil..check)

so as i was saying...i think isaiah may have been more excited about having them over! Such a funny little child who makes me laugh at all the wonderfully cute things he does! "POSE" i really have to figure out how to put pictures on here..ohhh it could be more like a show and tell blog as opposed to a dear diary blog..that would be cool..

okay i got sidetracked again.. then after dinner it was off to see robin hood. not a whole lot can be said for robin hood....well apart from the funny burst of giggles from Hannah in response to some of the dialog in the film...lady Marian really was lamesketchy (word courtesy of Hannah:) but yeah, not the worst film ever but definitely nothing to write home about either!

114 days left..i regret counting out my days left in canada..pointless exercise and also a sad exercise! its harder on days like today that remind me how much i love this place..not because of the beautiful sunshine (although that doesn't hurt) but because of the wonderful friends i have here. Isaiah (who would have thought my best friend here would be a two year old!) but he always makes me smile when i am with him because he is just so sweet and funny and cute. Hannah and Emily - lovely girls who so kindly payed for me to go see robin hood! it feels great to have people here that i can just be myself around. Lydia - yeah i could probably do another blog entry alone for reasons why I'm thankful for her.

So looking back on the first blog where i said i wanted to learn to be thankful..i can honestly say today that i was thankful! thankful for people, sunshine, God's beautiful creation which becomes even more beautiful when the sun shines. I'm thankful for a roof over my head, dear friends, friends who don't laugh cause i can't remember the names of two herbs even though they told me earlier in the day, friends that care enough to tell you things that sometime you don't want to hear but you need to hear! ** cue sentimental thought provoking background music** ........yeah i read back over what i wrote and i could almost hear the sentimental music in the background..cheeze..but its really not meant to be cheezy..i really do struggle to remember all that God has blessed with me and to be truly thankful for these blessings. i'm glad God gave me a thankful heart today because i know if left to myself i would have found something to complain about, something to be discontent about but God reminded me today that i do indeed have a lot to be thankful for and also a lot to hope for in the future..so a good day indeed!

so as the tv ad goes..Thank crunchie its friday:)

Food time:)

POSE :)

bumps along the way

so today was a really good day..but it had a few bumps along the way. and well it got me thinking...

okay, so imagine a car flying down the road, all going well, life is good, you feel good and then out of nowhere you hit a bump. The car makes it over the bump but because of the bump you notice some damage on the car. So you take the car to the mechanic. So while fixing the damage from the bump, they see more damage not directly caused by the bump but that probably wouldn't have been noticed if it were not being repaired because of going over the bump. So the car is fully repaired, good as new and ready to hit the road again. it's even better than it was before. It runs smoother than ever.

so what does this have to do with anything? well...so using the illustration above..

the car is me;

the road is my christian walk;

and the bumps are circumstances that God allows in our lives in order to teach us, refine us and make us more like His son.

We all go over bumps in our lives. These bumps always look different, sometimes you can see them from far off and sometimes they can come out of nowhere. Sometimes the bump is so small that we don't even see it and sometimes its so big that we think there is no way we will ever make it over. But thankfully we are not the ones driving the car! It is God. It is only God that can get us over these bumps and sometimes its not easy and sometimes it even hurts to get over the bump. But the thing is once we are over these bumps and we are repaired and made new again...actually better than new (thats Gods overwhelming grace and mercy) the car is reinforced so that it can make it over even bigger bumps in the future. And this how God teaches us, refines us and gives us joy. now we can go through life in a better car that is able to withstand the bumps of this life. And the mind blowing this is...we didn't even pay for the car in the first place! it was a gift! paid for in full! no interest rates..no debt..the only thing is..God needs to be the driver! It may sometimes be, that, we decide that maybe its time for us to be the driver but experience tells me that this will usually land you in a ditch going nowhere at all!

Every now and then when we feel down and defeated God allows people in our lives who come along with kind and challenging words that act like our jumper cables to get us moving again!

so yes today was a good day. it had the bumps along the way but God thought me a lot through the bumps and even made me thankful for the bumps! He showed me that no matter what ever bump comes up..He will get me over! He has done it time and time again. And He did it again today!

can i pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars..i could really use a wish right now.

so where to begin..how does one even begin writing blogs! isn't' a blog just a hi tech version of dear diary except that the whole world can read your thoughts..(which reminds me i really should check out the privacy settings on this thing to see exactly who can read this..ah procrastination is a wonderful thing..I'll do it later..so moving on..) i'm not sure how i feel about this whole blogging craic but since i have nothing better to do with my time these days, a blog it is!

so this is where i guess a person would insert some interesting story so you the reader are not wondering at the end of reading this blog.."well that's a minute of my life i will never get back" so in that case i shall warn you in advance..if you are one who is careful about how you spend your free time then perhaps this is not the blog for you! but if you are, on the otherhand like me..bored off your tree and have nothing better to do..then this my friend, is the blog for you!:)

so today i worked on a roof. i don't do manual labour much (who i am kidding..i never do manual labour) so when, on rare occasions, i do have to do it..my body lets me know exactly why it is that i don't normally do it! although it is getting easier. This time around i haven't winced in pain at every slight movement i make. that's nice. so working on a roof all day without sunscreen and without the common sense to make sure your t-shirt sleeves are shoved up as far as possible has left me with a Grade-A farmer's tan. oh and if that wasn't attractive enough already, add in the fact that i was wearing gloves too. so my arms look like this..WHITE....THEN PINKISH RED..and then WHITE again..sexy i know!

The nice thing about spending a day doing manual labour..it makes you appreciate the boring monotonous desk job which, on any other day would be cause for complaining (well if you are me!) ..but oh no-not on a day after being on a roof. I usually go back to the office with a new zest for life..which usually lasts about an hour..well i never said i wasn't fickle! i guess that's one of my main problems..I'm never content! I'm never happy to just be. Why is this? perhaps cause TV ruined my attention span, perhaps its cause life is short and i feel like I'm missing out..or maybe its more to do with the fact that i don't know how to be truly thankful for all that God has blessed me with! How can i learn this? How can i learn to be truly thankful! Oh i know there are plenty of verses which indicate clearly how one can learn this but i seem to be missing the connection between knowing and practically living out this knowledge! Who knows maybe this will be something that God will show me this summer. I hope so! cause i would like to be truly thankful and content and not have to depend on those shooting stars to make a wish of better things.

OK well that's it. that took oh about 10 minutes to write..i was hoping it would take longer..now what am i to do with the remaining hours of the night. well i know what I'm not going to do..Google ideas for what to do when you are bored;) [well because its already been done and the results make for funny reading but putting them into practice..not so much!]

kbye.