A big thank-you to Airmiles Canada!

<----This is the very wonderful person I'll be seeing in 56 days!
Yes Jen...I just booked my ticket!! Abbotsford to Edmonton: Thursday, April 26-Sunday, April 29. Its set in stone...no turning back now (well, I guess I could but then I'd lose my airmiles & the taxes I paid...) So I hope you're ready for me :) CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!! Oh, and if you could put in a request for some warm weather while I'm there, that would be great. :)
Love you.

Beautiful One

Just thought I'd share the words of a song that truly touched me today as I was driving home from work.
(Not gonna lie...I was belting it out. But hey...I was alone in the car...that's normal isn't it? :))
Hope the lyrics speak to you the way they do to me. We have such an unbelievable Saviour...

"BEAUTIFUL ONE"-- Jeremy Camp

Wonderful, so wonderful
Is your unfailing love
Your cross has spoken mercy over me
No eye has seen no ear has heard
No heart could fully know
How glorious, how beautiful you are.

CHORUS
Beautiful one I love you
Beautiful one I adore
Beautiful one my soul must sing.

Powerful so powerful
Your glory fills the skies
Your mighty works displayed for all to see
The beauty of your majesty
Awakes my heart to see
How marvelous how wonderful you are.

Beautiful one I love you
Beautiful one I adore
Beautiful one my soul must sing.
Beautiful one I love you
Beautiful one I adore
Beautiful one my soul must sing.

You opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on Earth is as beautiful as you
You opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on Earth is as beautiful as you are.

Beautiful one I love you
Beautiful one I adore
Beautiful one my soul must sing.
Beautiful one I love you
Beautiful one I adore
Beautiful one my soul must sing.

And you opened my eyes to your wonders anew
You captured my heart with this love
Because nothing on earth is as beautiful as you are.

Update

The weekend started off well. I got off work early on Friday, which is always a nice thing, and headed straight into Abbotsford to pick up my friend Brianne from work. We then headed over to the job site that the guys are currently working on to take them coffee--which they greatly enjoyed :)
<------ The top picture is of the house they just finished framing and the bottom is the one they're just starting on :)
Once the guys finished work we all went to Red Robin for a yummy dinner and then watched a movie at Todd & Brianne's.

Saturday was fabulous! We slept in, got some stuff done at home and then drove down to Bellingham to do a bit of shopping and meet some friends for dinner.

This is how we killed the time waiting for our friends to arrive :) Jon couldn't resist a racecar like this!
Anyway...it was an awesome evening because my friend Izzy and I hadn't seen each other since our wedding in August '05 and Jon and I had not yet met her boyfriend. (Izzy and I were roommates at Capernwray NZ---I love her to BITS!!)
Iz and Ryan took us to a great little pub called the "Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro"--- for those that live out here, we definitely recommend it! Great food, beer and atmosphere :)

SOOOOO good to see you again Iz! Love ya and can't wait to hangout again soon!

Today was another nice day-- much more low-key. Went to church, napped and went into Abbotsford to see "Music and Lyrics." It was a pretty cute movie but I must admit that I am still not a huge Drew Barrymore fan (actually never have been). I LOVE Hugh Grant so it was worth seeing but it just wasn't quite as good as I had thought it would be. Not bad, just not great in my opinion.


The only other thing to report is the latest on "the cruise." Just so you know, they did get us booked in time, though it was a VERY close call. Apparently they were having a tough time even getting enough cabins for people that had confirmed at the end of January. Thankfully they worked some magic and got us in. But the only bad part is that we only have to the end of February to earn towards Jon's ticket. February 28 is the last day of "earning travel dollars," so it looks like we will have to pay a portion for the trip. This was a bit disappointing because I thought we would have at least another month of "earning" but its not the end of the world. I will be putting in a pretty big order this week so hopefully that will bring down the price. Either way, its a small price to pay for what we are getting. I'm still waiting for our itinerary and more details but they have given me some information. ALL flights are included (which is awesome 'cause I thought we might have to pay for them) and the only thing we will have to pay for on the cruise is drinks & gratuity. Not bad at all!! And from what my boss has been telling me, the "for sure" places we will be going are Venice, Debrovnik, Greece and Rome...there may be others but those are the ones we know of so far. The really cool part is that the cruise is June 2-13 and Jon's birthday is on the 10th...we'll most likely be celebrating his 25th birthday in Greece!! How cool is that!? :) He's pretty stoked to say the very least.
I'll keep you posted as things progress.

Seriously UNBELIEVABLE News!!!!!!!

I honestly don't even know where to start! I'm so baffled right now that I can hardly even type. I got THE most unbelievable news at work today!! But i'll start from the beginning.

OK... so as you know, I'm an Interior Design Assistant at a firm here in Chilliwack. And a large part of our work involves window treatments. Actual draperies are becoming more and more popular but the one constant in window coverings is, of course, blinds. We order our blinds through the company Shade-O-Matic and it just so happens that this is their 25th year of being in business. So to "celebrate" the occasion, they have had a little contest going. Each firm &/or customer can earn "travel dollars" by ordering blinds through them and if you sell a certain amount, you win a FREE 10 day Mediterranean Cruise. Now it just so happens that my boss and I order a LOT of blinds and we found out quite a few months ago that she had already earned enough to send 1 person on this Mediterranean Cruise. So of course, the cruise would go to her-- I mean, she is the boss and all :) But the thing is, she and her husband happen to be quite "well off" and do a LOT of travelling. They actually just went on this very cruise, last October. So when she found out that she had actually won, she was a bit disappointed because the cruise was "no use to her." I remember feeling like screaming, "ME!! Choose ME!! I would LOVE to go!" But of course, I didn't. She soon told me that she would probably give it to her parents or something and so I forgot all about it.

Then today, we got her Shade-O-Matic statement in the mail today, showing how many "travel dollars" she had earned and she's not too far off from winning the 2nd person's free cruise. We got talking and she suddenly said, "Hey, why don't you and Jon go!?" I was shocked because I was certain she had already given the cruise away. She explained that if we didn't make the rest of the quota on the blinds, we'd have to pay for the second ticket but we'd try to sell as many blinds as possible until then.
So what I am saying is...I WAS JUST GIVEN A FREE 10 DAY CRUISE TO THE MEDITERRANEAN!! I can't believe it--this is truly the chance of a lifetime! Even if we do have to pay for one ticket, it is very do-able and totally worth it. Kathy says that the cruise is pretty amazing too. They stop in Venice and Rome and a whole bunch of other INCREDIBLE places! WOW! What a dream come true :)
Let's just say that today was a definite HIGHLIGHT for me! What a good, good day.

So, as long as everything works out, Jon and I will be sailing in the Mediterranean at the beginning of June!

Ode to an E-town Dweller

I really thought having that last post at the top of my page would help cheer me up. But I'm finding that the more I look at my barefeet dangling in the sun of Belize, the more depressed I become. It just makes me wish I was there and not here, and that's no good because I have to be here. So despite my wishes to be somewhere warm and not rainy, I have decided to put something new on here. Unfortunately I don't have any big news (as usual) but there is one thing I am very excited about. One of my good friends has FINALLY started a blog. Now I don't usually make special mention of friends when they start new blogs (and trust me friends, its NOT because you're less special!...I just have nothing else to blog about and I must get rid of my tanned feet!) So...this is a very special welcome to my good friend HAILEY!!! Glad to have you in the blogging circle! And the reason I am so excited that Hailey will be joining us is because she and I go way back to our Capernwray New Zealand days as roomies and we aren't particularly good at keeping in touch. This is going to be a great way to do that now! Very great news for me :) So with that said, welcome Hailey (& Danny)! Looking forward to hearing more about you & what you're up to.


This is Hailey & Danny on their wedding day...aren't they pretty!?


Oh, and Hailey...remember this!?...

Hahahahaha....i'll never forget that day! What good memories...

DAYDREAMIN'

I could go for a little of this right about now...

But I'd most likely be willing to "settle" for even this... :)

As you can see, I'm about ready for spring to come...or at least have the rain go away ...for good...preferably.

Time for something different... yet familiar...

I wish I had some exciting news or something extraordinary to write about, but unfortunately, its been a pretty uneventful week. So instead, I'll post some pictures of my very cute niece and nephew--can't go wrong with that (just look at that adorable face...who wouldn't love her!) :)
Last night Jon had a "guy's games night" at our house so I escaped to his sister's place to see her and the kids. It's always so refreshing to see their smiling faces when I come in the door...and it was extra special last night because I hadn't seen them in almost a month! I love hearing Konrad squeal, "Auntie Bonnieeeee" as soon as he hears the door open. I can't believe how much he's grown up in the last few weeks!
Ava is already 6 months old!! She's growing up SO fast. And her chubby cheeks get more kissable each day :) These kids are the most incredible blessing!
I love you guys!

The Saskatchewan Roadtrip Gang

All I have to say is... WE HAVE INCREDIBLE FRIENDS!!!

Seeing our Bible school friends was SUCH a blessing this weekend! Here are a few pictures from our time together...

Geralyn, Michelle, Me & Carly... Love you girls!

Here are the guys having some good bonding time

Geralyn & Michy

Aaron helping with the dishes...what a fine young man :)

Me & Carly

Talbot & Darren

Geralyn & Carly "playing" in our front yard :)

Us girls spent the BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon outside

Michy & Me... I LOVE this girl! We've been friends since we were 4 years old and I know we'll be friends 'til we're old & grey!

Thanks again guys for coming to see us! It was short but definitely sweet! We'll miss you tonnes!!

The weekend so far...

What better way to spend a Friday night than sanding & priming kitchen cabinets for Jon's sister. (*note sarcasm)
Just kidding Susie...it was actually quite fun :) Especially the part when she took us out for supper to WhiteSpot ;)



As you can see, my sister-in-law is really mature... hahaha...

An early taste of Spring, indoors...

The results of a nice, lazy Saturday afternoon at home...


But the best part of the weekend will be arriving tonight! Our friends from Saskatchewan are coming to stay with us tonight!! For those that may know them, we are expecting Aaraon G, Darren H, Aaron T, Michelle J, Carly B, and Geralyn P...and we are ecstatic about it!! We went to Bethany with them and haven't seen them in a really long time. I'll be sure to post pictures of our adventurous weekend with them :)

A Man I Adore

This one goes out to a guy that I not only respect HUGELY but also love with ALL my heart---
My big brother Craig. Today is his birthday. Happy Birthday "brudder!" Hope your day was awesome. We miss you and CAN'T wait to see you this summer. Blessings in the year ahead. LOVE YOU!!!

(-This picture is of us on my wedding day. Jon & I were SO blessed to have my brother perform the ceremony for us. Who better than the one I've looked up to all my life!)

Isn't HE amazing

Couldn't help but feel in awe of God today. This is my view on the drive home everyday...how could I not love living here!? (And yes, I did take these while I was driving. A tad dangerous? Yes, but not impossible :) )
The weather has been nothing but IN-credible these last few weeks and all I can do is thank God for it. The constant sunshine has been an amazing "spirit-lifter!" Thank you Lord for your many blessings!

"This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous to see. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:23,24

"O Lord my God, many and many a time you have done great miracles for us, and we are ever in your thoughts. Who else can do such glorious things? No one else can be compared with you." -Psalm 40:5