Sunshine & Foliage

The forecasted rain for today turned to sunshine instead, which was a delightful surprise. It was the perfect chance to go pick up some new spring plants for our house. I've discovered that I really do adore walking through greenhouses and perusing the plant selection. Who would have thought that I would become such a plant lover! And somewhat of a fountain of "plant knowledge" to boot. Those that know me well will understand just how funny this phenomena is! Anyway...great none the less!


Here's my very handsome Mr. Green Thumb --->


I LOVE tulips! Can't wait for these ones to bloom...

An Easter visit to Minter Gardens...

This last Saturday was my first visit to Minter Gardens since our wedding in August 2005. The gardens hold very special memories for me, as you can imagine :) Unfortunately Jon had to work that afternoon and couldn't join my family and I, but he was a big part of the nostalgia... :) It was an absolutely glorious afternoon to be "smelling the roses". Well, there weren't actually roses (its still a bit early for those) but there were lots of tulips! And it was another 20+ day! Here are some pictures from our afternoon...













And after viewing all those wonderful flowers, I came home to a little Easter surprise from Jon...

Picnic in the park...

Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. It hit +25 yesterday and was simply the perfect day. Jon had to work but I was fortunate enough to get to spend the afternoon, walking by the river with my friend Laurie and her little munchkin Adia. The weather was so gorgeous that I actually slightly "burned" my shoulders (not much but they were a tad pink) and its only the beginning of April. We finished off our walk with a delicious blizzard from DQ. Thanks for a great afternoon Laurie & Adia!! :)

When Jon finally got off work, neither of us wanted to spend the beautiful evening indoors so we decided to end the day with a picnic in the park... I can't actually remember the last time I was that content. We had such a good time just relaxing, eating, playing catch and even a little volleyball. Ahhhhh.... what a perfect day.






I think that spring is not only here, but summer may not be too far off either. We're hoping to spend Easter Sunday afternoon playing a round of golf...

Wednesday night bedtime stories... melts my heart everytime!

Just had to throw that in here... I love watching Jon with our nephew. He's going to make a wonderful Dad some day. Though the key word there is SOME day... :)


So I must say I'm feeling pretty good right now, knowing that I have a 4 day weekend ahead of me!! I think its going to be a really great weekend. Tomorrow we have a morning service at church, Saturday I am going to do a little swimming with my friend Laurie and her very cute daughter Adia, Sunday I am leading worship with the team, and Monday...well, haven't thought that far ahead yet but its a day off so its going to be good no matter how you look at it :) I'd love to hang out with anyone that has some free time seeing as I'll have lots of it! Just let me know. The best part is that it was SOOO warm today and its supposed to be pretty nice all weekend (from what I've heard so far). I'm looking forward to some time out in the sun!
Anyway...Happy Easter everyone! Hope its a wonderful weekend for all of you!

Oh, and Jen...look what Jon's mom gave us yesterday...

Yup... 943 grams of goodness! I promise to bring the leftovers when I come to visit in a few weeks!! :) (There should be a LOT left!)

Sweet, sweet relief...

I literally only have a few minutes to post (I should really be making supper 'cause I have to eat and race out the door for worship practice) but I thought I'd share my exciting and relieving news.
I GOT MY PASSPORT BACK!!!...and with plenty of time to spare. For those that don't know the story, here it is.

So because of our cruise in June, Jon and I have to have current passports, obviously. And thankfully, both of us have passports. The only problem with mine was that it was still under my maiden name, Glen. So...as soon as I found out about the cruise, I quickly sent if off to have my married name added. (I later found out that I could technically travel under my maiden name, but I didn't want to take any chances. Plus it was too late...the deed had already been done). Anyway... so I sent my passport in February and then waited... and waited... and soon started to panic because after sending it, I realized that I hadn't changed my address information in my passport so it still had my Saskatchewan address from when I first got my passport in 2003. YIKES! Passport Canada is slow enough as it is...they certainly didn't need anything else holding up the process. So I've frantically been trying to contact them to ensure they would send my passport to the correct address. But of course, to no avail. It is next to IMPOSSIBLE to get through to their 1 800 number. Next I tried emailing and finally got a response saying that they had received my request and would make sure it was updated. Phew... now I just had to wait. But that has been the worst part because until I had my passport back in my possession, I just couldn't get excited about our trip. Everyone kept telling me, "Don't worry...you'll get it back in time," which I knew was likely, but none the less, I felt uneasy. Especially with Passport Canada's threats of, (and I quote!) "an additional 50 working days due to the sharp increase in passport applications."

So yesterday I got a tag in the mail saying that I was to pick up a parcel at the Southgate post office. I was hoping it was my passport but decided not to hold my breath. It had in fact only been about a month and a half since I mailed it. But today when I picked up the parcel, it was indeed my very wonderful, and now accurate, passport! Thank goodness! Now I can rest easy and finally start to look forward to our cruise! Praise God for answered prayer and safely returned passports :)

A Glorious Sight

I definitely got my wish...a sunny Saturday afternoon. My walk down at the Vedder River couldn't have been more beautiful. What a refreshing way to spend a Saturday...



The trees that line our driveway are finally in full bloom and it makes the drive very worthwhile :)


I think Spring may actually be here...

A Sunny Outlook for Post #100

Hard to believe that I am already at post #100, but indeed it is true. The nice thing about this 100th post is that I have a much "sunnier" outlook as opposed to my last, rather bleak post. I should really start by saying THANK YOU to everyone that has been praying for us! The peace that God has brought to us is unbelievable and I know it is because of your prayers. Just to give you a brief update on the "situation," things are getting better. We still have a LONG road ahead of us, but with the power of prayer, and the strength that God provides, we have hope that He will heal this situation.

In other news, the weather has been surprisingly GORGEOUS lately and it has definitely helped me get through the week. We've had a full week of sunshine and warmth and today it hit +18 degrees celsius again! I am really, really hoping that spring is here to stay, but I guess we'll have to see. The weekend is supposed to be nice as well which would be great...its been so long since we've had nice weather on our days off.

Not much else to report for right now. Jon has been working LONG days (7:30am-10:30pm some days) and I am looking forward to a time where he'll be back to just working ONE job. In the meanwhile, I am on the mend from my brutal cold/flu and will be getting to sing for the Easter service at church, Lord willing :) Other than that, not much excitement around the Esau loft. I'll be sure to let you know if anything transpires :)

Have an awesome weekend everyone! Enjoy the sunshine...

This Too Shall Pass... (**updated as of Monday)

So I'm back. I apologize to those of you that check this frequently for updates. I did want to post something new but because I was home sick all week, the only news I could have "updated" you on was the fact that I have blown my nose for the millionth time. Figured that wouldn't make for the most exciting post.
Anyway... I am finally feeling better (only a little "sniffly" now) and Jon and I managed to get out of the house this afternoon, to enjoy some much anticipated sunshine. I've included some pictures for your viewing pleasure :)





The only other thing I have to post right now is a request for prayer. Jon and I are going through a seriously tough time right now and had a REALLY awful day yesterday. I can't get into any details but all I can say is that we would truly appreciate your prayers. I would have to say that yesterday was actually the worst day of my life up until this point and we are under an incredible amount of stress right now. Today was proof to us that God can bring amazing peace even after something as terrible as yesterday, but we still have a tough road ahead. Please just pray that God would bring His wisdom, discernment and healing to this "situation" and that He would just wrap us in his unfailing love. Only He can fill us with the peace we need.

"Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?" Psalm 62:2


MONDAY'S UPDATE
*** Just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to those of you that have already been praying for us! Its amazing how we have felt your prayers already. The reason I am adding this little blurb to this post is because I feel I should clarify things a bit. As I said, I can't get into the details of this situation, but I do want to ensure you that the issue is NOT between Jon and I!! Just in case some of you are freaking out that we are having marital problems---that COULD NOT be any further from the truth! We are more in love than ever. We're just going through some INSANELY tough family stuff right now and are praying that it can be resolved as quickly as possible. So...although things are really crappy right now, please rest assured that it isn't between Jon and I :)
Thanks again for your prayers so far and we'd appreciate the continuation of them if you think of it!

Sick Days...

...that's what yesterday and today have been. Simply awful. The strangest thing about it is how completely "out of the blue" it came. I went to work on Monday and felt totally fine, though I was confused with why I was sneezing so much. I didn't feel sick at all but the sneezing was incessant.

Well...by Monday evening, I was SICK! I don't think I slept a wink that night. I felt like I couldn't breathe at all and even though I had taken some Nyquil before bed, I still didn't sleep well. By the time morning came, my head felt like it was going to explode and I started to feel a bit nauseous. How random hey!?

Anyway...only now am I starting to feel a bit better. I have pretty much slept for two days straight and I think its helping. Now its just a case of regaining strength and getting rid of the achyness.
I think the most disappointing thing about all of this "random sickness" is that I was scheduled to help lead worship at church this Sunday and last night was worship practice. I was REALLY looking forward to singing and although our worship leader Andrew, said I could still sing with them if I was feeling up to it, I'm not sure how well it would work with me having had no practice with them. So I guess we'll see how I feel by then... being sick is the WORST!!

Rain, Rain... Go AWAY!!!

One of these would have been much more effective today than my car. Can anyone else figure out what's up with the torrential rains!?? This weather is insane!!
No lie...we now have our very own lake in the front yard.

Two Date Nights??

Many of you can probably relate to the fact that after being married for a while, its tough to make "dating" a big priority. And by that I mean, "us" time---where its just the two of you and you get to bask in each other's goodness :)
Well for us this has been really tough lately. Jon has been working like a maniac these last few weeks, trying to manage full time framing, plus two other side jobs. On top of that we have other commitments like Thursday night Bible study, etc... So let's just say that "date nights" have been few and far between. This weekend was a treat!! We have had "us" time TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW!! We had agreed earlier in the week that Friday night would be a for sure "date night" and seeing as Jon has been working so hard lately, I thought we would have a nice evening at home together. So I went and rented a movie and got take-out from his favorite Thai food restaurant here in Chilliwack (*note: if you've never had food from Chili's in Chilliwack, YOU MUST!!! Its amazing food!). I also made us chocolate milkshakes and we spent such a nice evening at home :)

Then after working another Saturday, I thought that Jon would just want to stay at home. But he surprised me and we had a coffee date at our favorite coffee shop, Decades. It was wonderful!!
So I guess this post is a bit of a tribute to my very great husband. Jon---I appreciate how hard you've been working and I love you to bits!! Thanks for a being such a great date :)

A little "hair-apy"...

<----- BEFORE...


AFTER ----->

So there you have it ladies and gentleman...the "new do." And I am VERY pleased with it :) As soon as I met the new hairdresser, I instantly got the feeling that I was in good hands. Without a doubt, she has won my business-- I will officially only let Andrianne cut my hair! :) The crazy thing too is that she happens to be from Saskatoon originally and we chatted our heads off, discovering that we know quite a few of the same people. In fact, we think we may have even attended Redberry Bible Camp together back when we were young---what a SMALL world, hey!?
Anyway...she was SO nice and I felt totally comfortable taking her "hair advice." What I was really happy with was that she didn't want to cut it short. She liked the length I had and said she wanted to work with that by just adding layers and bangs (which is very fun for me cuz I haven't had "bangs" since I was little!). So this is the end product and I am thrilled with it!!

Thanks again to everyone that gave their advice on my hair decision (aren't you glad I didn't go REALLY short, Heidi and Sally?). Oh and Hailey, I will be taking your advice about getting some highlights done. Andrianne had some really good ideas of what to do so I will be going back to her in the next month or two for that--stay tuned :)

Cruisin' and Curls

I've been wanting to post something of some substance lately, but unfortunately, today will not be the day. Its POURING rain outside, I'm in a very lazy mood and I have no idea what sort of "substance" to write about. So instead, here I am, just rambling on about nothing.
The only real news to share is that I finally got our confirmed "ports of call" for our cruise in June. For those that are interested, here is the list:
June 2- Fly to Venice
3- Venice
4- Bari, Italy
5- Katakolon, Greece
6- Izmir, Turkey (which is apparently where Ephesus is--we'll definitely be touring that!!)
7- Istanbul, Turkey
8- (Day @ Sea)
9- Dubrovnik, Croatia
10- Venice (also Jon's 25th birthday!)
11- Rome
12- Rome
13- Fly back from Rome
So there you have it. It was exciting to hear that we'll be going to Turkey because I didn't think we'd be heading there---its supposed to be pretty incredible.



In other, not so exciting news, I am getting my haircut this week. I'm a little nervous because I am trying a new hairdresser that I've never been to before. She comes HIGHLY recommended to me from my friend Brianne so I'm sure it will be fine, but as a "mop top" its always a little scary trying someone new. Some of you may have heard of the salon-- its in Abbotsford and its called Speranza. Apparently this girl is REALLY good and I'm hoping the rumours prove themselves to be true :) So I thought I'd ask for a little advice from all of you readers. I've posted a recent picture of what my hair looks like (yes...its as big as ever) and thought I'd get your feedback on what I should do with it this time. I don't want to go too short because I like the flexibility of being able to tie it back at least somewhat, but really want something fun and different. So for all you "hair experts" out there, how do you think I should get it cut? This may be a bit silly because there probably aren't that many options for someone with as much hair/curl as me, but hey, I'm interested in your opinions. I am just so bored with how my hair always looks the same. I want it to look more trendy...more fun. So please, fire away with your ideas! (Oh, and my appt. is on Wednesday, so you'll have to write in before then!)


PS: This has nothing to do with my post but I just need to make special mention to a certain "Saskatchewan road trip gang". Not to mention any names (Michelle, Carly, Geralyn, Aaron, Darren & Aaron)....you guys are not holding up to your end of the blogging bargain. Where are those comments you promised? How are we gonna stay in touch if you're not going to stick with your end of the deal!? I'm crushed.

PPS: Hey Lanna (aka: Sparkalina)--thanks for stopping by my blog. I'd love to come "visit" your blog but it won't let me. I clicked on your name where you left a comment and it said it wasn't available to me. Just wanted you to know that I tried to stop by to say hello but it didn't work!

No Joke...

I kid you not....it was +18 degrees in Chilliwack today! An unbelievably gorgeous day for March!! I'm hoping this was a taste of spring...also hope its planning to stick around for good. For all you other Chilliwackers and Abbotsfordians...hope you enjoyed the sunshine today!

The Great Outdoors

Took a nice afternoon walk around Mill Lake with my parents today. It was wonderful---the sun even came out for a while. I'd describe the afternoon as "completely refreshing." I just love getting outside on days like today. Unfortunately Jon couldn't join us because he had a paper to write, but I had such a nice time catching up with my parents and enjoying the crisp, "almost spring" air. Sometimes I wish everyday was the weekend. As much as I love my job, I must confess that I often live for the weekends. Does anyone else do the same? I don't want to wish life away by doing so, but its just nice to be able to unwind after a long week and two days just never seems long enough :) Not complaining though...just contemplating life as one long weekend. Might be kind of nice...