Baby, it's cold out side...

It was -29 when I got up to stay up and it was colder earlier in the morning when Cliffton left. I have put Maisy out by herself the odd time when I didn't think I'd get my boots on fast enough for her... ~blush~ And she's always gone to the yard to pee but today, it was just too cold ~ she did her business on the deck! ~ugh~

I wanted to get upset, but it's hard ~ she's so cute and a very good dog most times so I let it slide... It's sooooo cold out there! It has however, warmed up to a balmy -16 now at 12:24pm as I blog!

Just look at her ~ and have I mentioned, she's made her way to the new sofa??? Well, her time there is resticted but... she's made it!

Aw, Maisy ~ what a walking companion she is too, if I forgot to mention! ~wink~

Rules for Daily Living in the New Year...

Rules for Daily Living in the New Year


Begin each day with God, Kneel down to Him in prayer, Lift up your heart to His abode, and seek His love to share.

Open the book of God, and read a portion there, that it may hallow your thoughts, and sweeten all your care.

Go through the day with God, whate’er your work may be, wherever you are, at home or abroad, He still is near to thee.

Converse in mind with God, your sins to Him confess, trust in the Lord’s atoning blood, and plead His righteousness.

Lie down at night with God, Who gives His servants sleep, and when you tread the vale of death, He will you guard and keep.

I found this on the back of my church bulletin and thought it was worth sharing ~ no name with it... Enjoy the clean slate with all of it's opportunities in 2008!

Happy New Year ~ 2008

I heard a couple of things in the Sunday service this week.

First of all, I heard that Jesus went to the cross not for my benefit only, but He went to demonstrate his love and obedience to the Father... Really, we know these things but sometimes, it seems like it's the first time you've ever heard it.

...then I heard that Jesus' time with us was limited and yet, the Holy Spirit has no limit on His time to work with us, if we but surrender.

It is my hope & prayer that in the year 2008, I allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in me.

Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him... Ps 2:12b

There were a few things under our tree...

These are totally random in order but I'm feeling like I've been neglecting my blog so I'm making a promise to myself to keep it up... this is what is under our Christmas tree; I got a beautiful watch, and a set of much wanted dishes (Corelle ~ sunblossoms)...

Here it is quite as the dishwasher hums after a Christmas movie ~ Deck the Halls... Dum, dum, dum... Why didn't we watch "it's a wonderful life" again???

This is our main gift and she's not only keeping us real busy but she's growing like a weed!

Here is my bestest gift from Kash and there were a few. I mentioned the cookbook "the new Purity Cookbook" and a set of bracelets and this gorgeous necklace. I couldn't decide if I liked the pic on the table or on the Christmas sock. I'll take one later when I'm wearing it! ~smile~

Cliffton and Kasha have been terrible busy playing "stuntman" and "pirates of the carribean" games on the new playstation 2 that was under the tree. That ole Santa... ~wink~ By the way, Kash is sporting her new housecoat she got; something she wanted for a while now!

Here Kash and Dad are opening their socks ~ we couldn't make Lance one 'cause he needs to get back on the plane to go back to AB... I havent' seen him yet; he's gone to spend some time with his Dad and his side of the family. I can't wait to give him a huge Christmas hug!

Cliffton got some things to help him hunt when bow season comes 'round! ~smile~

What did you get in your sock Kash?

Well, warm wishes to all of you for a wonderful new year! Hope your Christmas season was as nice as can be but I hope you pondered on what the real message of Christmas is...

http://www.tractleague.com/tract.php?id=266

No gifts under this tree... Not yet, anyway!

Here is what is under our Christmas tree... The pup, Maisy and a cookbook I'd been wanting for quite some time & Kash picked up for me about 2 months ago. "Purity Cookbook" ...and a little something I got ages ago (I was going to wrap it if I got to go to the white elephant exchange at FBC). Oh well, I'll hold on to it til next year... ~smile~

Not once but twice in less than a year did we move across this vast country of ours (and may I add, both times during the winter!!!). ~ugh~ That is probably the biggest reason why, we are not buying this year... But it doesn't feel that bad, until I hear about others shopping. I get to feeling envious and guilty. I know exactly where the envy comes from... But I try to remember something taught to me by a certain former Pastor... "guilt comes from satan but conviction (life changing decisions needing to be made) comes straight from the Spirit of God". ;)

Ahhhhh...

New Brunswick...

My honey shovelin' us out of our hotel room... does he mind? Somehow, I doubt it! We've just traveled thru a squall a day or two before ~ we are just plain thankful to the Lord to be home at last and safely by the mercy and grace of our Savior...

***I'll publish some pics of what I could take while driving in the squall at a later date ~ you can't take any in the white out, of course***

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squall

Someone has found me on Facebook.com

And shared these pics with me ~ Ernie used to babysit my brothers, sister and I... Also, he was the owner of one of the only cameras in the neighborhood. He said he collected, saved and cashed in bottles to keep up his love for photography.

The girl in the background is me and my little brother, Daryl. This area will get flooded as our neighborhood rink ~ it was great!

This is my bestest buddy Diane Gower ~ we went to kindergarten hand in hand everyday and then we started grade one but were separated into different classes but looked for one another every recess until that day in October when our family moved away from the South End to the Rifle Range in the North End of Saint John...

Here we are with some other children in the neighborhood...

And more...

This is me in the background with my famous fur cape ~ a story of it's own! The two children standing close? My sister, Lisa and brother, Keith...

This is Keith, my brother with a neighbor boy.

Looks like we;re moving closer to home....

My Father in heaven knows what's best for us...
Ahhhhh, the Maritimes!

I really do like winter...

I like all the winter stuff we Canadians like to do in that season ~ like snowblading, sliding, walks in the woods to see snow hanging on the branches of huge evergreens, snowmobiling, snuggling a cup of tea while it storms outside, etc. I'm more Canadian than I ever thought I was...

It's our intention/prayer to go to the US for work and a life experience but the closer it gets, the more I look forward to going closer to home... The Maritimes have hills, which are good for a few of those winter activities that I spoke of earlier too.

"Ode to Kim and Cliff" by Sherry Lomax

Hope y'all can read this by clicking on it ~ it was great fun at my shower! ~wink~ I didn't even know that Sherry could write poetry!

Some of my family on the other side...

Aunt Ruth, married to my Uncle Bob, Dad's bother.

This is my Uncle Bob (my Dad's brother) and my cousin, Kenny...

This is my Aunt's Ninie & Patsy (Dad's sisters) and cousins, Donna Marie & Darlene. My Unlce David can be seen at the edge of pic (my Dad's other brother).

This my mom's brother & my Uncle David looking back from the table full of Greens!

My Uncle Mac and Aunt Ninie, married now 46 yrs!

My Uncle David, Mom's brother.

Black Sheep by John Fischer

Most families have what some call "the black sheep in the family." The black sheep is the misfit, the one that didn't measure up, the one most of the family finds embarrassing, and the one we wish we could hide.

Our family had two -- one, a cousin of mine, and the other, an uncle. When you grow up with this, the stories and the judgments are pretty much engrained. A person doesn't really stand a fighting chance of overcoming the stigma that has been attached to them. It's only later in life that you sometimes gain a certain amount of impartiality -- enough to wonder what it would be like if you started over with that person, without the benefit of any history.

Today, I found out some new stories and another perspective on my uncle, whom I was led to believe was a pathological liar. Another more distant family member on his side weighed in with another perspective.

According to him, my uncle was a great storyteller. His stories were part truth, part embellishment, and part fabrication, and yet you would expect all these things from a budding novelist, which is what he was, among other things he was pursuing. It made me wonder what I would think of my uncle today if I were meeting him for the first time. We would have been able to connect as novelists, at the least. Hearing talk about my uncle made me want to see him again, but of course that would be impossible since he has passed away a number of years ago. But it made me wonder if there are others in my life that I have prejudged on my own.

"Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait til the Lord comes." (1 Corinthians 4:5) It's hard to do this with people who come with a history. We need to learn not to believe everything someone says about someone else. (Actually we should pay very little attention to such a thing, since that usually amounts to nothing but gossip.) We need to find out for ourselves.

I got this story from my friend, Marilyn ~ I posted 'cause I can relate. My parents have been gone for quite some time. They are painted in various colors. My parents were wonderful people with flaws, just like the rest of us! ~wink~