On Random Things

This post goes out to Annalee, who is persistent in reminding me that it's time to write something. Thanks Annalee, for patiently waiting. Here you go. 

Summer
How's yours been? Over here, it's been a mix of:

> flying by & moving slow
> pleasant relaxation & hard work
> hot & delightfully cool
> vacation & "back to real life"
> preparing & procrastinating
> impulsive moments & routine order

But despite these mixes, maybe even because of them, it's been lovely. This is our very first summer with a defined time frame - between the last and first days of school. From what I gather, some people love this and some people aren't big fans. So far, I'm enjoying it. It forces me to take advantage of having Hadassah home all day everyday. Play dates and trips, but also lazy stretches at home with reading, bowls of ice cream and goofing off...

Vacation

I have full intentions of writing a separate blog post to show you some pictures - my favorites were from our foggy beach walk - so I won't go into it much. Just want to say that it's incredible how fast they go! Sometimes they feel so needed. You wait and wait and eagerly anticipate and can long for Day 1 to arrive. And you enjoy it so much when it finally comes! We spent a full 3 weeks between camping, family and home and ended it relaxed and thankful. Vacations can be such a blessing for families! But...it's over already! Which is fine and all. Life needs to go on. But, wow. 3 weeks later and it feels like vacation was in the distant past! Crazy. Yet quite ok. :) 

Being Pregnant

This cool weather stretch we're encountering? No complaints from me!!! haha!! We have one month left before we have the pleasure of meeting this kicking, squirming and hiccuping baby. I can't wait! And I can wait. All at the same time. The 4 trips to the bathroom per night is getting old...but soon I'll be making 4 trips to the crib at night to feed a crying babe. The extreme tiredness followed by the extreme energy to get certain things done before the baby comes is getting old...but soon I'll be extremely tired followed by, well, extreme tiredness. I want to meet this cute bundle of joy! But I want to savor the last weeks ever of just the three of us. 

It's such a blessing to know that God has all things timed for His glory and our good and that we can trust Him and rest in Him and His plan. So while I'm eager to hold our newest family member in my arms, I'm content to be right where we are and find joy in being here. And thankful that beyond your average "I'm pregnant and not everything is lovely all the time" things, all is well and I cannot complain! 

Tomatoes
Can I just say that right now, during the tomato ripening season, I am so thankful I'm the only one in my family who enjoys tomatoes? My cherry tomato plant is producing the most delicious balls of red goodness and I don't have to share! Mmmm.

Being Crafty
You know what I love? Having an afternoon where housework, baking, etc., is all caught up. Work is still there, but it has been worked on and can wait for a bit. And an impulsive thought strikes. "Hmm, you've had that same scrapbook paper as a frame mat for months, maybe it's time for a change!" Or "The mantel - it's been like that for awhile now. Clearing it off and starting fresh sounds fun." Or " You, Mr. Lanturn, need a turn on the hutch for awhile...what can I replace your bookshelf location with?"

I just love those times. In the geekiest way. Please, someone tell me I'm not the only one.

Random Blog Posts
Did you know that sometimes I write blog posts in my sleep? You'd probably never guess it, seeing as I am a sporadic blogger. But being pregnant has resulted in some pretty crazy dreams and a few times, I've actually thought "I should write a blog post about this" in my dream. Of course, I'll wake up and remember the dream for 5 minutes but not again as I move into my day. Anyway - just thought I'd let you know what I could fill many, many random blog posts. If only I could actually type in my sleep!

Enjoy your day!

Online Shopping

It can be a lovely thing, really.

You don't have to leave your house. You can shop in your pj's, if you're so inclined. And then, when it's all ordered and confirmed, you just sit back and wait for UPS or FedEx to show up at your door. 

Slowly but surely, Canadian companies are getting into the whole online shopping thing, making it more available and more convenient. And I just recently noticed that RetailMeNot, a great source for coupon codes to score great online discounts, has a Canadian site. For Canadian stores and restuarants. For Canadians. Great, eh! Perhaps it's been around for awhile, but regardless...I'm happy I (re)discovered it. (rediscovered it because I used to use it all the time when shopping online when we lived in the States...)

So my advice would be: Never complete that online order until you've searched for coupon codes. I saved 25% on one of my purchases today! Yay! And apparently 25% is enough of a happy dance moment for me to fly over here and write you a bit of advice. 

And nope, I haven't been asked by RetailMeNot to promote anything, I was just so happy to find it in a .ca version...

Random

Ready for some random chit chat? 

We crafted, read, played and watched our cozy little way through the holidays only to have a snow day on Hadassah's first day back to Kindergarten. My little girl is clearly not at the point where a snow day is considered a good thing! Oh the tears! 

Over the holidays we had a frequent, troublesome little visitor. He arrived in the mail, along with a letter explaining his visit. His name is Tutley P. Mouse. (Thanks, Christianne, for the great idea!) And while he didn't get into trouble every day, he certainly gave Hadassah frequent giggles when she discovered him in the morning. 

Here she is, and there he is, as she found him on his first morning with us. Troublemaker!

A few weeks ago Hadassah and I cracked open our next book in line to read of the Little House on the Prairie series. How ironic that we started The Long Winter around the same time as our winter started whirling outside our own door! What I don't get, is that we've finished the book. Why is it still so cold out there?!?! Where is the spring they spoke of? Where's the Chinook?! In fact, it's the coldest it's been yet this winter... -26C. C-c-c-cold!!! Guess we still have to cope with our own long winter! ;)

Our Christmas decorations came down slowly - a bit here and there - ever since Christmas day. And I'm curious about something. Am I odd? Because I love cozying up the house for Christmas and find it a beautiful time of year to decorate. But when it's time to take it all down, I'm relieved. It's like I can breath again! Everything is back in it's place and a lot of clutter is gone. Sigh. Smile. It's weird, right? 

January is known as the big organize your life month, right? Well, I managed to do our attic. See, before I put my Christmas decorations away, I knew I wanted it done in an orderly and organized fashion. And in order to put the Christmas decorations away, I also needed an empty tote, as I may have gained a garland or two through out this season. In order to get an empty tote (without buying any new ones, since I spent enough money on garland!!) I had to go through a few in the basement to see if I couldn't get rid of some unused stuff. So I made a hot mess in the basement, in fact adding chaos to an already disorganized space, but I got my empty totes! They were empty, for a short time, anyway. Now they are neatly filled, stacked and labelled in my attic. Love that feeling. I am also now officially procrastinating. Because now there's the basement...

I just noticed that my blog friend, Sarah, (never met the girl, but she blogs and so I kinda feel like I know her and if we ever met, I'm rather sure I'd like her!) opened up an Etsy shop. Lovely scarves! You should go check it out... Sarah by the Sea Shop.

It's official. My favorite meal is perogies, fried with onions and bacon and served with sour cream. Hands down. Love the stuff! In fact...I do believe it's close to lunchtime......

...told you it was random!

(stay tuned for an addition to SparrowJoy! New Playroom print on its way!)

Adoration Dessert Social

Most of you readers have probably heard of Word & Deed, a great organization that our denomination supports. Well, recently we hosted a Dessert Night Fundraiser for our local churches and I had the fun of helping out on the organizing end of things. We wanted the evening to be about Adoration Christian Center (a Word & Deed project that was the focus this particular evening)...and desserts! The evening turned out to be really nice and I thought I'd share a few pictures.

As I was helping out with the organizing, I couldn't help but try and cozy up the school gym, even if just a notch, and I had fun grabbing a few things from my house to add to our Silent Auction table and elsewhere. It also seemed like a great time to try out that pin I saw...the Malt Ball cake! (renamed the Triple Chocolate Bubble Cake for the evening...) And don't the other auction desserts look scrumptious?! 

Tim hovered a while to try and outbid the determined opponent of the coveted Lemon Meringue Pie - his favorite!

And we had a Keurig bar that some of the Young People from our church helped out with. Here they are, ready for service!

It turned out to be a really nice evening - and I hope that Adoration Christian Center will benefit from the donations but especially the prayers of the people who attended the evening. Do check them out! 

Country Living Fair >> Good Times !!

While I haven't subscribed to Country Living in a few years now, I remember when I first read about the Country Living Fair. It was described as the magazine in real life and while that was exciting to read, they needn't have told me that, for they had me at "Fair". 

I knew I had to go. 

Ok, "had" sounds so demanding, as if I'd never be happy if I couldn't go. Obviously, I could've lived without going to the Country Living Fair. But when my sister said she'd be happy to accompany me on this fun little road trip (Chatham Ontario to Columbus Ohio), there's no way I was going to refrain from grinning, getting giddy and making a happy overture to her about how exciting that was and thank you so very much! Country Living Fair? Check! 

After our adventure-less drive to Ohio and a decent sleep on the rather hard mattress of our luxurious roughing it glamping camping cabin, we drove into Columbus and settled into the longest line I've ever been in. Ever. (and it wrapped around almost twice this long around this fence!)

This was gonna be good!

And it was. It had such lovely booths and displays.

Loved this cabinet. Would've loved to take it home except I have no spot for it. Sigh.

And then there were the ideas! So much inspiration for things to try at home.

(loved those doorknob picture holders by Cash & Cari from RePurpose)

The amount of people blew me away. The amount of people tugging along wagons, carts, and little suitcases boggled my mind! Such wise people! Clearly they've done this sort of thing before. Next time Jen...next time you can be one of those wise people!

And then there was the food. Mmm the food. Our favorite? ("Should we get the small one? Do you think it'll be enough?" Slight pause... "Uhhh, no. Let's get the big one.")

It was a busy, long day. But Country Living did a great job of making it truly lovely.

I did make a couple of purchases - one in particular I absolutely love. But more on that another time...

There is quite possibly no better way to have a sister's time out. Thanks Trac, for joining me and making it a fabulous, memorable trip!

 

This, That and Other Random Things

Ready for some 'Random with Jen'? Here it goes...

*** You know what's incredibly beautiful? Frost. This morning I took Gus for a walk and saw the most amazing frost on the grass. God does lovely things with His creation!

*** I'm really liking paper tape. Really. Liking.

*** One of the best memories of October was a beach picnic with Tim and Hadassah. It happened to be on the most beautiful days of fall. Here are a couple of shots of our day:

*** Scenic train rides on a cold day requires a coat. But if one forgot ones coat, one must have ones husband run back to the car to find a blanket. And then once the train ride is done, hot chocolate and Saturday comics are in order.

 (Mmmmmm....)

*** Attending an ordination is such a blessed experience. Tim's former seminary-mate received a call to a church plant near Nippissing, Ontario, and we went to his ordination this past Friday. We were reminded that we wear Calvary Armour - complete armour, given to us by Christ Himself - and that God will equip us for all things. Rob and Taun, we pray that you will always remember this, as you start this new service for the King!

*** I've learned something. Trying to grow a pretty lawn when you own a dog is frustrating work. Especially when cats wander into your yard resulting in a full out chase. While humorous to watch, it does nothing for your new, fresh baby grass trying to make a go of it. Poor baby grass.

*** Old houses are a lot of work. Everyone warned me and I believed them. Truly I did. But I didn't know. Now I know. But it's ok, because...

*** Old houses are a lot of great. And tweaking this old house of ours is just so much fun. I love having a morning free so I can paint a wall with chalkboard paint. More on that another day.

*** Meeting people who read my blog is a fascinating experience. The fact that you come back time and again to catch up on us can be baffling. I can only hope that in the midst of family tidbits, house updates and other randomness that the common thread of God's grace to this undeserving individual is evident. For how useless would this blog be if it didn't reveal the wonder of God and His glory!

*** I pulled out my wedding dress and veil the other day.

*** Daughters (and sons, I'm sure, although I can't speak from experience) grow up way too fast. Another thing that everyone told me. And I believed them. But now I know and continue to learn. That sweet little girl in the picture up there is coming close to being 5 years old. Five. FIVE!!! While I wouldn't wish to stop right here (every stage has it's greatness), I do want to savor the days. The moments. The hugs and kisses. The girl.

And there you have it. Randomness. This and that. Today's rendition of 'Random with Jen'.

Until next time! Wishing you a wonderful Lord's Day tomorrow.

That husband of mine

It was one cozy evening.

The evening when I spread out all of my crafting stuff and came up with my Paint Chip Calendar. Tim was either in "the Pastor's chair" (as all of our church members call our living room chair with the footstool) or at our kitchen counter, typing away. And although we rarely spoke to eachother throughout the course of the evening, it was just so nice, simply because we were both there. Together.

Little did I know, while I worked away on a pretty piece of organization, how quickly my calendar would be filled. The next morning I found my calendar already full and my schedule already made!

Did you see his "see above & repeat"? So not only does he fill one week with himself, he wants every week that month to repeat itself. And he doesn't stop there. No siree! He wants my entire life to be all about him!! Because in the space I left open to write the month, I found this:

Unbelievable!

Happily, I'm rather in love with the guy. So with the small exception of French Fry Casserole every single Saturday, I'm more than willing to comply.

Because I'm certainly thankful that God has blessed me with that husband of mine.

Here's to many more cozy evenings...

My vacuum. And other random things.

The vacuum is sitting on our living room floor, waiting for me to plug it in. Can you hear it? I can. It claims that it needs me. That my floors are embarrassing him and he'd like to do something about it, but he can't do it without me. It's nice to needed, isn't it?

Yes, this blog post is purely procrastination.

An opportunity to say hi, give you an internet wave and ask how you plan to celebrate the start of summer vacation (last day of school! woohoo!). Kids all over Canada must be so ex.CI.ted.

It's also an opportunity to point out that I've added a little somethin' to my sidebar. Do you remember, friends & family o'mine, the whole reason I started this blog? To keep y'all updated on our life since we were far away and busy? Well...here's a whole new way. Instagram. Sometimes writing posts along with pictures can be more time-consuming than I'd like. But Instagram let's me snap life shots, leave one quick caption and - snap! - you're updated. With pictures even. Warning: there may or may not be an over-excessive number of pictures of our daughter. We cannot help it. We're smitten.

Onto other random things: Yesterday we bought a door. And hung it. All by ourselves. We may or may not have stood back and stared at it when we were done. A lot. Let's just say that if we can hang a reclaimed door...aaaanyone can. Pictures of that on its way.

Pictures. Ah yes. Would you believe that I flipped through the pictures on my phone and counted off no less than 14 separate blog post possibilities? Apparently I'm good at taking pics on my phone with blog posts in mind but then leaving those pictures right where they are.

Perhaps I'll get those. Someday.

Tim had surgery this morning. I had to pick his grogginess up from the dentist this morning and discovered that I giggle when I'm nervous. Nervous about my strong husband wobbling over and me not being able to catch him on time. Poor guy had an impacted wisdom tooth that had to come out. But...between nurse Hadassah (who is taking her job very seriously) and myself, we intend to see that he is well taken care of. Would ya know I woke up worrying that something would go wrong? Thankfully my own husband's sermon from a couple of days ago came to mind - be anxious for nothing. Nothing! At all. When will I learn that God has everything covered and I can rest in His will?

With random reference to pictures of Hadassah previously mentioned, I'm going to toss in some random pictures of her and Gus. (who, by the way, was very sick this week. Thought for sure we were going to lose him! But after some turkey baster injected water and lots of love, he bounced back and is good as new. How's that for random?)

That last picture? Hadassah speaking Gus. The language she always uses when they're playing together. It's part baby-talk, part something else. It's crazy. But it's what she does and Gus loves it. And her. So it's all good.

That vacuum is hollering at me now. I feel like shoving it back into the closet and telling it to please, be quiet! But then the floors will start chiming in and I won't be able to handle it anymore. So maybe I should just get going already, eh?

Ok, maybe I'll slip in a couple of other pictures from the photoshoot above. Just a couple of my favorites. For fun. And to ignore my vacuum just a leeetle bit longer. These are straight from my camera, no fiddling. Yet.

Have a fantastic weekend, folks!

ps: If you noticed the name of my Instagram - SparrowJoyJen - and wondered about it...let's just say there's a little something in the works over here. A little something that requires a business name. A little something called "SparrowJoy". Stay tuned!