Friday, December 29, 2017

Cousin's Wedding Weekend

The first full weekend of December, it was my cousin Jesse's wedding in Kelowna (about 2 hours southeast of here). I ended up going with Mom, Vienna, and Isaac, and we had a fun time! Poor Mom had quite the cold, but she was a trooper, and she was glad she went. Friday was a day off for me, and I was supposed to get a barium swallow done (more on that another time), but they cancelled, which didn't make me too sad. I got my hair cut Thursday night, and ran errands (also found out that the car needs a major brake job..awesome!), and then Anker got all upset about something when I came home. Anyway...

Friday, I got up and packed, and Mom picked me up and we bought a dress for me for the wedding and for the Christmas party. V, I, and I went for sushi, while Mom ran some errands, and then we were off around 3. We stopped in Vernon for some food while we were there, and got there around 6. We had a lovely ham dinner, with family. My mom's brother and his wife were there, as well as our other cousin, Kelly, and his family. My brother Seth, and his family were there as well, so I was able to see K again! She cries whenever people other than her mom and dad hold her, but other than that, she is the cutest thing! We stayed at a guest house on their property (my mom's sister and her husband), so we got all sorted out for that. That is quite the story in and of itself! It was very nice (and FREE!), but it had less items in it (bedding, dishes, etc), than we were led to believe. Anyway....once we all got set up...beds made, dishes and cutlery found...all was well...well, mostly. There wasn't a lot of hot water, and somehow Vienna and I got A/C in our room instead of heat!

Saturday, we got read for the wedding. It was at 12:30, so we had to hustle to all get ready in time. We were all there in time, which was good, considering that didn't know where we were going. The wedding was in their church's gym, and I would say that it was a country/winter theme. I will post a few pictures here, but for the rest, you can go to my Instagram to look at more. We came back between the wedding and reception. We had snacks and drinks at the main house, which my uncle coordinated. Then it was back to the church, which was transformed yet again into a Winter Wonderland Dining Hall. The wedding was done pretty much by 11. I think we left around 10 or so. At around 9, they brought in a donut truck, where they proceeded to give anyone who wanted FREE donuts! They were SO GOOD!

Sunday, we slept in a bit, and sloooowly got ready to go. We packed and cleaned, and said good bye to the family, and then headed off around 12. It was a great weekend, and I really glad that I went.

Here are some pics :
                                                Vienna and I all ready for the wedding.
                                                       The alter. I loved their lamps.
                                                                  Jesse and Jenna.
                                                                The head table.
                                          They had cotton candy as their take home gifts.
                                            Myself, Mom and Vienna. Beauties in Blue.

Five On Friday

Yes, I am still alive! I just can't seem to be bothered to blog lately. I am feeling depressed and kind of bleh. Bleh!!! I mean, I am listening to Christmas music, and watching Christmas movies until the cows come home, but it was all I could to put up the tree, and I haven't even started on Christmas baking, and though I have done a bit of Christmas shopping, I haven't done a ton (though, we are only doing stocking gifts this year). I haven't been sleeping well, and between Anker being super on edge (and grumpy), and a few other factors, I haven't wanted to be home. We also don't have a ton of money for gifts and baking, anyway. School goes for another week, and there is no snow (ok, the no snow part is good)...all of which I think are contributing factors.

Well, it's now AFTER Christmas :) December 29, to be exact! I hope you all had a great Christmas. I have some blog posts that need to get written and published, but here is a quick recap in the form of Five on Friday Style!!

1) Christmas Movies:
I have watched more than what should be allowed the last month or so. I have LOVED IT! And I have NO SHAME! Thank you, W Network for airing these wonderful movies!

2) Christmas with my Family:
We had a great Christmas with my family. We went out on the 23rd, and we came back on the 27th. We stayed at the B&B, which, though no WI-FI, no water, and with so many flies, it made us feel like we were in the Plague of Flies, we had a great time!

3) Snow:
We are living in a snow globe right now. We got a dump on the 19th, and then it snowed again when we got back, and it is snowing again now. So...fun times! I am glad that I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow.

4) Two Weeks Off:
Well, one week now. I wish I said that I had big plans on getting stuff done, but I will probably read magazines, and watch movies/tv.

5) A Fabulous Christmas Party:
On December 16th, work had their Christmas party, and it was very fun. I wasn't feel well (I have been battling a cold for a couple of weeks), but I still had a great time. We had it at the University (they have a great culinary program there), and the food was very good! I hope that we have it there next year.





Friday, December 15, 2017

Church Shopping (It's Not for the Faint of Heart)

I have had this title (and only the title) in my drafts waiting for me to write about it for ages. I haven't felt much like blogging lately, but I thought I would start on this...in hopes to get back into it.

Let's be honest: Church shopping sucks. Yes, we aren't really supposed to say that word, but it does. There're so many factors (REAL factors, not just, is there good parking? Do they have nice couches in the foyer?). Shopping for a church really is tough: is the singing good? Does the Pastor preach the Word? Are the people friendly? Is there a small/care group? If you have a family, what is the children's church like? Does the pastor try to connect with you?

Let me digress:

I grew up in the church. Literally. My dad was (and is) the pastor of our small village church, so I am pretty picky when it comes to what to look for in a church. After I left to go to Bible College at the wise old age of 18, I knew that where I would go to church in Calgary; it was easy. My uncle was the pastor there for years, and I knew lots of people (heck, I was related to most of congregation!). From then on, I moved back home, back to my home church. Then I moved to Kamloops, where I can't even remember where I went to church. Like, I am thinking about it right now, and I really cannot remember. Then I moved back home for awhile, back to my home church...then I moved to Regina, SK, and I went to two churches: one was an Evangelical Lutheran Church, and I also went to Young Adults at an Alliance Church. Both were good churches. I came to know them from the lady where I was staying with. Then I moved to Calgary (again), and I went to my "default" church where my Uncle Pastored. It was ok, but it was tough. I wasn't married, and I was "too old" to be in the young adults. But, I had lots of fun memories there, too. Since I didn't have a car, I would usually get rides with friends and family (thus, back to Default Church). Then, it was back home for awhile, then back to Kamloops (in case you are keeping track, that is back home 3x, and Calgary 2x [well, three times, but the 2nd time was only for a few weeks] and Kamloops 3x). When I moved back in 2004, I didn't know where to go; I tried a few, and I stuck with them for awhile, only to either move (and thus needing to go where I could walk to take the bus), or for me to really just get tired of going there. Again, I was still not married, and now I was REALLY too old to join the Young Adults. I was kind of alone, to be honest. I met Anker online, and I think I was going to a small church plant not too far from where I was living. Prior to that, I had tried the Alliance, a Church called Bible Truth (I think it was /is under the PAOC), and, well, I think that was all. Just as I met Anker. I had also had moved to another part of the city, so I was sort of looking for a church to go to. I went to another PAOC church called Calvary Temple/Calvary Community Church. I was there for 11 years.

When we moved to this side of town over 2 years ago, I continued going, b/c I had made a home there. I knew everyone, and I had a place. Then our pastor retired, and we got a new pastor (well, it took awhile, but we got one). Prior to this Anke had stopped going to church. Period. At all. I continued to go alone (still do), things continued on. Then our Associate Pastor left. We were all very sad. Prior that, though, in the summer of 2016, Anker and I did both help with VBS, and I really thought that he would start coming back. When he didn't, I kind of stopped going, too. I wasn't sure if I should keep going to CCC. I liked it, but a lot of my friends had left, it was too far to go (especially in the winter), and I really wasn't connecting like I was years gone by. I REALLY struggled with whether I should continue going. I talked with Anker, I talked with my parents, and some friends. I didn't go to church much during the summer. I kind of needed time to figure out what to do. I tried a church pretty close to us, but it wasn't my type at all. I kind of narrowed it down to two churches in the city; one was close to us, and one that is downtown. Our old pastor goes there, and a few other people who I know go there, and it is close. I went a few times, and I after the 2nd time, I knew that I was supposed to make that my home church. Anker and I have met with the pastor and his wife, and he said that he wants to go, but he has yet to. I HOPE to get him out Sunday. It is really small, and I think it is perfect for us.

I haven't officially "broken it off" with our old church. I think I am putting it off. I feel super sad, as it was where we met, where we got married, etc. It isn't easy to move. It sucks, actually. And I think if there were only one or two factors, I might have stayed. But in my heart of hearts, I know that it is the right thing to do. This is the longest church that I have ever stayed at, other than my home church. But, to be honest, it isn't the same church as it was even a year go. I will miss some of my friends that still go there, and I hope that we will still stay connected with our friends who still go there. A piece of my heart will always remain at CCC, and I hope to go back a few times a year to say hi to people that I know. Hey...I might even go back in a few years.

What about you? What do you look for in a church? Do you really strive to make ONE church your church home? Have you done a lot of church shopping in the past?


A Little Catch Up & A Small Rant(and a Surprise!)

Howdy! Well, as my aunt says, "I'm so far behind, I'm ahead", so I think I will take a page from her play book and just st...