Sufficient Grace

I posted this on my FB, and my IG, but I feel that this warrants a blog post :) I don't write about infertility very often anymore, b/c I feel that it can be like kicking a dead horse. It gets old. It gets boring. It gets depressing. But when I saw this on my YouVersion Infertility Bible plan, I decided that I had to share it, and then I decided to make this into a post. First off...here is what I wrote and shared originally, along with the photos:

Sufficient grace and infertility aren't usually what you hear together in one sentence. You might not have ever thought of it. I never really did. Until last night. I don't talk a ton about infertility on social media (here or IG/fb), but i do talk about it when i feel the need/desire to. 95% of the time, i am happy with our life. I get to work with kids each day, and i get to come home and relax and (usually) have a good night's rest. But sometimes, I get that sad feeling; a feeling that i am not enough, or not good enough. I get sad. I even get a little angry. Last night, i was feeling sad, and i decided to read one of my many reading plans on @youversion. I so needed to read that. God gives me grace to face the baby showers, the pregnancy and birth announcements, and the gender reveal parties/photos, and now, it seems, middle age (you read into that what you will). God gives me grace on those days. God will give grace to you, too. He's got this. He's got you! He is bigger than infertility. He is bigger than (y)our broken dreams. He is bigger than than those negative pregnancy tests. He is bigger than that failed adoption. He is bigger than your miscarriage. He sees your sadness with each holiday that rolls around, and all of the family photos on your newsfeed that comes with them He knows and sees your hurt and pain. He has you (me) in the palm of His hand. His plan is far bigger or greater than we ever hoped for, dreamed of, or imagined. 

There were a few more photos, but you get the general idea. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to share it. But I know that God is stronger than fear or judgement, so I knew that I had share it. 

Infertility is lonely, sad, and hard, but it can also be beautiful, amazing, and can make a person strong. It makes you grieve the impossible. It can make you dreams you never thought you had. It can bring you along side a person that you never thought you would have anything in common with. It can bring you anger, but it can also bring you joy.

But, I digress......Grace can get your through anything. God walks along side of you each and every day. He sees your hurt, your pain, your tears. He knows that probably for years, you have wanted to have dreamed to be a mom. He saw your pain when you were still single, and all of your friends were getting married, then having babies. He saw when you when you were told your diagnosis; he saw you when your significant other decided that they didn't want to go through with the adoption, or continue on with the IVF treatments. He saw you when your doctor told you that you really shouldn't even carry a baby. 

He sees you when your friends, acquaintances, nieces/nephews, and other young kids in your life ask if (or when you are) going to have kids. Then he sees you when they stop asking.  He sees you as you  are scrolling through your social media feeds, and see yet again, another family picture of kids at Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas or Easter, or Back to School.

I thank God every day that He gives me grace to get through the most difficult days. I thank God that He sees my hurt and my pain. He sees my joys, my tears, and my sorrows. He sees yours, too!

Five Faves

Hi all:)

This will be short and sweet, fast and furious, since I should have been doing this all wknd, and it is now 938pm, and I should have been in bed awhile ago. I probably won't get this published today, or even tomorrow...but I will see how I do.

Here are some faves:
1) My friends blessed me with some new ornaments this week :) They are gorgeous!

 2) Kamloops had its first real snow the other day. I loved it...and then I loved it when it was gone.

3) I was given a Loccitane bath and body set from me teacher last year, and I decided to use the body oil in my bath, and it was heaven!!!

4) I was in my PJs at 630 on Tuesday, and I wasn't sad about it. I might have spent the evening watching Hallmark movies.

5) I discovered that there is an Omphalocele Awareness Day, which is on Jan 31!! There is an Awareness Day (or month, or week), so I thought I would see if we "omphies" (yes I created that word myself. You're welcome.) had a day (I am in a few Omphalocele groups on FB), and sure enough, there is! I think that made my week.

5.1) I went for a walk with my friend today, and last Sunday, my neighbour and I went for walk, and it was lovely! We also have at least 1-2 movie nights a week. We watched Aladdin last week, and I was pleasantly surprised on how much I liked it (the movie). She sometimes lets me come over while she is away and look after her cats. I did that on Saturday night, and I got caught up on all my shows (from our cable provider On Demand). Today my friend and I went for an hours walk down by the river. We chatted non-stop.

From last weekend, when my neighbour and I went walking.

...oh..and I ama gonna leave you with this...:)

Waffles at my brother's house. You're welcome!

Remembrance Day Long Wknd Wrap Up

Hola! I really haven't felt much like blogging lately, as I don't feel that I have a ton new to say. I don't work with any companies "reviewing" or "promoting" any brand or business, and we don't have kids, and I can only talk about infertility so much before people get tired of it! I love our life, but it's not super exciting! I talk about my work a bit, but there is only so much I can talk about that as well. I didn't do a Five on Friday post, which I might end up doing tonight (or tomorrow), or I might just wait and do it for this Friday.

Anyway, here is a weekend recap of what I/we did:

Anker, God bless him, didn't do a whole lot. He did a bit of cleaning, and stayed home (as he usually does this time of year), and worked on his electronic stuff. We had a few little talks, which was nice.

Wednesday Evening: After work, I can't remember what I did. I think I went to the library, and ran some errands, and then I came home and relaxed. I think my neighbour, Emily, and I had a movie night, but I can't remember.

Thursday: We had PD day, which was good, and I was able to bookmark some websites on my laptop when I got home, so I will be able to refer back to them later. I went to get our winter tires on our car, and wandered around Canadian Tire while I waited. As I was coming home, I started feeling like a had a sore throat was coming on. I hoped that it wasn't going to say very long, or get worse, and I made cookies. I went to my other neighbour's house for tea and cookies. As I was finishing with her, I started getting REALLY tired! I had a bath, put some oil in my diffuser, and I drank some tea right before I went to bed.

Diffusing my oil and drinking my tea :)

Friday: I had plans on going to see my aunty June this wknd, as I and invited myself to her house, to hang out together, watch movies, and relax. When I was growing up, I spent A LOT of time at her house; staying over night, having tea parties, etc. I even would go there after I grew up! I got married, and then she got married a few years back, and then that never happened again. Her husband died last month, so this would be the first time that I had stayed over there in YEARS! I woke up at 9 or so, and I felt HORRIBLE! Looking back, I think it was some sort of 12 or 24 bug. I called her to tell her that I for sure wouldn't be coming (I had called her Thursday to let her know that I wasn't feeling well). I was REALLY sad, but I had hoped that I could go up on Saturday. I ended up relaxing, watching tv, and drinking tea. All.Day.Long. And I wasn't super sad about it (well, not sad about the relaxing part). I got feeling better mid-afternoon, and I got dressed, and I went to the library. I hung out there for awhile, and I ran an errand or two, and then I came back home, and I resumed the previous position of lying on my bed and watching TV :)

It is now Saturday, November 16th....:)

Saturday: I slept in (I think?), and I just relaxed for most of the day. I think ran out and I did an errand or two, and then I came home for a bit to grab a few things, including a bday gift, as I was going to my friend's birthday dinner. I had a fun time, and I came home around 10. I went to bed, and I think I fell asleep hard!

Sunday: I went to church, and then grabbed McD's for dinner. I came home and hung out for most of the day. I went for a walk with my neighbour, and then I spent the rest of the evening watching Christmas movies along with a big bowl of popcorn!

Monday: I think I woke up late, and I spent a good part of the day in my PJs. I watched movies, and laid on my bed #nojudgement #noshame. I also made a couple of phone calls. I had tea with Krystle for an hour at around 4. I am not sure what I did afterwards. I might have gone and run an errand or two. In the evening, Emily and I watched a movie. We started watching Aladdin, and we were both tired, so we finished it up the next night. I really enjoyed the movie for the most part. It is a bit scary in parts, so maybe kids under 5 might not enjoy it, but I think they did a great job with it!

Five On Friday

Happy Friday, Friends! Can you believe that this is the LAST week of October??? How can that be?? Here are some favourites from the last few weeks!

Our neighbour moved out! Y'all, we are so happy! I actually WANT to be home now (though, there are times where I don't want to be home b/c of other reasons!). He moved out Oct 5, and we are more relaxed now.

My neighbour and I have been having movie nights :) We both love that we have someone to watch movies with. Yes, Anker and I will watch movies, but often, we don't watch stuff together anymore. Yes, I know it is a bad habit. Anyway, Emily and I have been having fun watching New Amsterdam every week and movies.

Btwn my neighbour, my SIL, and my friend, I have been given a lot of clothes lately. I have had to sell some of them, as they are too big or small, but a good chunk of them I like, and I think they fit well.

Eggnog and PSL were in grocery stores...Eggnog has gone back into the vault for now, but the PSL drink is still out. I am not a big fan of the PSL drink, but it is different, and I used it (along with the Eggnog) in my coffee!

Yay for 3 day long wknds! I haven't worked 5 days in ages! This week will be a fiver day-er, then the next week will be, three, then 4 :) Two weeks ago was a four day wk for me, due to my uncle's funeral, and this last week was a 4 day-er, due to it be Thanksgiving Day on Monday.

Well, it is now a few days INTO November! Ha!!! Yes, I know...I just haven't felt like blogging lately! But, things are all good :)

Ok..here are a few more:

I am loving the flavoured/sparkling water the last few weeks! I actually will bring one nearly every day to work. Yum! I sometimes like to have it with cranberry juice.

Y'all, I am LOVING the fall colours! Yes, I am sad that the leaves are almost all gone now, but I took a ton of pictures this year, and you can see them on my FB and IG accounts. I went "leaf peeping" (yes, I just learned this a year or so ago that this was a legit thing/word) at/in our park the last week and it was gorgeous! I had fun taking some pictures.

I watched the movie "Unplanned" a few weeks ago, and y'all, RUN do not walk to get this amazing moving! EVERYONE must watch it. Yes, I said EVERYONE! I also watched "Breakthrough" a few weeks ago, and that was awesome as well! I would recommend anyone over the age of 12 watching both movies.

Halloween was on Thursday, and our school doesn't do anything for it, but I did end up wearing my candy corn earrings, and some pumpkin socks to work that day :) In the evening, my neighbour and I watched a movie (she had never seen "Princess Bride", can you believe that??, so we had to watch it), and we ate chocolate bars, and then went to chase fireworks. (FYI: Anyone who says "We don't do Halloween", but ends up going "Trunk or Treating" or even a Church Night Out (A local church does "Light Up the Night", and does a great job!), still does Halloween, in my opinion, so quit fooling yourselves. Our neighbourhood put on a 45 minute firework display, and it was GORGEOUS!!! I wish I had seen the whole thing.

W Network (in Canada) has nearly 24/7 Christmas movies! Yes! I have already watched 5. True story. I also grabbed a few Christmas magazines from the library. I even heard a few people decorated their houses and put up their Christmas trees! Even my own MOTHER! Ok, not the tree, but she did decorate the house.

My girls group went for dinner at a local Greek Restaurant on Friday, and although we had a wonderful time, the food was lacking (and the prices were higher than ever!). Anyway, it was a fun evening out, and we got our first Christmas present!

I spent a bit of time with the boys the other day, and we had a fun time. We went for a walk after J woke up, and then we just vegged out. I also went over for a couple of hours last Sunday.

I went and visited K (and then Adam when he came home) for a bit tonight, and we had a fun time. We had soup and biscuits for supper. Yum!

We have a three day week this week, and I am not sad about it (though we do have one day of PD...yay!!!). I am hoping to go and spend some time with my aunt for a few days :)

I am trying with all I can, to not go to Starbucks. We need $$$ for winter tires, and I am trying to NOT buy things that I don't NEED! That includes Starbucks and other unnecessary purchases. It is always amazing that when you really stop to think about it (like REALLY stop and think), you probably don't need that item. I always say that for everything I buy, there are about 400000 other things that I could have bought. That usually doubles (or lessens, depending how you look at it) when you are REALLY trying to be frugal with your $$.

This was one of the last (if not THE last) Starbucks that I had over week ago. If I only knew that that would be my last SB drink for awhile, I would have enjoyed it more :) Ha!!!

I looked after a former coworker's kids a couple of weeks ago, and it was really fun :) I know, I spend my days in a classroom, and then I spend my spare time looking after kids...what can I say? Kids and I like each other :)

I also watched "Abominable" last Saturday, and it was really good!!! It did drag for a bit I thought towards the end, but I liked it.

Our class went to the First Nations Museum on Friday, and I really enjoyed going. I have gone twice before, and I always say that I want to go with another adult (or alone), to stay longer, and to ask more in-depth questions, but I never end up going. I actually might go this winter, though. Maybe.

My across the street neighbour lets me come over and house/cat sit for her when she is away. I love that I get to watch the BIG TV, and I also get sit and read, and just be alone for awhile. She has a new cat, who is 3 or 4 months old, and she is a dolly!!!

Ok, I think that is all for now :) There are probably some more things to say, but I can't remember. There are a ton more pictures that I could have put up/on/in the blog, but I want to get it posted, and it is getting late. I think most of them are on my FB/IG accounts.