Wknd Shenangigans; over 10K Views, and 24 followers ( SO close to a draw!!! )- GIVE AWAY!

 Linking up with Sami for this past wknds Shenanigans!

Well, I had quite the wknd, and not in a good way (well, it didn't seem that way).

Friday: The day started out ok. I watched movies and was in my jammies when I got a call from the place that I was planning on working for/at; hopefully in the next wk or so. I got a call from them saying that they couldn't offer me employment. I was not happy. I asked them why, and one of the reasons was that they felt that I was too "aggressive" in pursuing the job in the last couple of weeks since my interview. Well, I was very upset. I don't know if I have never been that upset re: a job in my life!

I got dressed, threw stuff in my purse, slammed the door, and left. I also had a good cry in Anker's arms. I left and went to the church, to talk to my friend who works there, and I also had a chat with one of our pastors. If you have been following me on FB, you will know how the rest of the wknd went...but if you didn't, here is the rest of it...

I went to the mall and had some New York Fries:) They were VERY GOOD! It was Black Friday (yes, Canada has some sales this wknd, too), and the mall was NUTS! I didn't stay too long at all. I came home and just hung out. I watched some Grey's Anatomy, and called mom/dad. My aunt called, which was really sweet:) My dad was nearly crying, he was so upset.  I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening being upset and eating:) I did go to my friends place on Friday night. We went to Walmart (it will only be open 24 hours for the three days before Xmas); it is currently open til midnight:) We had fun wandering around. I didn't spend a dime:) Came back her house and hung out and vented.

Saturday. I slept in and relaxed in the morning, and then my friend called and asked if I could take her to the bank. Mom also called and asked if I could go to the store and get a few things for her for the seminar that afternoon. Dropped my friend off and met up with mom and Val at Sw!ss Cha1et. I went to the mall for a second, as I thought that I had lost something (I ended up finding it in our couch), and then off to the seminar. I had no idea that there were going to be that many ladies. There were about 10 paying ladies for the SOF seminar. It went well. As we were all leaving, my aunt gave us some money to watch Catching Fire. I think we will go this week to watch it. I just came home and watched some movies. I hung out with my friend for a bit in the late evening.

Sunday. I went to church alone (after talking with hubs for a few minutes), and then went to the mall to grab something to eat. I did wander the mall a bit this time. It was still pretty busy, but not as bad as on Friday. I came home and relaxed all afternoon. I did fold some laundry, and organize our room a bit. I hung up some pictures on our wall, and watched way more TV than what is good for me. Hubby and I watched some DVDs from the library; The Company Men, and Guilt Trip. Hubby went to bed, and I watched a movie (well, I finished a movie), then ran up to my friends for an hour.

Please note that the entire weekend I did not succumb to Starbucks ONCE! I did go and grab a snack, but NO Starbucks!!

This morning, we woke up to SNOW! I think I will be staying at home today:) It is after 1, so I should probably get a few things done.

 I also should say that I have had now over 10K views on my blog!! I am very happy!! That was a long time coming, and I am very proud!!!

 I also have 24 followers. Once I get to 25, I will do a random draw for a small Avon product.

Happy Monday!

Life Lately, Weekend Shenanigans, and Misc Monday Link Ups

Linking up with Blair.

Happy Monday!! I hope you had a good wknd. Mine was pretty sweet:)
I am linking up my "regulars" this wk for my weekly link ups:)

I am having a bit of a rough Monday, actually. I am mainly frustrated with life, my job search, my lack of healthy life (eating, exercise, etc) skills, our finances, and yes, even some people. There seems to be always too much to do; this Saturday will mark the third Saturday IN A ROW that we will be busy, nearly all day, and some of the evening, and I got myself double booked on that day as well. I know, I know, so many people want a piece of me:)

I just need to trust God in EVERY area of our lives. It is HARD!!!! I trust, and give it to Him, then I take it back. Nice, April, right? At least He takes it whenever I ask, right?

I am also going to try to eat healthier. I HAVE to. I don't have a choice, really. I started off the day with two pieces of white toast (we had to get rid of it) and two eggs. Yum!!!

I also got Sugar Reduced Creamer (French Vanilla) and some healthy(ier) stuff last night. Hubby has been drying prunes and raisins:) Yummy! Not sure what we are going to have for supper.

Linking up with Carissa

So...MM....hmm...well, I already told you about my (sort of) frustrating morning. I also owe $20 to the library. Oops! Because they don't have debit (and I had no time to get out cash), I couldn't pay my bill. I also called the KBIA for Anker this morning, and since his worker wasn't there, they couldn't help me! I don't think I got the job I interviewed for, and when I tried to call them, she wasn't available. Also, last night (well, this morning (3:30 am) our lovely neighbour who leaves for work likes to rev his truck A LOT before leaving. Nice. He has been complained about a few times, and we are all up to HERE (picture my head..haha) with it. GAA! I tried to talk to the guy who manages our complex, and of course, his wife just had a baby, so he isn't there. Nice. The lady that is taking over for him isn't there (of course), so the poor Admin Assistant got an ear full from me! And I can't even get a coffee (SBX or anywhere)! There are some other things too that are frustrating me, that I won't post on here...not yet, anyway.

Two good things happened today; when I went to put in my quarter for the parking meter, there was already time in it...yay! And I also got a People Mag and US Weekly Mag from the library; ones that I hadn't bought....and I got (FINALLY) the third season of DA! I am so stoked!!! I was very nearly finished with Hot in Cleveland Season three, but I HAD to take it back today, with only a few eps left..boo! I am also thinking of getting into Duck Dynasty. Is it worth it? Since finding out they are Christian, I have wanted to try them out (actually, I had thought of trying to watch it even before I found out). I have reserved a couple of seasons at the library. Also, has anyone watched THE CITY?? I may get into it as well....hmm.....

I am going to re-start job searching again...this is soo frustrating!!! I hope something comes up SOON!

I have been spending more time in Pinterest again...you would think that with over 10K pins that I would have a lovely decorated house (living off the grid, of course!!) make lovely gourmet food, have the perfect marriage (and other relationships), and be perfect. Yah, no:)

Linking up with Sami 

Ok, let's get to the fun part of the blog, shall we?

Friday: I don't know what I did in the morning; I think I ran some errands, I honestly have no clue, that is just how eventful my Friday was:) I worked in the afternoon, and then went to meet up with a friend to drop off her Avon stuff that she ordered. I had a free drink coupon from SBX that I decided to use, so I had a drink, journalled and read my mags. I went to the store next door to grab bread for sandwiches for the next day (more on that in a minute), and I decided to spend time looking through the new magazines; including the holiday cooking ones! I LOVE doing that!! I went to BB&B (did I tell you we have one here? I don't normally go, but they have been having some good sales lately, so I have gone a couple of times in the last while, oh and I got our friends' wedding gifts from there), to return a pillow I got for hubby (exchange). I went home and relaxed for the evening. I boiled eggs for the sandwiches the next day, and relaxed and went to bed. It was quiet in our complex, which was nice.

Saturday: I woke up, went to the store to grab a coffee and some margarine (we were out, and I knew it was going to be a coffee-from-a-store-kind-of-day). I may or may not have gone in my PJ's:) Made the egg salad and assembled the sammies, got ready to go to the funeral, and then worked for a couple of hours. I came home, got hubby, and went to the funeral. The funeral was of our lovely and dear friend and Pastor to Seniors Babs, who died from Cancer last month. It was so sad. It was a lovely (and short!) service, which was nice. Enjoyed (way too many) treats and too may glasses of iced tea, found my forgotten sandwiches, brought them out (and they were eaten, btw), and came home and relaxed all evening. I got caught up on my movies and shows that I had got from the library. It was another quiet evening in the complex, for which we are very thankful for.

Sunday: I went to church alone; hubby was too tired, and since I was helping with Sunday School, I didn't push it (to be fair, he HAD been in church the day before). I left pretty much (um, ok before) church ended, as I was meeting up with my friend who was going to her parents to pick up her dog. The kids were out of Sunday School (and church was not yet out), and most of them had gone back in to their parents (we will often do that, just let them go back in for the last few mins of the service), so I left. My friend had I had a lovely afternoon. We got Timmies Smoothies (yummy) and some donuts, and off we went. I got to meet her parents (I had met them before, but only for a few minutes a few years back), and we had a fun afternoon! The drive there and back was so beautiful! I wish I had brought my camera. They have a beautiful house (I wish I had brought my camera to take pics of their house alone), lovely bathrooms, kitchen, and living room, were gorgeous! And her parents was so sweet!!! We left around 3:30 and came home via a back road that I hadn't been on in a long time. SO beautiful:) We came back into town, both hungry, and so we went for supper. SO good! We had supper at Senor Froggy. It is a Mexican (semi) Fast Food joint. I was kind of healthy and I had taco salad. Yummy!!! She was getting late for an apt, so she dropped me off at Walmart, and she went on her way. I wandered around, and got a few things we needed, and met up with hubby who picked me up. I came home and parked myself on the bed all evening. I am SLOWLY catching up on my PVR`d shows. I watched two wks worth of Battle of the Blades, Friday`s Y&R, a few Judge Judy`s, and an episode of I`m Having their Baby. I ended the night by watching The Amazing Race. #keeponracing my butt:)

I think that pretty much covers my wknd!

Surrender

Since this is a blog primarily about one of two things, infertility being one of them (and our life as a childless couple being the other), I thought I would actually use this post to talk about the subject, or at least on how I have been coping lately:)

It seems that every time I blog, I end up linking up with someone, which is fine, but I like to do my own things once in awhile:)

It is now 10:33 pm PST on Thursday night:) Don't worry, I didn't die or get raptured; I started this and then (as usual) got busy with other things, and then I left work. Errands. Home. Supper. Dishes. More Dishes. Laundry. TV. Remake bed (with freshly washed mattress cover). TV. Bath.

So, I am back:) I think I will make this a short post, as I am tired, and words don't seem to come as well, when I am tired.

So, back to my title of the post.

Surrender. It can make you or break you. You can love it, or you can hate it. But it is always inevitable. I am so no where I thought I would be. I thought I would be married (ok, I am married), with a few kids, and or a cool career. You know, one that would allow me fly on airplanes and sleep in hotels. I thought the man I would marry would have a good income, we would have bout a house, and a nice car, and go on a vacay or two further than a few hours away every year. That didn't happen (yet!). And you know what? That's ok. I mean, I think for the first time in our marriage (heck, maybe even in my life) that I am FINALLY saying to my God, my friends, heck, even myself, that I am for the most part, ok with where we are. You can fight it, or go with it. I think I have decided to go with it. Yes, it is hard. Harder than I thought, and our lives have been compared to others, fairly easy.

I wanted kids. I still want them. I yearn for them. I still dream of them. Of a time when someone will miracoulsy say, hey, you can the child growing inside of me, or one of thousands of scenarios that I have envisioned, but realistically, I don't think that is going to happen. Can I honestly say that it is ok? No, not yet, but I can surrender to what God wants.

Tithing is a part of surrendering. For people not familiar with tithing, it is giving a 10th of what you make to God. Even billionaires give a 10th (or more) to charity. So, for most, tithing, or charitable giving, is not a foreign concept to most. But, I digress. Tithing has always been a hard things for me. It isn't that I don't believe in it; it is just that I always seem to never have enough...or at least I don't think that I do. I don't tithe because of fear. I need that extra few bucks (or I think I do). I can always find another bill that needs to get paid, or more stuff for our house, more coffee to drink, more gas for our car, more food, etc. Also, there have been a number of times that I have tithed, and something financially has gone bad or wrong; car problems, unexpected payments that have come out, etc. So, we don't tithe for awhile after something like that. But lately, I have been convicted the last while to start tithing again. So, for the past two paycheques, I have tithed my salary. I want to surrender at least a part of my money to God.

Job Searching (or lack thereof) is surrender. I had a job interview last Friday (FYI, having a job interview at 5 pm on a long wknd is not the greatest idea). I think it went ok. Not great, but ok. I thought I would have heard back from them by now, but I haven't, so I am assuming that I didn't get it. And you know what? That's ok (well, not completely ok, but I may have a couple of other prospects). If I get it, great. If I don't, well, I know that God has something else out there for us (But please God, can you do it quickly, as I have a student loan starting the end of next month!!!).

Plans are kind of like surrendering. Hubby bday was the other day, and we had planned on going out to dinner with some friends. They cancelled (kind of) last minute. I was a little upset, but hubby didn't seem bothered by it (to be fair, we did have a big bday bash last year). I tried to invite some couples to come, but it didn't work out. I was a bit sad (mainly for him), but I decided that we would have our own time. I got him a cake, and a couple movies and we had our TV Turkey dinners and we watched hubby's tv shows. And you know what? I think I enjoyed that more than going out. And you know what else? I KNOW he did, too!

So, those have been my thoughts on surrender this week. Yes, I may still find it hard to go to baby showers, and to congratulate my pregnant friends (family is a no-brainer...at least for the most part..I love having nieces and nephews to spoil!), but for the most part, at least lately, I have been doing ok with our infertility journey (although I gotta say, there must have been 100 babies and kids under 5 at that wedding on Saturday, so I have to admit, I was a tiny bit sad). Maybe that means that God is doing something in me (us); maybe he is working in/on me (us). Or, maybe it just means that I am growing up:)

My #1 verse (well, I have two, but this always speaks to me) is Jeremiah 29:11.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Love what it says, and I always feel better after I have read/said it.

I also love this song; I think it's from Hillsong.  The song I found on YT was by Lincoln Brewster. You can view it here.

PS...did you know that bat babies are called pups? Who knew?