Oasis

I've been going to a new church the last three weeks and am really enjoying it. They meet in a school, the congregation is mostly of a younger generation (even the pastor is 31; married with 2 kids). I feel very at home here and have already met several people that came up to me and introduced themselves. As well, my kids really enjoy the kids program and even enjoy helping "tear down" every week (I mentioned it was in a school, right?!) This past Sunday was their church picnic and it was a lot of fun. Here are some pics:



















In order you see pics of us eating (the picnic is at a Mennonite Bible Campground), face painting, hayride that went along the riverside through the forest (beautiful!), a bouncer for the kids AND
the picture to the left is the pastor getting dunked. :)


Also, the worship team has entered a contest on the local Christian music radio station. Of course the winner is decided upon by who ever get the most votes. Oasis' song is called Love Is The Revolution. You can listen to all nine band entries here. You need to be a member of the Halo Advantage Club to listen to and vote on the songs. Don't worry it is free, easy, and you won't get your name on any annoying mailing lists. After registering, just click on the tab at the top that says "Contests"; next click "Quest For The Best" and the go about halfway down the page and where you see the red lettering that says "click to vote", click here. And voila! Now just listen and I'm asking that you please help us by voting for your favorite which I hope is "Love Is The Revolution". ;) The top band will pick up a THOUSAND DOLLARS worth of prizing from Quest Musique. The winning group's single will get some spins on CHVN (the christian radio station) and will be featured on CMC Distribution's "Sea to Sea" compilation – a cd shipped to Christian bookstores across Canada. And, they'll be the opening band for the Building 429 concert on June 20th at the Red River Exhibition!



Thanks for your vote. I'm hoping you are all having a great summer. Part of the reason I'm never online much is that I'm outside so much lately in the gardens or yard. My poor house it is started to show its neglect.

Friday Fill-In #74

This weeks fill-ins are provided courtesy of Mindful Mimi.

1. For me routine & mundane is the opposite of creativity.
2. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult was the last excellent book I read.
3. I like fill-ins because ...they make me think and give me something to post regularly.
4. In nature I like looking at the clouds.
5. The most honest person (is there such a thing in politics?!) should win the US elections.
6. The last time I laughed with all my belly was ...I don't remember.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, tomorrow my plans include working a DAYSHIFT that I picked up and Sunday, I want to go to the church picnic with my husband and kids after the church service!

Friday Fill-Ins #73

This week's questions are brought to you courtesy of Michelle.

1. On my laziest day I like to sleep in and when I do get up avoid housework by surfin' the net and chatting with my friends online!
2. Making lists and crossing them off as I go makes me feel like I'm being productive.
3. I love little calories and big ice-creams.
4. This summer I want to visit New Zealand and New Brunswick...and I AM GOING TO!!
5. Gentle encouragement from a friend made me start my blog.
6. Red is many people's favorite color but not mine and orange is my son's favorite color.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to, not exactly looking forward to but "will be" working night shift, tomorrow my plans include getting some sleep in the morning, accomplishing something outside once I get up and before I have to go back to work for another night shift and Sunday, I want to go to the Oasis church in the morning and take the kids to the Teddy Bear's Picnic in the afternoon.

WOOHOO!!

I'm just so pumped, syked, estatic...not sure how to desribe how I'm feeling right now. Perhaps I could use a tem recently used by one of my dear friends - Frantasticalim!!! I finally booked my ticket for my trip out to New Brunswick this summer to attend a friend's wedding as well as have a long overdue visit with several people who are dear to me. I kept waiting and waiting for seat sales to come on that were applicable to when I want to travel and when they finally did....AHHH!! - after taxes and all, I'd still end up paying over $800. And that's if I travelled on the cheaper days rather than the days I want. So I decided to investigate and see just how many airmiles I'd need for a return trip out East in the summer....I braced for the worse and was pleasantly surprised- I had a little more than necessary to book my flight. And on the days I WANT!!! Wow! - a ticket for free basically (well actually about $180 on my visa that made up the charges for tax, travel insurance, ect) but the rest was money I'd already spent. Now just to figure out what I want to do once I get there so I can make the most of this visit (considering the last one was 8 years ago!) HMMM let me do the math - age now + 8 years later = OVER the big 4-0! AHHHH, let's NOT go there or think about that! It seems like to long to wait but I was a student long enough to know that the summer holidays "fly by". So only 2 months, 3 weeks and 6 days to go!!...but who's counting ;)

Happy 8th Anniversary to Us

We didn't do anything special for our anniversary. Hubby worked tonight from 3:30 to 11:30pm and I took my son to soccer. Fun, fun, fun. I think my card from last year says it best - Here's to another glorious year...of whining and dining! :)

A Work In Progress

Gardening season is finally here and I'm so happy to be able to get out and "play" in the dirt. I've had some requests to see pics of my gardens. At first I thought, "not yet!" but each stage in the the growing season is so beautiful and this way I can show you what I hope to do and you can see the "after pics" once it is done (hopefully :)). As you will see in some of the pics, not all my plants are planted yet but just sitting where they are to go as we just got back from the greenhouses. So on with the tour:


This is a pic of my front yard from the road. The tree you see is an ornamental apple and in a couple weeks will be adorned in beautiful white flowers. I have a taller wood edging, that I painted the same color green as the trim on the house, that I'm going to be puting around the cedar mulch at the base of the tree.


This is the other side of the driveway. The plants at the side of the house are Black-eyed Susan vines. In the garden infront of the fence with the trellises are clematis vines. In the center of the tulips is a large lily but it still hasn't come up.


Another (closer) view of the clematis garden. I am planning on putting the black scalloped edging around it like I have around the other kidney shaped gardens.













By the front door. The pink lily is a plant I got from Cliff & the kids for Mother's Day. In the frog planter is a passionfruit vine. I didn't plan on getting this plant but once I saw the flower (see next pic), I just HAD to get it.

Passionfruit flower (see above).

[WEST]Now we are in the backyard. This is under the pine tree that is infront of the deck.

[WEST]This garden is immediatly to the left of the deck and adjacent to the flowers pots in the previous picture. I made this garden last year as this was an area that the grass wasn't growing well and is kind of in a corner of the yard that we weren't sure what to do here. So I moved some perennials from the the other garden that were needing dividing and voila! Not much is growing here yet, guess they are later bloomers.

[EAST] I took this picture of my perrenial bed (original one that was here when we got the place - I've made all the others) standing infront of the above picture/bed. Much of this bed is lilies so still too early for them to be up. Infront of the shed is a shade garden - hostas, ferns, and a few other things. Again, it's too early for them yet.


[NORTH]My rock garden at the back of the yard. On this chainlink fence is a vine (Virginia Creeper) that the neighbor behind us planted. It is very nice in the summer when it is full and green, completely covers the chainlink.

[SOUTH]This is the deck and back of the house. Oneday in the future, I'd love to build a pergola over the deck. If not the entire length, than atleast halfway (from the steps to the edge of the back door).

[NORTH EAST Corner]Last but not least, my vegetable garden. Currently, it is mostly strawberries (3 rows) and weeds as I have yet to cultivate it. Once I've cultivated it I'll plant tomatoes, carrots, peas, and beans. There is a rhubarb plant in the far back corner and some perrenial green onions at the back adjacent to my perennial flower bed.

Have You Heard Of....

...Gwen Smith? I hadn't either until just a couple days ago. To tell you the truth, I can't tell you too much about music these days unless it is kids music(ie Veggie Tales). However, I was linked to her site in one of my daily devotionals called Girlfriends In God. You can check out her website here. There is a short video on her home webpage that she talks about where she's been and how she got to where she is. As well as listening to some of her music, including a clip of the song I really like "Broken Into Beautiful". She also has a blog which I've added to my sidebar. Check it out she is very real as she is also a wife and a mother to three kids while also being a songwriter and singer. A great place to listen to some of her music is on her MySpace music page. I'm hooked and am hoping to buy a couple of her CDs soon so I can listen to some uplifting music of my own....not to say I don't like Veggie Tales. :) But there is a time for everything.