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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Merry Christmas!

I started thinking about this past year and the things that have happened to my family and to me. What an amazing year we have had! It's been incredible! There have been amazing highs and horrible lows but through it all, we have been so blessed!

John is still working at Safeway and that has been a real blessing. His working part time is what allows me to be able to be at the studio as often as I am. It has also allowed him to spend more time with the kids and I know that they appreciate that time. John received an inheritance this year which has allowed us to pay off all our debt, buy a minivan as well as build a home. John has said it many times and I agree - his Dad would be so proud and happy that we used the money for things we needed as well as for investing in property. It's what he would have wanted for John.

Declan is in grade two and while it's been a struggle, he's doing amazingly well. His reading is fantastic and his math is also improving! A major accomplishment for Declan this year was that he went up on stage with his class and sang songs for the Christmas concert. He also said a line on stage when his class hosted 4th advent. Declan has always been deathly afraid of performing on stage. Last year he wouldn't go on the stage at all! This was a big accomplishment and I was really proud of him for doing that. Declan loves video games, playing outside with friends, rollerblading, skateboarding, biking, soccer, basketball, and UNO!! I taught him how to play UNO this year and he loves it! He's pretty good at it too!

Rowan has changed so much this year. She talks and sings constantly! When you ask her, "Who loves you?" Her first reply is always, "JESUS!!" It's awesome and I ask her all the time just to hear her tell me the answer! Rowan can count to 15 and sing her ABC's. She's turning 3 at the end of January. Rowan loves "princess dresses" aka really fancy dresses, dolls, drawing, coloring, singing, dancing, and jokes. She has a great sense of humour and a noticable spark in her eye when she's up to no good! She's been such a joy and we love having her around.

As for me, well this has been one crazy year for me. In January I met Brad Lang, owner of LA Studio Productions and my whole world changed. With Brad's help, this is what I've done musically this year...

1. Sang O Canada for the Lethbridge Hurricanes on numerous occassions
2. Started my own album
3. Sang background vocals and/or played keyboards for Ira, Stan, Mike, Lindsay, and Carol.
4. Worked with Brian Dobbs (Engineer for Metalica) doing background vocals and keyboards for Victor Salas.
5. Performed live at the Aboriginal Awareness days this summer as well as for Aboriginal Culture Week at the Lethbridge College this fall.
6. Mentored artists like Mark Nive, and LA Confidential.
7. Written, arranged, and performed many radio commercials and jingles as well as ads for Street Machine Weekend, the Lethbridge Airshow and the Race track.

Starting this musical journey has been frustrating and wonderful all at the same time. I couldn't do it without John's support. I often have times where I would like to give up because songs aren't coming fast enough or they aren't good enough. I'm really hard on myself. I want to be the best I can possibly be and I'm never satisfied with anything I do. I've loved meeting the people that I have met. I've loved learning more about music. I've loved performing and being on stage. I love the creative process of making commercials and songs. I love hearing a final product and knowing that I had something to do with it. I can't wait to see what this coming year will bring! I'm hoping to have my own album completed this year. If that's my goal I'm going to have to really buckle down and work hard!!!

I have also gone back to work at Sunlife Financial. I love the people I work with and I really enjoy the work itself. It's challenging and fun! Days never crawl by when I'm at work.

Life has not been all roses for our family. We lost Auntie Jean this past November. The pain from that loss is still very fresh and it will take some time to get back to some kind of normal. I had surgery to remove my uterus and my cervix and I'm still healing from that. We've had many friends battling cancer this year and so our prayer list has been VERY full! I don't understand why so many young people are being hit with this horrible disease. It just doesn't seem fair.

Through it all, I keep thinking about that song we used to sing in Church.

Count your blessings, Name them one by one
Count your many blessings, See what God has done

God has providing more than I could ever ask or think this year! He fulfilled my dream of music, He provided us with a home and a second vehicle which was fast becoming a necessity for us! He has been SUCH a strong presence during times of heartache and suffering. I feel blessed beyond measure and I have no words to thank Him for what He's done for me. I can't wait to see what NEXT year will bring!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Continuing on...

Well, the healing from surgery is still continuing. I promise, I have not picked up Rowan (with the exception of putting her on my lap occasionally) and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm still on antibiotics for infection but they seem to be doing their job, it shouldn't be much longer.

The new house is well on the way. The roof was scheduled to be attached today but the wind is keeping that from happening. They've rescheduled for tomorrow so I'm praying for a nice calm day. We've chosen our appliances and we're meeting with the flooring store and the builder on Friday to make our final decisions for colors etc. We have signed off all the conditions on the house this week which was a big relief for John and I. It was hard to celebrate the fact that we are home owners until that was done. When I start thinking about all the things we need to buy to properly care for our new property, it makes me shudder, but I know we'll get there...we always do.

At church we're doing a sermon series that I have found really interesting. The question posed to our congregation was, "If you knew you only had 30 days to live, would it change the way you live your life? In what way?" Our challenge was to answer those questions and then figure out which of those things we would change were things that were sustainable - things we could do for an extended period of time, and which things were short term. Then the challenge was to take action on those things.

I started thinking about the recent death of my Aunt as well as friends I have recently lost. Had I known they were going to die, there are things I would have said or done differently. I don't know that the sermon series made me think so much about my own mortality. I think it made me think more about the lives of those I care about. If I knew I only had 30 days left with them, what would I do differently? In some ways an easy question to answer. I would be more patient, kind, demonstrative of my love for them. Would I say anything that I don't normally say? I don't know. I'm still thinking on that one. I think the big one for me was that I wouldn't be as judgemental. I tend to get stuck on that high horse and stay there. I would like to learn to get off that horse. It doesn't do anything positive for my relationships or for me personally.

So what about you? Would you do anything differently? If you would like to hear more about this sermon series, you can visit my church's website. The sermon series is called, "Making my life count". Enjoy!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Two steps forward, one step back...

Well, here's how my first week of recovery went. I got home last Thursday. Declan starting throwing up Thursday night. Friday he was a little off but was well on the mend by Saturday. Saturday night Rowan spent the entire night puking. Sunday morning John started throwing up and by Sunday afternoon it was my turn. Yuck.

God bless my Mom who took Rowan on Monday and kept her until Wednesday to allow me to rest. I felt great by the time she dropped Rowan off on Wednesday, so much so that without hardly thinking, I scooped up my daughter as she came running into my arms and gave her hugs and kisses to welcome her home. Stupid stupid stupid.

I am absolutely not supposed to lift anything over 10 pounds for at least 6 weeks. I paid for that mistake today. I woke up and was in terrible pain. My pelvis felt like it was on fire and my insides were as raw as hamburger. I thought I was in real trouble. I called my doctor and asked to see him asap. I told him what happened and he decided to check and make sure I hadn't ripped anything.

It turns out my pain was mainly attributed to a vaginal post-op infection. Oh yay. I'm on two different types of antibiotics to try and clear this infection - 6 pills per day. Some to be taken with food, some without. It will be 36 hours before I feel any better. I'm glad that I went in, and in a way, I'm glad I lifted Rowan because if I hadn't done that, I probably would have tried to ride out the pain instead of getting it checked. At least this way we can get on top of this infection before it becomes a real problem.

On the house front, we meet with the bank on Monday to finalize our mortgage. We should have final approval from our bank's head office by Wednesday which is good because our deadline is the 15th. I drove past our new place yesterday with my Mom and low and behold, the walls are up! I can't believe how fast these guys work! The roof should be next so I'm expecting they will have our place locked up before too long.

So many things to do in the meantime and I feel like there's just not enough time for everything. I have some of my Christmas shopping done but not all of it and absolutely no energy to do it either. I haven't put up one decoration. I keep consoling myself with the notion that next year will be different. Next year I shall decorate my new home and have people to my house for dinner and everything will be wonderful...please Lord, let it be.

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and kept in contact with me through this. Surgery is never fun but it has been great to talk to family and friends when I'm feeling especially gross. God bless you all this Christmas season!