| december joy dare | 11/31

three gifts ice cold: 

 

1. my daily coffee: it's usually freezing by the time i drink it, but it's still a gift to me! 

2. saskatoon wind: although it freezes the nostril hairs, it is refreshing, and i like getting some fresh air once in a while. especially DRY air. 

3. ice cold milk: especially in my cereal. nom! 

| december joy dare | 9/31

three gifts ugly beautiful:

1. a mess: there is freedom in not sweating over having a perfectly clean house. i use to do it all the time. i am learning that my rest is just as important as being organized. sometimes i just need to go to bed in the midst of a disaster.

2. the birthing process: what can i say... i have never felt so ugly and so beautiful at the same time!

3. ugly faces: this is mine and my cousins fave thing to do together. i love how even her "ugly" faces are still so beautiful! xo

| december joy dare | 8/31

a gift hung, held, heard

1. hung: i gave my husband the gift of ironing his shirts and hanging them so nicely in the closet this week. which differs from the floor, where they usually are.

2. held: nancy and i, at her bachelorette party in 2010. i have this on my desktop right now.

3. heard: elim christmas production. to be anywhere near this production to get a slight taste of the talent in our church is a gift!

| december joy dare | 7/31

three gifts from my savior:

1. life:  new life & new beginnings.

2. peace: the ability to be calm in the storm. good nights rests even when my mind is exhausted.

3. hope: for a great future, His will fulfilled, and a life of joy.

| december joy dare | 6/31

three gifts sweet: 

the following all came from a gift given to us by some of the girls in the youth group. and by us, i mean matt... but we share.

 

1. ferrero rocher: we devoured those real quick! 

2. toffifee: these won't be around long

3. lindor: these are almost gone... i hid them.  i think i can hear my man searching downstairs for them right now.

| december joy dare | 5/31

three gifts silver:

1. my favorite watch: it's... silver in appearance. this is my favourite watch. i got it 3 years ago, from Giant Tiger. it's still tickin.

2. my new favourite coffee: PC great canadian coffee. it's so good. we buy it in bulk, and it comes in these silver sealable packages!

3. silver earrings: last night some of the girls in our youth group gave us a nice christmas present. these were in there for me ;) they are festive!

| december joy dare | 4/31

a gift circling, crowning, crafted: 

1. circling: gotta love those circular orange chocolates ( i struggled with this one... ha!)

2. crowning: this hat was made by my friend, Jodie, for Bennett! Brynlie Oliver Beanies is her business, you should check it out and order something! she does an amazing job! we get a lot of compliaments on this hat when we are out and about!

3. crafted: my brother in law, Mark, owns a sign design business Grafik Visuals (probably not the right way to describe) but--- he made this for us, and we had it up in our home in Belleville. we have another one for this house, and i have yet to put it up. i don't know why, because it's one of my favourite things.

| november joy dare | 3/31

three gifts shining: 

1. elim christmas production: seriously, amazing. every year that i have been at our church i am amazed. i feel so blessed to be able to attend these performances, i especially love that they have the  saskatoon symphony joining in the music. amazing.

2. listerine zero: an oral health super star. keeps those teeth squeaky clean, and shining bright!

3. saskatoon shines: this is a print in our room. caught the sun set just at the right time.

| december joy dare | 2/31

three gifts bright:

1. the sun: duh.

2. my son: he is bright, brilliant and full of personality! and guess what... he's formula fed! *gasp* i know, i know, how could it be? well folks... it's true. just like him mom.

fun fact: i was formula fed in 1984 & i can count on one hand how many times i have been sick. ponder that. 

3. christmas ornaments: sparkly and bright.

| december joy dare | 1/31

three gifts white: 

1. white scarf - warmth from the cold saskatchewan air.

2. the perfect accessory - dollarama pearls.

3. medication - they are expensive. i prefer just paying the filling fee. 

| november joy dare | day 30

three gifts astonishing: 

1. apple crisp: this never happens. i was craving apple crisp all night, and i actually had the ingredients for it!

2. friendship: reminded lately that true friendship always picks up where it left off... that no matter what you go through, or how long you are separated, a true friendship is never lost!

3. joy dares: the fact that i completed this month of joy dares! i never finish anything.

| november joy dare | day twenty nine

three gifts red:

1. my favourite mugs: friends from our last church gave us these when they got a new set, and they hold a mean cup of coffee...

2. the best dishcloth: i randomly bought these from Homesense a few months ago, and they are the BEST cloths I have ever used. they grab everything!

3. betty crocker recipe book: Matt's grandma Shirley gave me this recipe book when we first got married because she was concerned that I couldn't cook. I like to put it on display to remember her.

| november joy dare | day twenty seven

a gift handmade, held, happy. 

1. baby foot mold.

2. father and son.

3. happiest with him.  

 

| november joy dare | day twenty six

three gifts prepared: 

1. t-shirt screens: this is all i want for my birthday, and Christmas. Preparing them today so I can make them in the next week or so. Look for it in pinspirations! :)

2. foot molds: preparing this for Nana Bombay for Christmas.

3. lights: going to pull out the Christmas decorations today. I'm not putting a lot up, but going to use them for our Elevate Christmas formal, and a possible baby Christmas pic! Stay tuned.

| november joy dare | day twenty five

three gifts ugly beautiful:

1. my home today: love my home it is beautiful, but today... it is ugly due to disaster.

2. birthdays: another year older (sad) but I have lived another year of life (beautiful), and this year has been the best year of my life, because Bennett is here. I still function out of the mindset that I am 20 years old. I kind of stopped looking at myself as being any older at that age... but, sadly, I am 28 in two days. Getting close to the dreaded 3-0. Sigh.

3. Saskatchewan winter: I know I have mentioned this a lot... the winters can be ugly because of the cold, but the snow is so beautiful, and when the sun comes out- it is magical! ha I don't usually use the word magical. Interesting.

| november joy dare | day 24-ish

my OCD and perfectionist personality traits are going crazy over the fact that I forgot to do this yesterday! UGH! I ruined a streak. Oh well. 

three gifts humble: 

1. the disaster: Every once in a while it's good to remind yourself that you can't do it all. I have no desire to do anything but rest this afternoon, and my house is a pig pen! oh well. my sanity is more important, and I can clean later, when I am fully charged. We are all happy.

2. this child: I am humbled to know that God would give me such a good gift. Every day I love him a little bit more, and I didn't think that was possible.

3. my church family: there are so many amazing people at my church. SO humble, caring, genuine, true, loving, Christ-like, merciful, and real. Whenever I think about the gift that God has given us in this church, I thank God, and I am humbled to know that he would place us at Elim in this time. This pic is of my friend Charmaine, with Bennett from today. It's so nice to have other people love on Bennett, especially when we are so far from family. I wish you could hear him shreaking - it was hilarious.

| november joy dare | day twenty three

three gifts only in Christ: 

1. salvation: "for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

2. new life: "this means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17

3. steadfast love: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23 

| november joy dare | day twenty two

A gift grateful:

grateful: warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received; thankful

I am so grateful for our home. It is somewhat of a miracle to us that we were able to get into the market here in Saskatoon. 

When we moved here we hadn't sold our home in Belleville, I didn't have a permanent full time job, and having a lot of student loans didn't help either.  

When our home finally did sell in Belleville we didn't end up making any money on it and we had put a lot of money and work into it, to just get it sold. 

A fun fact: Saskatoon is one of the fast growing cities in Canada, and it's real estate market reflects that. It's real estate prices are comparable to Toronto, and for first time home buyers it can be virtually impossible to break into the market here.

Through God, people, and prayer we ended up getting this beautiful home to start a family here. We live in a nice subdivision, lots of parks surrounding us, and I am 2 blocks from my work. I couldn't be happier. 

It was also nice moving into a brand-new place, after buying a dive and attempting to make it nice. I will say that I am anxious to get the basement completed, because all of our baby stuff has taken over the main level - but that will happen in time. It is not neccessary, nor does it being unfinished make me love this place any less. 

First pic: the outside of our place, it's half of a duplex, hence the weird angle! Second pic: the sunset from my bedroom window. It's probably one of my favourite things about living here. Love looking out into the huge green-space. Third pic: It was awesome to hang out in our backyard this summer. We bought our first set of patio furniture, and our friends bought us a fire-pit as a housewarming gift. Can't wait to spend our summer out there, next year. 

| november joy dare | day twenty one

three gifts family: 

1. The family we are creating: I think it's so sad that Matt, Bennett and I don't have a picture together! Need to get on that...

2. My sister in laws: Love them! So full of knowledge and wisdom, hilarious, and real. We have daily group text messages and they mean so much to me, especially because of the distance.

3. Little siblings: When I was in high school I did NOT think it was that cool to have 2 younger siblings. Hayden was born when I was 15 and Raine, when I was 17. As they get older they are soooo funny. I see so much of myself in them, and I miss them a lot. I am looking forward to seeing them at Christmas.

| november joy dare | day twenty

three gifts of tradition:

I wish I could say that we have a lot of traditions around here... but we don't. I think now that we have Bennett, there will be more of an effort to carry out family traditions, but it is honestly so hard for me to think of 3 right now... I tend to be a very traditional person. I don't like change.

1. turkey dinners: If I am not involved of some sort of holiday turkey meal, I am devestated and depressed.

2. stockings: I LOVE stockings at Christmas. I get so giddy for them.

3. snow: I could do without the cold weather and poor driving conditions, but I love snow at Christmas. There were times in Ontario where you could see green grass on Christmas morning, and it's upsetting.

I don't have any pics for these things right now... and I have had a hectic morning.