| 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 | 10/31

three gifts unframed art: 

i randomly started doing the posters for our youth ministry a few years ago, and it has become a nice creative outlet for me. i am by no means profesh... but, i enjoy it, and Matt keeps asking me to do it.

1. e68 jr high

2. relentless young adult conference

3. elevate fall events

| 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 | 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.

| 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 eight

three gifts in community: 

1. our community: i love our area of Saskatoon. it takes 2 minutes to get from my house to work, there are lots of parks, and we are close to Wal Mart (hell on earth, but neccessary).

2. community of students: i love our youth group and the relationships that are building between all of the kids. this is the first year that i am really noticing a sense of community and relationship building. it's awesome.

3. church family: i know i go on and on about our church, but it is truly a blessing to be a part of a community of believers who love one another. i love our church's desire to see people grow in their relationship with God and others. it is my goal as i go forward to build more meaningful and deeper relationships with those around me. church is a blessing!

| 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.

| november joy dare | day nineteen

three gifts: autumn.

Let's be honest. It hasn't looked like autumn around here since Thanksgiving weekend. I wish we still had that fall atmosphere.

1. sweaters: love being all cozied up, and covered up.

2. warm drinks: no explanation needed.

3. pumpkin anything: especially pie. mmm.

Bring on the eggnog.

| november joy dare | day eighteen

one gift: made, shared, passed on.

1. made: This photo book was made and given to us by the photographer that has taken all of our family pics over the last year.

2. shared: This home we share, together as a family.

3. passed on: I bought this play mat second hand at Value Village, it was basically brand new - and it has provided this baby with LOTS of entertainment since he was born... and it gives me a break.

| november joy dare | day seventeen

three gifts of laughter:
I decided that I wanted to choose 3 people that make me laugh. When I started thinking about all of the people in my life, it turns out they are all pretty hilarious. Let's face - if you aren't quirky, with a personality, and have a good sense of humour - I don't really hang out with you. I love the weirdos.

1. my husband: I am not sure who finds him more amusing, me or his mom. But, my man has been making me laugh since we met (after I got over that initial, ew, I don't like him, he is arrogant- thing). He has the best sense of humour, and he can make light of any situation. I am usually 50% excited to hear what comes out of his mouth, and 50% nervous... all. the. time.

2. my cousin, Rachelle: you can also call her Rocky, Rafiki, Turd, or Turd Ferguson. Love her. At first the feelings were not mutual. Let's face it, what infant likes when their 7 year old cousin carries them around on their hip, forcing them to wear matching outfits? Most of the time she waddled around with a pout on her face... and then she became a teenager, and we were all good. She has the best sense of humour, will try and make the nastiest faces for pics (even though she still looks beautiful), & is definitely nostaligic like me, so we like to talk about all our fave moments - over, and over... and over again. We also like to be a source of entertainment for her older brother, and my sweet cousin, Eric.

  
3. my brother, Tyler: One of the funniest people I know. He is brilliant. He is so quick with his come-backs, you can always see the wheels turning in his head, & and he can recite the lines from almost any movie - perfectly. I look forward to seeing him at Christmas, and hear some of his one-liners. Even if they are directed at me.

| november joy dare | day sixteen

three gifts hard eucharisteo: 

1. some seasons are hard: And it's hard to see the purpose when you are in them. But, while you are waiting for your miracle... or answer... or change... we give thanks. We thank God for what we have, while we wait for what is going to give us.
In this pic I was 23. a student. a newly married pastor's wife. unemployed. discouraged. appalled by the thought of motherhood. constantly at battle. struggling. judgemental. bitter. and let's face, irritated by almost everyone I met.

yep, lots of good stuff. 

Between then and now I have gone through lots of tests and trials. Stuff that I hated at the time, but I wouldn't change for anything now. God always knows what He is doing. Little by little He chips at us, transforming us into all that we were made to be.

2. marriage is hard: As one of my Facebook friends put it the other day:

"Marriage: where a malfunctioning printer will erupt a fight between you." Yep.

So. True. I remember the first time Matt and I successful but a bookshelf together, without erupting into a huge bickering match. I am pretty sure we went to DQ to celebrate afterwards... only to get in a fight on the way there, over Matt's driving. Sigh. 

However, there is nobody else that I would rather "do life" with. I love my man. I love the family that I have been married into. I am so blessed to be a Bombay, and I always hope & pray that I do the family name proud. 

3. mom life. it's hard, too:  You know about my Ma struggles! And if you don't, read about them here. 

Or here. 
Or here.
What can I say? It's a daily struggle.
Not only do you have to carry around a second life for 10 months - ah, fun fact, pregnancy is 40 weeks long! - then you have to "help it along" and deliver it. Take care of it. Teach it stuff. Yep, it's lots of work. But - as my friend Stephanie said the other day on Twitter "Kids are hard work - but not a burden!" Isn't that the truth.

For every day that seems so exhausting, I am always ready to get up the next day and do it again... most of the time.

Except today.  I'm tired.

*I wish I could put into words how much work it was to get dressed in all that gear, just to get the mail.

| november joy dare | day fifteen

 | challenged by the blog A Holy Experience to make the attitude of gratitude a habit! |

three gifts golden: 
1. blonde hair: it doesn't matter how long I have been getting my hair done at the salon, every time I go, I still feel like a million bucks! I am glad that after almost 7 years of marriage my husband has learned to go with it, and not say a word... no matter how much it costs.

2. wedding rings: a symbol of the gift that I get to live everyday with my best friend.

3. patience: I was sitting here trying to figure out what my last "gift" would be, when all of a sudden I spilled a whole mug of coffee ALL over me, the couch, my phone & laptop. My ability to remain calm, and not lose my mind at 7:15 in the morning is a big... wait... huge accomplishment.