Summer Fun with the Family!

We just returned home from a weekend with my family at Rock Lake. It was my brother's 19th birthday on Friday and we all met up at the lake, piled into room 9 for 2 nights and enjoyed being out of the city!

Happy Birthday Shaun!


Mom brought cake, pie and ice cream to celebrate!




We brought presents to open!



Awwwww! Sibling hug!



We spent Saturday at the beach!



Gotta get some Allen time in! Hee hee!

I sure surprised myself!

About that gastroscopy.....

I managed to get through it without any IV or any sedation drugs, which everyone except Shane thought I was a little crazy! The nurses and doctor thought I did amazing and my blood pressure or pulse didn't budge! Usually people's pulses and blood pressures are rising even when they are sedated. But I managed to stay so calm and focussed on my breathing that my pulse didn't even raise. That is the power of prayer.

See, I wouldn't call myself the most calm person. I struggle with anxiety sometimes and thought that anxiety may be a big deal when a tube is down your throat for a number of minutes. I had people praying and had prepared my self with prayer of peace. I, in my own strength couldn't have controlled my pulse and blood pressure! It must have been the peace of God!

The doc said to me after that they now know who to call if they ever want to do an instructional video, as I was the perfect patient! No thanks! I told them that I spend most of every work day telling people how to breathe and stay calm, you'd think I should be able to try and do the same for a few minutes!

I was so proud of myself for being able to go through the scope without any drugs! The anxiety is the thing you are fighting against, not pain. It probably hurts more to go to the dentist than to get a scope done. But it is that freak-out switch that you could flip on at any moment with a tube down your throat! So, the Prince of Peace and I kicked anxiety in the butt on Wednesday! I consider it good practice as there are probably more painful or intense experiences I will experience in my lifetime.

The benefit was I hoped right off that OR table, walked out, changed and was driving myself home 5-10 minutes later! That wouldn't have been the case if I was sedated.

Yeah for Jesus would gives us peace that passes understanding!

Kristi is.....

I'm kinda starting to think like a facebook status. Kristi is......and then I think about what to fill in the blanks.

Today would be "Kristi is....going for a scope! Yuck!". Yep, we're leaving in the next 30 minutes to take the trek to Seven Oaks Hospital across the city. The day of my gastroscopy has come.

I'm getting the scope because my stomach has been bothering me for the past 3 years. I get SUPER nauseous, practically daily but in different degrees. I've been on this pill, Ranitidine for almost 3 years now and really don't want to be on a medication for my whole life!

So, as we pray for healing, I also cooperate with the medical system and do what we need to do in trying to find a solution to the problem. Today is another step in the process.

Silly me said I would do it without the drugs on board! Pray that I won't have too much pain or anxiety as something is down my throat!

Off we go! I can do all things with Christ who strengthens me! That's today's motto!

Praise Report about the Wrist!!!!

So, I've had an appointment to see the surgeon on October 17 for a while now. I'm on my back-to-work program until then. Then surgery could be months away, then 4-6 weeks recovery, etc. So, I'm painting a long, drawn-out picture here before things with this wrist may be finished.

So, I've been hounding my WCB worker in the last few weeks. Never getting calls back. I happened to run into my doctor in Walmart on Monday, who suggested I hound her again that day. I went home and made another call and lo and behold, she answered the phone! She said that she had just sent a letter off that day asking the surgeon to expedite the appointment.

That was positive news! Though I thought something had been done weeks ago...whatever!

So, I'm having God time in the living room yesterday afternoon when the phone rings. It was the surgeon's office! I was really happy to hear from them! Now instead of seeing him October 17, I get to go in August 16! 2 MONTHS EARLIER!!!! The receptionist said it usually takes 4-6 months between your appointment and your surgery, so at least this earlier appointment knocks off 2 months of the process! Only God know the twists and turns of the rest of this unfolding wrist story!

Hey all,

It has been a while since I posted! Summer has been fun and full so far!

Shane and I just got back from spending the night at Rock Lake, a family camp that I've gone to for most years since I was 8 years old. We enjoyed seeing friends, hanging out all day at the beach, having a bonfire, etc. Our friends, Beau and Heather are out from Florida for the week, which was our biggest incentive to get out to the lake this weekend.





Last weekend was full of fun times and sad goodbyes with our friends, Jason and Yvonne, who are moving to Ottawa at the end of this month. We had a nice night out on Friday which included Montana's, lots of conversation, a walk and gelati to end the evening. Then we had a day at the Guse's on Saturday with the Sanctuary crew, which is always enjoyable! Mmmm.....potlucks, people and pools! Fun! Sunday fit well as we prayed off the Parks and exchanged hugs, words and blessings. What a nice way to finish off the weekend!




And, the weekend before last, a few of us went camping at Grand Beach. Shane, Steph, Camilia, Stefan and I piled ourselves and all our gear into the Uplander and headed for the beach. We had yummy food, great bonfires and lots of fun and serious conversation. There has to be some serious conversation when you get 5 SHOPers together for that many consecutive hours! Especially with Stefan, who loves to ask the deep questions randomly!







It has been a month of exciting weekends! We've enjoyed summer so far and still have more to come. I'm craving some quiet time at home after all this activity! Off I go!

Shaun's Graduation!

This past Thursday my little bro, who is not so little, graduated from high school! Now all the biological children in our family are officially finished all necessary public education! Yippee!! Congrats Shaun!

Here are some pics of our grad celebrations at the ceremony!







Shane and I were then going to head out to do some camping but those plans fell through. So instead we spend Friday at Birds Hill, enjoying the beach. We both got a burn, though Shane's is mostly on his chest and mine is only on the side and back of my legs! Silly places!


Then Saturday started with a birthday party for Grandpa, who is turning 87 on Monday!!! We love Grandpa!


And we finished the evening off with a nice barbeque/bonfire at St.Vital Park with Steph, Roman and Stefan. It was lots of fun eating, chatting and playing bacchi ball! I've really enjoyed the outdoors this weekend! The weekend turned out great!

GRADUATION CELEBRATION!!!

Today my mom, Shane, Steph, Shaun and Stephanie (my bro's awesome girlfriend) and I went out to Olive Garden to celebrate his graduation from high school! My mom and I are really outnumbered by the "S" names! Yikes!

It was a great time! We laughed so hard we cried. The food was awesome! The company was great! The service made it a party! Ahhh.......family rocks! I always seem to laugh the hardest when we are together!

Here's some pics of the evening to enjoy!

Date #5 (Friday evening)

It was time for a yummy meal at home. So, we had Two to Tango! So good! Feta, shrimp, tomatoes, etc. I had a quick nap on the couch.

Then we walked to Starbuck's and sat on the patio with frappucinos. So yummy! We walked back home and had visitors at 10:30pm. We got to see my bro and a very special lady that was with him! It was really nice!





This officially ends the anniversary week long celebration! It was so great! I feel loved and blessed!

Date #4!!!

Originally, I was supposed to have today and tomorrow off for my holidays, but with being on the back-to-work program still I thought it would be silly to take my holidays. Instead I'm going to wait until I'm back at work regularly. So, I worked the day shift today and enjoyed another day at work. Oh how I like it on L & D!!! That is the place for me!

As for our date night tonight. According to the itinerary, we were supposed to go for supper at Moxie's to use up the rest of our gift certificate and then come home and play Sequence (a board game that I like)! But yesterday we decided that we were sick of going out to eat!

So, we went for a walk tonight to one of our favorite places to go! 7-11! We got ourselves a whole bunch of sugar.....slurpees and 5 cent candies! A whole bunch of them! Then we came home and had supper....a strange one. Candies and pork chops. That's it. Candy and meat. Too funny!!!

Then we spent some time playing games on the living room floor. Sequence AND Mad Gab! I usually don't get 2 games in with Shane! It was fun! We were laughing at the Mad Gab phrases! It has been a really fun week! It is great!

Date #3 - Mmmmmmm.....seafood!

Today was also a nice day! I tend to love Wednesdays, especially when I have the day off! Today I saw the doc and got an appointment date for my referral to a surgeon. Hopefully we can get it sped up, but as of today I have an appointment in October. 4 months is a better wait than 16 months! The doc physio suggested has a waiting time frame of 16 months!

I got some good study and reading time in this afternoon. I love the topic of the Second Coming of Jesus and those topics related to the End of the Age! It is so fascinating! He really is coming soon! I'm pumped!

Then we went for our date #3 of the week! I absolutely love seafood.....and yummy drinks! I don't like the alcohol taste so I always get my drinks virgin, but I love anything that resembles a slurpee! Today we went to Red Lobster, the restaurant that has been an important part of our romantic dates throughout our relationship. We go there for Valentine's Day, some birthdays and even went there the night we got engaged!

I had a blast with my meal! I was having a rough time cracking open those crab legs so our sweet waitress came over with some gloves and helped me out! She ended up doing pretty much all of it! I kinda felt like a 3 year old getting my food cut up for me again! I must say I do prefer the lobster over the crab!

It was SOOOO yummy! The virgin Bahama Mamas are so good! My favorite! They are very mango!

As you can see in the pictures, we polished off a lot of shells and my lovely hubbie was really stuffed by the end! I had to put in a picture of his partially-alive steak...still bleeding!! Yuck!

Tomorrow is off to work again...but of course, another date in the evening! I think we are going to just do dessert or something tomorrow as we are both tired of eating out! I must say I sure prefer the simple life of cooking and eating supper at home and going for walks around the neighborhood. I'm more content that way! And I'm happy about that!

Official Anniversary Day!!!!!!! (Date #2)

What a fabulous anniversary day we've had! It started at 12:01am as we both lay awake and had to say "Happy Anniversary" as soon as we looked at the clock and saw that it was officially the 12th! We've been saying happy anniversary to each other all day!

Then we had a fabulous blueberry pancake lunch, topped with fresh raspberries when I got home from our last day of our internship. I was very romantic and picked up a flower for Shane when I was picking up the berries before heading home for lunch. I picked a gerber daisy, as our wedding was full of different shades of pink gerber daisies! It was fun to buy the boy the flower!

This evening's date consisted of heading to the big theater to see Shrek 3 (3 for 3 years of marriage!) and a nice, but small meal of salad at Moxie's, as we were both full from the popcorn. Did you know that if you go to the movies on Tuesdays you get a free popcorn and drink? I didn't. But I'm never too full for a yummy drink, which seems to be the theme of our pictures this week!

As for Shrek 3, I wouldn't really recommend it. Most would probably like it, but there is a lot of adult and inappropriate humor. I find that I have no taste for movies anymore, even though we really only see cartoons. The more time we spend praying, reading the Word and studying, the more distasteful I find almost all movies and so have no desire to waste my time on them. We both could have gotten up and left, but didn't know that each other was thinking that!

I am just so stinkin' blessed. I probably could cry if I think about it too much. I feel so blessed today. I have an awesome husband. God has blessed me with a very enjoyable and fabulous marriage that seems to be getting better every year. I'm blessed.

Anniversary Celebration Week - Day #1!

I have a fabulous husband. He is such a sweetheart.

Our 3rd anniversary is tomorrow and Shane came up with a very creative plan to celebrate. He has an itinerary for date nights all week long! I get to go on a date Monday through Friday this week! Today was the beginning of the week of celebration!

Today, Shane took me out for a lovely steak dinner at The Keg. He was a wonderful gentleman, who opened and closed doors for me and gave me sweet compliments. I even wore a skirt for the occasion! We ate such good food and enjoyed each other's company.

Then we headed to St. Vital Park to enjoy the canker worms (just kidding), walk off some of the food, see the new baby ducks and play a round of bacchi ball (a thoughtful and fun anniversary gift from Steph!). We had a lot of fun!