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!

The awaited wrist update....

It's official. I have a problem.

Hee! Hee! I like saying it like that...

I got my MRI results last Friday when I saw the doc. I have a ganglion (like a cyst of fluid) and a partial tear to a ligament in my wrist. The doc and physio think that these are extras on top of a tendinitis that is definitely there and some funny anatomy!

I was relieved to have a problem to validate the pain I have been having that didn't seem to be getting better as I hope tendinitis would. So, at least I get validation that I'm not making up the pain! And I have a goal of recovery!

Unfortunately this means a longer process that supposedly will include surgery to my wrist. I'm waiting on an appointment with the surgeon at this point and staying on a back-to-work program.

Really rough week with pain since Friday. I didn't go to work today and having been wearing my big claw (my nighttime splint) around the house for the past 3 days. I'm having trouble drying my hands, holding a plate and pulling up my pants for goodness sake! Feeling a little anxious about not knowing what to do with work tomorrow!

So, it's good news and bad news all in one. Now if I can just kick this pain in the meantime, I'd like that!

How does my husband do it?

Between the strange inability to sleep, the loud crashes of thunder and brightness of the lightening, I could not sleep last night! Though, I did have a late evening slurpee which I didn't take into account. I had to be up early for physio and acupuncture this morning and got about 3 - 3 and a half hours of sleep. This body of mine generally functions on 8-9 hours per night!

How does my husband do it every day? And he stays so positive! I'm more concerned about his lack of sleep than he seems to be.

Shane, you've got a great attitude about the insomnia thing! I'm proud of you! I sure wouldn't like it!

Tests, tests, tests.....

I had my MRI for my wrist yesterday evening. It went well and I'm seeing the doc on Friday to hopefully get some results. It very well may come back that nothing is wrong! That is good but also doesn't explain the reason for having pain for 9 months! God has begun a healing process in my wrist and I need to focus on that and be thankful!

I went to see the GI doctor today for my "angry stomach". When I saw him for the first time 2 years ago he gave me that diagnosis. He is super nice and remembered me from 2 years ago. So, now there's a plan for another test....a gastroscopy. Yucky! That is what I have to look forward to later this summer! I'd love to get rid of this heartburn and nausea that I have most every day!

Then I went for coffee with a fabulous friend of mine. We had so much fun talking during our coffee that we carried on the coffee date for a few more hours then expected! I loved it! Girlfriends are so meaningful!

I love date nights!

Especially when they involve eating a yummy meal that we cooked together (pork chops, mashed potatoes and cream corn tonight!), playing games together (which Shane does only very seldom so it's a treat!) and snuggles!

Top that off with some exercises, stretches and God-time, it makes for a pretty great evening!

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

We had a great Mother's Day celebration yesterday with my mom and siblings! We enjoyed the outdoors at mom's house along with the new trampoline, the ticks and the sunflower seeds. We brought the pizza, chips and drinks and partied the night away, finishing the night off with a great game of Phase 10 and moments of hysterical laughter! Family is wonderful!

Quotes from the family gathering:

1. "If you can't dodge it, ram it!"
2. "Run, run, run! Poop is fun!"
3. "It would be completely impossible to fertilize all your eggs!"
4. "I'm afraid the ball is going to hit me in the glove!" (playing baseball)
5. "I didn't even smell it, I tasted it!"
6. "The color and stench of bitterness is greeny and smells like puke, or its like an owl that died in your mouth!"
7. "Do you rememeber the smell of your Prosobee?" "Oh yeah"

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and my mother-in-law! We love you guys! Have a special day in honor of you gals!

A bit of wrist encouragement!

Last evening was a very good wrist evening!

I haven't been able to bend or stretch my left wrist as far as my right wrist for a number of month already. It gets to a certain point and refuses to go any further and hurts to go any further. This has bugged me....as it seemed to physically tell me that things weren't quite right!

Yesterday night I did a bending experiment.....and lo and behold.......my wrists bent the same amount!!!! I haven't been able to do that for months, whether it was a painful day or not! Again this morning, I could still bend them the same distance!

Now that has encouraged me and that is progress!!! So, let's see what a few more acupuncture session with do for this lovely wrist of mine!

7 pokes today!

Tuesday was my first time trying acupuncture! Tuesday gave me 4 needle pokes....well today's appointment gave me 7. It is quite funny to sit there and look at needles sticking out of your skin, which you allowed to be put there voluntarily! I tried to take a picture with the cell phone but it didn't save....

My arm/wrist is feeling quite nice this evening! I hope that feeling stays! If it helps take the pain away, poke me as much as you want to!

On a side note, I got to be apart of a delivery again at work this week! My first one since I worked back in February! Boy, that was nice to be doing one of the things I love to do again!

A year ago yesterday.....

I had the privilege and honor of being present when little Eli Heinrichs came into this world! And now he's one year old already!!!

Happy Birthday Eli!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY SANCTUARY!!!!!!

We are officially one year old today! Yippeeeeee!!!

We had a great celebration weekend with a feast at the Guses' on Saturday and then our many hours on Sunday with special twists to celebrate His faithfulness over the past year. So, the celebration is coming to a close....with anticipation for year 2 of Sanctuary's history!

So, again, happy birthday!!!!

Random Thoughts...

- Joyska comes today!
- A doctor or physio appointment every day this week! That's a little overwhelming...but looking on the thankful side, thanks God for providing these people and services!

I thought I had more thoughts, but that is all that wants to come to mind at this time!

OK......Fess up......

Who was praying for me last evening? I felt it...and now I'm curious who it was.....=)

Day 5....

So, as many of you are aware, Shane and I are part of a House of Prayer here in Winnipeg called Sanctuary House of Prayer. We're going to have our first anniversary within the next week and half!

We have been in the process of looking for a permanent location. A local church has been extremely gracious and has allowed us to use their building on Sunday afternoon and evenings for the past year. We'd love to have our own place and be able to expand our hours across the week...with the hopes that over time God would establish a House of Prayer that would be 24/7. A building is the first step in that direction!

So, we have one in the works! If you want to hear more and see a few pictures, head over to our website www.sanctuaryhop.com. Now we're in the process of praying for the funds to come in. We need a specific amount and have a deadline of 45 days. Today is day 5.

If you can help with prayer, jump on board with all of us that are praying over the remaining 40 days. If you have a desire to give a donation towards this building, head over to Sanctuary's website and there are details there. We are trusting that God has lead us this far. What a ride!

Jesus, would you provide the money that is needed for this building! Help us to put our faith in you and not in dollar bills!

Today's the day.....

I've been off work for a day short of 9 weeks and today is my first day going back to work. I'm nervous and a little happy all in one. The nervous side is winning though! I am thinking that somehow I've forgotten everything! Unlikely.

So, please pray for me today if you think of me, and Thursday and Friday too. I'm hoping it goes really well! I've missed babies, moms, coworkers, labor and birth. I hope in my short 4 hours I get a birth today. It's been too long! That would be nice!

Back to the working world outside my living room.....

Thumb gadgets and musical instruments....

I just finished playing 20 minutes of guitar, as ordered by physio today!!!!! That is the most guitar I've played since the middle of February!!! The most in 9 weeks actually!

I've got this fun little thumb gadget that I brought home from physio today to experiment with while playing guitar. See, my thumb is my archenemy lately, as it is a major instigator of my pain on my left hand. And somehow I press on my thumb and bend it awkwardly when I play the guitar. So, we're brainstorming how I can play guitar more without adding to my wrist problem.

This little gadget is kinda like a thimble that covers the top of a thumb. Except that it is this gelly substance that provides some friction to stick to the guitar better. Boy, I'm doing a bad job of explaining this! Anyways, we'll see over a few guitar-playing times if it seems to help!

I'm happy to be on a course to increasing my guitar playing. I'm at 20 minutes as a trial right now.

On the wrist news, I start my back-to-work program this Wednesday! I'm excited to see my coworkers and be in my workplace again, but I'm a little nervous about pain! It would be a lot easier to go back to work if there was a miraculous healing or a significant change in my wrist since February, but unfortunately there hasn't really been. But, on we go!