Cute Moments

My youngest brother Daniel is so cute sometimes.

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the day with him while the rest of my family was in Moose Jaw for soccer tournaments.

Daniel got out of bed at 11:15am then spent two hours on the computer, completely skipping breakfast. So he was really hungry when lunch time came around.

I decided to ask him what he wanted to eat and what happened next is as follows:

Daniel looks in the cupboard for a bit.

Daniel: Hmmm...oh I know! I want soup and a sandwich like Mom makes!

Jessica: What kind of soup?

Daniel: Chicken noodle. It's good for dipping sandwiches.

Hands me the soup can.

Jessica: Ok and what kind of sandwich?

Daniel: You know, the yummy one that Mom makes with ham and lettuce and mayonnaise and honey mustard? Oh and butter.

Jessica: No, I don't know that one, you have to show me how to make it. Walk me through this process.

Daniel hesitates then goes to the fridge and gets out the needed ingredients.

Daniel: Well ok first you get the bread and put butter on both sides. Then you put mayonnaise...

Jessica: Hold up there buddy! You have to let me do one thing at a time.

Daniel: Ok...

So Daniel proceeds to patiently walk me through the whole sandwich-making process...

Step 1 - Butter both slices of bread.
Step 2 - Put mayonnaise on one slice and honey mustard on the other.
Step 3 - Get the lettuce and put it on one slice and then put a slice of ham on top.
Step 4 - Complete the sandwich and cut it into four triangles and dip it into your chicken-noodle soup and eat it!

It was a delicious lunch :). After that we went grocery shopping and bought movies to watch together. Daniel even offered to carry everything for me. I love my little brother. 

Those Sleepless Nights

Ok so maybe they're not completely sleepless...They just feel like that when I try to get up in the morning.

These nights start off alright. I'm laying in bed, closing my eyes, rolling over...so far so good.

Then all of the sudden my mind is flooded with a bunch of tasks that need to be done the next day...

Oh no! Maybe I can't drive those people to the lake on Sunday, I might have another commitment! But I can't check that until tomorrow morning at work... 
Oh no! I can't remember what I needed to bring to work tomorrow for our Jr. Church project! Maybe it'll come to me...nope, oh well...
Oh no! My Mom and brother's birthday is this week! I need to remember to get them a cake! 
Oh no! I don't think I have anything to wear tomorrow morning, well, yes I do, it'll just take a bit of time in the morning to put something together. 
Oh no! It's already 11:30pm! I can't get my full 8 hours of sleep! 
Ok, ok Jess. Stop worrying, things will be alright, God is with you. It's time to just close your eyes and relax...some more rolling over happens...
It's not working! Ok, new strategy...think about those boring sheep who can't jump over that white picket fence...

And all of the sudden I am waking up to my alarm, feeling like a dead weight, but having to drag myself out of bed anyways.

I have no idea how this all happens but so far a possible pattern could be eating and/or exercising less than 2 hours before bed...if that's the case, tonight is going to be another one of those "sleepless" nights...*yawn*.

Let It Fade by Jeremy Camp

Have you been walking on a surface that's uncertain?
Have you helped yourself to everything that's empty?

You can't live this way too long,
There's more than this,
More than this.

Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?

You can rest,
You will find rest.
You can rest,
You will find rest.

Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let it fade.

Have you been holding on to what this world has offered?
Have you been giving in to all these masquerades?

It will be gone,
Forever gone.
It will be gone.
It will be gone.

Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let it fade.

Are you carrying the weight too much?
Are you running from the call?
Let it fade.

You can rest,
You will find rest.
You can rest,
You will find rest.

Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let this new life offered be your saving grace.
Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.
Let it fade.

Let this old life crumble,
Let it fade.

Have you been standing on your own feet too long?
Have you been looking for a place where you belong?

Donating Blood

I used to be really scared of needles. Then I began to donate blood. I've only donated four times so far, but I am already feeling as though my fear of needles has been conquered.

I used to get annoyed at the people who would call me from Canadian Blood Services because I knew that they wanted me to come in and donate.I don't know why I was annoyed...after all, I am potentially helping save someone's life.

I was probably annoyed because the last few times I had donated, my blood flow was extremely slow and I never completed a full donation.

Today was different. I drank lots of water to make sure I was hydrated and I also switched arms. Apparently my left arm is better than my right :). While it used to take me 20 minutes, I successfully finished in 7 this morning. I will take that as an encouragement from God and I shall continue to donate blood with gladness. I will choose to be a cheerful giver.

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7

Ticks

They are gross, disgusting, sneaky, vile creatures. Just waiting to take advantage of unsuspecting and suspecting victims.

My first encounter with one of these ninja blood suckers was when I was six. I was with a group called "Sparks" and we were visiting a camp during the late spring. We had gone on a hike, shaking a jar full of cream the entire time until it turned into butter. When we got back to a cabin, I had to use the bathroom.

That's when I found it.

In the worst possible place, right where most people should never see, was a tick. It was already burrowing it's wicked little head into me and I was screaming my face off as soon as I spotted it. My group leader swiftly threw open the door and calmly helped me get the tick off.

Though traumatized, I was thankful.

I'm still thankful :)

Yesterday was my second encounter. A friend and I decided that we would go out and hike some woodland trails. When we got to the trails it was raining quite hard and I asked my friend if it was tick season. She told me it was and we carried on our hike anyways, thinking the rain would keep most of the little fiends away.

An hour and a half later, we finished our hike and went back to my friend's place to watch a movie. She told me later that she was picking off ticks while we were watching but didn't bother to tell me because she thought I would freak out.

I'm not sure if I am thankful or not because when I got home, or when I showered I guess, I found three ticks on me! They weren't quite attached yet, but they were getting there. I quickly found a fine-toothed comb and put it through my hair as thoroughly as I thought was necessary. Feeling clean and tick-free, I washed my hiking clothes and continued on with my day. It was about 3:00pm at the time.

At 9:20pm I was playing a game of cribbage with my Dad and I felt something crawling in my shirt. I found another tick! These things are masters of stealth or something crazy like that. So I had my sister check my hair again for me. She found nothing so I went to bed in relative peace.

This morning while driving to church, I felt something on my arm. ANOTHER TICK! Great, I thought, they've infested my car too! I didn't bother to touch the tick until I got to the church. I was too freaked out to touch it anyways. So I tried to get it with my keys but it fell between the seats. I had to leave it until later.

On my way to soccer after church, the tick had managed to crawl on my and settle on my neck. I didn't hesitate to throw it out the window that time. Then, after soccer, I washed my car and vacuumed it out completely. Now I hope that I am officially tick-free. But you never know...

Feeling creepy-crawly? I sure am!

The Window Washers

They come every so often to wash the church windows. Probably more like three times a year or something like that. The following story happened the first time that I encountered them six months ago...

The first thing that I must describe is the office. My desk was by the doorway. My office-mate Jess's desk was next to the giant window.

We were just working along, minding our own business when a ladder popped up at the window! I got excited and my first thought was it must be the maintenance guy! I think I'll try and scare him! So I voiced that thought and proceeded to lay down against the wall under the window.

Jess: "Jess, what are you doing?"

Me: "I'm going to scare him!"

Jess: "That's not the maintenance guy."

Me: "Oh dang! Well who is it?"

Jess: "I don't know but he's got hair!"

I strategically attempt to peek out the window and barely see a lot of brown messy hair atop a mystery man's head. I duck back down quickly.

Me: "Well this is really stupid right now, what am I going to do? I can't stand up because he'll see me and be like, 'Huh? Where'd she come from?' I guess I'm stuck down here."

Jess: "You could try and crawl back to your desk."

Me: "Oh, good one, so he can watch me crawl...is he done yet?

Jess: "I'm not watching him!"

Me: "Just, tell me when he's gone."

...30 seconds or so

Jess: "He's gone."

Me: "Phew, that was a close one!"

Jess: "Well, if it was the maintenance guy, you really shouldn't have tried to scare him anyways, him being on a tall ladder and all..."

Me: "Oh yeah! That whole situation was just dumb, I'm so dumb!"

So there's how it all happened. After that, the guy in the office down the hall from us kept on bugging me, saying that the window washer guys were waiting outside to talk to me! Now that would have been awkward. I don't think they saw me. But since then, the window washer guys have been using extended poles to wash the windows instead of using a ladder. It's a lot less awkward that way. :)