December 18, 2014…Day 18… R:Rejoice, the Messiah has Come!

Today I didn't get to open this until the evening…which is different for me.  I usually open it in the morning before work.  Today I got tea….Gold Rush.


Today at work I was reminded how insensitive we can be as children to our parents.  I seen a mother that was broken because her daughter wasn't respecting her.  Don't get me wrong, she is a good kid but going through the rolling of the eye stage and not having time for her family.  I hurt for the mother…and just thought I did the something….I sometimes still do.  It was a good eye open.  To not just say I love my family but for my actions to always show that as well.

December 17, 2014…Day 17…P:Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men!

Red my lips!!  Did you hear me…Red my lips!  Oops, sorry, that was the name of the tea that I got today.  Although my mom go this tea as well…and apparently her lips didn't like this flavour much.  :(

Today I had my work Christmas party with the Finance Grande Prairie team.  It was okay.  Christmas parties like that alway make me realize how much I can't wait until the man God has for me comes into my life.  We went to the comedian however, they get a little crude.  The last guy, besides the swearing, did have some pretty funny jokes.

December 16, 2014…Day 16…Q:Quietly the baby lay in a manger!

Hello all you single men…my lips are going to be the softest, best tasting lips in this town!!  Only kidding…it isn't that easy!!  There is a whole husband job description…and a one would have to pass the family test.  Believe me, after the last two relationships…the next one will be grilled!

December 15, 2014…Day 15…O:O Little Town of Bethlehem how still we see you lie!

Day 15 already.  With some lip balm!

So little story about the word Noel…which was yesterdays main word.  I had a beautiful white Noel sign that lite up.  Just got it.  Put some batteries in it and had it on my fireplace mantel.  It looked beautiful.  After getting it set up it was time to bed.  Off to bed I went.   I was almost asleep when I heard a thunk.  Not a little thunk….a huge thunk.  All I could think was…'is someone breaking into my house?'  I quietly got to my bedroom door and locked it.  Trying to figure out what my next line of attach was going to be and trying to get my heart rate back down.  So, I grab my phone…and quietly open the door.  Noticed that I had left my fireplace mantel place lights off.  And then it clicked…the thunk…was my NEW NOEL sign!  So yes, I 'had' a nice noel sign…that only I got to enjoy one evening!

December 14, 2014…Day 14…N:Noel, Noel, born is the King of Israel!

Mmmmm, some tea!  I really have to start slowing down so I can enjoy a cup of this these great teas in the evening.  And maybe, keep up on my blogging as well.

Today I was able to go to two kids Christmas concerts.  The first one was a readers theatre.  I must be old fashion but I still like Christmas concerts where the kids have a few lines and they sing a few Christmas songs.  I remember these nights…getting dressed up in fancy dresses…that would float when one spun around.

The second concert was for a dear little friend of mine.  She is only 2.5yrs old and had a line!!  And she loves to sing!!  She sure brings a smile to my face!  I love that kid!!

December 13, 2014…Day 13…M:Merry Christmas to All!!

My favourite tea…strawberry rhubarb parfait.  It is good warm and good cold!  It smells a room up nicely.

Today I am thankful for FAMILY!  My family normally can't surprise me to often with to many things…but today they did.  A surprise that brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart.  A gift we have waited for a while…todays gift couldn't fit in the box.  Today's gift is all I wanted for Christmas to make this year special.  I am so glad I can share this Christmas with all my family!!!

December 12, 2014…Day 12…L:Let heaven and earth rejoice in His coming!

Day 12 brought me some lip balm which I am thrilled to get.  My lips from the continual weather change are dried and chapped.

Today I am thankful for good winter tires on my vehicle.  My ride into work today was a little nail biting.  As one can see with the picture I have included, there was freezing rain.   I was happy once I got there safely and home safely last night.

December 11, 2014…Day 11…K:Kings brought gifts to the Christ Child!

Day 11…Today was a tea day!  Yes mom, you did put tea in the box this time!!!

Today, I am very thankful for my job.  I have been really enjoying it lately and getting some many tasks off my desk.  Plus, being able to help managers make decisions on what they should do within their program is so rewarding.

December 10, 2014…Day 10…J:Joy to the World, the Lord has come!!

 WOW!!  Day 10…I was expecting tea.  Seemed about time for a tea.  But much to my surprise when I opened the box there was a pearl necklace.  A beautiful, beautiful necklace.  I truly am spoilt. 

Mom however was shocked that we got jewellery once again.  She figured it was time for a tea as well. Apparently filling the boxes on cold medication doesn't always work well.  Note to self:  Next time mom is on cold medication…use it to my advantage (insert evil laugh…bhahahaha…)

I included a picture of the new necklace on!

December 9, 2014…Day 9…I:It was a birth conceived by the Holy Spirit!

I have been truly blessed.  I have a God that has redeemed me, I have parents and siblings that love me, I have good health, a good job, and the ability to smile even on bad days.

Mom and dad…you have rocked it once again!  Today I got a bracelet.  Much like the key chain from a previous day with the key this time it is a bracelet.  I love it.  Mom and dad specifically picked the word 'Strength' for me.  Mom said that even though I come across as a strong, confident woman I do get scared, worried and tired…and they thought being reminded about God's strength would be good.  Because lets face it even though I may seem confident in a group most of the time I am beyond scared!!

My sister got the word Hope.  How fitting!

Love you guys.

December 8…Day 8…H:Happy Birthday Sweet Jesus!

Day 8…December is flying by!  Before we know it we will be in 2015.  Full of new promises, hopes and dreams.  Where we leave 2014 and its memories and move to new ones.  Where we grow and learn from what 2014 has been and thank God for His love, strength, and protection once again.

Today I got a yummy pineapple lip balm.  I love it.  Getting me ready for the tropics of Hawaii that I will be enjoying in January!!!

December 7, 2014…Day 7…G:Glory to God in the Highest!

Day 7…and we got our tea!!!  I look forward to a nice warm cup of tea on a relaxing Sunday.  Especially after shovelling my driveway.  Great way to warm up after a chilly shovelling afternoon.

And the mint sugar free toffee was great!!

December 6, 2014…Day 6…F:For unto us a Child is Born.

Day 6…and once again truly blessed.  Today we got a cool head band.  It also is my mom's birthday.  For her birthday wish she wanted us girls to come over and decorate her house.  Both my sister and I decided to wear our new headbands as well.  When I got there mom was on the phone.  Once she was off I said to her don't you like our headbands.  And she was like, yeah they are nice.  Kind of a weird reaction for her.  Normally she asks if we like it.  I looked at her and said this is what we got today.  She was sure it was suppose to be tea.   My sister and I just said nope, bracelet yesterday, this headband today.  Now, we have to give it to mom because she actually though it was a necklace she got us.  We had to break it to her that wasn't the case.

We had a great day spending it at mom's decorating her tree and house.  For her birthday gift we got her some new decorations.  And I think she loves the outcome.  Plus she got a day with her girls.

On a side note, my parents got new safety glasses.  And well, anyone in safety glasses always looks a little goofy…so Lynds and I had to take a few pictures.  Enjoy!!

December 5, 2013…Day 5…E=Emmanuel has come, God is with us!!

Mom and dad blessed me truly blessed me today.  I am spoilt!!  Today when I opened the box I seen a beautiful black leather bracelet.  I LOVE IT!!  

Tonight I had the pleasure of having my parents over to help me decorate my gingerbread house.  Last year I decorated one with my ex and well, he didn't seem to care where he slapped things on.  I am assuming he would have much rather been sitting in front of the TV.  But mom and dad think a lot like me.  Patterns.  Colour coordinating.  And everything has its place.  I was very pleased with the outcome.

Although my mom did decided that decorating a gingerbread house isn't as fun as it looks like it would be.  The icing doesn't always work.  The candies are small.  And gravity isn't always on our side. But overall, it was fun and we shared some laughs.  

December 4, 2014…Day 4…D=Divinity became flesh and came to the earth!

Another little time of David's Tea.  This time Mango Maddness.  I am loving trying all these teas.  It makes it nice to see what kinds I like.  Sometimes I may smell one and not like the smell but once I taste it love it.  And the opposite goes as well.  Sometime I love the smell of the tea but the taste or the after taste just isn't good.

Thanks again mom and dad for all of this!!

For the next couple of days I am going to also include a few Christmas memories that make me smile.

I remember on Christmas…I was probably in grand 10.  We had family friends over for supper on Christmas eve.  While we were sitting around talking we hear someone at our door.  In comes other family friends…just to visit…in their PJ's.  That night we told many stories, many jokes, many laughs.  And once everyone left, which was about 1:00am mom and dad thought it was best we just open our gifts before going to bed.  I think they were hoping that would mean we would sleep in a little.  I don't believe that was the case.  I think maybe it was a little longer but not much.  We were still so excited that morning.  These are the things memories are made of!

December 3, 2014…Day 3…C = Come Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Day 3 brought more surprises.  I have myself a new key chain.  I love it.  I always liked how old keys looked and that is what this key chain is.  But there words on there are even more special.  Two simple words…Faith and Love.  Although simple they hold so much meaning.  I am so glad my life is filled with both of these words and most of the time it is overflowing.  I have to say mom did a great job of shopping.  She is very creative, thoughtful and full of blessings.  My mom, My best friend.

Although we were doing the advent calendar today's gifts didn't all fit in the box.  Nor was it planned.  Today my dad's helpfulness and ability to diagnose vehicle issues was one of the bigger gifts I have ever received.  My vehicle shaking and not driving the same…me freaking out…my calm dad going straight to the tires and say it sounds like ice in the rims.  Once he knocked that out it ran like a charm.  My dad, My hero.

Thank you mom and dad!

December 2, 2014…Day 2..B is for Bethlehem was the birth place of the Christ Child.

Day 2…If there was a camera recording me it would look like a kid on Christmas morning.  I may be in my 30's but apparently this is bring me back to my inner child.

Day 2 was, once again, amazing!  Mom and dad know me so well.  I was actually just thinking I needed to bring lip balm to work…and guess what was in the box!!  Plus the candy…sugar free at that…was delish!!!!

Now onto day 3…wonder what that will bring!!

December 1, 2014…Day 1…A Savior was born on that first Christmas!

One Saturday I had my sister and Mom over when the boys were out busy for the day.  We stamped, we cut, we taped, we laughed, we got confused and we had a great time!   Then we had the joys of shopping and filling it.  Mom wanted to do my sister/brother-in-law and mine.  And my sister and I had to do our parents and brother.  Now we only did one box per couple…which made trying to pack it very interesting to say the least.  I think for next year we will be coming up with another kind of advent calendar for the other significant other.  Makes it way easier to pack!!!

So today, it was Day 1.  I couldn't wait to dive in…this morning I got ready and made my way to the boxes.  For those of you that know me, you would know that having boxes there waiting…is well hard on me to not dive into all at once.  So this morning was just a little easier to get up knowing I had something waiting for me.  When I opened the box I liked how mom had put a bible verse to do with advent and the Christmas season.  Then when I seen the Davids Tea I chuckled.   When mom opened hers she was going to see the same thing.  I guess great minds really do think alike!  Plus there was delicious mint/chocolate candy for us to enjoy.

Now I wait with anticipation for tomorrow morning to roll around and see what will be up mom & dad's sleeve.  I am happy we have started this tradition and can't wait to see what we come up with next year!

November 30, 2014…Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

Okay, so it has been a while since a posted in here again.  I am sure my family has been faithfully checking.  We will see how long it takes them to notice this post!

My favourite time of the year…Decorating for Christmas!  Well, maybe not so much the decorating.  More once it is decorated.  Decorating is a job in itself.  First you have to undo your normal decorating, take out all your Christmas decorations and then finally getting to the decorating.  And don't even get me started on fluffing the tree!!  Makes me wish that I still did the real tree…no fluffing.  Although then you have to water it and well, typically they have uneven branches one has to strategically decorate so it doesn't look so gappy.  (Yes, I don't think gappy is a word but for today it is.)

This year, being in my new house, I got to decorate my fireplace.  And I love it!!!  Enjoy!

October 16, 2014…Photographing my First Wedding

I was able to photograph my first wedding this past summer.  I was nervous and worried but overall I was very happy with how the photos turned out.  I do think I will stick with numbers…so much comfort in numbers…but it was a honour and a experience to do something like this.  Here are a few pictures that I took.  If you are reading this, look me up on Facebook under Photo's by Tasha.

October 15, 2014…What a summer!!!

What a summer.  It felt like most of my weekend views was the highway between Grande Prairie to Edmonton or Red Deer.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love getting a way for a little R&R but maybe during the entire year…not all in a couple of months.  A couple weekends to Edmonton to visit family and to get away with a friend that was not having the greatest summer.  A couple of weekends to Red Deer/Sylvian Lake.  One of my bestfriends got engaged in Feb.  In Jun we did a shopping trip to get bridesmaid dresses, Aug was her shower that I was able to attend and Oct was their wedding.  I was thrilled to be apart of it but it sure did make for a busy summer.  Plus the same weekend as the shower I was able to do my first wedding photos for my brother-in-law's sisters wedding.  (That is a story in itself…more a story about how clumsy I am and continue to be.)

I think 2015 I will choose to not be on the road as much.  I would love a trip to BC again.  And I think a Jasper trip is a must!!  Plus, my friends and I are thinking Hawaii in the new year….nevermind, I think 2015 will chop up to be another eventful year!!

Aug 22, 2014 It has been a while!!

To my faithful followers (My parents and siblings…lol),

The summer has gotten away on me.  Which has lead to me not being great at updating my blog.  And quite frankly I have been tried and it has been been a year!  Let me give you some highlights of summer...

1.  I moved!!!  I am all settled into my new home and loving it!  It is great to be close to my family who all happens to be my best friends as well.
2.  I was able to head to Red Deer in June to do bridesmaid dress shopping with my good friend who is getting married to her best friend on Oct 4th.  First store…First dress tried on!!
3.  I was able to take the August long weekend and head to Edmonton for a little R&R for the weekend.  We both needed just some time away from our day to day routine.
4.  Concerts & Cowboys…can I get a yea haw!!  I was able to see Dwight Yoakam, Dean Brody (which was awesome), Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Chad Brownlee.  Plus I was able to sneak in some bull riding and chuck wagons!
5. A few coffee dates…which were all duds.  I know there are decent men out there but they just don't seem to be crossing my path.
6. I was able to eat a few meals out on our land up north.  That was great and nice family time.
7. Photographing my first wedding!!  An added bonus is that I get to attend my good friends bridal shower.

Hope you enjoyed a few little snips of my summer.  So much more has happened.  And as get back on here I am sure that you will read more about it and a few of the moments.

T

May 17, 2014 SOLD to the Lady in the second row...

Did I just get the Sold song from John Michael Montgomery stuck in your head??

I have some exciting news...Lots of changes happening in my life.  That is why it has been a bit since I wrote on here...backing has consumed my life!  One doesn't realise how much stuff they have until they have to put their lives in boxes.  Although, I am blessed that I have stuff to put in boxes.

God truly has blessed me.  I am able to move HOME!  Closer to family...both immediate family and church family.  I look forward to this new chapter in my life!  

April 12, 2014 Israel Borders

Israel isn't a huge area.  You can go from one end to the other a couple of hours.  One can't compare it to Canada.  In Canada when we see a boarder we don't run scared.  We don't fear.
 
While we were in Israel we were able to see the boarders.  In this picture you can see a gravel road.  This gravel road is the Israel patrol road.  On the other side of that road is Lebanon.  Lebanon has never liked Israel.  And the hill in the back ground is where Syria is.  And the tallest mountain is owned partially by Syria and the other Israel.  In the winter this is Israel's ski hill.  Well, it is their ski hill down the one side.  one won't want to go down the other side!!

Where I took this picture we prayed for the protection of Israel.  After this we went for a ride on our bus.  Because we had some extra time they took us up to another boarder lookout.  While going there we drove by a military area.  Seen close to 30 tanks.  And fences with nice warning signs indicating that there were active land mines beyond this.  It was this moment I realised that Israel is always in a state of defence.

April 9, 2014: River Jordan

While I was in Israel I was able to go and see the River Jordan.  Now, I don't know about you but I always pictured this massive, flowing river.  I have to tip my hat because the tour guides did warn us.  It isn't this huge river.  As you can see from the picture, this is true.

However, even though the river wasn't huge it comes with lots of historical importance.  This is where John baptised Jesus.  WOW!!  Jesus was in these waters!!

When we were here we able to choose to either be baptised...or re-baptised.  Or we could get sprinkled with water and it be more of a renewal of our baptism.  I decided to have just the sprinkling as I have already been baptised.  For me, this is one of my favourite moments.  I felt so connected.  I felt so free.  I felt so redeemed.

April 6, 2014: Day 2 in Israel

Thought I would share my trip that I just went on in March.  The first full day of touring one of the stops was at Caesarea.  In this picture, there has been evidence found that this is where King Herod's Place stood.  Of course, the Mediterranean Sea has come up around it now.  But amazing.

The sea was an amazing colour.  It was a really windy day.  I could have used more time here however because it was the start of Sabbath we had to hurry here before the gates closed.  Being the first full day of touring I realised this wasn't going to be a relaxing adventure.

April 4, 2014: Memories

Memories....some are good and some are not.  Some make us smile and some make us cry.  Some bring a bounce to our step and some make us go to our knees in prayer.

Looking back at my life I have felt everyone of these emotions at various degrees.  I have felt some highest highs and some lowest lows.  But through it all, God has had His hand on my life.

Travelling to Israel was one of my highs but it was also one of my mediocre moments.  It was a highlight because I got to walk were Jesus walked.  Where He prayed.  Where He wept.  Where He died for our sins.  Where He rose.  And where He ascended.  But travelling alone wasn't my favorite.  I missed my family and good friends.

College experience, new job, first car, first home, and family time etc...have all been great experiences. Breaking up, losing loved ones, disagreements, and hurt word etc....have been some not so great experiences.  But through it all...I can say God has protected and loved me and my family through all these moments.  These moments have allowed us to grow closer to God.  And has also allowed us to get to know ourselves more.  Going through these situations we become more loving, more forgiving, more gracious, more aware, and more like Him.

April 3, 2014: Israel...Caesarea

Okay, so it has been a long time!!!!  And there are a few reasons for that....

First...Life!  Life sometimes gets a little busy for us and we are just trying to get it all done.  But something has to give and apparently it was this blog!!

Second...Relationships!  It hasn't been an easy couple of months.  The 'man' I had mentioned in some past blogs and myself thought it was best we moved on with our lives.  We were on two very different paths and every day together gave me more understanding that it wasn't going to work.  

Third, Work!!  Work has been crazy with year end and budget!  Work is busy enough on a normal week let alone when you start adding various, stressful projects.

Fourth, Traveling!  Traveling has a way of tiring someone out.  Don't get me wrong, won't trade my trip to Israel for anything however, I would take a week off after...Jetleg sucks and I didn't fair so well trying to go right back to work.

So, I have decided to make no promises on how many blogs I am going to try to do.  I am just going to enjoy writing them when the time permits and I have inspiration on my heart.