What 100-Year-Olds Are Wearing This Season

We just got home from 3 days in Spokane, WA, visiting with Joel's Grandma, who will celebrate her 100th birthday on January 29th!

This young lady is the sweetest, smartest, most thoughtful, positive, funny gal. She has given us a legacy of love and faithfulness and we are so glad we made the trip to visit with her. Since we'll be on vacation at the end of the month, we needed to go now so we met up with Joel's twin brother and his family, spend 2 nights at a hotel together and had a great visit with Great Grandma, Joel's mom and aunt & uncle.

Patti, (my awesome sister-in-law) and I decided we would do a little "personal shopping" for Grandma, so she could have something new to wear to her birthday party. We found 4 outfits for her, brought them home, and she did a fashion show and picked her favorite. She chose this beautiful suit in a nice wine color with really sweet ribbon detailing on the cuffs & pockets. (She's wearing a t-shirt in this pic but will get a nice little lacy shell for under the jacket).

She was so thrilled over this little gift. "My friends are not going to believe my grandaughters got me this pretty dress!" She just loved being treated to something new... we were afraid she'd say not to fuss over her, but instead she offered this line, my favorite of the weekend... "I was going to wear a blouse and skirt, but then I'd just look like the other lady who's turning 100."

Fresh Bread - HOPE

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."
Hebrews 6:19

Christmas is a happy time for most of us. But I know that for many it is a difficult season because the things that should be "right" in families & friends and circumstances are not always healthy and something to celebrate. Right now I have some friends in the biggest mess of their lives, and this Christmas will be complicated and painful. This verse is all I can think about for them. I think it's words are worth savoring in the good and the difficult seasons of life.

We often see words like JOY, PEACE, LOVE at Christmas time. I think HOPE should be added to that list too. When everything else around you is unsure, when the rug has been pulled out from under you, when your world is turned upside down, you need an anchor. Your soul needs something to place it's confidence in. When we fail ourselves or have been failed by the people around us, we need something steadfast, something we can count on.

An Anchor for the Soul.

My wish for all of us this Christmas, is that we would see the "Christmas Story" as just one part of an eternal story, one that had no beginning and is not over. God's love has always been in existance, He's been involved and powerful in His creation since the beginning of it, this GIFT of Jesus, from His humble beginning on earth to His humiliating final moment, was the most amazing demonstration of His love for us. And the story is not over... our Creator is still working and loving and dreaming for us. He is holding out HOPE in His love & power, at Christmas and always. Today I'm reminded to grab onto that hope & to let it be the anchor for my soul.

Wishing you an incredibly meaningful Christmas!
love,
Dawn

Christmas Eve... without the organ music

Just got home from the Christmas Eve Service Rehearsal... the band sounds really, really great... there are a great mix of fun and meaningful moments.

If you're looking for a place to relax & reflect on Christmas eve, please know how welcome you are to come to SunRidge Community Church, (Stevens Road & Westlake Road)... two service times: 3:30 & 5:30

Also, there is a cute boy singing a Cold Play song. MY cute boy.

Have yourself a groovy little christmas....

This is our Christmas Card picture this year.

I Miss Running !

Now there are 3 words I never thought would leave my mouth!
It has been weeks and weeks since I've met with my running friends... I've been too busy, too sick and too cold to run. I thought I'd get out there today but "too icy" won that game.

I can't tell you what these girls have come to mean to me over the last year. Our original group is fairly intact, plus another 10 or so girls who have joined us this fall. I refered to these women last month when I spoke at a women's retreat... here's a snippet... honoring these fine and fabulous women...

"...the thing I enjoy most about running and that thing I owe all my success to are the girls I run with.

Some of us are brand new, some of us are dedicated runners, and some of us are starting to run again after years of not running.

My running girls keep me motivated, they keep me in pace, they are my accountability, my cheering squad, and my butt kickers, cause sometimes I need that too…

I could not do it without them. Because, when you are a lazy person like me, with 1000 excuses and no “mental game” …you need someone. You need someone who’s going to make sure you’re going to meet to train. You need someone who’s going ask how the training is going. You need someone who’s going to encourage you and when all you see in front of you is kilometers, break down that down for you… just make it to the next street sign. And when someone is standing at the finish line cheering you on, hugging your sweaty body and telling you what a great job you did… well, you just want someone there to celebrate your success.

My running girlfriends do that for me. And I know they would say I do the same for them. And we LOVE being a part of one another’s success. We super love it.
We motivate each other, we inspire each other and we are one of the biggest keys to the miracle that is us running 10 kilometres, in a row.

I am thankful for them, I am incredibly proud of them, and they have taken a very special place in my heart because of the hours of talking we have done as we’ve trained and run together."

So there you have it, a little tribute to you, my running friends... until we run again! Merry Christmas!!

Paintology

Lessons I've learned (again) in the last week:

1) Paint looks very VERY different in different lights.
2) Carpet samples look very VERY different in different lights.
3) Paint and Carpet that match at the store don't match in the home
4) Paint and Carpet that don't match in the store can look BEAUTIOUS in the home.

I have been on the hunt for paint to match the carpet we have already ordered for our almost completed basement!! It was been BRUTAL! This was supposed to be the fun part. Finally after 5 tries, we've found a winner.... Benjamin Moore's "Hiking Trail"
It's rich and chocolatey. Some people will hate it. We love it!

(If anyone is going to paint and is considering one of these colors, you are welcome to have the paint pots that I bought.... it's totally worth it to see how it looks on your walls!!

HC - 82 Bennington Gray

CC - 470 Rocky Road

CC-250 Seaspray

CC-514 Hiking Trail

HC - 45 Shaker Beige)

We have also finally ordered the bar cabinetry, got ahold of the matching stain for the wood beam that runs through the main room, decided to go with white doors and trim (since the walls are so dark it will be a nice contrast)... have bought light fixtures, have the ceilings painted (thanks to my dad who is my super-painting-hero.... again, his need for a job well done overrides his hate for painting so he's trying to get as much done as he can before Joel and I really screw it up. Love that about him!)

In two weeks it will be pretty much a done deal!! Painting finished, tile down, carpet, drop ceiling & trim! The sad thing is that the bathroom vanity will take several weeks so proabbly won't be here for Christmas which means that if Joel's mom comes we probably won't be able to put her in the guest room b/c she'd have to go up the stairs to use the washroom.... since it will have everything but a sink! I suppose we could leave the cover off the toilet tank and she could just wash her hands in there.... or have a full shower after using the bathroom.

Oh... I can't wait until it's done.... we're going to have to send my dad on a big vacation so he can get a break from our house...he's more than earned it!

We also bought a hot-tub (2nd hand from our friend who owns the WetZone)... that will need to get delivered and set up in the next week or so aswell so we can relax in there after this HUGE and consuming project is finished! I still have to go furniture shopping... now there's something to look forward to! If Joel can get his 50" TV in there, you'd better believe I'm getting some great furniture to go with it!!

Friday night and I'm home alone... Joel is playing guitar at the dinner SunRidge hosts every year for the patrons of the Westbank Foodbank, Adam is at a youth thing with the neighborhood kids and Brodie ended up at a sleepover, (he and I were supposed to have a special date tonight---even my 8 year old has stood me up. :-) I ran into one of my favorite friends, Lenore at Save-On so I got to go for a date with SOMEONE after all :-) So great to see her... I love my friends who are in the "next season" of life.... I've got a couple of amazing ones in my life.

Well, this house isnt' cleaning itself and we've got the Reinelts coming for a belated birthday dinner for my Brother tomorrow night so I'd better get this place in order since I'm going to be at work for our Customer Appreciation Day all day tomorrow! Can't wait!

Have a great friday night everyone!