Advent

With today as the first Sunday in Advent I thought it might be good to be reminded of this.


As we begin to ready, not only our home, but our hearts for this Christmas season, let us all remember that:
We can easily get caught up with the craziness of the season, but I hope to be able to set that all aside. I don't want to become overtly worried about whether I get the baking done, the shopping started, the Christmas cards sent early enough, the house decorated. As long as we're done by December 24 we still have time. ^.^

It seems that people become consumed with the to do and for my family I want, to be..... together; eating, playing, baking, laughing, enjoying our time making memories that are worth more than any gift.

Blessings

WHY?

Have you ever wondered why? Why are leaves green? Why do cats purr? Why aren't we happy?

Why is probably the most singularly asked question that our world has revolved around. When you have a question where do you go to find the answer? I use the Internet most of the time, books second and asking lastly. I go onto the net to find out everything from medical advice to how to clean something. It's no wonder then it's nicknamed "The Information Highway". I have marveled at the information found on the net. One day I just started typing in random words to see what would come up from search and ended up learning a lot of new things. The Internet these days is kind of like a school; where you learn the newest and most up to date info without having to buy all the textbooks.

I love to read and cuddle up with a good book but when I want info in a hurry it's to the computer and surfing the net for those quick answers. It's certainly interesting and it is like having every book on the subject at your finger tips!

When you have questions, where do you go for the answers?

Blessings

Library Club

I've joined the local Library Club at the Zurich Public Library. The book to read and discuss was "Stanley Park" by Timothy Taylor.
From the Jacket
A young chef who revels in local bounty, a long-ago murder that remains unsolved, the homeless of Stanley Park, a smooth-talking businessman named Dante - these are the ingredients of Timothy Taylor's stunning debut novel - Kitchen Confidential meets The Edible Woman.

Trained in France, Jeremy Papier, the young Vancouver chef, is becoming known for his unpretentious dishes that highlight fresh, local ingredients. His restaurant, The Monkey's Paw Bistro, while struggling financially, is attracting the attention of local foodies, and is not going unnoticed by Dante Beale, owner of a successful coffeehouse chain, Dante's Inferno. Meanwhile, Jeremy's father, an eccentric anthropologist, has moved into Stanley Park to better acquaint himself with the homeless and their daily struggles for food, shelter and company. Jeremy's father also has a strange fascination for a years-old unsolved murder case, known as "The Babes in the Wood" and asks Jeremy to help him research it.

Dante is dying to get his hands on The Monkey's Paw. When Jeremy's elaborate financial kite begins to fall, he is forced to sell to Dante and become his employee. The restaurant is closed for renovations, Inferno style. Jeremy plans a menu for opening night that he intends to be the greatest culinary statement he's ever made, one that unites the homeless with high foody society in a paparazzi-covered celebration of "local splendour."

Sounds like an interesting book - wouldn't you agree? Going to my first meeting of the Library club, I was quite nervous. For one; I didn't know anyone, two; I didn't like the book and three; I struggle with saying anything negative, in case no one would like me. Thankfully as group discussion started the lady to my left began and it went clock-wise, leaving me till last. whew! Each person shared their perspective on the book which ironically was the same as mine and out of the ten of us, only two (I was not one of them) actually read the whole book. My fears were totally alleviated as I realized everyone felt the same way.

These are an interesting group of women, various ages, stages of life but we share at least one common passion, our love to read. So I am looking forward to next month's meeting; when we gather to discuss "Children of my Heart" by Gabrielle Roy. I'm looking forward to not only getting to know those in the group better, but also to discuss the book, whether it's liked it or not. ^.^

Blessings

um...w.h.a.t?

Many of you already know that I am in a group called w.h.a.t. which is an acronym for women's hearts always together. It's a group of women of different ages (as I believe we have alot to learn for those older than us and can teach others younger than us - based on Titus 2:3&4) who gather together to intentionally build relationships and study together. To be a support to each other as we struggle through this maze called life.

This group decided to read the book "Love your Life" by Victoria Osteen. It's not that I do not love the life I'm living, but I want to embrace life and live it to the fullest. Because of the title of the book I was hesitant to join; however, I'm so very glad I did. Not only am I'm getting to know Ruth, Deb & Annie alot better, but I'm learning to gain a little more perspective on things. I'm very thankful for each of my fellow w.h.a.t. women and the insight they pour into my life.

Blessings

Blooming awesome

This past summer Krystle convinced me to spend the extra money required to purchase a Hibiscus plant. I've enjoyed the awesome blooms all summer. Early fall I brought the plant indoors hoping with fingers crossed that it would continue to thrive in the house. Despite the fact that I do not have a green thumb the plant it is doing amazingly well. Beautiful, absolutely beautful.

Blessings

Chess

Chess is a board game played between two players. A game of strategic thinking, not much dialogue, but great times with another person.
Taking alternate turns moving one piece at a time (with the exception of castling, when two pieces are moved simultaneously). Pieces are moved to either an unoccupied square, or one occupied by an opponent's piece, capturing it and removing it from play.

My dad taught me the game of chess. With White always moving first, I usually took white, hoping beyond all things that would give me the advantage. =)

Learning the moves of each of the pieces which have their own unique way of moving was a lot to remember.
• The pawn can only move forward one step at a time except the first step it takes can be a two-stepper. It captures the opponent by moving diagonally, then continues forward one step at a time.
• The Rook (castle) can move forward, backward and sideways as many spaces wanted.
• The Knight (horse) moves either two steps forward with one step sideways, or one step forward with two steps sideways, of course it can can forward or backwards.
• The Bishop can only move diagonally either forwards or backwards.
• The Queen can move forwards/backwards/diagonally/sideways and as many spaces as needed.
• The King can only move one space at any time in any direction.
The objective of the game is to checkmate the opponent. This occurs when a move places the opponent's king in check, and there is no way to move the king into a 'safe' space.

Over time with my Dad's great patience, I became a good competitor for him. I too have taught my kids to play, making them good competitors for me & my Dad. Darcy is the one most taken with the game and he & I have played Chess many times over the last few years. We're pretty evenly matched, making each game interesting, creating great memories together.

Last night was one such time. We danced around each other on the chess board moving our pieces in hopes to catch the other's king for about one hour. We made several attempts to place each other's King in check and then whoosh, I had Darcy's King in checkmate. Blessings

Finding Balance

I've been struggling recently with just how busy I am. Everyone is busy, I get that, but for me it's been overwhelming. It's good stuff too; w.h.a.t. (ladies bible study), Jazzercise, studying Kingdom Culture (Pastor Phil's book), babysitting for friends, helping at the churches Ten Thousand Villages sale, Library Club, work - both at the office and at home, and on and on it goes. While it may be good stuff, is it the right stuff ~~ for me?

It tends to go to the extreme. I become super busy, realize the craziness of my life, quit everything, become bored and allow myself to become super busy again, only to start yet another cycle of craziness. How then, does one find balance? "Easy" you say - choose a couple things to focus on, things you're good at. But, how do you know that you know that you know you're on the right path or if you've somehow fallen into a ditch?

Life is all about choices. Good choices and bad choices. The more choices I make that fulfill my purpose the better. In a perfect world we could plan everything in advance, but often life does not go the way that we plan. The challenge then is to be more purposeful and to not let life just happen.

So, the secret? Slow down. Be centered, strategic and intentional. Plan the best use of my time that I can. Stay centered. Be conscious of the choices that I make by weighing them carefully in terms of where I ultimately want to end up in life. Because every choice I make, will either assist me on my journey or ultimately end up working against me. Time is valuable and I need to use it well!

I don't want to become one of those people who look back at their life and think 'if only'. I want to live a purpose-full life, so that at the end, I hear these words "Well done, good and faithful servant!"
Blessings

ba-da-boom-ba-da-bing

East Side Mario's is a great restaurant. Not only for the delicious menu, but for the atmosphere. It's become one of the favourite places to meet up with my brother & sister. When my brother celebrated his 40th birthday; he came up with the idea that we (just the siblings) get together to celebrate our birthdays. The birthday person picks the restaurant and the next person in line pays for lunch. (ie:I pay for Barry's, Becky pays for mine and Barry pays for Becky's.) So for three times a year, we get together, just us, a place to catch up on the busyness of our lives without interruption. It's kinda cool!
I am so thankful for his brilliant idea.

Blessings

The Kaufmans

We gathered together to celebrate Mom & Dad's 45th wedding anniversary. We were a few months late to celebrate as their anniversary was in June and we got together in September, but with every one's schedules it gets harder and harder to get together.
I have been blessed with an older brother and a younger sister and two wonderful parents.

After enjoying a delicious brunch at the Crossroads Restaurant in Elmira we went to a parkette to take family photos. We had a lot of fun, putting different poses together, here are a few of my favourites:


Even though the Gerber's & Gingerich's out number the Kaufman's in name we're still family =) Blessings