Picture Update

I am so happy for them! :-)

Love their hair.

Uriah.

Mum. Isn't she lovely?

Dad and Jesse talking about Jesse's current work project.

Cilla and Martha washing dishes. Such good girls. :-)

May Long Weekend = Downpour

Please pray for my sister Ellie today as she is in surgery. She's had such a rough time the past couple of years... I really hope this solves the problem. No more sleeping with her arm tied down!

It's always exciting, preparing for your very first yard sale! Neither Jesse or I had ever hosted one before. Indeed, we'd never had enough stuff we wanted to rid our lives of to warrant a sale. But we sure do now. :-) Last Friday Jesse and I went through the entire house and decided which things we wanted and which things we did not. It was a huge job. The more nooks and crannies we discovered, the more stuff piled up. Friday was difficult. There were so many nice things in our house and so many nice things that we had gotten else where. Which to keep? To be honest, it was nice to have to choose. Lol! But on the other hand, there were moments when it was so difficult... We ended up hauling three dressers/vanities downstairs, hauling two outside for the sale and keeping one for the master bedroom. They are all antique and beautiful. Some are in better condition than others but they're all amazing! We also took a double bed from upstairs for the sale and brought a single bed upstairs. We're quite pleased with how nice our house looks now. :-)

So, as we were working Friday, Jesse mentioned off hand that this area never has good weather for the May Long Weekend. Sure enough, it alternated between pouring and drizzling all day Saturday. We had a few people in at the sale, but not as many as we would have liked. Over the course of three days (21st, 22nd and 23rd) we sold only a fraction of what we would have liked to. However, we did make a total of $142.70. :-) That we are thankful for!

Well, lesson time is coming right up so I should prepare myself. :-) 

The Perfect End To A Day:

Talking with my best friend. We finish each other's sentences, share our innermost thoughts, talk about what we did today, tease each other... ::happiness:: God knew exactly who we needed for soul mates.

Thank You. :-)


P.S. Happy 21st birthday, Elizabeth Ann Holter!

We Have A House! Plus: A Multitude of Other Things That May Prove To Be Not Quite As Exciting. ;-)

As you guessed, the major decision I posted a prayer request about was due to the house. After the game of offering, and counter-offering, this morning about 11, I was standing at the till, checking out a customer. A flurry of movement caught the corner of my eye and I looked up. There was Jesse. He had a grin that stretched from ear to ear. I just knew what was coming next! Lol! When I had successfully sent the customer on his way, I ran around the counter to my beloved and he said very calmly, "They've accepted our offer." Then he just grinned with all of the excitement I was feeling. Actually, I was almost jumping up and down. :-)

It's been one of those situations where everything has fallen into place for us. So many answered prayers and hopes! As soon as we saw pictures of the place, we both liked it. And when we took Lindsey to see it with us for the first time, I realized how much I liked it... even just from the outside. The more places we looked at, the more we realized how we really did like this house. It needed work (a plus for us as it brought the price down) but it has so much room for us and company. :-) I will try to take pictures sooner than later and post them on here. :-)

Friday night, the worst storm I've ever seen plowed it's way through our part of Saskatchewan. A friend of ours who is in her 80's told us she hasn't seen a storm like this one since she was a small child. She has lived her entire life in SK! It started raining around 6:30, then gradually grew into something torrential. The vision was really poor on the way home (thank goodness Jesse was driving!), with rain/snow mix. We woke up Saturday morning and there was a good foot of snow on the ground. It snowed on and off all day.... Visibility was terrible. The wind was gusting up to 90 kph! I think we got about 2 ft of snow. We kept saying, "Can you believe it's actually nearly the beginning of May?" Lots of damage occurred... roofs off of houses, barns... cars smashed with trees... trees down... flooding with no pumps to dispose of the water because of the lack of power. Kenosee was out of power for over 40 hours. People were stranded away from town. Take a look at this picture from Carlyle, posted on The Weather Network.

Today was all sunshine though. And most of the snow is melting rapidly. I can't wait for it to be spring. :-) Everyone is eager for Spring!

I filed my taxes online today. I had never expected to do that since I really prefer the old fashioned snail mail thing. ;-) But things got misplaced and I forgot all about it until Will brought it to my attention the other day. And since I made some income this year I wasn't sure what to do. In the end, it was fairly simple. Thankfully! I am so glad to get that done. I also changed my address to our new one. It always feels good to be able to complete these things and have them behind me for another year. Plus, I was able to talk to a really nice lady at the tax place on the phone. :-) It always  makes my day when people are pleasant.

News Flash! My sister Ellie got her surgery date: May 24th. Thank you to all for your prayers! I really can't wait for her to be healing and getting better. Imagine being able to sleep well for the first time in months because you don't hurt yourself while sleeping?

The shower is coming right up. Wow. I am really excited for it. :-) Mom and Lindsey have both said cryptic things about secrets and other lovely things. :-) So many of our friends from Melville will be there, as well as the ladies from the area and my family (both biological and non). Getting married just keeps getting more and more fun.

I've been thinking a lot about how peoples' views of the Bible and God is dictated by culture and what others tell us to believe/think. I want to know truth. I want to have fellowship with God and live my life to the fullest. Sometimes it means giving up things and grasping at nothing as I plunge into the unknown. I wish I wouldn't hold traditions so dearly.

Random thoughts. :-) Well, it's late enough to close my eyes and I am really tired. I work tomorrow and teach. It's a good life. Just busy. And I definitely need my sleep. ;-) Ttyl!

Odds and Ends

Isn't it interesting... I pray that God will cause my faith to grow. He always answers that prayer with a "yes" and I am always taken by surprise. :-)

Forgive the lack of detail but here is the basic structure of the past four days: I pray for faith. God answers prayer. Circumstances arise in which I am given cause to question every good thing in my life. My world, which I was growing rather comfortable in, rocked. I rock with it. Then I step back and look at myself, my world, God and the people in it. My conclusion? God loves me and has blessed me beyond anything that I could ask or think.

There are things I don't understand. I start wondering about them. But ultimately, I have seen that my Savior has guided me on my journey. I know He will be with me today as He has been with me each step that I have taken.

Moral of the tale? God takes you seriously when you pray.

Interesting things in my life lately:
1: I love Jesse more each day.
2: I worked two days this week at Dairy Queen. Awesomeness. I love my job. :-)
3: I must have slipped on the way home from work yesterday. My leg is swollen. Blah.
4: I will probably be getting way more hours at Dairy Queen which is so wonderful because getting married costs money. ;-) Plus, I love the experience.
5: I really like Ferrero Rondnoir.
6: The temperatures outside are sooo warm!! The snow is almost a little slushy.
7: Yesterday marked 3 months as a couple for Jesse and me.
8: The more Shakespeare I am indoctrinated with, the more I love him.
9: A journey with God can lead to some very surprising twists and turns.
10: My brother Jesse is living at a logging camp in the bush. I love that he is such a grown man...
11: My sister Ellie is on the waiting list for surgery on her shoulder. Please pray that she'll get it sooner than later because she can begin healing sooner if she has the surgery sooner. (Now wasn't that a statement of genius! Lol!)
12: I need to find birthday gifts for several of my sisters. I have an idea. And I think I'm going to Regina on Friday. I love shopping for gifts.
13: Valentine's Day is coming up. Now, never before have I ever seen the purpose or enjoyment of sending sappy love greetings to your True Love. But now I am the sappiest of the lot, as my beloved could tell you. Hehe. Why is it so wonderful to be told that you're loved? And to tell someone that you love them? It just is.
14: I need to get all the bedding cleaned up from last week's company. I managed to get the bathroom done yesterday... as well as some vacuuming and sweeping. That feels good. But I need to get all of that bedding folded up and into the closet or wherever it goes. :-)
15: I need to eat some good food for breakfast.
16: We picked the play for the Easter theatre production and it looks like I'm going to be having a part. Scary but such a good experience. I never thought of myself as an actor. I guess we'll see if I was right or not!

So, that is my life. Making wedding plans. Slowly. Hoping my mom can find that wedding dress soon so I can start talking patterns with people. :-) I have some really good folks around me who are knowledgeable about such lovely things as wedding planning.

Here's something for ya'll to do: find your favorite dress/pattern... favorite flowers... cake, decorations... or just one of the above listed and comment about them. I can always use ideas. :-) And I love talking about wedding plans. So much fun. :-)

Have a great week, ya'll! :-D

Ellie

For the record: We do not hate the doctor in question nor do we hate having free surgeries. It's just the matter of getting the problem fixed. I hate the pain my sister is going through.

Phone conversation:

Ellie: Hello

Naomi: I just wanted to say that I absolutely adore your doctor. I think he's the best man in the whole, entire world because the best men are always complete idiots.

Ellie: :mischievous chuckle: ok. :silence: :another mischievous chuckle: You'd love his accent, too. He's from South Africa. 

Naomi: Can I write a rant blog post about him?

Ellie: Do you want his name?

Long ago and far away, there was a little, adorable calf that had broken his leg. Our neighbor had asked us if we wanted him to try to raise up and we said, of course. (We love free stuff. ;-)) The calf was obviously in pain and we should have put him down as soon as we got him but we didn't. He was also wild and scared since he'd just been weaned and hurt all at the same time. 

Ellie somehow had gotten him on a halter and was trying to move his pen to better grass... when he suddenly charged her. She got out of the way but wrecked her shoulder in the process. Typical Holter reaction? Let it rest for awhile to see if it gets better. Two years later, it is really bad. Her shoulder comes out of place even when she takes off her coat... imagine trying to milk, ride horses, hunt, etc, etc, with this thing. 

So, she, along with my parents have been going through the long process of trying to get some help. Chiropractor said, "Just stand with better posture." Doctor said, "Oh, your shoulder keeps coming out of socket! [Ellie thinks, "That's what I just told you."] Better make an appointment down in Yorkton to have an ultrasound done." Ultrasound people, "We'll send the results back to your Dr." Doctor said, "There's nothing wrong. It's a genetic thing." Thus resulting in the above phone conversation. 

The purpose of this blog post is three things: 

1: Please pray for my sister. She's tough. When you see tears in her eyes, it's because it *really* hurts. She's only 20. I don't want to see her living with this for any longer than she has to. Also pray that she'll get through the surgery, if it happens, without much worry or emotional scars. 

2: I love my sister and I love our phone conversations. 

3: A rant about the Canadian medical system. Can you tell how much I love it? 

Ok. I have a student arriving in 10 minutes so I should run. Bekah! I adore comments. ;-) I'll reply later. 

:-)

pictures

Yours truly with Sara. Believe it or not, Ruth took this picture!

Cilla, Trisha F., Martha and Lydia... the horse crazies! :-) We like 'em that way.

Martha was watering the garden...

Shutting the gate...

Our neighbors and fellow church goers came over for sunday dinner and horses. :-) This is Mr. F. on Coyote with Lydia and Ellie.

Ellie... and I like this pose.

This is how we water the corn, water the corn, water the corn....

I'm Perfect and i know it...

Ellie turned 19 on May 3^rd. (Yeah, I know. Almost extinct.) Mom was asking us what we should get for her. It was a hard question because it seems that the older we get, the harder it is to find a gift that will hold some significance. I was scratching my head, puzzling over it... but Cilla was brimming with ideas. First she said that we should get Ellie a farm. Then, a second later, her genius streak glowed brightly, “No!” she said, “We should get her a man!”

We all snapped our fingers. “Ah ha!”

A personal ad seemed to be the easiest way to reach the most people, so here goes.

To Qualify, You Must:

Be as perfect as she is.

Victims should click on the envelope icon which is at the bottom of this post. Make sure to arrive gift wrapped.

J J J J J J J J J

Snow... or the lack thereof... and pictures

Yep, that's right. No snow yet! And, miraculously, I haven't heard of any weathermen lynchings. :-) It's been very cloudy here and the wind has come up a little bit... as I was walking to the library today, it sprinkled on me. But no snow.


Global warming, here we come!!!

Anyway, here are some pictures...

The family...

Lindsey and me.

Miss you!

My sister Ellie and me

More pictures...

My sister Ellie and Lindsey... fiddling around

Friends = smiles

How we survive picking rocks.

Siberia?

Nope! Just southern Alberta with a light snow. ;-)

We were just finishing up a rock picking experience.