You can’t judge a book by it’s cover….  or can you?

I am currently reading a book called “When The Fairy Dust Settles”. It’s a book written as a series of letters between a mother and daughter discussing different issues (from a Christian perspective). The first chapter talkes about fashion and clothes - and was really thought provoking.

What considerations do you make when choosing what you will wear? Obviously we think about things like what will be most comfortable, what will suit the suitation, what you think looks good, what’s in style, etc. And as Christians, we know that modesty is something to consider. Well - we should know anyway. Plenty of us still wear outfits that bring that into question.

But - have you ever stopped to ask your self what impression you will make with your choice of clothing?

Does it matter? I think it does - a lot.  What we wear makes a statement about who we are and what we think is important. As Christians, we are supposed to represent Christ through our lives. Our lives should show Christ-like love to others and makes those around us want what we have - CHRIST.

That means that the impression we make on others around us is the impression we are making for what being a Christian is - for what having Christ in our lives is.

So what message are we giving about Christ if we dress like slobs and can’t be bothered to care about our appearance?

What message are we giving if we dress like hookers with body parts exposured that weren’t meant for public veiwing?

I’m not saying you need to wear top designer fashions or that you have to look like a magazine spread 24-7. Vanity isn’t right either - but when you get dressed in each morning, ask yourself “What does this outfit say about Christ - and about Christ in me?”

After all - we are supposed to represent Christ to the world right?

Just over a week ago, I turned 28:) My birthday was on a Thursday evening and we didn’t have anything big planned. Rayelle was supposed to play baseball but it got rained out. Dave’s dad needed to work in our shop for a bit so mom invited me and the kids to go for icecream that evening and then we went flower shopping at the greenhouse. When I returned, I found this:

A surprise birthday party for me:)

Now to understand the significance of this you have to know something about Dave and I. I think birthdays and anniversaries are a big deal that should be celebrated. I don’t care so much about gifts but I love parties. Dave on the other hand, just likes to be recognized. A “Happy Birthday” and a card are just about all he needs. Dave has never really understood my need to celebrate lol. Or at least I thought he didn’t.

So the night before my birthday, Dave asked if he could run down to the store for chips. He does that a lot so it didn’t set off any warning bells until it ended up taking him an hour! He said the line ups were bad, which seemed weird for 10pm on a Wednesday night, but whatever. Turns out he had been buying food and cake which he delivered to my sister’s place before coming home.

On my birthday I picked Rayelle up from school and she told me she had made me a present at Auntie Kari’s but Auntie Kari was going to wrap it and bring it to my party. Dave had told them the night before but I figured she was just assuming I was going to have a party because that’s what we do for the kids. But, in the next hour, the kids were VERY helpful with chores and party hints were dropped a few times. I started to get a little suspicious until 5:30 when Dave came downstairs and said his Dad had called and asked if he could use our shop around 7 for a bit and Mom wanted to take me for icecream while they were working. I figured at that point that the kids were just confused because it was way to late to be doing a party at that point.

So when we got home at 8pm and I found a yard full of people I was actually surprised lol. Dave’s Dad’s project had been to help Dave rig a makeshift canopy because it has been raining all day (How Gilmore Girls of him right?) Of course, it didn’t rain at all after that lol but we had a lot of fun roasting weiners and marshmallows.

I love this man. He doesn’t always “get” me - but he tries so hard and the learning and discovery process rocks. I can’t wait to get to know him more and more over the decades to come!

The required cake photo that Kari made sure I took lol. After all - we were raised right and Mom would NEVER allow a birthday party to happen without the traditional “birthday girl with cake” photo. This one is for you Mom.

Dave and Dad taking down the tent/canopy. I feel so loved!

Happy Birthday To My Mom. Today she will be turning….

29!!! But she doesn’t look a day over 28!

Currently Anticipating: Niece/Nephew #9

Right now we’re sitting at home waiting for a phone call. My sister in law is pregnant and due in 4 weeks. We had a family dinner at Mom & Dad’s today and she was having some strange pains. She’s had complications in the past so they decided to go in and make sure the baby was okay. Well - baby was fine and mommy was 5 centimetres dilated! That was at 7, so now we’re just waiting for the phone call letting us know baby is here - and praying for a healthy little one:)

Currently Craving: SLURPEES

This is Steinbach after all….

Currently Proud Of: My Little Girls

Sports season is coming to an end, at least for the kids. Baseball season for Dave and I goes until September. Anyway - this weekend was Ariel’s final soccer tournament. Ariel’s team played 4 games, winning by a landslide and took home the gold medal which is the perfect end to a perfect winning season.

Rayelle had her Baseball Jamboree which is a special event they run at the end of the season for the youngest teams where they get to play a game and show off their throwing, hitting and running skills in some fun relays.

There was a blog I used to read that did a weekly post showcasing some of the stuff the writer was currently into that week. I loved it - it’s a tiny peak into someones life and it’s also a simple way to let you guys know what I’m up to and where my mind is at. So here you go:

Currently Reading: Can You Hear Me? by Brad Jersak

I haven’t started this book yet - I just bored it from Dave’s mom on Thursday so I am looking forward to getting into it this week.

Currently Watching: The Listener

The Listener is a new show on CTV Wednesday nights. It’s about a paramedic who can hear people’s thoughts and the first episodes were really good.

Currently Enjoying: BASEBALL!!

I love this time of year when the weather is starting to warm up (sort of) and baseball season starts. Today we played at the church picnic and last week we had our first church league games. It looks like we’ve got a pretty decent team this week.

Currently Indulging In: Canadian Scrapbooker!

Since returning to work - I haven’t done a lot of paper scrapbooking. I just don’t have the time to get everything out, scrapbook and then clean everything up. So I have been digitally scrapbooking instead - the only thing I have to take out is my computer and clean up involves a simple power button lol. Anyway - this week I indulged in the latest issue of Canadian Scrapbooker - I love taking the traditional paper scraping ideas and translating them into digital pages. It’s my stress relief.

Currently Prayer For: Uncle Brent’s Family

The top of my prayer list this week is Aunty Carla, Grandma & Grandpa Wallcraft, Mom and the rest of the family as they deal with the loss of Uncle Brent.

This weekend has been a very hard one to process. On Saturday, Dave and I celebrated our ten year anniversary with a vow renewal ceremony and dinner. It was fantastic - and I will share more about it in the next week or so - but today my mind is somewhere else. This morning we learned that Uncle Brent was reaching the end of his fight with cancer. We drove out to Morden with the kids to visit him for the afternoon and later that evening, Uncle Brent passed away.

So taday we are mourning - and I feel numb. I’m not sure how to process all the emotions of this weekend.

We will miss you Uncle Brent. The photo below is from Uncle Brent & Aunty Carla’s Easter weekend wedding.

A - Age: 28 (next week)

B - Bed size: King

C - Chore you hate: bathrooms, laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning…. can I just put ALL?

D - Dog’s name: Don’t Have One

E - Essential start your day item: Doing my make-up. I never used to wear makeup daily but I started recently to see if it would help my skin. Since I started wearing it daily my face has cleared up a lot (foundation provides protection from the elements) and it gives me a nice pick me up before I head out.

F - Favorite color: Pink:) I used to HATE Pink but the last few years I’ve become a real fan.

G - Gold or Silver or Platinum: Usually silver or platinum but I like a little of each.

H - Height: 5′11ish”

I - Instruments you play: Piano - used to play flute but can’t remember a thing lol

J - Job title: Account Associate

K - Kid(s): 3:) (+1 in heaven)

L - Living arrangements: 3 bedroom rental house with hubby and kids

M - Mom’s name: Claudette

N - Nicknames: Chrys, Mom

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: kid’s births, but that’s about it

P - Pet Peeve: People who say horrible things about other people and then act sweet and loving to them to their face. Yeah - I try to be nice and respectful to people I don’t like - but I don’t pretend to be their best friends and then run them down every chance I get.

Q - Quote from a movie: Couldn’t tell you - not a huge movie fan.

R - Right handed or left handed: Right

S - Siblings: 7 of them - 2 brothers (1 in heaven) and 5 sisters

T - Time you wake up: 7:30 am

U- Underwear: Not if I can help it lol.

V - Vegetable you dislike: Green Beans

W - Ways you run late: sleeping in, kids taking to long to get ready

X - X-rays you’ve had: dental, arm,

Y - Yummy food you make: lasanga

Z - Zoo favorite: No idea - God makes some amazing animals

Hey:) I know I haven’t been blogging much so I thought I would do a simpler post. I have been doing a lot of reading (part of the reason by I’m not on the computer as much lol) so I thought this reading meme would be fun:) Enjoy.

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

I used to like either chips or ice cream but I’ve pretty much gotten used to water now lol.

2. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

It depends. If it’s my book, then yes - if it’s borrowed then no.

3. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

I am a very quick reader. When I start a book - if it’s not good I drop it after the first day or two. If it’s good I usually finish it in a few days. So I normally just look at the page number before I close the book and remember until later.

4. Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

Mostly fiction - but I have been getting into more non-fiction lately. Maybe part of growing up?

5. Hardcopy or audiobooks?

Hardcopy. I have 4 other people around me when I am reading so I don’t need to add to the noise lol.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?

I can usually put it down when I need to but I prefer to read to the end of a chapter. Makes it easier to remember the page later.

7. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Write it down to look it up later? Just try to infer what it means from the rest of the sentence, and keep going?

Pretty much just guess and move on. I have a job and 3 kids - I don’t need more work when I am relaxing lol.

8. What are you currently reading?

Nothing at the moment. I just finished a book I borrowed from Mom this week. Read it in two days. Now I need to pick a new one for the long weekend.

9. What is the last book(s) you bought?

I bought a bunch of books at Value Village two weeks ago. One was a collection of true short stories about women reflection on their weddings. Actually very interesting reading.

10. Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can read more than one at a time?

Just one - if the book is good then I want to know how it ends so I read it non-stop till it’s done. No time for divided attention.

11. Do you like re-reading books?

No. For me, what makes a book good is the surprises. I love finding out what’s happened and where the story is going. It’s just not the same experience once you already know those things. Plus, there are millions of books out there waiting to be read - why re-read?

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mom’s out there! I have had a surprisingly good Mother’s Day. Today is 5 days since Dave quit smoking so I assumed it would be spent dealing with Dave. Fortunately he seems to be back to his old self today and doing great!

My Mother’s Day started on Friday. I had mentioned two weeks ago that I would love to get batting gloves for Mother’s Day. Dave hates trying to figure out what to get me. The first few years I would make him try because I thought it was more special that way but he ended up stressed and I ended up getting crappy gifts lol. So now when a birthday or special occasion is coming up I’ll leave very direct “hints”. So I told him I would love to get batting gloves and it would be even cooler if they were pink.

So Friday Dave and the kids picked me up from work. Dave has been off work since Wednesday to get through the withdrawal. He was obviously exhausted and stressed when he picked me up lol. We started driving and he dropped a pair of gloves in my lap with a “Here. I got these for you.” At first I was a little shocked cause he’s usually a little better with the wrapping and gifting lol. Then he told me he’d spent the entire afternoon driving around the city trying to find a place that had pink ones in stock in my size with no luck. He was exhuasted and stressed - and disappointed because he really wanted to get me the pink ones lol.  That was so special to me. Dave has a hard time with the withdrawal, that’s why it took him so long to quit. On Friday he was still barely moving and sleeping most of the time because it took so much out of him. So that fact that he still thought to put that effort in for me was so sweet!

Saturday was a fairly quiet day - with the exception of a flooded basement lol. Ariel went to a birthday party, we did some chores and Dave made me a special supper. I have been trying a food combining program my mom told me about where basically you don’t mix proteins with starches. I have digestion issues and discovered almost immediatly that following that rule worked for me. So I was telling him about in on Saturday and later he said he needed to run to the store  for groceries before supper. He then went to work in the kitchen and surprised me with a fantastic chicken salad (which I had told him earlier was my favorite starch-free meal idea).

This Sunday was Ariel’s weekend to teach. She teaches a kindergarten Sunday School group and has to be at church at 8:30 am. Normally I get up those weekends to drive her because I have graphics team meetings the same Sundays at 9. This weekend my meeting was canceled so Dave surprised me by getting up early and taking her so I could sleep in a little before we headed to the 11 o’clock service. After church we headed to Dave’s parents were the father’s prepared supper.

Earlier in the week Dad had called Dave and told him he thought the guys should make lunch for us. He was thinking burgers would be nice and simple but had decided he wanted to do something a little nicer for us so he asked Dave to plan something fancier. We enjoyed an amazing meal of stuffed mushrooms, Austrian Smoked Chicken, salad, garlic mashed potatoes and a shrimp stir fry. After lunch we had the traditional Unrau family wagon ride. Pretty much any special occasion where the horse are well and the weather is decent we have a sleigh or wagon ride lol. We followed that up with black forest cake and another Unrau family tradition: a game of Settlers. I won this time - something that rarely happens lol.

Regretfully - I COMPLETELY forgot to bring along my camera so I have no pictures to share!