California for Stefani

I love the city life…or at least living close to the city.  We live in the suburbs and that is fun too because the big city is nearby.  I have LOVED living in Surrey/White Rock for the last 15 years.  The ocean is in my blood and we have lived our dream for a few years while living at the beach.  Sometimes those dreams come crashing down though and we have to adjust…first it was our dream of moving to Mexico and being sent home (still hurts even today) and then Doug loosing his job and being unemployed and then only getting a min. wage job, which made it that we had to move from our beach front home.  That is life though and we will treasure our beach life even if it was only for a few years. 

What does our future hold though?  Living here will only get more and more expensive and when we retire, there is no way we will be able to afford to live here on our government pensions…so do we plan a little already?  On one hand i would just like to ignore the future and just go on as we have been going.  I have a few good clients and Doug will eventually get a better job and his current job isn’t awful.  But on the other hand do we look at opportunities and see if they will work within our dreams?   Our dream is to live in someplace exotic and run a boutique hotel…but is that unrealistic?  No idea, but does it hurt to try?  Actually the answer to that question is YES…we have been deeply hurt by trying, but do we try again?

Our realistic dream is for Doug to get a decent job in the Training and Development field, but that could also include running a boutique hotel as you need to train people and know how to teach people to learn skills.   So what are our goals?  Pay the bills, enjoy life and go on vacations…not really high expectations if you ask me.   So why this blog?  We are looking at running a hotel in Hope, BC.  A little dinky town that is fairly depressed and the job would be 24/7, but the people who are running it now liked the job and figure it would be a good job to get into the area we are looking at.  Does it allow us to build a base to our dream?  Can we do this job for a few years?  It would pay the bills, still allow us to go on vacations and I think we could have fun doing it.   Can a little town like Hope satisfy my city needs?  Not likely, but thankfully the city is only an hour and half away, unless you consider Chilliwack a city, and then that is only half an hour away.  We don’t have the job yet and we are still praying about it, but what if it does become ours?  Do we say YES or do we live our quiet, mundane life here in Ocean Park?  Nothing against mundane because that means nothing tragic is going on. 

The city life is in my blood along with the ocean, but just because something is in your blood, doesn’t mean you can’t try different things and go out on adventures.  We have no kids and we can just uproot if we want to.   We are trying to hear God’s voice in this…granted we know that God encouraged us to go to Mexico and we all know how that turned out…but at least we know that we will go outside of our box and take a chance.   I know Mexico wasn’t how God wanted that to end, so we need to keep having faith that his voice is true and even if things go to the crapper, we know we followed his voice no matter the risk. 

Maybe this job will allow us to move to California someday?  Not likely but heck, why not dream.  Maybe someone will want an experienced couple to take over their ranch and run a bed and breakfast or something like that…ok, I am getting off point…not surprising since I tend to wander in the head a little LOL.  Life is a great adventure if we choose to look at the positive in it and not the negative.  God never promised us that this life will be perfect and smelling like a rose garden…but he promised us peace, protection and LOVE…so maybe this will be an adventure…or maybe this is just a kick in the butt that says “not this time”, but you are ready to get out there and see what adventure is waiting for you.  So here is to praying that God will have his hand in our lives no matter what happens…if it’s staying here in Ocean Park, or moving to some little hick town surrounded by mountains instead of an ocean…we are game for whatever because we are loved by God

As Steven Curtis Chapman says so nicely in his song…

 

Started out this morning
In the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head
Of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle
Try to make it better than the last

I opened up the Bible
And I read about me
Said, I'd been a prisoner
And God's grace had set me free

And somewhere between the pages
It hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me
And I heard somebody say, "Let's go"

Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure, yeah

Come on get ready
For the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion
In a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons
Just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for, yeah

Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace

Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure

We'll travel over, over mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all, we'll find that
This is the greatest journey
That the human heart will ever see

The love of God will take us far
Beyond my wildest dreams, yeah
Oh, saddle up your horses
Come on, get ready to ride

So, when I was a teenager I always told myself that when I get older, I will understand death a little better…I am older now…it doesn’t seem any clearer today than it did then.  How does one feel as you slip away?  Do you feel scared?  Will you see God?  Will you have peace?  I would think it will all be ok, but sometimes I panic and think too hard about these silly things.  What will it feel like to be in heaven?  I can only comprehend what my human mind can think, so I guess it makes sense that it really doesn’t make a lot of sense.  We just have to have faith that it will all be ok and that God will take care of us.  If I think of heaven in a more human way…I can’t wait to sit with Jesus up there.   Death is scary for us humans though…the thought of loosing someone just makes my heart a little sad.  I sure hope Heaven is all that I think it will be (plus more).  I guess when I get to heaven, my apprehensions will be gone.  I bring this up because I heard this great song on the tv today.  Yes, “the Light” on Galaxie is a little mamsy pamsy (as Doug puts it), but I like it…most of the time.

Heaven Waits For Me – Jenny Simmons

My feet are deep down in the sand
The waves are pouring life into my soul

It's clear to me from where I stand
There's nothing else I want in this old world

I'm not afraid of letting go
If today's my last day, you should know
That I've loved so many people
And I've traveled this great world
Yeah I've spent time with Jesus
And I've held my little girl
I'm not holding back for next year
I'm living for today
When I take my final breath
I know I'm ready
Heaven waits for me

My husband is the strongest man
All our family and our friends make me smile
Yeah I've had my share of broken dreams
Sleepless nights and suffering
But all the while
That don't matter in the end
Maybe I'll go quietly
In my sleep with you next to me
Maybe it's a slow goodbye
Or I'm out of here in the blink of an eye
No matter how I leave this place
I know I'll see my Savior's face
With the ones I love right next to me
It's a beautiful thing,
Oh, life's a beautiful thing

Cause I've loved so many people
And I've traveled this great world
I've spent some time with Jesus
And I've held my little girl
I'm not holding back for next year
I'm living for today
When I take my final breath
I'm not leaving with regrets
I know I'm ready
Heaven waits for me
Oh yeah, Heaven waits for me

It has been an interesting few months.  We enjoyed a wonderful holiday with my parents to Florida.  I think I have them converted to the Animal Kingdom Resort…it is a beautiful resort and has great amenities for just relaxing and enjoying life.  We really enjoyed our 3 days cruise and even though it was so short, it was still worth it.  We have no other plans yet for this year, but hoping we can book into our Disney timeshare for December 3rd at the Grand Californian in Disneyland.  I understand it is slim to none, but we will try anyway.  If not then we will save up our points and do a big trip to Florida again in 2015.  Our timeshare points go way further at the Animal Kingdom Resort.

Our finances are slowly getting better, but that is because of what I had to do in January.  At least I don’t get phone calls anymore.  I am hoping to get a few more clients though so that we can actually make more money than just making ends meet.  Doug is enjoying his job, and is hoping to have his degree done this year so that he can actually get a good paying job by the end of the year. 

We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this summer so I am busy making party gifts, going through pictures and figuring out the guest list.  We will have a big party at my parents for friends and family (mostly friends from the past) and will have a small party at our place for some of our current friends who wouldn’t want to drive ALL THE WAY into Chilliwack.  It is interesting going through the old pictures and seeing how things have changed, both physically and even our inner self.  It is nice to grow up and learn things and change ones point of view if they need to be changed.  I don’t believe we should stay stuck in our ways if we notice that we might have been wrong.  I think people need to be more open to change.  We base our opinions on our life experience and as we get older, our life has been longer and we have had more experiences…so why wouldn’t they change? 

We have a friend (from an old church we used to go to), that came out awhile ago.  We weren’t surprised, but apparently others where.  Now he doesn’t go to that church anymore and he is in the wind when it comes to church (granted we are in the same boat).  Why does a person’s lifestyle make it so hard for people to except each other?  Especially Christians…don’t we have a higher standard to live by?  Me thinks Jesus would have been a little more loving to everyone and their lifestyles.  Doug and I don’t think normally when it comes to our Christian walk and we find it hard to fit into a church because of that.  I am guessing if Jesus was part of the church, we wouldn’t have any problems.  He was a rebel just like us…maybe he was taking cues from my future self?  HA HA HA…just kidding…remember God gave us with a sense of humour.  My views have changed on lifestyles…granted I never judged people before anyway, but now I realize what I thought was a no no before, I don’t think that anymore.  I think Jesus loves us all no matter what and who we choose as a soul mate is irrelevant.  I think it is our heart that he cares more about.  Are we living for Christ?  Are we going through life as if Jesus was right beside us (oh ya, he is) watching what we do?  Are we trusting him with everything we have and everything we are?  I think those are the things he really cares about.  Do people look at us and say “there is something different about them”?  I sure hope so because that is what I strive for.

So…what is with the title of my blog?  Well…let me tell you…

We went to a launch party…and if you aren’t a musician, you might not know what that is, but a launch party is what someone will do to “launch” their new endeavour, and in this case it was for a website that is for independent music artists.  Physically I fit right in…I dress uniquely and my hair…well it is unique even compared to a lot of the people who where there.  But emotionally, I did not fit in at all…I find musicians a little snobby…not because they are, but because they are just in their own world and tend to not wander outside their box in that way.  I am not into mingling much, so that part was hard for me too.  I wanted to fit in, but I just couldn’t…nobody seemed to like Disney…what is with that.  Then there is the place that I fit in the best…anything Disney.  Go to Disneyland/DisneyWorld/Disney Cruise and you are surrounded by fans, young and old.  Everyone loves Disney and everyone is just about as equally nuts about it as me.  That is where I fit in.  Granted my outer self (with the bright red hair) is more unique in that situation, but I can get away with wearing all things Disney and nobody does a second look.  There is a peace in my heart when I am surrounded by people who love what I love and don’t care about the uniqueness of who I am.  All they care about is that I love Disney as much as they do.  It is like we live in two worlds…one foot is in the musicians world (yes Doug is a musician) and one that is in Disney World…I prefer my foot in the Disney area.  So maybe it is time to start a Disney themed church.  You can only come if you love Disney, have a lifestyle you are proud of, and want to learn about Jesus and how loving he is, how wonderful he care for his kids and how much at peace you can be with him watching us.  Wonder if we would get sued by Disney LOL

If You washed away my vanity
If You took away my words
If all my world was swept away
Would You be enough for me?
Would my beating heart still sing?
If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives and takes away
If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart will sing to You
When my life is not what I expected
The plans I made have failed
When there's nothing left to steal me away
Will You be enough for me?
Will my broken heart still sing?
If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives
And takes away
If You take it all
This life You've given
Still my heart
Will sing to You
Even if You take it all away
You’ll never let me go
Take it all away
But I still know
That I'm Yours
I'm still Yours

 

The above song is by Kutless from their worship album.  I love their music and we even got to see them live last summer at Creationfest.   Some parts of the song I don’t really agree with, but the concept is what I want to talk about.

If we lost it all, would we still worship God?  I don’t believe it is God that takes it away from us, as living on this earth means sadness and heartache, but I believe that when it is taken away, we can still look to God for support.  Part of our faith is believing in a higher power and that comfort will come from God/Jesus.  We were never promised a better life on this earth, but we were promised comfort and love.  This earth is filled with sin, and there is no way around it.  Even if you move into the woods where you have no people (and no flush toilets), I am sure the sin of this earth will still show up.   It will always be around and until we die and go be with God/Jesus in Heaven, we have to figure out ways to manage.

So, would we still worship God/Jesus?  I sure hope so.  I know we haven’t lost it all (in 2012), but it honestly felt like we lost most of it.  But we still looked to God for comfort.  I have made sure to play my worship music a lot more because it is what helps me survive.  We aren’t the only ones that have gone through struggles, that much I am sure of.  But knowing that and living it,  that is a little different.  Sometimes it feels like we are the only ones and so one curls up into a ball and stays in the cave which we call home.  We are slowly crawling out of that cave though and things are starting to look up.   God did not make this happen to us, as he loves us very much and wants us to be joyful.  But God did take care of us and bring us peace. 

I know that God/Jesus will never let us go, and there is great comfort in that.   The sin of this world will surround us, but we have forgiveness and love from God/Jesus and that protects us from the despair and the sadness.  Sure we have our moments, but that is our weakness in not having faith.  I will be the first to admit that, but we are working through that.  We aren’t perfect and that is ok.  God loves us anyway (phew). 

Yes, my broken heart will sing…it will sing for God/Jesus and all that he has done for us.  He comforts us, he brings us peace and he loves us unconditionally.  What more do we need in this life?  Personally a home in Southern California would be nice, but that might be asking for too much…but heck…why not dream big LOL

So here is to 2013 and the new start it is bringing us.  It will bring us great joy and happiness.  We are going to be celebrating our 25th anniversary, so that has to be good luck.  So many people lost bets on us making it this far, and those people will not be invited to our party. 

God is great, my hands are lifted… 

Another Christmas has come and gone.   I had mixed feelings about it this year.  What I wanted to give to people we couldn’t afford, but I think we managed pretty good considering.  The calendar that I got my parents didn’t turn out as well as I had wanted, so hopefully next year we can afford to use Shutterfly again because their product is so much better than Costco’s or Staples.   My family loves the presents and my parents go a little overboard (not complaining).  We don’t make a big deal about the birth of Christ on Christmas because we celebrate Jesus all year round.  I am not sure if Jesus/God cares too much if we make a big deal of it anyway especially if we “celebrate” him all year round.  From what I gather, it isn’t his actual birthday anyway, so let’s call it Christmas and celebrate Santa Claus LOL.  Maybe we should pull out the story of Mary and Joseph sometime during the year and just appreciate the sacrifice that God did by sending his son.  Let’s put the story in perspective…

Jesus is sitting in Heaven, minding everyone’s business…sitting nicely at the right hand of God.  He is organizing the choir, finding a place for Elton John to someday be the pianist (I can hope can’t I?), and just chatting with everyone around him…then God (his daddy) says to his son…”son, I have a job for you”…never words you want to hear from a father no matter if you are a spiritual being or human form.  Let’s assume he agrees (and isn’t told he has to do it)…and suddenly…poof…his spiritual being self get’s plopped into baby form and is stuck in a uterus for 9ish months and then has to start his human form life from a tiny screaming baby, through childhood, teenage hood and then an adult.  Can you imagine?!?!  Having the perfect life in Heaven and then having to join us here on earth in this very warped place?  What a shock and probably a bit of an adjustment.   It is because of that transition though that we know he understands what we are going through.  All the heartache, tears, disappointments and sorrows…he knows it all.  It is what I cling to in these dark hours.  It isn’t just me who goes through all this crap…even Jesus went through it all, and he had a pretty good life before he had to go through it all. 

We celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas, but really, we celebrate that it was the start of him truly understanding what we go through living on this earth.   So we don’t need to just take one day a year to celebrate his birth, we can take any day of the year and celebrate the fact that Jesus knows how we feel.  He made the ultimate sacrifice for us and it started out as a promise in the Old Testament and finally was a reality when he was conceived. 

So on that note, I will tell you how our Christmas goes because we love to celebrate the spirit of giving (and receiving) of presents, the company of family and the joy of eating.  Our day started on Christmas eve…after Doug’s work, we headed to my parents place.  Once we got there we settled into our bedroom and made some Kona coffee and got ready to visit.  For dinner we had stir fry (very traditional you know).  Then we got to open up our stockings.  My parents love to stuff them full and we had lots of fun seeing what kind of neat little things we got.  I got gum, lip chap, batteries, lamp, stuffy toy, Purdy’s peanut butter bar (sugar free) and a few other little things.  We finally went to bed around 10ish because having a 2 and a 4 year old in the house makes everyone very tired.  They tend to get up early in the morning.  We made plans with Jos, Andrea and Owen for them to get there at 8:30am the next morning.

Christmas morning…we got up around 7:30 and started the coffee, the fire place, etc.  By 8:30 the VanSantens had arrived with the traditional (sort of) dutch breakfast fixings.  They got it all ready and I think by around 9:30am, we were getting ready to open presents.  A few people will get up and hand out all the presents.  When all the presents have been handed out, then we all get to open them.  You land up not being able to see the floor because of all the wrapping paper and stuff.  Those are the days I miss Louie…he loved to tear up balls of wrapping paper.  After everything is opened, we go and have breaky.  It is always tasty…gouda cheese, ham, buns, almond cookies, stolen, crunchy biscuits that you put chocolate sprinkles on, and if you can find it, raisin bread.  Once breakfast is done, then some of us go back to our presents and play with them.  There was a lot of lego this year as presents, so it came out fairly quickly and got built.   I was able to scrapbook some pages (including the Christmas pics) and managed to get about 8 pages done.  My sister brought her laptop along and did some scrapbooking too.  For dinner we had ham, mashed pototes, vegies, apple sauce, pickles and gravy.  For dessert it was 4% cottage cheese (the best in the world) and fruit.  All in all, it was a very nice cozy Christmas Day with family.  I stayed in my pj’s all day which is always fun.

So as you can see, we enjoyed our Christmas.  We still have my mom’s side of the family Christmas party to go to on Friday and then it will be 2013 next week.  I am so happy that 2012 is over and I am really hoping that 2013 will be so much better.  We celebrate 25 years of marriage next  year, so we hope to have a little gathering to celebrate that. 

Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and had troubles falling back to sleep.  It was probably the coffee I had in the evening, which is the risk I take when I drink caffeine.   I had a conversation earlier in the day with my Jewish friend about the Old Testament (Torah to them).  I try not to push my “Christian” faith with her and try not to bring Jesus up, but it got me thinking…can a Jew be a Christian?  We also discussed how I had been taught as a child that the Mormon’s where a cult and not a Christian either…I have since learned otherwise of course.  These thoughts brought me to the above verse early this morning…the simplicity of our Christian faith.

When you read the verse, what do you think?  Is it not really a simple statement?  If you believe that God sent is son Jesus to earth, you will have eternal life.   It means EVERYONE who believes in Jesus will go to Heaven…sure you can read more into it, but why?  Can we not keep it a simple statement?  This means every religious background that believes in Jesus as the son of God (not some prophet), will have eternal life.  Does that go for Jews, Mormons, Gay’s, etc too?  For sure it does…it goes for everyone!  The rest of our walk with Jesus is up to the individual person.  My core belief is the same as every Christian…Jesus is the son of God and he died for us on the cross, and I will have eternal life for that.  The rest of the rules and regulations are up for interpretation.  I am not totally sold on the whole concept of the Trinity (turns out that is an issue with the Mormons too…maybe I am more Mormon LOL), but does that make me less of a Christian?  Are there certain levels of Christianity (i sure hope not). 

My walk with Jesus keeps changing…the beliefs I agree up in church with have changed.   I think it is because I am growing up and learning to question what I have been told and focus on my walk with Jesus and let him show me what my beliefs are.   What I may believe as a “Christian” way may not be what others think either.  I am ok with that because we all have to do the walk with Jesus in our own way.  I have friends (Christians) who love Zombies…that is just a concept I don’t understand because to me they are evil, but to them they are fun…so what right do I have to tell them they are walking in evil?  If I think they are evil, then I will stay away from it, and pray for my friends that if there is any evil to Zombies, that God keeps it away from them.  Even the Goth thing and Christianity…I don’t totally understand…Jesus is the light yet Christian Goth’s seem to walk in the dark…but again, where am I to judge someone.  I love the Goth clothing and I know I can’t be Goth because I am too bright and smiley for it LOL.   I tend to not make a big deal of my beliefs about such things because it is between me and Jesus.  Now, if someone asks for my opinion, I might be pushed to say it…for example, a friend asked for opinions about telling her kid that Santa is real.  I have issues with lying to kids about stuff like that, so I said that.  Granted I was the minority in that thinking (figures), but nobody criticized me for it because she asked for opinions, and I gave it.  I never said that my way was right though, because all it is, is my opinion.  Why would my opinion be the right one?  Why is someone’s else’s opinion the right one?

I will cling to my core belief and the rest of my walk with Jesus is between me and him.   If someone has issues with that, keep it to yourself and just pray for me instead LOL.  What I don’t understand is why church’s have such issues with being an individual.   I don’t force my ways on others.  But I guess the reason there are so many denominations is because there are different ways to belief and you need to start a new church for each belief LOL.  I am hoping there is a place for us in this world, but if there isn’t, I guess I know there is one in Heaven for us where our beliefs aren’t an issue any more. 

Being a Christian is very simple…and I just don’t know why everyone makes it so complicated.   Now granted some people like words and digging deep into the Word of God and the history of it all.  I am not saying they are making Christianity more complicated, they just love the deeper aspects of the words, where I like the simplicity of the words.   We all have our strengths and God creates us to be unique and different peoples of God.  My facebook friends Mo & Bill are pastor like people and they love the pickier aspects of God…but they don’t look down on my on my simple Christian ways.  I don’t think they are any more Christian than I am, they just love “theology” more than I do.  There is nothing wrong with that until it becomes a judgemental thing and fingers get pointed about who is a better Christian than someone else.   Does that make sense?  Probably not because I tend to babble LOL.

My point of this is that we all can have eternal life with God, Jesus & the Holy Spirit (as a separate being or a Trinity).  It doesn’t matter where you come from, who you are, where your religious faith stems from, etc…it is just a matter of believing and the rest will come as you walk the amazing walk that is with Jesus Christ. 

Doug posted a “note” on facebook a few days ago, and this is my view of his note…

I will follow my hubbies dreams where ever it leads.  I know he would do the same for me if I had such grand dreams.  I want him to be happy (and joyful) and if moving to some crazy fishing village is what brings him joy, I will go along.  Actually the sound of it was kind of intriguing, so I am always game to try something new these days…but I have to say I was surprised at the feelings it brought up when we realized we might actually have a chance at this job.

As most of you know, a few years ago we had the opportunity to move to Mexico for our dream job.  We applied for the job, went to two interviews and then found out we got the job, and so the new employers paid for our trip (around $1000) to Mexico to bring some of our stuff over already and just check out the place.  The first couple day’s there, we were told some of the duties of our job will be, etc.  Then on the third day we noticed a change in attitude and we were summoned to the table and where told that we weren’t going to be staying and that they really hadn’t said we got the job.  I informed them that I have the emails that says otherwise.  Our hearts fell apart for just a moment.  That feeling will never leave me…I try to push it away, but it all came up again this week.   How does one explain that feeling?  I will try… just imagine you walking along and suddenly a hole appears and you just fall…you feel like the world just fell right apart with no notice.  So when we found out about this new job, all those fears came right back as if it just happened yesterday.  We landed up not getting the job and it was nothing like Mexico because it would have been here in BC and it was a legal job, but still, those feelings came back.   Doug and I try not to talk about our Mexico fiasco much to anyone anymore because who wants to hear our woe’s, but occasionally we bring it up between the two of us.   It is always just in the back of our minds I guess.  I do look forward to the day when we can forget about it completely…wonder if that will ever happen.

I am ok with the “no” as it means I get to live close to my parents for awhile yet.  Who knows what our future holds though because I don’t see us living in the Fraser Valley forever.  I do hope our job situation does get better soon and then maybe we won’t be always looking to move somewhere brighter and better.

Work is going ok, but I could use more clients.  The client that I had that was going to be a bunch of hours didn’t pan out well.  She want back on her word and didn’t give me as many hours as she said she would.  I landed up quitting with her because she just wasn’t trust worthy and I need to trust my clients.  Doug is still looking for work as his job at London Drugs isn’t treating him so well.  Can’t believe what people expect out of their employees for minimum wage.

It is just about Halloween and our house is decorated and soon those decorations will come down and then the Christmas decorations will come up…my fav time of year… I love Christmas and no matter how crummy our life is, I will enjoy all the lights and decorations that is Christmas.  In a few weeks we head to Tofino with the family…yup my favourite place in the world…a 4 hour drive to sit by the ocean and do nothing…hmmmm…can’t I do that home?  HA HA HA.  It is a family thing and we go because the family likes it and thankfully there is wifi there so I can still be in touch with the real world.  Also I can do scrapbooking on my computer so if nothing else, I can scrapbook by the ocean (can’t I do that here too? LOL).   Then in January we are going to Disneyworld and a Disney cruise…sure hope we have some money by then otherwise we are dumpster diving at a Disney resort AGAIN!!!.

I am trying to make this blog a little lighter since my last few were very heavy.  Our feelings haven’t changed much, but so far we haven’t wrapped ourselves around a tree and we are alive and kicking.  We went for a drive in our car today with the top down…we just needed to drive around in our car that brings us so much joy.   The car likes it that it is so loved LOL.  

So looking on the bright side…we are alive (is that a good thing?), we have a convertible Mustang that loves us, we have a crazy cat that brings us hours of enjoyment, we live close to the ocean, we have vacations planned (yes I am calling Tofino a vacation LOL), and Christmas is coming up soon and so I can decorate our house like it was a big present LOL.  We can only look on the bright side because we have Jesus in our lives…what an awesome friend we have in Jesus.