Merry Christmas!

Reason 4

Reason 3

Reason 2

10 Reasons to Smile

I've decided to make a reasons to smile montoge, with one thing a day for the next ten days.

Reason One:

I have this picture framed in my room, and the other morning it was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes :)

Syncro - First Day

So, yesterday was my first day teaching Syncro, and I must say it went really really well. It was a little rough at first but I think it went well overall. The parents seemed to think it went well anyways. I'm excited to start working on programs, and getting to know all the girls. That's all I've got for now, I hope you are having a great day!

First Day

Well I started coaching in Notre Dame today, and it was so much fun. I was just helping out today, but it was a blast. I was a little scared because it was my first day, and I know all the parents are watching you, and I wasn't sure if I would be good enough, but that fear left almost immediately after we started, and I was scared because Notre Dame is a french community, and I know absolutly NO french, but the kids started teaching me how to count, and I can count up to seven, it was ALOT of fun. Wednesday is my first day with Syncro, and I'm kinda freaking out, I have been listening and editing music like crazy, so hopefully they will like something I have picked out!! Well thats all for now, I'll let you know how Wednesday goes.

YOUR INPUT

Hello Everybody, I need ideas from all of you!
I work at the Heartland Inn and we need a name for our Lounge open early 2009, and I need some ideas, I can't think of anything!
Let me know what you think, give me some ideas of names!!!
Thanks

Night Shift Ramblings

Saturday Night/Sunday Morning Ramblings [my thoughts-no order-no reason]

*I love the smell when it has rained - fresh, clean, pure, innocent.
*I love the sound, the smell, the feeling in a completly empty arena-when you are the only one, its so quiet, and peaceful.
*I am feeling good about our Syncro routine so far!
*Enjoyed supper tonight with the team-so many memories.
*Who would have thought that lettuce on a pizza would be a good idea - genius...BLT pizza...yummm
*Kinda annoyed that there are only a few test days all season for high tests...arghhhh...just want to pass all my dances.
*Is excited about the getting to eat at the Country Kitchen tomorrow...only one in Canada...and its right here in Winkler
*Is in need of some rocking CanSkate music
*Had a good first day coaching in Morden on Friday - the kids are so great!
*Need to practice practice practice all my turns on Tuesday.
*Had fun at the Syncro workshop today - good bonding experience.
*SHARING IS CARING
*Thinking tomorrow will be a good day
*Is glad that everything worked out at work
*Is feeling okay about coaching starting next month...only a few weeks away...although kinda freaking out about learning the syncro points system...why must it be soooo confusing and sooooo technical.
*Is glad Pam is always just an email away:D

Thats all for now...my night shift ramblings.
Hope you all have a great week!

More Birthday Wishes...

Today's Birthday wishes go to...
Josiah Hildebrand!
Happy 7th Birthday Buddy!

Happy Birthday to a Special Little Man

Happy Birthday Brendan
I love you!
See you in a week!

Goodbye Summer, Hello Chaos

Well it's been awhile since I last posted and I decided to update all of you before life gets too crazy. My summer has been good, I've been working and skating mostly, hanging out with friends and doing a little babysitting. Skating is going good, I'm excited for this year, I think it's going to be a good one. Personally, this will probably by my last year skating, at least competing, I want to pass my gold test in Skills and Dance before I hang up the skates for good, so we will see what happens. As far as coaching, this is my first year, and even though I am freaking out, I am so excited. It's going to be so much work, but it's also going to be so worth it in the end.

I got offered a coaching job coaching groupskate in Morden about a month ago, and I said yes, it is the perfect opportunity for a new coach because you are getting to know the up and coming skaters who will likely be your private lesson skaters in a few years, so that was exciting. Then a few weeks ago, I got approached by a few different people about coaching this winter, and I told them all I would think about it, but I didn't give any definates. I debated what I wanted to do, weighed the pro's and con's and decided to take the two other coaching jobs I was offered. So, I am going to be coaching in Manitou [Head Coach], as well I will be Coaching StarSkate and Syncro in Notre Dame. I am so excited and completely freaked out about coaching Syncro, and so when I was told that my Syncro coach referred me it was a huge complement and reassurance that I could handle it. So needless to say, this winter is going to be super busy, but I am excited about the new opportunities and challenges. I am going to start looking for music for Syncro in the next few days, so if anybody has any ideas for music, let me know.

So for a while now, my friend and I have wanted to have a girls weekend, and so we decided that we should go to Winnipeg for the weekend, so on Saturday my friend and I are going into the city, getting our nails done, and staying at the Clarion hotel and just relaxing for the weekend. It's going to be so nice to have one last weekend before I need to start planning for skating. I'm so excited.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon and my parents and I are going to Saskatoon to visit my brother, and SIL as well as Brendan, it is his birthday the weekend before so we are going out for that as well. I can't wait to see my little man.

Anyways, thats all for now.
I hope you are having a great week
God Bless

Picnik Creations

Here are some of my Favorites
Enjoy

A Day at the Park

My Friend Rachel at her Graduation - Congrats!

My Neighbor Logan - Priceless

My Nephew Brendan - Miss You!

My Cousin Jen - So Beautiful

Life's Too Short

This week I have relearned a valuable lesson, 'Life's Too Short'. I have learned that life can be over in a second and we need to stop being so concerned about ourselves and look at the bigger picture, take into consideration those around us, and let God speak to us through every minute of every day and let God speak through us as well to those needing a little encouragment and love. We need to dream big and fight for what we want, be open-minded, and not so self-centered. We need to offer hope to those who feel hopeless, and share our faith with those who don't know what to believe in. We need to stop being so arrogant and realize that the world doesn't revolve around us, and sometimes life sucks, but you know what? We have to learn to deal with it, because the world revolves around God, and we need to trust in him and his plans for each of us, stop being so concerned with ourselves and our comfortable lives. Sometimes we need to step outside our comfort zones and listen to what God has in store for us. We need to live and love and forgive, because every day we are given is a gift from God.

This week the world lost a great man, and my heart goes out to his family, and I pray that God gives them peace and comfort during this time of unimaginable pain and loss.

I leave you with this:

HERO

Superchic[k]

No one sits with him, he doesnt fit in
But we feel like we do when we make fun of him
Cause you want to belong do you go along
Cause his pain is the price paid for you to belong
Its not like we hate him or want him to die
But maybe he goes home and thinks suicide
Or he comes back to school with a gun at his side
And a kindness from you might have saved his life

Heroes are made when you make a choice
You could be a hero
Heroes do whats right
You could be a hero, You might save a life
You could be a hero, You could join a fight
For whats right for whats right for whats right

No one talks to her, she feels so alone
Shes in too much pain to survive on her own
The hurt she cant handle overflows to a knife
She writes on her arm, wants to give up her life
Each day she goes on is a day that she's brave,
Fighting the lie that giving up is the way,
Each moment of courage her own life she saves when she throws the pills out, a hero is made

No one talks to him about how he lives
He thinks that the choices he makes are just his
Doesn't know he's a leader with the way he behaves
And others will follow the choices hes made
He lives on the edge, hes old enough to decide
His brother who wants to be him is just nine
He can do what he wants because its his right
The choices he makes change a nine year olds life

Little Micky Dee was the one in class who every day got totally harassed,
This went on for years until he decided he would never shed another tear,
So he walked through the door, grabbed a 44 and Said "I can't take life no more",
and just like that life can be lost,
But this ain't even about that, All of us just sat back and watched it happened,
Think it's not our responsibility to solve a problem that isn't about me,
This is our problem this is just one of the daily scenarios which we choose to cause a rise,
Instead of doing the right thing, If we make a choice,
To be the voice, for those who won't speak up for themselves,
How many life's would we save, ? rearranged now it's our turn to pick a side,
So don't keep walking by not wanting to intervene, cause you just wanna exist but never be seen So lets wake up , Change the world, Our time is now

It's been awhile

I've kinda been putting off blogging for awhile, wasn't really sure what to write or what not to write some days, but I decided I would write a quick little update.
I'm loving my new job, the people are great, it's nice being appreciated at work, and liking what you do, it makes the day go by so much faster! I really enjoy getting to know the guests, especially those staying awhile, I've learned to be more outgoing, and have more confidence in myself, its very easy to second guess yourself, but I am becoming more confident in my abilities.
I'm still skating, I took a few weeks off when there was no ice, went on a little vacation to Saskatoon which was so much fun, it was so nice not having to be anywhere at a particular time, sleeping in was fantastic, and spending time with Brendan was so great, [Kevin and Rach you were great too...lol...don't worry I didn't forget about you two:D] I'm not sure if it's just a new time in my life or if I am just more open minded, but lately I've been really impacted and inspired by almost everything. I feel more creative and more driven and passionate, which is good, but its not like I'm being inspired by new things its things I have dealt with before things I have seen before or heard before, its kinda strange but also very uplifting at the same time.
Back to skating, I just bought new skates, so far everything is still there I didn't lose any jumps or spins or anything, but they are pretty stiff, I started skating again last week, and it was good to be back on the ice, I'm looking forward to coaching and skating, it will be a new challenge but I'm ready for it.
I hope everybody is having a fantastic summer!!!

4 Days Left!!

I am super duper happy to post that I only have 4 shifts left at Superstore! I have been applying for jobs for about a year now and hadn't found anything and thought I was destined to stay at Superstore forever...but fortunately my luck has changed and I currently am employed at the Heartland Inn as a Front Desk Receptionist. I wasn't exactly what I wanted and I was a little leary about taking the job, but after two shifts, I absolutly love it, its such a great place to work, my boss is super nice and so are the other employees and works around everybody's schedule. It can get lonely, because you work alone all the time, but it doesn't really bother me because there is plenty to do, and sometimes I need my down time, and so now that time is at work. Anyways, I thought I would inform you all on that. Other than that not much is happening right now, I'm way to busy working both jobs, because I started on Wednesday, June 25th and my last day at superstore is only July 4th so I am averaging 55 hours a week, so I'm super tired, but its all so worth it.
Kevin and Rachel are coming home tonight, and I am super excited to see them but to be perfectly honest, I am super duper excited to see Brendan, sorry guys, Baby ALWAYS trumps...lol. They are staying until July 7th, and then I am going home with them and staying for a week and then flying home on July 14th, I have never flown before but I am so excited about the new opportunity. Anyways, I am sure I will have some awesome pictures to post in the next few days of the two most awesome people in the whole world...Brendan and Me!!...lol.
Anyways thats All for me for now, I hope you are having a great day!!!
God Bless

A Day with Naomi and Logan

So, I decided to change things up with my blog layout and try something new and a little different for me.
Let me know what you think.

Proud to be a Nascar Girl

So, a bunch of my friends are huge nascar fans and because of everybody's work schedules and everything we only get together on weekends, usually Sundays. About a month ago me and my friend Tara decided to join them for Nascar because it was the only time we got to spend time together and we ended up picking cars to cheer for. So I picked Kasey Kahne and Denny Hamlin and wasn't too into in until Kasey Kahne won about three weeks ago and now I am totally hooked. Me and Tara even made our own shirts.

So, now I am a huge Nascar Fan.

...and the winner is...

Kasey Kahne, Kristi Yamaguchi and David Cook.

David Cook
American Idol Season 7 winner

Kristi Yamaguchi
Dancing with the Stars season 6 winner

Kasey Kahne
Coca-Cola 600 winner
Sprint All-Star Challenge winner

Well it has been awhile since I updated...and not too much has happened in the last month and a half.
For starters I took my last coaching course at the beginning of May, so I can now coach, I've already started, there is this little girl in Morden who was coached by a friend of mine but she broke her foot so she asked me to take over for her for the time being. I love coaching...I can't wait until fall when I can really get into it. I'm so pumped!!!
Continuing with skating, I haven't had to much success with testing lately, I passed my Vienesse Waltz at the end of April, so I'll be testing again in August, so I have alot of work to do yet to get everything ready, but I think I'll be fine. I'm getting new skates which should make things interesting, hopefully it won't change anything. I'm getting them hopefully in July, so they should be good and broken-in by test day.
On to other things...the weather has been beautiful lately and today is no exception...I've been spending as much time as possible outside. Of course with nice weather comes lots of pictures!

Naomi

Logan

Josiah

The one day Naomi and Logan were playing on the trampoline [Josiah was at school] and they were playing so nicely to together and I snapped some super cute pictures of them

and I can't forget logans orange car...one of our old neighbors found it at at garage sale and gave it to them and logan just goes nuts when he is driving it...he rips around the corners...and so here is my 'ode to the orange car.'

and I will leave you with my favorite picture of my favorite trio.

I'm still here

I am still alive, if anybody is wondering, but my internet is down on my computer, making blogging a little difficult...but I will post some new pics and a major update once everything is back up and running.
Hope you are having a great week!

Better Pictures

Here are some better pictures of my new hair...Enjoy!!

Happy Easter

Well ALOT has happened since I last posted...and I decided that I would fill you in this afternoon while I have some time.
Well last weekend was a busy busy one, on Friday I got off work and headed over to the rink, it being the last practice before carnival and everything and then raced home and headed across the street to babysat in the evening. On Saturday I had a Competition as well as Carnival in the evening. The Competition was for Syncro and was in Virden and it didn't go very well, we had a few falls and one of my teamates was really sick and actually went to the hospital after we competed, she is okay though she had a migrane and dehydration, that along with the stresses of cometiting, she just felt really really awful. After we skated we raced home, because we skated at 4pm and Carnival started at 7pm and its a 3ish hour drive to Virden so I didn't even take my skates off, until we were driving, and I had to change and everything in the backseat. We got to the Arena in Winkler just as they were singing Oh Canada, so we weren't too late. Carnival went pretty good, it was fun. On Sunday I had a test day and an easter gathering. Test Day wasn't very successful, I failed all three of my tests; two dances and one skills. My easter gathering was pretty good, me and my cousing played dance dance revolution and I met my cousins girlfriend for the first time and she was pretty cool.

[not the best picture...I'll post better ones later]
I also got my hair cut this week, I had wanted to cut if for awhile already but I couldn't because of Syncro...since we have to have our hair in a bun, but know that syncro is over I cut it and I love it.
Anyways thats all for now
Have a Happy Easter!!
God Bless

70 words

Finally

Yesterday was test day, and I was testing [for the sixth time] the Paso and finally....
I PASSED!!!!
...and I found out right away because I was testing another dance, but I could only test that dance if I passed the Paso, so my coach went to find out and she came back and told me I better get ready to get my but back on the ice....and then I screamed, and everybody looked, and then everybody knew I had just passed my Paso...lol. My other dance, the Quickstep, I failed but that was okay because it's a Gold dance, so they have much higher expectations, and it was my first try so I was okay, I got the important one!
So, my friend knew I was taking this test for the sixth time and I really wanted to pass it so she texted me to see how I did and I told her and today in church she brought me flowers with a Congrats balloon. I was totally surprised and felt so extremely blessed to have a friend like her. I love you Claire!!!!

here's a picture of the flowers....

On another note, we starting Carnival this week and I think it will be unlike any others, which is good. It's going to be alot of fun, especially the StarSkate numbers!
Carnival is on March 15th and you are all invited to come!
That's all for now, hope your having a good day!

I'm going to leave you with my
Top 10 things beautiful things/things that make me smile
[I saw it on another blog and thought it was a great idea]

1. Bring crazy with Brittany during Stolen by Dashboard Confessional at the rink

2. The picture speaks for itself....

3. Mia's stories at the rink [she's one of my skaters]...and the infamous Oinky.
Here's the story...we have this stuffed pig that is covered in blue marker but its still in pretty good shape otherwise so we still use it...anyways I took it out on the ice the one day with a bunch of other stuffed animals and Mia found it and fell in love with it...she named it Oinky and asks for it at every session, and when I say 'I'm gonna get Oinky, she screams and skates away-running away from me. This last monday she told me that Oinky needed a bed so I gave her a plastic container and she put Oinky in there and went on her merry way skating around, and all of a sudden she comes up to me and says 'Your my mom' and I said 'I'm your mom?' and she said 'yeah, Your the mom and I'm the kid and this is our pet Oinky' and so I asked her where we lived, and she said 'in this circle[since we were standing in one of the five circles on the ice]' and then she skated off and I was standing there chuckling to myself, thinking of the imagination in that kid.

4. Sitting out on the beach at night and seeing the moonlight on the water

5. Watching movies with my friends...squished on the coach

6. my bulletin board - which is 'scrapbooked' with pictures, flowers, cut-outs, and a bunch of other stuff.

7. Jordan when she asks for kisses after we've[syncro] skated, so she can have red lips on her cheeks.

8. The way it looks when the trees are frosted and the snow has freshly fallen

9. The Color ORANGE

10. Reed [one of my skaters] telling me he wanted to be
Tiger[from Winnie the Pooh] when he grew up.

My Valentines

I hope you all had a great Valentines Day. I spent my Valentines Evening babysitting for my neighbors which as always was so much fun. I decided to take my camera along and get some good pics of them.
Here's a sneak peak.
Enjoy.

Westerns Pictures

Here are some pics from our performances last weekend...




...and all the moments in between...
Hope you are having a great day!

Westerns

So I just got home from Camrose, Alberta about an hour ago, which is where Westerns [Syncro Competition] was this year. Just thought I'd put a few pics on here to give you peek at my weekend.

Juvinille Team - 2nd Place!!!!

Pre- Novice

Karen and Me with all our make-up and fake eyelashes

Ryley

Juvinille

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of my team [Junior] or the Pre-Juvinille at the moment so if I can find some I'll post them then.
Hope you are having a great day!

Update

So, I guess it has been awhile since I updated all of you on life on this end.
Things are still hectic with skating everyday, except Saturday, Carnival is coming up in less than two months...crazy!!! I'm leaving in two weeks for a Syncro Competition in Camrose, Alberta, I kinda have mixed feelings, I'm excited to go, but we still have a ton of work to do before we compete. Regionals went alright, I skated pretty well, the judges didn't really think so, but I can't do anything about that. Since that is the only competition for me this year, I'm kinda done for the season, so I started laying out my goals for next season already, and have been focusing on those these last few practices. I've been looking for some new program music, I haven't decided if I'm going to stick with the same music from this year, or get some new stuff. I'll probably only change one piece of music if I change anything.
That's all for now
God Bless

Skate for Her

Do you remember why you skate, or has it been too long? Is it because you’ve worked so hard to get where you are, or because you love to be part of this sport? Is it because you don’t want to let anyone down, including yourself? Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become, the hours of practice, the fellow skaters who believed in you, and the fans who cheered for you, is the little girl who put on her first pair of skates—who fell in love with the sport, and never looked back.

Skate for her.

A Year In Review

As I take time to look back on what seems like a very long and trying year I am amazed at how things have changed, how much I have accomplished, and how hard I have worked to move forward in my life through many trials and set backs.

Here is a look back at my 2007:

And as I look forward to a new year, full of new experiences, I will hold onto the past to remind me of where I have come from, and where I want to go. I will remember those who broke my heart and those you helped me put it back together. I will take chances and step out of my comfort zone and trust God to keep my heart in tact. I will hold onto the things most important to me and take each day one step at a time, and when it seems like I can't go on, I will hold on to the promise that God is always with me. I will cherish my friends and my family, I will try and live each day to the fullest, and I will make the most of each opportunity, because if I have learned anything in 2007 I have learned that you never know how long things will last, so don't wait for the right moment, just live. I will laugh harder and more often, and I will love with all of my heart. I will hug my friends and tell them how much they mean to me. I will do my best to make people welcome no matter where they are from or what they look like.
All in all my New Years Revolution is to be the best that I can be.