Weekend Review

It has been a very busy weekend and has seemed to fly right by. I guess it's true when they say, "Time flies when your having fun!"

Friday night some friends from school all got together at the Toad on Osborne for some drinks and just to hang out to celebrate the beginning of spring break. It was a good time. I have been very blessed with some great people to hang out with at school. We have a lot of fun together and we all get along amazingly, which is a great thing because we spend a lot of time together.

Me & Jenn

We were standing outside getting some fresh air when some car drove by and decided to come and splash us. It was not very comfortable at all when we sat back down inside.

Marni & Adam

Jenn and Marni doing an America's Next Top Model Pose. Adam is supposed to be pretending to be a fan machine to get Marni's hair to have the "blown in the "wind" effect. It didn't really work though.

Later in the evening or actually early in the morning, Jenn and I decided we needed some coffee. I won my first prize of the year...A free donut!

You know you spend too much time in school studying anatomy when you arrive at a table and look down at the coasters and realize that they look like scapula's.

Having way too much fun with a menu at the table. Can you tell who is who?

Saturday I went to watch my brother Derek play volleyball at a tournament. I really enjoy watching him play, but it makes me miss playing a lot. Maybe one day I'll have the time to play on a senior women's team.

In the evening after church we had a "Talent Night" to fundraise for an upcoming seminar about living simply and how much is enough. Bre and I decided to do a "comedic" act. I don't know how funny we were, but we sure had a lot of fun writing the script. We were supposed to resemble the 2 guys from Air Farce who sit in Tim Hortons. It was a great evening with tons of amazing food.

Today I spent the day at my parents and just hung out. My brother's girlfriend came by with her new puppy. It's quite the dog. Definitely not my first choice in a dog, but a very funny personality. Bailey (my parent's dog) didn't know quite what to do with this new one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURIE

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Laurie.

You are an incredible friend and

I wish you all of the best

in the upcoming year.

Love you lots!

Women's Retreat, Mar 16-18, 2007

This past weekend was our church's Women's Retreat at Camp Arnes. It was a wonderful weekend spent enjoying God's beauty through creation outdoors and his creation of beautiful women in our church. On the way out, Jess, Kristy, Steph and I decided to stop in Gimli for supper cuz by 6:00 we were all getting very hungry. We ate at this little diner (I can't remember for the life of me what the name of the restaurant was called) that had some pretty good food and VERY LARGE portions. It's a good thing we were all wanting to share the poutine because it was the biggest plate of fries I had seen. I would not recommend eating it by oneself, but rather share it.

The theme of the weekend was entitled "Finding God through Fairy Tales". I wasn't sure what to expect with a title like that, but it turned out to be pretty cool. I don't know if I'll be able to read a fairy tale like I used to. A lot of them hold much more meaning to them than what I initially thought.

Friday night's session was entitled "A Princess Party" and looked at some classic fairy tales such as Cinderella and Snow White. Then we were all paired off to dress up another woman (our princess) and we were the fairy godmothers. It was a very fun job. However, Lavonne, Catherine and I all did not have fancy dresses to put on, so we made do with whatever we had at camp. I had brought a tiera from home (we were asked to bring this stuff prior to the retreat, just so no one thinks that I normally bring tiara's and high heels to a retreat) and some high heels. Other than that, we had minimal materal to work with. But we came up with quite the princess dress for Lavonne in the end. We were especially impressed with her wand and skirt. The wand was a toilet plunger and her dress was a shower curtain.


"We desire to possess a beauty that is worth pursuing, worth fighting for, a beauty that is core to who we truly are. We want beauty that can be seen; beauty that can be felt; beauty that affects others; a beauty alll our own to unveil" (Captivating by Eldredge)

"Beauty is essential to God. No that's not putting it strongly enough. Beauty is the essence of God". (Captivating by Eldredge)

"You will be called my Delight...God delights in you...and as a bridegroom is happy in his bride, so your God is happy with you". ~ Isaiah 62:3-5

Friday night was a VERY long night. Our room was filled with the very loud noises of some snorers. So loud that some of us could not fall asleep. It eventually got to the point where Deanna and I just started to laugh out of the craziness and randomness of the situation. We ended up getting ourselves a little wired so we went downstairs to the meeting room to do some puzzling in hopes of making us tired. At this point it was 2:00 am. Puzzling did the trick and we became very tired, so instead of going to our room we went to the empty prayer room to fall asleep. Despite the lack of sleep, I can't remember a time where I have laughed so hard. Whether it be watching Deanna try and hop up the stairs in a sleeping bag or cuddling in bed just laughing. Deanna, you are a wonderful friend and I adore spending those crazy moments laughing with you. It has been far too long, even if it was in the middle of the night!

Jess brought these wonderful light up roses that we used as flashlights to find our way in the middle of the night. They came in very handy.

Saturday we looked through fairy tales which provided us examples of women of great strength through some seemingly "tough" times such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. We then looked at people in our own lives who have displayed incredible strength, whether that be ourselves or someone else. It's neat to see how God uses us and our "yucky" moments to bring beauty and joy to ourselves and to others.

Saturday night we looked at recapturing our childlike faith. That's a hard one for a lot of us. We get caught up in our busy day-to-day tasks that we forget how to trust and believe like a child so easily does. It is sort of like being tossed upon the waves in the middle of a storm. Everything around you seems to be crashing in front of you but then you receive moments of peace and rest when God reveals himself in all of His glory. That was something that really stuck out with me this weekend and that I need to be more willing to give up control in my life and give that over to God so that I may too have the faith like a child. There were moments throughout the weekend where I thought I should really be at home right now studying for my big exam, but a friend told me that God was delighting in my playing this weekend and it's so true. What could be better than playing in the presence of Jesus?

Saturday afternoon Aimee and I decided to give Louise a little makeover. She normally has very curly hair, so we straightened it. She look pretty hot hey?


So that was the weekend in a nutshell. It was a really good weekend spent with friends and other beautiful women in the church who I maybe don't always get a chance to talk with on a Saturday night.

"Fairy tales aren't about moralizing, they are about appreciating the mystey and the wildness of God-appreciating the beauty of the story and being terrified by it at the same time, about almost but not quite getting it, about appreciating and delighting in the wonder of Jesus".

(God of the Fairy Tale, Ware)

You Know its Going to be a Good Week When...

This past weekend I headed out to Arnes for our church's women's retreat. It was a very nice weekend and had a good time being with friends and people from church, however with a big exam on Wednesday I came home feeling extremely stressed out that I had spent time out at the retreat rather than studying. However, a friend reminded me today that God took pleasure in me playing this weekend, so I am glad I went. I will have more details and pics from the retreat posted after my exam on Wednesday.

My week has started off a little rocky. You know it's going to be a long, tough day and you were better off staying in bed when you have a day like this:

I wake up early (I didn't have a class this morning) to study, but was so tired I ended up sleeping until 10:30. So I get ready and do a little bit of studying before I head off to school.

I get to school and take off my jacket and my friend Marni starts laughing. She asks if I got dressed in the dark this morning or had a chance to look at myself in the mirror. I didn't get dressed in the dark and I looked at myself in the mirror many times and concluded that I looked ok. Well it turns out that I had my shirt inside out and backwards with a huge streak of deoderent going across my shirt. What are the chances?

Then someone mentions the paper that we needed to hand in today and I panic because I forgot mine on the table at home. So my friend drives me home quickly to pick it up and as I am getting out of her car, I wipe out on the ice and do a huge face plant and cut my hand on the ice. I couldnt' help but laugh at the sight of me laying on the sidewalk with my hand bleeding. Carmen jumps out of the car to make sure I'm ok and starts to laugh when she sees that I am also laughing. So I get inside and grab my paper and get back to school just in the knick of time for class to start.

I open up my back pack to get my binder out and realize that I forgot to put the binder in there in the first place. I was just about ready to cry. Thankfully it was a class where we did a lot of practical, hands on type of stuff rather than a lecture.

Finally at 7:30 when my last class ended this evening, as I was walking home (or shall I say skating home...really should have brought my skates cuz that would have been a lot easier) I ended up wiping out again on the sidewalk and just laid there looking up at the sky and had to laugh.

So now I am home, I am going to go and do a bit of studying yet tonight and then I am heading off to bed. I am hoping and praying that my day tomorrow is a lot more productive and not as eventful.

I came across this passage the other night while doing some devotions and I thought I would share it.

"I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

~Ephesians 3:14-19

CRAVINGS

The weather was so beautiful today it made me crave the following:

* Skirts and Flip Flops

* Breakfast outside Bread & Circuses

* Evening walks

* Reading a book on the deck at the cabin

* Walking for slurpees

* Laying on the beach

* Gelati

* Being outside

* No jackets!

* Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face

Hockey

This afternoon Cole and I headed over to my parents for the day. Because the weather was absolutely gorgeous, my brother Derek and I decided to take Cole to the community club to play some hockey. Cole had never actually played real hockey out on the ice, so I thought it was about time he learned. Afterall, he is a Canadian and 4 years old already. It was long overdue.



It was a very entertaining afternoon. I just ended up skating around the rink by myself because Cole very quickly discovered that my brother is a lot cooler than I am. I was quite ok with that though. I got to be the one taking all of the pictures and admiring how cute the 2 of them were.

Beautiful Weather and Winter Fun

So lately I have been feeling like I am in a rut. I go through the same motions every single day and after awhile it just gets to be depressing.

Well, tonight my friend Jenn from school and I decided to change it up. Since the weather today was so beautiful we decided to make good use of it. We headed over to the Forks to do some skating on the river. What a wonderful night. I wish I would have gotten my butt in gear earlier in the winter because I had forgotton how much fun skating was. I hadn't been on the ice at all this winter yet and we waited until it's almost too warm to go. Go figure. The paths weren't fabulous at the Forks as everything was pretty slushy, but once you head down the Red River towards Provencher, the ice does get better.

However, getting down to the river proved to be the challenging part as the Forks people decided to take away all of the mats to walk on, so we found ourselves sliding down our butts in order to get down to the river and climbing snow banks to get back up. It was quite the workout.

While climbing the snow banks on our way back up, we discovered some hidden treasures in the snow. Jenn found a nice pocket watch and I found a tampon. Quite the finds if I do say so myself.

I have to say that I feel much better than I did before I went out tonight. Getting some good fresh air made a big difference.

I would encourage all of you who are like me and feeling the end of winter blues and feeling like you are stuck in a rut, should take a stroll outside and enjoy the wonderful weather that we have been blessed with.

Jenn and I ended the evening off at Expresso Junction with London Fog which hit the spot. I couldn't have thought of a better way to spend a friday night.

Any Lurkers Out There?

So I was noticing on some of my friend's blogs that they are finding out who is lurking on their blogs and I thought to myself, that's kind of a neat idea. I know a few people who check out my blog on a somewhat regular basis, but if you are not one of those people who regularly comments, then comment please and let me know who you are. What a great way to meet people. So if you're a lurker, then let me know!

Personality Tests

So I have spent the last hour or so going through various personality tests. Mostly because I find them fun, but it's also interesting to see how other people might view you and help you understand why you choose the things that you do.
I'm having a really hard time these days figuring out where I belong. Relationships in my life seem to be drifting away and I am forced to ask myself the question, "what do I do know Kara?"
Here are the results of some of the tests that I took:

Myers-Briggs Personality Test: ESFJ - "The Provider"

Provider Guardians take it upon themselves to arrange for the health and welfare of those in their care, but they are also the most sociable of all the Guardians, and thus are the great nurturers of established institutions such as schools, businesses, churches, social clubs, and civic groups. Wherever they go, Providers take up the role of social contributor, happily giving their time and energy to make sure that the needs of others are met, that traditions are supported and developed, and that social functions are a success.
Providers are very likely more than ten percent of the population, and this is very fortunate for the rest of us, because friendly social service is a key to their nature. Highly cooperative themselves, Providers are skilled in maintaining teamwork among their helpers, and are also tireless in their attention to the details of furnishing goods and services. They make excellent chairpersons in charge of social events. They are without peer as masters of ceremonies, able to approach others with ease and confidence, and seemingly aware of what everyone's been doing. And they are outstanding hosts or hostesses, able to remember people's names, usually after one introduction, and always concerned about the needs of their guests, wanting to insure that all are involved and provided for.
Providers are extremely sensitive to the feelings of others, which makes them perhaps the most sympathetic of all the types, but which also leaves them rather self-conscious, that is, highly sensitive to what others think of them. Because of this Providers can be crushed by personal criticism, and will work most effectively when given ample appreciation both for themselves personally and for the service they give to others. This is not to say that.

Enneagram Test - Type 2

Main Type	Overall Self

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

Enneagram Test Results Type 1 Perfectionism 82% Type 2 Helpfulness 90% Type 3 Image Focus 50% Type 4 Hypersensitivity 58% Type 5 Detachment 30% Type 6 Anxiety 66% Type 7 Adventurousness 30% Type 8 Aggressiveness 26% Type 9 Calmness 38% Your main type is 2 Your variant is social

Take Free Enneagram Personality Test

The Love of God

Do you ever have one of those days where you need to feel the presence and love of Jesus? Today this song came across me

The love of God is greater far than

tongue or pen can ever tell

it goes beyond the highest star

and reaches to the lowest hell

the guilty pair, bowed down with care

God gave his son

to win his erring child, he reconciled

and pardoned from all sin

were we with ink the ocean fill

and were the skys of parchment made

were every stalk on earth a quill

and everyone a scribe by trade

to write the love of God

above would drain the ocean dry

nor would the scroll contain the whole

though stretched from sky to sky

the love of God

how rich and pure

how measureless and strong

it shall forever more endure

the saints and angels song.

I'm tired of feeling so blah. How great it would be to feel the love and presence of Christ in my life. My prayer is that you all reading, would experience the love and joy of Christ today.