An Ode to the "Boys"

This evening I became a proud owner of the new Backstreet Boys Cd and boy am I pumped. I am listening to it as we speak (or write). Oh how I love their music. Although I have to agree with Aimee when I say that some of their songs are disappointing. Oh well. So you might ask what does my future with the "boys" have in store for me? Well...a new cd means a new tour, which means KARA GETS TO GO TO ANOTHER CONCERT!!!!!! Perhaps things will work out to go and see them in their hometown (aka - Orlando, Florida), but since that probably won't work out, another road trip will definitely be in store with my fellow fans (Aimee, Jess & Janessa) to a big city. In August 2005 the 4 of us headed out on the open road to Minneapolis where we saw them for their "Comeback Tour". It was incredible! They played all the greatest songs over the years. Definitely the best $100 I have ever spent. They looked so good. I wish I could post some pictures of our adventures, but I don't have a scanner and I didn't have my digital camera back then. What great memories though.

So thank you to the "boys" for putting out another cd. Kevin, you will be missed.

Happy Birthday Bre

HaPpY bIrThDaY bRe!

I hope you had an awesome birthday! I should have written this post yesterday, but I was slacking! Sorry ~ I hope you will forgive me:)

I pray that you might encounter God in new ways this year that will allow you to continue to grow into the beautiful woman of God that you are.

Bre is by far one of the funniest people I know. I appreciate your friendship and your sense of humour immensly! I have enjoyed the many talks we have shared and I am excited to see all that God has planned for you this year and for years to come.

Cheers!

Happy Birthday Jess!

Happy Birthday Jess!

I wish you all the best in the upcoming year and may you experience the love and joy of Christ in new ways.

Jess is the kind the girl that lights up a room and makes you feel so warm and welcomed. Thank you Jess for your adventurous spirit and love of laughter. I truly enjoy your presence and all the good times you have brought to my life.

Love you lots!!

Pumpkin Carving

Yesterday while at my parents for dinner, us kids had our first annual pumpkin carving contest. It was great! It was an extremely tense atmosphere as all 5 of us are extremely competitive people. I was also extremely impressed with the amount of creativity that seemed to flow from both of my brothers. I, on the other hand do not excel at art and drawing, etc. Let's just say that I did NOT win the contest. There was a tie for first place between Derek and Dominika - both were extremely well done.

Hard At Work

The Finished Products

We also did some celebrating of my birthday with my family. It was very low key, which was very nice. Dominika did however, make me the coolest cake ever! It was shaped as a pair of flip flops. How great! Dom, Kevin, Derek & Courtney all chipped in to buy me season 3 of Grey's Anatomy, so tonight I am celebrating being done exams with a glass of wine and a few episodes of Grey's. My brain is officially done!

Birthday Boxing Day

Today is my birthday boxing day. In the house I live in, we believe that birthdays should last an entire week. Prior to moving in with Dan & Bonnie, I had never heard of this concept before, but I have been transformed and converted. What an awesome idea! So today I celebrated my Birthday Boxing Day!

The goodness of friends and food were thoroughly enjoyed this morning over a delightful breakfast at Cora's. I love that place! All 8 of us are extremely busy people with all of the many different things we are involved in, so to spend a couple hours catching up in each other's lives was so welcomed. Plus, who could resist the yummy "April 89" Crepe?

Left: Aimee's amazing fruit platter; Right: The April 89 Crepe

My life is so richly blessed by the amazing friends that continue to surround themselves around me. You guys mean the world to me! Thank you for all of your sweet thoughtfulness expressed through your cards and the gift. It was far more than I ever thought I would receive.

The Blessings of this Past Year

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I am 23. It's crazy to think that another year has passed. Boy, does time sure fly! It's been a busy day so far. My parents picked me up at 8:00 this morning to go for a birthday breakfast at Stella's. Yes, I cheated on my diet, but I believe a birthday calls for it. Plus, how can I resist the best french toast in the city? I must say, that for the first time in a week, my stomach felt satisfied after eating. What a treat!

After breakfast, I went to school to get some practice hours in (we have to complete 50 hours of practice time outside of class in each semester) and then afterwards, my dear friend Annick and I headed home. Due to the copious amounts of studying that we need to do this weekend, she felt called to Starbucks to fill up on some caffeine. Yes, I cheated again. What a happy moment it was to fill my mouth with a yummy London Fog. It's funny how you miss eating and drinking certain foods when you are told you can't have them anymore. The cheating was well worth it. I am filled with happy juice.

Very excited to be indulging in such a delicious treat

(Sabrina, next time you will have to join me).


Annick & I

Tonight will be spent mostly burying myself in books and study notes unfortunately. However, after supper Cole and I are going swimming to Pan Am while Dan and Bonnie have some company over for supper. We love going swimming on Friday nights - it's a great way to end a very busy and full week.

Birthday morning hugs from Cole

This past year has been a good one. I have had some ups and downs and some bumps along the way, but despite everything, I have learned so much! God continues to pour out his love and faithfulness upon me. I am beginning to see his handiwork in so many different aspects of my life and I am so blessed. He continues to teach me on a daily basis and I have yet SO much to learn about being his child. I am being stretched to new lengths constantly. I have been blessed this year with AMAZING friends in my life who continue to also help me grow to become a woman who strives to be more like Jesus. I hope and pray that this upcoming year continues to be one of learning and growing in new and different ways. With God directing my path, it is inevitable that my life will change and I will grow in directions I could never grow on my own. So here's to another year of God's unfailing love and faithfulness. Cheers!

CT

This morning, bright and early at 7:00 am I left the house and made my way to the hospital for my C.T. Scan. For a 5 minute procedure, I sure did a lot of waiting around (it gave me a good chance to review some of my assessment stuff for my exam on Monday). The technician could not release any information to me regarding the imaging, but she said that my doctor will get it within a week and then I should hopefully hear something shortly after. This next week and a bit will be a bit of an anxious few days as I just wait. I'm not very good at that.

On a little bit of a side note, before I could get the C.T. done, I had to remove all pins and earrings, including the one in my nose. For those of you who have not had a nose piercing, they close extremely fast and the rings are very hard to get in. Well, I got the earring out no problem, but when I went to go and put it back in, I couldn't. It just wouldn't go. After trying for awhile, my nose started to get all red and inflammed, so I had to stop. On the way home from school, I took a detour down Osborne to the Crypt and got them to put it back in my nose for me. It cost me $10 to put my earring back in my nose. What a rip off! But it's back now and all is good again.

Kidnapped

Now I know I should be studying for my sports exam for tomorrow, I am
procrastinating. Tonight I was kidnapped by the 2 most wonderful people. They didn't show up in bellaclava's or anything, but they came bearing bottled water and a bag of carrots! When you are on a diet that doesn't let you eat very much, carrots and water are the ideal gift. I have almost finished the entire bag of carrots. My lips have actually turned a nice shade of orange.

The study break was soooo welcomed. Thanks Aimee and Kristy! We were even able to spend some time catching up on each other's lives. It has been far too long it seems and boy was there lots to catch up on!

Anytime you ladies want to kidnap me and make me spend time with you, I am completely game!

And so they begin...

Midterm exams begin tomorrow at 1pm. Thankfully I don't have classes in the morning tomorrow, so I can continue to try and understand the crazy physics that I need to know for the exam. FYI: Physics is NOT my forte.

I have 4 huge exams in the next week, so I am hoping that my head cooperates and allows me to spend the time needed studying without significant pain.

Oh and let the Birthday week begin!!!! I am a huge fan of birthdays. I believe that a birthday should be celebrated over the course of a week as opposed to only 1 day. So, amidst my studying I am hoping to slip a couple of celebratory fun things into my study breaks.

P.s. Thanks to all of you who have given me some awesome recipe ideas. I think I have found some great alternatives to my ordinary meals.