Grocceries

Time to get grocceries. Ah, the groccery store. It almost feels like a creative expedition to me - coming up with new recipes and concoctions as I shuffle up and down the isles. I always start with a list, which I generally complete, but let's be honest, there are always a few fun and unexpected add ons - some to satisfy my ever present sweet tooth (obviously), and though he would never admit to it, Warren too, delights in finding treats in the pantry every now and then.

And so, the list (or at least the list I'm going in with):

broccoli crowns (probably 3-4)
asparagus
Christmas oranges
lettuce
baby potatoes
peppers (red, green)
spinach dip
soft taco wraps
deli meat (1/2 lb. black forrest ham, shaved)
chicken breasts
frozen corn
stir fry veggies
milk
eggnog (obviously)
cran/rasp juice
egg noodles
cous cous
sour cream
pasta sauce - Classico tomato & basil
liquid chicken broth
parmesean cheese
cereal - probably Captian Crunch
chips (x2)
Tostitos rounds
pop (Diet Coke)
Christmas chocolates (maybe Turtles...oooohhh)
vanilla ice cream
apple sauce

Whew! It's gonna be a biggie. Here's to good food and good times.*

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Before I get started, please note that I know I am totally copying Jon's Christmas blog entry - even some of the points - but only because we're family and I didot him on many on the list. We grew up in the same house...c'mon.

So, my favorite things about Christmas:

- RELAXATION - no setting the alarm for work the next day. We're all home and we are extremely chill and relaxed. We wake up late, have crepes (which only Dad knows how to make) and coffee in our pj's, while listening to one of Mom's Christmas CD's LOUD in the family room. Almost always, someone has to make a trip to the mall to buy something last minute... or to the shop to finish "tweaking" their special project for Mom.

- Mmmmm...eggnog....

- Christmas music - love it. LOVE it!! You can scoff if you wish but I really cherrish old CD's like Evie's Christmas and Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton Christmas. They never get old to me. They just feel like home.

- Finding the perfect gift for someone...and knowing that they're gonna love it....and then watching their eyes light up when they open it.

- The song, I Want a Hippopotomous for Christmas.

- The tree - when it's all lit up and glowing in a darkened family room, close to the fireplace. Beautiful.

- Oh, the Christmas chain. A Bartel family tradition.

- Mom's huge stash of peanuts, nuts, Quality Street chocolates and Jelly Bellies on the coffee table. No one really knows how to stop eating them...

- Dad obsessing over his esspresso and forcing a cup into every empty hand, convinced there's nothing quite like it.

- The bright pots of poinsettias Mom has strategically placed in every nook and cranny around the house. Oh...and the Dickens Christmas village above the living room fireplace - it gets bigger every year, with tradition. I love coming home to a decked-out house.

- The famous claymation Rudolph Christmas special on TV - with the abominable snowman and Yukon Cornelious... every year.

- Wrapping presents.

- Dad leading Christmas carols at church on Christmas morning...every single year for as long as I can remember.

- Knowing that every year, Mom will get up at 5:00am, Dad will act like Scrooge, we'll all jump on him to get him out of bed - it's such an act and it's the same every year, but it's somehow funny every time... that there's one gift that will make Mom cry every year... that Dad will always genuinely love it from the bottom of his heart if you get him a) needle nose plyers, b) a flashlight, or c) a shammee

- Wondering when it happend that Christmas shifted from you and your siblings opening gifts to watching Mikayla and Brookie opening gifts...and being more than okay with it.

...And it all just gets better with age. I am such a sucker for this season and all of the tradiations and memories it includes. And to think I get to go home in a few short weeks to enjoy it all over again...*

Random

Warren made supper last night. It was one of the two dishes he seems to excel at - omletes (the other being the tried and true Kraft Dinner, which he is convinced takes a certain level of skill to make properly). We had some good eatin'. Though I usually do love to cook and create in the kitchen, I was tired...still feeling kinda meh and ucky from my bout of flu that I've been fighting this week. He offered and I bit. And so, trying to forget about the splatters, the grease and the spills - in typical Warren fashion - I enjoyed a bacon/cheese/pepper filled omlete. Deeee-licious!

You Want an Update? I'll Give You an Update...

Life - at large - is a very good thing. Man, has it been changing for me this past year. My world is so different from a short 11 months ago - when I was a single, Ontarioan (is that a word?), living under my parents' roof and working for the big guy. Wedding planning consumed my scheduele and dreams of becoming a wife consumed my thoughts. For months on hand, Warren and I were apart (yuck) and my evenings were full of phone calls from Alabama.

Now, fast forwarding to the present tense, I am a wife (of almost a year), living in Saskatoon, SK, in a new house we designed and had built. I work at the Willows Golf and Country Club and Warren's an Optometrist, practicing here in the city out of the Canada Building downtown. I'm finally living close to my big sister and bro-in-law and their two little munchkins, which I love...and far, far away from the rest of my family, which I hate. I am having so much fun being a little Martha Stewart in our very first home together - I really love cooking, cleaning and entertaining. Seriously. Our evenings are full of errands, phone calls, emailing, visiting with friends and family, and of course, watching our obsession on TV - Grey's Anatomy.

This summer was a busy one. We moved to Saskatoon at the end of June, right after Warren's grad - just in time for Brad (Warren's brother) and Angel's wedding. We love hanging out with these two - never a dull moment when you're in their company. Angel's my newest sister and I love that girl. She's a riot. One line after another.... Her and Brad are ranching out near Watrous, SK and living the cowboy life. Angel also has her own business on the go, which I think is pretty cool. It's a clothing company which she named "Halo Rodeo Co.", selling women's western wear. She's got some pretty trendy, out there stuff.

More recently, Warren's youngest brother, Devin, and his girlfriend, Laura, just got engaged. We're exstatic for them! Laura's a real sweetheart and we can't wait to complete our Toews family. I get another sister!! It's so great watching the two of them together - giddy, excited and anticipating a full life together. What a blessing. They are planning for a June 2007 wedding.

If the twinkling Christmas lights and store window displays haven't already given it away, I am overjoyed at the fact that the Christmas season has found us once again. In a month, we'll be busily wrapping presents, munching on sugar cookies and replacing our regular tv sitcoms with Christmas specials. Christmas carols - which for some reason, I never grow tired of - will serenade us from errand to errand and the smell of gingerbread and evergreen will overwhelm our senses. Yes, it's that wondeful time of year and Warren and I couldn't be more excited. And this year will be different once again....very different.

My brother, Steve, and his fiance, Vicki, will be getting married on the beaches of Mexico! Yeah, he is! And so, another wedding. And another sister!! Vick's the best! She's been a part of the fam for quite some time now and a good friend of mine for even longer. She brings out the best in Steve and we couldn't be happier. When she asked me to stand up for her as a bridesmaid, I was extremely honored. On December 17th (which happens to be mine and Warren's first anniversary), the whole gang flies down to the Mayan Riviera together for a full week of swimming, palm trees, tanning, pina coladas, and catching up. Hello good times! At the end of the week, on the 21st, those two crazy lovebirds will say their vows barefoot and on the beach. The following day, as they continue on to their honeymoon, the rest of us will fly home to Ontario for Christmas. There is much to look forward to and the season has only begun.

And so, life keeps moving. Changing. Evolving. Growing fuller. Whether it's new additions, old memories or things to look forward to, God continues to bless and push us forward. And that is a very good thing.*

The Miracle Worker

So anyway, I've been doing a lot of heavy thinking lately. Hear me out.

I've been thinking a lot about trusting God and what that really means. Faith, I guess you could call it. Truly believeing in your heart that God will take care of you and the huge importance of letting go to what we hold onto so tightly to - letting Him lead. It's so easy for us to try to control everything....and then all at once, frantically ask God to bail us out when we're at our end, when we should have been doing that from the start.

These days, we are all so over-confident in ourselves, our lives, our work, that we've become too independent. We haven't lived through a war, we haven't lived through starvation, we haven't really had any reason to feel uncomfortable. Because of this, we don't see a need to rely on God because we're doing just fine. All of our accomplishments, all of our success is considered ours and somehow we feel we're earned it and deserved it for all that we've done.

Because of this, we are a generation who doesn't believe in miracles and doesn't really expect great things from God. We don't live with the same anticiaption that our grandparents had in waiting with this great hope and excitement for what God will do next - we don't have that same expectancy. We seem to become doubtful and edgy as soon as we can't deal with what's been placed in our laps, when we need to be looking to God sincerely for guidance and with anticipation of how He will follow through.

No, we're not living in the desert with Moses, but I still do believe in my heart of hearts that God does perform miracles every day. We have to learn to be quiet before Him and watch them unfold.

Just some thoughts as I wrap up my afternoon...*

Back in the Saddle...

Okay, it has been almost a year since my last post, I know. The reason for starting my blog in the first place was to celebrate the countdown to my wedding. So, I've been Mrs. Toews for almost a year now and I think I'll try and bounce back into the blogging world. After all, it is a great way to keep the world informed and share what's on my mind and in my heart.

And so...hello again. This is my official re-introduction back into this modern form of diologue and expression.

Here's hopin' somebody will listen.*