A Wee Piece of Me

Life As It Continues...

2006-09-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hi Kids!
Life has been going on as God has it planned since last I blogged. Not too much has happened since last I spoke to you, but I will give you a quick short update and not bother you with boring details.
Work has been going well. I am still working for Billy and enjoying it for the most part. I have built some good relationships with some people there and at times am really growing in my Christian life and at times really not and figuring it out later. So I'm trying and it's going pretty well.
Our little apartment is turning into a little home. We did purchase a ginourmous entertainment unit and a new computer. So we are enjoying that. The unit really is great. It has tons or storage and displays our stuff so nicely. We are really happy with it.
I have decided that we are the people that have people over and feed them. On Thursday we had some friends for stew before small group. (I'll explain that in a bit). Then tommorow evening we are having some youngins come over for supper. It seems like every weekend we have one of our friends for some sort of meal. I like it. It turns out I'm kind of a good Becky-Homecy. I have found out that I can make a darn good stew. In the oven or the crockpot. The crockpot that has been very handy and was a great wedding gift. I also found out that I can make some DARN good homemade buns. In fact I made a fresh batch tonight. Nice and light and fresh and fluffy.
We started a small group. One of my friends from work and her husband lead a small group at the church that we attend and we have been talking about getting connected and so she mentioned that we could join theirs. So that's what we did. We joined it 2 weeks ago and have gone to 2 nights of it. It has been really good and I think I am going to grow a lot from it personally and that we will grow in our marriage since it's a young married couples group. It's been good so far to be around a few other young and marrieds. At least for me. It's something that I need to get used to. But so far so good.
I think that's pretty much it. Life is continuing. The other thing is that Mike is going to be candidating in Vermilion for a position in the church. We are pretty exicted about it. We have been spending quite a bit of time in prayer about the whole situation and to be honest with you...we are feeling pretty good about it. The more time we spend with God and in conversation with each other-the better we feel about it. So if you feel like throwing out a little prayer for us that would be appreciated. Also, feel free to let us/me know what you think/feel about the situation.
Something funny from the week is that one of the girls that I work with quite closely and I ended up wearing the same outfits. We both had black shirts with white under shirts and pink bottoms. Her's were pants and mine was a skirt. We were trying to keep a tally of how many people made comments about it and by lunch we had 7 or so and then we just quit trying. And no we didn't plan it or even try. In all honesty it was sort of embarrasing.
And to finish this blog I spent a half day in a training conference with the Will Graham. I think he's the 5th in line with the Graham name. I wanted to share this because I just found out this week that there has been 5 generations of William Franklin Grahams. I didn't know that they all had the same names but went by different first names. Interesting fact.
Have a good time till I feel like blogging in a month or so.
Also, thanks for everything if you came to our wedding and if you didn't just to let you know it turned out pretty well. I think almost everyone enjoyed themselves.
Later Gater.

Life Sure Hits Ya Sometimes...

2006-07-31T11:24:00.000-07:00

To start off this blog I want to share that my boss came to work today and told me that she sat behind Paul Brandt last night at church and just rubbed it in a bit. I told her that I would have tapped him on the shoulder and invited him to our wedding. She didn't do it for me so I have no confirmation on his attendance in Vermilion. I'm leaning towards no. But anyways. Life has hit me hard the last little while.
Let me explain. My father-in-law had brain surgery. He is doing wonderfully well. I decided at the last minute to go and be in Vancouver for the surgery. I am getting married again for the second time in a few weeks. Life is getting pretty darn real. Also, everywhere I go now people are asking when we're gonna have a baby. All I have to say is probably not as soon as my friend Jenn at work. So that is what's going on.
Let me tell you. I have seen God work some miracles. It may sound corny or hokey, but I believe it. Wow, he is pretty darn amazing. It didn't really hit me until I was emailing an update to a friend and just laid it of how I have seen God in my life these days. I am going to attach that email right here so you can see yourself how God has moved me in this situation. I don't think I would do as well if I tried to recreate it.
So here it is:
I just wanted to give you ladies an update on Mike's dad and us. He went through surgery this morning and it ended up taking 4.5 hours. So that was great. They got both of the tumors in the back that were indeed cancerous. He went into recovery and finally came up to ICU. He is going to be there for a couple days and then will go into a regular ward. He should be in the hospital for 7 days for recovery. Instead of the coma that we expected him to be in he was talking to us when they wheeled him up to the ICU. Because he didn't go as long in the OR there wasn't brain damage and he didn't have to be induced into the coma for healing to happen better. He is sore and tired. But he is good and healthy. They said he is doing really well. So PRAISE GOD! Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragment. It really worked. It has been amazing to be able to be in this situation and know how many people are praying for him and us. It has been even more amazing to be in this situation and have to put it all in God's hands and learn to trust him, and for God to pull through. It has been tough and it's not over yet by far, but God really came through today and showed me more of him and really proved just what he is capable of. He can perform miracles. This whole thing has been a big growing step for me and God. It's been hard but I'm glad that I have learned what I have learned and can now take that with me. Also, I found out just how strong prayer is and how contagious it is. I love it.
Again, thanks for everything ladies. I will keep you updated. We will be back in Calgary on Sunday afternoon. I came here hoping to fill my father-in-law with a little more strength and love. I surprised them at the airport and he cried. I heard Mike telling one of his uncles that he thinks I really did have a bit of an effect on this situation. That made me feel pretty good. I felt it as soon as I got here. It was great because I was doubting a tiny bit, but God just let me know that I had made the right choice with his help. So that was just an extra little tidbit. Also, the family that was there went out for a celebratory supper. It was great for everyone to be in such good spirits. There has been a lot of prayers and tears today. It has been wonderful. We are all filled with such joy for what God has done so far. I think it will make it easier for us to trust in him and turn to him for the rest of the ride.
Thanks so much. Till we meet again. God Bless!
Cara
So I think that's pretty good. The rest of the update is that not both tumors were removed. One was taken completely but the other is still in there. It has been drained and all that good stuff, but it couldn't be taken out because it is attached to some important stuff that had a chance of paralizing him if it was removed. But he is doing so good and we left him in high spirits yesterday. He is busy making the plans for the trip to Vermilion for the August wedding. So that is wonderful.
Now I have to spend some time focusing on the upcoming wedding that is not totally organized. But give me a couple of days and it will all be in order.
So for now I think that is all that I have to update. No baby yet. I think we will have to give a bit of time. Maybe when we get settled somewhere with a house and a permanent job and schooling finished and such. I'll keep you updated.
Till we talk again....Cara

What It's Like to Be Married...Weird.

2006-07-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

I write this blog as a newly married woman. I don't usually refer to myself as a woman but I felt it was fitting since I should now become somewhat of an adult.
This whole marriage thing is interesting. How strange it is to wake up in the middle of the night and have someone snoring beside you. It throws you off a bit sometimes.
Anyways everyone keeps asking me what it's like and I always answer "it's weird." Maybe that's because my descriptive words sometimes leave something to be desired. Ask Mike. Or maybe it's because it's so new I just don't know how it is. I guess it's good. We haven't killed each other yet. So I think it's what you call a good marriage.
But to be serious for a moment. Life is pretty good. Even with all of the stress and drama and uncertainty in our lives right now we are okay. I would even venture to say that we are great. I have to make this short right now. But we have each other and our families and God. So I think that we are going to be just fine. I just wanted to give a quick update that I am still alive and pretty happy with life.
Talk to you kids later.

Reasons Why Not to Have the Flu...

2006-06-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Hi Kids. The title of this blog is very relevant to my life this past week. I got the 24 hour flu on Thursday and missed a day of work since I was in the bathroom or sleeping all darn day. It was good times let me tell you. I had some serious issues. But I wasn't that lonely since my cousin was sick the same day. Two days before that - on my birthday my little cousin was sick with it and she decided to share it with us. Anyways it has gone through my whole household in the past week. All 6 of us. Lucky...
So life in Calgary is good so far. Work is fun and good. The new car is treating us well. We are getting married in 2 weeks. So for most of you that will come as quite a shock. But Mike's dad is kinda sick and going in for surgery on July 3 so we have made an executive decision to get married on July 1. It will be a small family wedding in Mike's old stomping grounds. So my parents and my best friend Tina are coming to North Vancouver, British Columbia on the 29th of June. It should be a good time. Hope things go well. But don't you worry your pretty little head because everthing will go the same way as planned in August.
Aside from that my main reason for this blog is that because I missed work on Thursday I also missed seeing the Paul Brandt at my place of employment. Apparently it is a common hangout for old Paul. And becuase of this I have decided to list the reason why Paul Brandt and his wife Liz should be attending our wedding.
REASONS WHY PAUL AND LIZ SHOULD BE AT THE SCULLY-SCHALIN WEDDING:
1.He likes my workplace
2. I have seen him in concert 6 times
3. I have met him once with a picture
4. He sang at my dad's workplace - Camp Wainwright
5. My dad's best friend knows his manager because of the aforementioned show
6. My dad's best friend's son was in his music video "Convoy" because of the aforementioned show - I may have babysat him once
7. I worked at the Pregnancy Care Centre with a lady who sang in choir with Liz and who used to work at the Alberta Children's Hospital-where Paul used to work
8. My co-worker went to school with his sisters and hung out with them and grew up with them
9. My supervisor went to school with his sister
10. Mike works at Christian Publications where they have an account
11. Mike went to school with and is friends with Paul's cousin (by marriage)
12. Mike is using "Alberta Bound" for our wedding slide show
13. Cara used "Small Towns, Big Dreams" for her high school grad write up
So all and all I think those are some pretty good reasons for them to come to our wedding. Here's hoping.
Well kids...Talk to you later. We'll try to keep you updated. Get in touch if you have any concerns.
Love you....Cara

Is Losing Your Pants on Main Street Embarrassing?

2006-04-29T15:58:00.000-07:00

So...my first day back in Vermilion and I lost my pants on Main Street. Not so much, just that I was carrying my niece down the street while she was screaming bloody murder and my sweat pants got lower every step I took. Thank goodness my brother only lives a half block from the park or it could have been a bad scene.
A lot has happened since last I have blogged. I know that I have surpassed the one month not blogging but I am sorry. As I said before I have a lack of commitment.
I have a job. I am done school for good. I am back home. So I guess that's not too much that has happened but it is big stuff.
So on Friday, April 28 I finished my practicum which means I finished Lakeland College. Thank God (in the good way). So I will be coming back to Vermilion to graduate on June 3rd. Oh, won't it be fun.
Last week I got a job. I am now the newest employee of the Billy Graham Evangalistic Association of Canada. Yah, I am working at Samaritan's Purse on the BG side of things doing some donations input stuff. I start next week.
I am in Vermilion for the next week. I am staying with my parents and getting rid/through of all my stuff while I am home now that I have a new home and am supposed to be an adult.
That is what is new with me right now. So sorry to those of you who actually somewhat care about my life and used to read this blog. I am going to make some solid attempts at blogging on a semi regularly basis.
Have a good one kids. Till we meet again. Oh yah, I am now a permanent resident of Calgary. I am just on vacation right now.

Lack of Commitment with a Touch of Fear...

2006-04-09T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well I must appologize. It has been quite some time since I have last blogged. Now that I live in a city and I do have access to the internet at my fingertips maybe I will blog a little more often. We can only hope.
I am on my way to bed, but I just thought that I would tell anyone who still stops by here once in a while that I am fine and loving it in Calgary. I love the work that is done at the Pregnancy Care Centre and I have thrown myself into it at full speed. I will be sad when it isn't my full time work with no pay anymore.
The final note and probably the explaination of the fear is that my dad is going in for surgery at 6:30 in the morning. This has really been weighing heavy on my heart and Mike and me prayed tonight, but for anyone who ends up reading this feel free to pray for my dad. I would really appreciate that.
Thanks kids...Cara

Who Doesn't Blog for a Month?!

2006-01-29T18:52:00.000-08:00

So....that would be me. For the few of you who read this - incase you didn't notice, I don't do it often. It seems to be because of my lack of being close to a reliable computer. That or I am just too busy. Which is sad. I shouldn't be so busy. But I am. Maybe I am not that good of a time alloter. I don't know.
I do know that a bit has been going on in my life since last I blogged. So I got baptized. That was exciting. It wasn't technically "public", which is unfortunate. It had to be that way so that the few people I did want to have there (or needed to have there) could be there. At the time it seemed like that was going to be the only time in the next 6 months that was going to happen. Who knows though. Anyways, I have been really busy with school. I made some new friends - thanks to the local "youth centre" and my outgoing (slightly embarassing) personality. I have gotten a million addresses of schools in Calgary where I am going to start sending resumes. I have decided that I am going to try to be a TA (teacher's assistant) next year for a "real job". I am kinda excited about that. Soon it will be reading week for Mike and then for me. I am excited for that since I won't be seeing him until that time. That sort of makes me sad. It's hard when you are super in love with someone and are making plans to spend the rest of your life together and you just don't get to see each other. It sort of makes things hard. Lots of progress has been made over the past few weekends in regards to this rather large wedding that is to be taking place this summer.
I am sort of excited because me and my roomate (Muffin) have managed to make some time in our busy schedule to get to Edmonton for 2 days. We are heading out on Thursday and coming back on Saturday. We have decided to get a little more educated and sit in on some 4th year Physics Degree university courses. Actually we are going to spend some quality time with Tina. It just so happens that we don't have classes on Fridays so we can skip out of town early for a little "vacation".
I am sort of struggling. I am finding that I am growing as a person and I am growing in my relationship with God, but I just am not where I want to be. I find that when I am at school I tend to be surrounded by a bunch of negativity. I don't know if it's just me but I tend to get caught up in that and can't easily get out of. I also find that I put other things before my relationship with God and I am so tired lately. So if any of you feel like praying for me about that I would appreciate it.
I am going to wrap this up and get back home to ice a birthday cake for 3 of the girls in my class. It's a surprise so I am excited to see their faces tommorow.
Have a good one everyone! Until we meet again....Cara

What A Lonely Place To Be...

2005-12-28T09:55:00.000-08:00

Since I have arrived back in Vermilion I have decided that it is a very lonely place to be. I am sort of struggling with it right now. I have been spending some good quality time with my mom and that has been nice. But since Tina's grandpa had a stroke Christmas morning I haven't seen her and won't until she gets back from Saskatchewan either before or after New Years. I start school again in 6 days. One way that makes me mad since we go back a week before everyone else. Another way I am glad to go back because that means that I am going to be done in 3 months. After that 3 months I have to go back to Calgary to the Pregnancy Care Centre and do another practicum. Then the plans are to stay in Calgary and work at the mall for the summer and come back to Vermilion for the wedding. Then back to Calgary for possibly school.
I am looking forward to the future right now. And I am not so keen on staying in the present. I had a really great time in Calgary and met a lot of great people. I miss it and I miss them. It may also be so lonely here because all of my friends from school are back at home in Saskatchewan too.
I guess that I should quit complaining and finish my current read about a drug addict/alcoholic in treatment so that I can get on with my Christmas present books.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and that you have a good New Years too. Be responsible! Cara

Soon It Will Be Christmas Day....

2005-12-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

So sorry for the lack of bloging lately. I guess with a "real" schedule you get tired and find it hard to fit in small things. I have been so busy with my practicum. It has been great thought. And it has definately been worth every second that I have spent at it. I can't even get in to how great it has been for me. It has been good for the educational me and the personal growth me. So exiciting.
Anyways, I am writing this with 4 days left of practicum. I will be attempting to head back to Vermilion on the 23rd of December. Let's pray the weather stays good. I miss my momma and my niece, so I think that I would like to go home now. My parents did come down and visit us last weekend. So that was nice but way to quick.
There has been a lot of family drama going on right now at the place that I am staying, and to be quite honest I think that is why I have been lacking in the blog department and the keeping in touch with people I care about department. I am overwhelmed with crazy stuff when I get home every night and then I just want to go to bed so that I can function the next day. But it sort of looks like things are starting to work out. It will be a slow process, but I think it will turn out good in the end.
I am excited to come home and to go to Christmas church with my best friend in the whole world Tina. I also am looking forward to spending a week with her uninterupted by anything else. And for those of you who care about the whereabouts of Mike, he is going back to B.C. on Wednesday and then coming to Vermilion for a little visit from the 4th to maybe the 7th or so.
That is all that I can muster for a blog right now. I am super sick since yesterday afternoon. My uncle has had a cold and my cousin got sick this morning, so we are blaming him for our illness. I just don't feel too good right now. I think I might go watch a funny movie with Mike now.
Take care people. And an after thought. I am in the process of filling out applications for the University of Calgary to the Faculty of Social Work for the fall. I am really excited about that. It will take me another 3 years to come out with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work, but I have decided that is what I want to do. Again, a big part of the growing at the Centre. What a great time it is.
So have a good holiday for those of you who get time off from school. And for everyone just have a good one! Love...Cara

Not Too Lost Anymore...Unless I Try to go Somewhere

2005-11-24T20:33:00.000-08:00

Well folks I am updating this blog from Mike's place of residence. I did recieve notice today that I do have a job to go to on Monday. And I don't get paid for it...Yes! Thanks to some great people giving me some great references I now am going to volunteer my time and pretty much my time to the Pregnancy Care Centre. I am pretty excited about it. It is a Christian organization that has allowed me to spend one month come Monday learning in their office. I am going to be doing extensive training for the month and come April when I need to get another practicum, I am not going to have this problem again...because I am going to do that practicum there too! They have agreed to take me on for the second semester too. So this training and education is going to be going towards me doing actual crisis counselling in April. And hopefully I will get my foot in the door and land a job in May or June in this great city of Calgary. I am pretty excited about it. Except that I have to ride the stinky old C-Train there and back everyday. But I think that I can get over that and maybe one day become a real city kid. I doubt it. As much as I don't like Vermilion, there are somethings that I do like about it. And that includes the small town with the not so busy street (which are not one ways), that seem to have ample parking and if not then your destination is always a short walk away. But I think that it is time that I start to grow up and begin moving on. With that...I will talk to you all later . Love you....Cara

Don't Worry...Be Happy

2005-11-17T12:15:00.000-08:00

Well hello again. I am writing this blog from the deep corner of my college. And what makes it even better is that it is the last time I will be here until January 3rd. I am off to Calgary in the morning. I am wasting time till I write my last final then I am going to go home and pack. I did end up getting a practicum. Sort of. At the very last possible minute a place called my instructor and said that they would take me. But before that happened the best boy in the entire whole world, that I am lucky enough to be marrying, got me a practicum interview. So on Monday morning I am going for an interview at the Crisis Pregnancy Centre. If that doesn't work out then I will be going to Discovery House. At the first place they deal with unplanned pregnancy and at the second they deal with family violence. Both of these options are right down my alley. So I will update when I get settled in at my aunt and uncle's place. Thank you to everyone who was praying for me. And just so everyone knows, I am feeling a lot better than I was a few days ago. Take care of yourselves people who I won't see till Januaryish time.
Love everyone! Cara

Who Can Get So Lost in Vermilion?

2005-11-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well folks I guess I can. I have had a tough week. But not as tough as that lady in the trunk at the Edge. That in itself has made quite an impact on me. I have had a hard time dealing with it. And now on top of everything else I need to go and talk to a lady cop from the city on Tuesday about my volunteering. Ah, looking forward to it.
I am lost right now becuase I feel sad. I am really let down because I lost the practicum placement at the Children's Hospital in Calgary that I was so looking forward to. Because of my own stupidity almost 2 years ago, now I am not able to go there to work. My dumb choices just seem to be catching up to me. To make matters worse with this situation, I now have no where to go. Because my past actions were not brought up early than Thursday afternoon, I now have no where to go to do my practicum. So early tommorow morning I am getting on the phone to call many people in Calgary to beg for them to feel sorry enough for me so that they will take me for a month practicum with a weeks notice. Because Friday morning is the day that I am supposed to move to Calgary for the rest of November and some of December. I think that things will work, I hope so anyways and I am praying about it. I have feeling that it will, but right now I just feel lost because I have no control over my future right now. None whatsoever and I am scared to not know what's coming.
This weekend was the first time in years that I have felt so lost and had no idea what I should do. Even with advice from people that I care about I was still lost. So I have decided that I need to put it all in God's hands and believe that it will all work out. And even if I don't understand why it went that way, I need to have faith that it will be what is best for me and what is best for mine and Mike's future.
So thanks for anyone that cares about this little issue of mine. I need to go home now and finish up the homework that I have been working on ALL weekend. And now I need to start studying for the two finals that I have this week. I can do it!
Take care until we talk again...hopefully from Calgary...Cara

One Full Month....

2005-11-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Folks!
Okay, so the title of one full month is in reference to the one full month that I will have spent in Vermilion. And the one full month that it has been since I have seen Micheal Schalin. So I am pretty excited because at 2:30 this afternoon I will be heading down to good old Calgary to take in a coffee house tonight. You see, I had plans to go to Calgary this weekend and visit Mike, so the way that things had worked out I wouldn't be able to leave until Friday at 1:00. So I wasn't too cool with that. So since I am a favorite of all of the instructors that I have, I went to talk to the one that had put an exam on that Friday which was stopping me from leaving early. So the plan was that I would be able to write the exam on Thursday afternoon, which would be today. Except that I found out yesterday that our class is going to be finished early today. So I got up super early so that I could come and write this exam, that I wasn't totally prepared for at 8:30. So I am finished it now and my car is packed and waiting in the parking lot for me to hop in and drive down south. I am pretty excited about it.
Not much is new with me, but I have had a few people comment on my lack of blogging, so I decided that while I was waiting for my first offical class to start today I would take the time to update. I am doing alright in school. I still have a pretty high average which makes me sorta happy. But with that bit of negativity in me I still think that I could be doing better than I am. But I am satistied thus far with the results of my studies.
Jayden was a Carebear for Halloween and what a fine Carebear she made. Someday if someone helps me (Mike) I will put the picture that I took of her in her costume on my blog. So the sole picture on this little blog will be the cutest kid in the world. That's right, my niece. Oh, how I love her.
I think that I should go since this computer lab is beginning to fill up with people who I believe are here for a class on the computers.
Talk to you folks later! Oh yah...16 days till the end of my semester and I move to Calgary. Which is also exciting news. I did get my practicum placement in Calgary at the Children's Hospital. I will tell you more about that later.
Love for everyone...Cara

2005-10-21T13:05:00.000-07:00

Hello to all of my blog readers....I could probably name each and everyone of you. Anyways. I don' t really have a whole lot to write about these days. I am doing most of that in school these days. I will get to that though.
In school these days I have been doing good and I have been doing bad. The two quizes that I wrote for my Exploring Exceptionalities class (that I thought there could have been a good chance that I had failed) turned out to be pretty impressive. I recieved a 92% and a 93%. I have to brag about that, just because I feel good about it. But in my counselling class I don't feel as good. We have been writing journals and then responding to each others. Well, my responses have been not as impressive as they should have been or as I had hoped they would be. I was a little bit down after my meeting with my instructor about these journals. Not only were my responses not that good, but I guess my journals themselves were not that good either. So this weekend is my quest for greatness. I have a whole weekend and I am determined to put my time to good use. I am going to read up and try to get some good marks on these assignments that I have left. Speaking of which, my time is pretty limited these days since I have 7 assignments left and 4 finals in the next 28 days. That's right. We have started the countdown to practicum.
On the wedding front...there has been progress. Yesterday I made my way down to Wainwright to the quaint little scrapbooking shop that my sister-in-law got the stuff for her invitations. I put in my order for all of the papers and fancy little things that I would need to make the wedding invitations. So by Christmas I will have everything that I need in my hands and the process will begin. I have decided to make the invitations during Christmas break. Mostly because I will once again be in Vermilion and no one else really will. That is except good old TIna. My best friend in the whole world, who is going to help me with this crazy ontaking during the holidays. And perhaps fit in some shower planning in the process. We'll see if this plan turns out to be a little too ambitious. But I have planned and told everyone that cares to listen that I will be prepared. There will be no rushing around the week before the wedding getting things done. Everything will be done well in advance and people will be notified of events with a lot of time before it happens. That is the plan.
I am getting excited as I sit here at my brother's house blogging and waiting for my car to be fixed this Friday afternoon. One thing I am excited about is that my car is getting fixed. And since my brother is a handy dandy mechanic here in town I get great service and great deals. Yeah! That is something that I need since I am a student. The whole situation with my car is this...I took it for an oil change on Wednesday and decided to let my brother know that it had been squeeking for the last few days. He took it for a drive and came back and freaked on me. He said that it must have been squeeking like that for 6 months because I have no brake pads left on the front. Oops. But I promise that it only started being noisy last week. At least noisy enough that I could hear it over my music....hmmm...anyways. It's getting fixed. Also, there has been this NASTY knocking in the back since I bought it when I was 17 (ah, the good old days...they seem so long ago). It is so bad that when someone new gets in they think that it is going to fall apart underneath them. But it is a really really reliable car. So that is why I am fixing it. It turns out that the noise is the rear struts. So when they went to put the new struts in this morning they realized that I have no rear brakes! Yikes! So I am going to pretty much have a whole new car when I get it back this afternoon. No noise and it will stop on a dime. So great.
But what I am really excited about is that Micheal Schalin is coming back to the great province of Alberta in the morning (and I am excited that Ashley will be back too). Not that I am going to see him. But it will be nice to be able to talk on the phone for more than 15 minutes sometimes maybe. I really missed him while he was gone this last week. We didn't talk very often and it wasn't long at all. I felt like I wasn't able to support him the way that I would have if I could have been with him, or been able to talk to him. Maybe now when they are back in Alberta I can do more. But I am still looking forward to living with my aunt and uncle and being near him and being not in Vermilion for a while.
I feel like I should end this now, since it is kinda longer than I was expecting. And I have to start with this school work to get better marks to be where I want to be. So with that....Check ya later folks! Cara

Did I Give Enough Thanks....

2005-10-12T16:50:00.000-07:00

To answer my question...I'm pretty sure I didn't. It's not till today while I was not paying attention in class and happened to be doing another assignment that I am late on doing did I realize this. I have to write a journal every week for the rest of our semester. I also have to respond to my good friend Ashlee's. We have to do this in counselling class. We are supposed to explore issues that we are currently dealing with and then respond to each others with proper counselling techniques. The issue that I chose to deal with this week was family. I was writing about how my family and Mike's family and so different. I am okay with that. I realized that they are such good people. On both sides. They all have such good souls and are so full of love. I have recently discovered that I take this for granted most of the time. This counselling class is really opening up thoughts for me. I have become aware that I am lacking in my listening skills. I used to be so good and people would always compliment on it, and now I find sometimes I am faking it. I feel not too good about that. I am now making a conscious effort to change that. I also have found that I am mean to the people that I love the most. It just seems so easy to take my stresses out on them since they should love me the most and forgive me the easiest. I have thought about this a lot and have realized that's probably not the way it is. I think that I hurt them the most because we are so attached to each other emotionally. I am also aware of this and making a conscious effort to change it. I truly do value and cherish these people in my life and more often than not am not taking the time to give thanks for them. I don't show them that I appreciate them, which is sure not thanking them for being in my lives. And I don't seem to find time to thank God for blessing me with such wonderful people in my life. This year is going to be a bit of a self discovery year for me. And I hope that things turn out well and become better on a daily basis. So just for the record I am very very thankful for all of the people who care about me and are in my life.
Soon enough I will be heading off the Calgary to do my first practicum for this year. I am really exicted about this. I think it will be a good time to get used to the city that I will be living in and hopefully get a job out of it. I just really hope that it has some effect on me and my frame of mind. I am finding the more educated I become the more open minded and passionate I become. I hope that it is a good learning experience. And yes, I get to be within an hour of Mike for a whole month. That makes me pretty happy too.
Thanksgiving was long and short. There was a lot of driving involved and not too much visiting. I did however, make an exceptional supper (dinner to you fancy folk). I volunteered to make supper on Saturday. This meant that I spent most of the day in the kitchen cooking and preparing. It was worth it in the end. It was a success. Now that I think about it, I don't know if people were just telling me that they were impressed and it was so good, just to make me feel good about my first attempt at a family meal...but whatever, it made me feel pretty good. And, Micheal Schalin now knows that I am capable of cooking and that he won't starve during our first year of marriage.
I hope that everyone had a good one. And that you remembered to give thanks.
Take care of yourselves....Love Cara

How Blue Can One Be...

2005-10-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hi People. So sorry for the lack of blogging. I have been ultra busy, at least I try to make people think that I am...Okay but seriously. I am currently at my brother's looking after my niece and it is going really well. Jayden was an absolute doll tonight. We cuddled read a book and she went to bed so easy. She hasn't done that since she was 6 months old. It was really nice. Then I talked to a certain someone who makes my day when I talk to him. Except that I was a little sad when I talked to him tonight, because he isn't coming to Vermilion unitl Friday afternoon now. The original plan was to come on Thursday night (which Ashley didn't know about, sorry) and I was really excited about that. But I think that I will be okay. I am going to take the time to attempt to blog like I used to. With computer access and not 5 other girls sitting around me, maybe I can get some good work done. So here we go.
As of lately I have been really really emotional. I am not kidding. A lot of stuff makes me cry lately. With this knowledge I have decided that I truly detest long distance relationships. I get really sad sometimes when I can't see Mike. Now some people might not understand that (like Ashley...ha ha) but that is how I feel. I know that everything will work and it will all be okay, but sometimes I just get sad. I especially find it hard to leave when I go to Calgary, or for Mike to leave when he comes to Vermilion. I think that it should start to get better soon. The good thing is that I am doing both of my practicums in Calgary now. If that is where I will reside when my education at Lakeland College is finished, then I would like to get my foot in the door and possibly land a job out of it. It just so happens that I have a super nice aunt and uncle who are allowing me to live with them while all of this goes on. How great. Thanks for that.
I also find that school is pretty stressful. I have more assignments than last year and they are harder too. I also have these plans of doing better in school than I did last year. Not saying that I did poorly, because the school just nominated me for the Jason Lang Memorial Scholarship (which was pretty nice). But I find myself slacking off lately. Mostly because I tend to be tired after work and school. I just need to motivate myself and get back on track. I can do it. School is also a little stressful on me because we are doing so pretty intimate stuff. I am taking a counselling class that tends to get all my emotions a stirring. And we have an ethics class that leaves me thinking about stuff everyday. I think it is really good for me, but it is pretty hard sometimes. Some family background stuff comes up and some beliefs stuff, but I stand my ground and do pretty good explaining my position. But it makes me emotional. It also doesn't help that I am a girl.
Anyways, wedding plans are getting underway and I am starting to worry a little less about it. I think that things will work out. Ok, I know they will. So that is nice. For all who are planning to attend, I hope that it proves to be a good time.
One thought that is sorta weighing on me is the thought of baptism. And what a coincidence that I start writing about this, and some babies are getting baptized on Gilmore Girls. Anyways, I haven't made any final desicions, but lets just say I got a gut feeling about it on Sunday at church.
I am not quite sure what else to say. To be honest, I feel like I have lost my blogging skills. It has been such a long time since I have written a good blog and I truly think that this one isn't satisfactory. So many thoughts in my head about what school work I can do tonight before I fall asleep and keeping an ear open for Jayden. I sure love that kid. On that note. Goodnight. Oh, and love. Cara

The Stesses of Life that Occur in Vermilion....

2005-09-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hello folks! I am sorry that I have lacked in the blogging as of lately, but as you may sense from the title of this blog, I am a little stressed out right now. As we speak the girls in my class are sitting and venting, and because I love them, I feel like I need to and want to help them, but I can't. There are problems with money, family, love lives, and schooling. I am also stressed out a little bit about this whole getting married thing. I am getting stressed becuase it is only 10 months until I marry Micheal Schalin. And we have a lot of stuff to do. It is getting real and I am excited, don't get me wrong, but I am stressed about it. And I am supposed to be doing really well in school, but I have all of this other stuff on my mind. But I must leave right now and go back to the classes that I don't find that exciting. Love for you all....Cara

The halls of the good old L of C (Lakeland College that is...)

2005-09-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks!
Sorry to take so long to blog, but my access to the internet has been limited these days. I don't have too much to say, except that Mom is making the whole family a nice good super tonight and that I am so excited that I am going to Calgary on Friday. It will be a quick trip, but it will be a nice one. I am looking forward to a possible triple date this weekend. That should be fun. And how great will it be to have a sleepover with my soon to be little sister. Should be a good time.
I am also kind of excited that I went to the Edge last night and am in the process of getting some of the girls in my class interested in going/volunteering. That makes me happy. I think we will enjoy it.
Ok, but I gotta jet. Sorry for the absolute shortness and not meaningfulness of this blog. Love you all. Peace out. Talk to ya later.
Cara

First Days...

2005-09-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well kids, today is my first day of school for my second year of higher education. I am not that excited about it. I went to registration yesterday and got a not so great schedule. It is too easy. But I have complained about that enough so far, so I will stop now. Needless to say, I don't have class till 12:30 today and am done at 3:30. Not too hard. Here's hoping I have some homework and reading to do already. I don't know what me and Candace (fondly known as Muffin to me and some other folks) are gonna do with all our time. Muffin is my new roomate. It is going well so far and we have spent over 24 hours together now.
Life is pretty good right now. I have some other first days lately. My first day in Vancouver. It was good. The whole trip was good. I was myself, just like everyone told me to be. And they were right. Mike's family loved me. It was really really nice to be welcomed into a big super loving family. They are all about family. It was nice and a little different than my family. My family loves each other, but we don't be all huggy all the time. I was okay with that though. It was nice to feel so welcome and loved.
I had my first day back in Vermilion. Which wasn't as good as the first day in Vancouver. It was okay because I got to see Tina who I haven't seen for a little while now. Which ends up feeling more like a long while when it's your best friend. I also got to see Baby which made me really happy. I was really missing her and my mom while I was gone away. But it is better now.
I also got to have a first day of being engaged. It was sorta weird but not different at all. It is nice and I am really happy and sort of overwhelmed with the response it has brought. I am excited that Mike is coming this weekend and he will be going to church with me so that I don't have to do that all on my own. Whew! Anyways it was romantic and I cried a little bit (incase you were wondering. Some people have been asking). I am not so happy about not seeing Mike till Thanksgiving after this weekend though. I guess you just gotta go with it. I know things will all be okay. And I am glad that I am back in school with all the girls so that I am not so lonely.
Moving on. Life is great and I should probably go and get ready for my first day of school. My mom wants to take pictures before I leave...just kidding! She did that when I was little, and last year....tee hee hee. I think I am going to go and try to get myself a little part time job at the local department store today. Wish me luck (or pray a little bit)! I also think me and Muffin are gonna try and squeeze in a little bit of Mario playing on the old Nintendo. We find that is the best way to waste our time, since we played for 2 hours last night. Which some people might think is that long, but remember we are girls. We are going to practice and have people over and then have competitions and blow their minds with how good we are. That's the plan anyways. But if you've seen me play MarioKart you are probably laughing at the previous statment.
Oh, Kyle...hope you saw it in the paper. It was in yesterday. We were real quick on that one! It made me laugh when I saw it cause I thought of you. Hope Mike told you before you saw it.
Love for all you folks....Take care of yourself!
Cara

How did all these people get in my head?

2005-08-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Alright folks. It seems that I owe yet another appology for my lack of blogging. I think I will pick up the pace a bit when I get back into the school routine. Here's hoping anyways.
Well quite a few things have happened since last I blogged. Some good and some not as good. I don't even know where to begin to be honest. I have got so much going on in my head right now. Hense the title (cause there are quite a few people floating around up there right now).
Ok I am just going to go off at random here, so I will appologize for the lack of order in my writing that is yet to come.
Actually I am going to just throw out a few thoughts so that I don't forget and then go from there. Bear with me......baptism, people at church, being a servant, being a wife, being a friend, money makes the world go round, parents, trips, bible study, and volunteering....I think that's it right now. Oh yah, and that I think it is funny that Kyle Keller is going to be reading my blog. That makes me laugh, I don't know why, it's a good thing though...
Ok. Baptism. For some very stupid reasons that I am a little too embarassed to share I have yet to be baptized. I know that it is the right thing for me to do and that God wants this for me. It makes sense since I do consider Jesus my savior and I believe that I owe God my life because he saved me from myself. And I am thankful for that, so I should just suck it up and face a fear and stand infront a room full of people (some of them judging people...i will get into that with the next thought) and get dunked in some water. It can't be that bad, but I am just scared. I do believe that I will get baptized I just need to find the right time to do it. It will happen though...sometime. I promise!
Moving on to the people at church. I know that people aren't supposed to judge and right now I am being just as bad, but I know for a fact that people judge in my church. I can think of a few right now, but I am not going to mention any names because I am MUCH classier than that. This is how I know they judge. Someone, whom I considered a friend, actually told me (not in the exact words, but close enough to make me cry) that I was not good enough to date Mike Schalin. First I want to say that I sure showed her. But that made me feel pretty not too good. Because I was a "new" Christian, I wasn't good enough to date someone who will eventually be a pastor. Not a good vibe. I still hold onto that thought. It makes me think sometimes that maybe she is right. But I end up thinking that it was God who truly got us together. I think he had it all planned out and it turned out pretty darn good if you ask me. But this same girl's family judges me too. They have talked about me and said "I don't know if Cara realizes that she could someday be a pastor's wife." Just for the record, I realize that. And I accept it. There's not much I can do about it (cause I'll be honest with you...I really love this kid). See, things like this stress me out. Part of me doesn't want to get baptized infront of these people because I know they will say "Oh, how nice. Cara got baptized. Yah God. You're doing good work. But she just did it so that she could be with Mike". That is how I feel people will react. These people anyways. I think this because they actually told my aunt when they ran into her at a school reunion that "Cara has a new boyfriend, did you hear? She sure comes to church a lot more often now that he is around." That statement bothers me the most I think. Becuase I had been going to church for atleast a year before I even knew that Mike exsisted. So there. Just so everyone knows. Yes I did wheel him, but I didn't go to chuch to do it.
Next point.Church today was about being a servant like Jesus. This is the one thing that I think I am doing right. Yes, there is room for improvement. But that is really where my heart is at. I love to help people in need. And I will do almost anything to help them. I felt good, like my heart is in the right place today. I feel like what I want to do with my life is right. And on that note, I have decided where to do my next 2 practicums. One will be at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary being a support worker for sick kids. And the other with be at the rehab centre in Bonnyville working with adults with drug and alcohol addictions. I am so excited for this year of school.
Moving right along...being a wife. I don't know why I was thinking about this. I will tie this in with the trip thought. In a week I will be in Vancouver staying at Mike's parents place. I am nervous. They have already been so sweet to me. I think they have such big hearts and that makes me happy. I have talked to his sister and dad on the phone. His sister sounds so cute and his dad is ordering nice weather for my visit. Isn't that sweet. His mom is so exicted for me to come and meet them and his grandparents love me already because my dad is from Nova Scotia and I spent a fair chunk of my childhood there. But it just makes me think that someday if Mike and I get married they are going to be my family. And his mom is going to expect me to feed and cloth her baby. I hope that I can do that....These are sort of silly thoughts. Sorry about that folks.
Another point. I am sort of being a crappy friend. I find that I don't have a lot of time for my friends. It may be because I work during the day and that I like to sleep, but I have crapped out on a few good friends this summer. I had planned to go to Saskatchewan twice this summer and didn't get to the Sask. side of Lloyd I don't think. I headed south a lot more this year. (Yes to Calgary to see Mike...awww). I just want to be a good friend this year. I want to be there for the girls when they need me and even when they don't. I think it will be easier when we see each other everyday and I live with Muffin.
Money makes the world go round....I am stumped about my job for the school year. Today I spoke with a lady to see if she would hire me back, when I don't know if my heart is really in it for entirely the right reasons, or if the dollar figure is taking over. I have so many prospects for jobs and I haven't decided on one. It is sort of stressing me out, since part of me doesn't even want to work. I guess things will work themselves out.
My parents. They also stress me out. More so because my dad tends to get himself so busy that he can't find time to help me with projects and I have a house that I need to move into at the end of the week which is no where near finished. I am even more stressed out because I am going to be putzing around Vancouver and they are going to be busting their butts to get this place done, when I should have procrastinated less and had it done 2 months ago. Hindsight is wonderful I guess. Also, I want to treat my parents better and I am really having a hard time with that right now. Maybe it will get a bit better when I don't live in the same house with them. We'll see about that...
So, bible study and volunteering can go together. The other day I was really compelled with the thought that I wanted to start a "cool" bible study this year at school. Here is the me being a judger thing....I don't really want to participate in some stuffy "Christian Friends" thing on campus. I sorta want to start my own thing where some college people get together and talk about the bible a bit and talk about their lives and maybe with that talking and chilling and eating see how God is working in their lives. Me included in this. I think that I could offer a less "square" environment for people. I told Sandi about this idea today and she told me that it would be great and I would bring in a whole new group of people. That's what I want to do. I want to open some people's eyes and be there for them. I need some serious guidance with this though, so Kyle be prepared that you may soon get an email from me in regards to the above information. Also about volunteering. It has kinda weighed on me all summer that I never volunteered at the Edge like I wanted to. But I have this awesome plan, and if it fits into my schedule it will be even better. I want to volunteer at the Edge during the school year and hopefully talk some of the girls from class into doing it to. Who better to hang out with teens than Child and Youth Care Workers. It's all about building relationships, and I am excited cause I think some of the girls would really be into that idea.
Sidenote - so excited when I heard today that the Edge is going to have a college night. I am going to tell everyone to be there or be square. I'll do it too...
So I think that is enough for one evening. I think sometimes it is better to get things out onto paper or something. It makes your head feel a little clearer. So I feel good right now. I do believe that I am going to go and read some of "Blue Like Jazz" so that Mike can have it back when he moves into school.
I think that I am satisfied with the blog entry. Feel free to let me know if you are. It was pretty darn random and I appologize once again. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if I had just sat down and done it a couple times, instead of just sitting and thinking about doing it. Someday I will learn.
Alright. Peace out and a little bit of love for ya!

Oh how life gets in the way...

2005-08-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Alright, even though probably no one reads this blog except for two folks (you know who you are) I am going to take a second to appologize for my lack of blogging recently. Life just got in the way. Not that I really wanted it to. It just kinda did for a little bit there. There was some good to that, but I tend to somewhat enjoy routine and a slack one at that. So things got a little hectic and the first thing to suffer was my blog. In some ways I think that is okay, since what time I did have I tried to put into relationships with people that are kinda important to me. Family, friends, Mike...you know, stuff like that.
So the parade and the School float were a success. No, we did not win a prize, or even place in the competition for that matter. But or float and our hard work looked darn good. For about an hour, before we took it on the road and it got pretty much torn to pieces by the wind and the long treck from one end of vermilion to the other and back. But it turned out to be a good time. The other two girls that I work with enjoyed themselves too. We thought it would suck pretty bad, but we had some fun with it and it didn't seem as bad as we had made it out to be... and we got the afternoon off from work. I don't know if that was with pay or not, but I am charging it on my timesheet anyways since we put in ten and a half hours of our own after work time to make the stupid thing. Yah, I am still a little bit hostile about the situation.
Moving on, I have gone to Calgary twice in the last 3 weeks. First was with Tina for the Stampede. Second was with my brother and sister-in-law and neice (it was a free ride) for a date day with Mike and Tim. It was a really good time. We went for breakfast, then went to the Zoo (which was a GREAT time by the way), then went to a funny show (movie for those who didn't grow up in Vermilion), and finished it with a nice morning of church. It was kinda cut short, but what can you do when you get a free ride from a close family member, right? Calgary has been treating me really well these days and is showing me that I could live there and that it would like me to reside in it's glory of an actual pretty city. Let's just say it's nothing like Edmonton.
Last weekend Mike and my friend Muffin came down to old V-town for the annual fair. It was an alright time. They both said they enjoyed themselves, but I wish I could have offered them a little bit of a better time. I did offer them good food courtesy of my mom and a bit of me. They liked that I know.
I am beggining to clean up my house. I bought paint for the living room today. I would like to get it done by Friday and suprise Mike a little bit since he kinda doesn't think I can get the whole place done by the end of the month. Which is the cutoff for me. I must finish before I leave for Vancouver. Then I can enjoy my trip in peace and come back and get right into the school thing. Here's hoping. Sometimes I am a procrastinator, but I seem to always accomplish my goals. Despite what some people might think. Even if I do get stressed out a little bit it is usually worth it for the end result. Keep that in mind Mike Schalin...
I took in my resume to the local department store today to see if they would be willing to hire my sorry butt for the remainder of the summer and for the school year. We'll see what they say. If they don't like my butt, then I guess I will be back to work at the good old Fields (the place of my high school employment). Either one will work for me. They both pay me money. So who knows...
I feel like this blog has gone far longer than I had anticipated. I do beleive that I will cut it short. Since I have a little old book of Mike's that I would sort of like to read and I could easily fall asleep soon. So I must get ready for bed and switch the old laundry over. Ah, good times being an adult.
Do you see what I mean that life gets in the way?

The Earth is Good to Me. Johnny Appleseed.

2005-07-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

Well...What a fantastic day. It started out pretty shaky, but ended in the grand scheme of things pretty darn well.
To begin the bad morning I stepped on a hammer that had been placed on our step in our house as I was running down to my room to change because I had chosen to wear a hoodie on a hot day and couldn't bear it and was running late, hence the running down the stairs. The hammer was there because my mom had brought it in and set it there, since my dad had carelessly left it outside for her to find. As usual. So I stepped on the claw with my heel and yelled and kept running. I came back upstairs only to find a substantial amount of blood on my foot. So I cleaned it up, put good old polysporin on, and and band-aid and ran out the door, since now I was going to be late. I sped a little bit to work (which for me isn't too fast...120 tops). I got there right on time and got to work. I found myself making absolutely stupid mistakes that took me a while to fix. So the morning didn't go too well. And my tummy didn't feel too hot so that didn't help.
When I sit back and think about it this will shape up to be a great day, if I can manage to shove all that bad morning stuff away (and ignore the slight throbbing in my heel). Today is great because of many things. First thing I woke up and felt wonderful. Just before I went to bed last night something great happened. I don't want to go in to much detail (it's kinda personal), but God did a great thing for me last night. So I woke up still feeling great about it. I went upstairs to have a shower and started my daily routine in the bathroom with the window open to let the breeze (if any) in to cool the place down. So, I did nothing out of the ordinary but it felt much different. I took a moment and just chilled. The birds were singing, the sun was shining, the grass was wet with rain from the night, and I was alive. Today felt a lot different. I was in my bathroom thinking about how great everything in the world is and how much it is taken for granted usually. So, I decided to take a minute and thank God for all of the wonderful things that he has done for me and for everyone else to enjoy. What a great world. Yah. That was my thought process this morning.
At work I decided that tonight was going to be a "do nothing night". Contrary to what I had planned before (I was going to work on my house that I am going to move in to in the fall), I have shoved all of my plans aside to just be for the night. Although I have since thought of some things I should do before I chill, I have a pretty slack schedule for today:
-work
-go to the bank
-buy ticket to Vancouver
-blog
-do laundry
-make card for baby gift
-wrap baby gift
-watch Coronation Street with my Mom
-read Shopaholic (main goal is to finish it)
-talk to Mike
-go to bed
I feel like all of this can be accomplished pretty easily since I am already at make card for baby. I am feeling pretty good about this. I also talked to a friend at the bank today. It seemed a little awkward, and then she divulged that there was something going on with her and the boy who I loving call "firefighter". He is finishing school this week and she told me that he is moving to Edmonton. This is sounding pretty good for her and she seemed pretty pumped about it. I was glad to see her happy. I think it's so nice for her, since her ex-boyfriend dumped her on her birthday (nice guy). That was another thing that made me think of God.
I am going to finish up here with some more somewhat random thoughts. I was waiting for something to happen in my life last night. I was talking with Mike about it on the phone. He decided to pray with me on the phone. I got off the phone kinda doubting what he had done to be honest. Three minutes later it happened. What a great God. I kinda feel bad since maybe he did it just to make me believe again. Not that I don't believe, but maybe other things were taking over as significant things in my life and I was giving him all of the time that I needed to be. Maybe he was just opening my eyes a little bit. But I am so grateful that he did. What he did for me last night meant a lot to me. I called Mike to tell him that it had happened and all that he said was "make sure you thank Jesus tonight." Well I sure did. I prayed for a long time last night. I am no expert at praying. Although I don't think it is really that hard. But I don't really think I am that good at it. But I think that last night was my best praying ever. It felt nice to just lay there and spend some time with the guy who saved my life. Good times.
Peace and love...Cara

No More Mullett

2005-07-09T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well folks I got myself a haircut today. My good little sister (adopted-like), Chantel, put her good hairdressing skills to work this afternoon and got rid of my growing out mullett. Ah, how much better do I feel. A lot. Although, as of late I have been feeling a little less than my beautiful self. But not to worry, I am sure in a few days I will be feeling back up to par.
My progress on my baby quilt is at a standstill. I actually messed up a little bit on it today, so I am not too impressed. To be honest, I am just generally in a bad mood today (yes, partially because I miss Mike a little bit), but I think a lot of things are just starting to bother me or bring me a down a wee bit. I am sure I will bounce back. I am going to make another attempt at this darn baby blanket tonight. I will get it done before this weekend. Partially because I have to if I want it to be given to her at the baby shower, but mostly because I just want to feel the satisfaction of completing something wonderful that someone else will enjoy.
Oh, and I would like to point out that Mike Schalin is a GREAT boyfriend. Because of a comment made in a phone conversation we had earlier today I went out and bought myself a new pair of sandals. Since I have been trying to curb my spending habits I have not been purchasing useless things. I found out the other day while I was at work that my current pair of Nike sandals actually hurt my feet and I inspected the sole to find that they are broken. I decided that I needed to replace them with new Nike sandals so that they could last me another 5 years. So that is what I did. But unlike my usual shopaholic self...I bought the cheapest pair the store had. That is crazy for me. I actually chose to purchase the cheapest and not prettiest Nike sandals there. I am pretty darn proud of myself. So proud I came home to boast to my parents about my new spending habits. Yah me! So what I ended up with was a $70 pair of sandals for $44. That's right folks - THEY WERE ON SALE! So this excites me even more. It is such a good feeling to find a good sale item.
Despite my general feeling of glum I am going to end this blog, go upstairs and have supper with my parents, throw some laundry in, and work on my baby quilt. I feel like that will be a sufficient end to a productive day. I also went to Lloydminster in the wee hours of the morning to develop some pictures. Despite my general feeling of glum today I think it will end up being an alright day. And I need to rest up for church in the morning (who knows who I will talk to about the current goings-on of my relationship this week) and then get ready for a very important trip to Edmonton in the afternoon.
Peace...Cara

Clogged Colons and Bloated Bowels

2005-07-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Before I begin I would like to clear the air of any misconceptions about the current state of my uterus. No, it is not swollen nor do I have Chlamydia. Just to set the record straight there...
A light has been shone on my current ailment. (Actually it was a gynocoligist's light shone in the wrong end of me...being my mouth) But moving on - I have been feeling ill for the past week. At the lake everyone got really worried about me and told me to go the doctor. Of course, I didn't go right away. So I ended up missing a day of work and getting an appointment the next evening with my dad's friend, the gynocologist. She checked me out and to my surprise (I thought that my appendix would explode at any moment) the reason I was feeling was so ill was because my bowels are a little troubled right now. One tiny little issue has caused my whole body to be thrown out of whack. The end result was my feeling like crap every night and lack of visits to the washroom. I appologize for my openness on this topic, but that is what is wrong with me. So I have some pills and things should start to regulate themselves pretty soon here. Here's hoping!
Moving on to much more important things. Today is a very significant day, since it is my niece, Jayden's, first birthday. One whole year we have blessed with her on this earth. And what a wonderful year it has been. I am so grateful for that little girl. She has had a huge impact on my growing up over the past little while. I don't know how much love one child can take, but I think she has the love directed at her that 10 children would normally recieve. Let's just say she holds a special spot in a lot of people hearts. She had 15 people at her birthday party down at the river. Not one of them was under 21. I was the youngest. The rest were grandparents, aunts and uncles, and adopted aunts and uncles. A good group of people all around. That little girl has brought some people together that I would have never thought would sit down and have a converstation. What a great kid.
Another bit of exciting news is that I was invited to a baby shower for a little girl today. I went to school with her mom and we used to be quite close. So an invitation was passed on to me through my mom, but I am not going to be able to go. I am going to be at the Calgary Stampede (yah!) that weekend. So, to show that I am glad this little girl is in the world I am hand-making a little baby quilt for her. I am starting it tonight and with the help of my sister I will hopefully get it done pretty darn soon.
This is going to be a pretty busy weekend. But I think that I will blog tommorow to tell you of my adventures that are going to take place over the next 2 days. Oh, I am so excited.
Peace...Cara

Chlamydia...it may sound pretty, but it is NOT a flower

2005-07-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

I say this in jest to a conversation Mike and I had the other day...and in reference to my trip to the gynecologist tommorow. No, I am not going there because my uterus is swollen or something like that. I am going because she is friend of my dad and she got me in to see her as soon as she could because I think that my appendix could rupture at any moment if I don't attend to the situation. So with that, I left work very early today because I didn't feel so hot. Then I napped and then I went to an old friend's grandma's funeral. It was sad, but in a weird way it reassured me about God and how is waiting for you with an eternal life and all of this great stuff and then you get to see everyone you love and miss when it's all over. It scared me in a good way. Way to go God.
So I have been thinking very intensely lately about making plans. I have a lot of ideas in my head right now and I am trying to start arranging for them to happen. I am planning a trip to Vancouver at the end of the summer. So I was researching plane ticket prices and times tonight. I was also looking for possible practicum placements in Calgary that I could line up. I have decided that I can't decide what I would like to do now. I have had inner city experience now, and am drawn back to that area in another city. Part of me thinks that if I would like to get my foot in the door for a possible job when I finish school, then I should pick somewhere I can see myself working for a while. I don't know if inner city is gonna be my thang. I would love for it to be, but the pay isn't that good and I think I could burn out much quicker in that line of work. I am also drawn to addictions. There is so much in this field that I don't know where I would go. I also have a placement lined up in the addictions field, so I feel like I should try to get something that I haven't done yet. But, if I want to work there when I am finished school, maybe I should look into addictions. Do you see where I am a little confused right now.
I am also starting to make plans about bigger goings on in my life right now. I am overwhelmed, but it is for sure in a good way. I know that if I just trust a little and rely on some good friends, it will all work out and I will be okay.
I spent some quality time with my neice tonight, and as always, it was a spectacular time. Other than her falling over and bumping herself on the chair and crying really really hard, it went well. She is always so great, and always makes me feel so good. Kinda like a much smaller version of Mike. Because if you don't know it yet, you will now. He does the same things for me.
I feel as if I should end this blog now. I am getting sleepy, and although my thoughts are sometimes better described when I am getting a little droopy eyed, I feel like the best idea is to sleep so that I am not sick anymore.
Lots of love...Cara

Where to begin when you've come so far...

2005-07-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Wow. My very first blog. I am a little nervous and not quite sure where to begin. So, I think I will start at the beginning (somewhat). This past year has been a blast. I have done really well in school and quite enjoy it. I am satisfied that the area of social work is where I want to spend the rest of my life working in. I have a super family. A great mom and dad. A super brother and sister-in-law. And a wonderful little niece. I also have the bestest best friend. And the worlds best boyfriend (in my opinion anyways). It's been a good year, considering I was in quite a bit of trouble a little over a year ago. Oh, and I just got to celebrate 2 birthdays in 2 weeks for myself. That was a pretty big deal. And a good deal too.
I have a huge pile of plans for myself for the next year and a bit. I am working on them bit by bit, so I hopefully they all pan out for me.
I was a little glum today for 2 reasons. Well, maybe 3. First, was that Mike is back in Calgary for another 2 weeks before I see him again, and that thought in general tends to make me glum. Second, my friends grandma passed away yesterday and that makes me sad. She was one of the sweetest little old ladies ever. So when something like happens you can't help but be a little bit down. Third, Mike's little sister, Ashley, is going to Jamaica today and that makes me a little glum too. Mainly because I know that his family is down about the situation, but also because I don't want anything to happen to her. I haven't even met her yet, but I care about her already. Sorta like she is my little sister, and I don't want her to screw up.
That is about all that I am feeling at the moment, although I am not very focused. People are eating upstairs, and there is a little girl waiting for me to come up and play with her for a bit. So I suppose...but I know that I feel a lot of love right now. Pretty much for everyone. Even after I just spent 3 hours in a truck with my dad and helped him pack up the trailer after camping, and neither of us are in that terrible of a mood. Wonders never cease.
Peace...Cara