Boy or Girl?

In a couple weeks I will have my next ultra sound, and it's the big one, we can find out if we are having a boy or a girl.  Phil and decided a long time ago that we want the surprise in the delivery room so we are going to opt out of the option at the ultra sound.  It's so funny to see people's reaction when we tell them we're NOT finding out.  I guess with the option now it's just assumed everyone would want to find out. 

Deep down of course I would like to know ahead of time.  I can plan a pink or blue room and start the babies wardrobe.  But there is something exciting about finding out in the moment of the babies birth.  I have a nice neutral plan for the room and then I can add touches of blue or pink when the time comes.  As for clothes, i'll get a few things to get me started and then i'll let the grandma's do some shopping and when the babies born.  We have a name for either already to go we just need he or she to arrive.

My mom thinks we will cave in the ultra sound room and end up finding out.  I'm the kid that opened that snooped through the house looking for my Christmas gifts, even opening them and re-wrapping when my parents weren't hope.  So she thinks there is no way I can wait for this surprise.  However i'm older and wiser now, once she said that to me now i'm determined not to give in just to prove that I can stick to my guns.  Challenge accepted mom!

The trip that wasn't meant to be

At the end of January my husband and I booked my dream vacation to the Myan Riviera in Mexico.  I had never done the all inclusive trip before and after a couple jam packed touristy trips it was time for the relaxing vacation on the beach.  We got an amazing deal on a 5 star resort and I couldn't wait.  I had to wait until the beginning of May to go but I knew it would be well worth the wait.

At the end of February we got the exciting news that we were going to have a baby!  There was no immediate concern about going on the trip but on and off for the first few months I had some complications.  As the trip got closer my doctor recommended I not travel and cancel the trip.  This is one of those times that you obviously take your doctors advice very seriously.  We cancelled the trip and I stayed home and rested.  I threw myself a pitty party the first few days at home thinking about how I could be on a beach reading or in the pool.  This was going to be our last hoora before we start our family and travelling becomes very different.  Obviously a very selfish moment on my part forgetting the bigger picture here and God brought me quickly back to the heart of the matter.

We are over the moon about our little bundle and this was our first decision as parents to protect our child.  Surely there will be many more moments like this when we give up something for our child, that's part of being parents. 

I am so excited about this journey into motherhood and so grateful for God's blessing on our family!

Good-bye My Friend

Today in a beautiful pink dress Oprah Winfrey took her last walk across the stage of her show after 25 years.  I will be 35 this year and for the past at least 20 years of my life the Oprah show has been a part of it.  I can't say that i've seen every single show Oprah has done, i went to school and work, but when i got a VCR and then the PVR I was able to catch most of the shows.  I realize that everyone has a different opinion of Miss O and i've heard them all and everyone is entitled to their opinion. 

This is why I have admired Oprah for many years, here is a woman from the back woods of Mississippi who came from nothing, the poorest of poor, and look at what she has done.  And it's not all about the money and the fame.  First of all she is probably the richest woman in the world but also the most philanthropic.  She is an ambassador for education.  Through grants and scholarships provided through her show she has educated over 64,000 children.  She has opened the dialogue for issues that were never spoken about, abuse, drug addiction, body image and brought us real people with real stories that could touch our lives.

If I were to write out my "bucket list" being in the audience at the Oprah should would have been on the top of the list and I never did it.  I've been to The View & Regis & Kelly but I never thought I would have a shot at Oprah tickets all these years so I never really tried.  And one thing I should have learned from Oprah all these years is you can do anything and I didn't even take her advice to get to her show!  I will kick myself for awhile on that one.

There were no guests today, no surprises, no cars or trips, just Oprah, the stage and her look back on 25 years.  After today there will be no more calling your girlfriends "did you see Oprah today?"  For many husbands i'm sure that comes as a blessing. 

For years people have questioned Oprah's faith, today she made it very clear.  I am rewinding my PVR so that I can quote what she said about what she believes.

"Nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me.  For all of you who get riled up when I mention God and you want to know which God I'm talking about, I'm talking about the Alpha and the Omega, the Omniscient, the Omnipresent, the ultimate consciousness, the source the force of everything and all there is, the one and only G-O-D - that's the one I'm talking about.  I know I have never belone and you haven't either, that presence that flow, some people call it grace, is working in my life at every single turn and yours too if you let it in.  It's closer than your breath and it is yours for the asking.  I have felt the presend of God my whole life even when I didn't have a name for it I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me and we all can hear that same voice, be still and know it.  You can acknowledge it or not, you can worship it or not, you can praise it or ignore it or you can know it.  Know it, it's always there, speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it."

Until we meet again Oprah, thanks for the memories. 

A Place of Yes

One of my guilty pleasure TV shows is the "Real Housewives" franchise, specifically New York.  I love NYC in general and I get hoot out of these women.  Bethenny Frankel was one of the cast members and branched out into her own show.  I was always interested in her story because she didn't have the greatest of childhoods and upbringings and managed to rise above it all and become quite a successful business woman and I love stories like that.  She used the reality shows to get her name and brand out there and it worked.  She is a natural foods chef and started her brand by writing Naturally Thin and help women stop the dieting craze, learn to just eat right, eat proper proportions but also not to deny yourself.  That booked launched Bethenny's career.  She tried many times before but never gave up.  I really enjoyed reading her story in her latest book "A Place of Yes" and how she let go of the past and made a choice to not let her past define her.  At a certain age alot of women would give up on having that career if it hadn't happened for them yet.  Bethenny didn't give up and it didn't happen for her until later in life.  It all happened for her at once too, her career exploded, she got married and had a baby girl.  These are all thing she had wanted for years and they finally happened, good things come to those who wait. 

She's a strong woman and I admire that about her.  I definately related to her stories as a newlywed getting married later in life and that adjustment to living with someone after being single for so long, it's a whole new world! 
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Place-of-Yes/Bethenny-Frankel/9781439186909

The Memory Palace

I just finished "The Memory Palace" by Mira Bartok.  This book caught my eye because of the underlying story of forgiveness between two daughters and their mother.  Every family has their issues and it's painful to see families torn apart and not speaking but stories like this shows that there is hope for every family to find a way back to each other.

Mira and her sister were raised in a stressful family to say the least.  Once a musical prodigy, their mother suffered from schizophrenia and to escape they went to play at their grandparents house who were a pair to be reckoned with as well.  Mira seemed to get dragged into all the family drama while her sister lived in a world of make believe and seemed oblivious to it all.  As the girls entered college the stress of their mothers disease became too much for them.  She harrassed them and threatened to kill herself if they didn't come home.  The girls had to make a choice and cut themselves off from their mother.  They changed their names and disappeared.  Mira kept a post office box and continued to write her mother without ever revealing where she had moved to.

The book is a back and forth between life now for the girls and glimpses back to their lives growing up.  When Mira received word that her mother was ill and dying the girls went to be by her side in the hospital.  They found keys to a storage unit that their mother had filled over the years and was full of their childhood memories.  Toys, letters, photos that their mother had kept which brought their memories flooding back to them.

Somewhere in all of this the girls find forgiveness and realization of how their mother was robbed of her life by schizophrenia and as a reader you see the real effects of this disease on the person and their family.  They will never get those years back but at the end of their mother's life there was peace and hope for anyone else who needs to find that peace within themselves and their family.

http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Memory-Palace/Mira-Bartok/9781439183311

Not such a lady

Lady Gaga seems to be this generations Madonna.  Trying to always push the envelope and shock everyone with her videos, lyrics or live show.  I heard Lady Gaga's new song today called "Judas".  The chorus repeats over and over that she's in love with Judas....you know the guy who betrayed Christ...."Jesus is my virtue, and Judas is the demon I cling to.  I’m just a holy fool…oh baby he’s so cruel, but I’m still in love with Judas, baby"  We shouldn't be shocked because we've seen this before with Madonna.....remember "Like a Prayer"?


But sadly these very uninspiration lyrics are from someone who is topping the mainstream charts and influencing millions of people who buy her albums and flock to her shows.  We always need to pray for these artists who are such a huge influence on this generation of young people and keep praying for the Christian artists that they would stay strong in this business and keep giving us great music that can inspire us. 


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Maple Syrup time!

I've been seeing the commercials on TV for all the maple syrup festivals and sugar bush tours so we decided to check one out this weekend.  It was in Utopia between Barrie & Angus at the Tiffin Conservation Park.  I had no idea it even existed but the place was packed so apparantly i'm the only one in the dark.  You get a tour of how Maple Syrup is made, tapping the trees etc. and a full breakfast with the homemade maple syrup which was delicious! 


I was excited for the petting zoo, I love all the furry animals.  Well when we got there it was not a furry animal petting zoo, more like reptiles and bugs which I don't love.  My husband put his fears aside and got involved - I stepped back to take pictures and then left immediately because there was a large tarantula being passed around.