Things to do in this lifetime....

I ended up reading on tumblr people's dreams before they die, and I decided to write a "Bucket List" of my own. In no particular order...

- Receive a promise ring.
- Go an entire day without using technology.
- Kiss under mistletoe.
- Buy a homeless person a Christmas present.
- Throw a dart at a map and travel wherever it lands.

- Go to England, Ireland and Scotland.

- Ride in a hot air balloon.

- Watch a sunrise/sunset with the love of my life.

- Donate my hair.

- Go on an Alaskan Disney cruise.

- Own a pet skunk.

- Wear a beautiful wedding dress.

- Have a baby.

- Make a difference in this world.

- Follow the path that God has planned for me.

- Get butterflies in my stomach when I know he's "the one".

- Get in a taxi and yell, "Follow that car!"

- See a whale in the ocean.

- Visit Guatemala again.

- Have a song dedicated to me.

- Read the entire Bible.

- Slow dance in the rain.

- Stand on top of a mountain.

- Lie on my back with my love beside me, stargazing and singing together.

- See a show on Broadway.

- Say, "I do".

- Pay for a stranger's groceries/order at a restaurant

- Have a food fight.

- Go zip lining.

- Walk across a suspension bridge in a forest.

- Be an inspiration for someone.

- Be in 2 places at once.

- Visit all 7 continents.

- Skydive.

- Be a part of a flash mob.

- See the northern lights.

- Be the change I wish to see.

- See someone come to Christ that I have witnessed to, and see them mature in their relationship with Him.

- See a moose in real life.

Of course, this list will grow.... I'm sure :)

Thankful, yet again!

Life has been quite busy the past couple of months, and I still cannot believe it!! I went through a time when I had nothing to do after work, but lately it's been crazy! But a good crazy!

I know that I say this over and over and over again in quite a few of my posts, but everyday I am SO thankful for what is happening in my life! I cannot believe what God is doing! I remember talking to a friend awhile ago, and saying that this year was going to have purpose, and that I was not going to be the same by 2012. I can confidently say that I am not the same as I was at the beginning of this year! And I know I will not be the same on December 31st as I am now!

Are there some things I wish I had done differently? Reacted differently? Done more of or less of? Of course... I'm only human after all, but because of God's unfailing and never ending grace, I can say that I am looking at the future, and not focusing on past mistakes!

Art Crawl

I told a friend about a week ago that I would take photos of her art in case it sold at the Art Crawl that was on today. I ended up working until 6, and then told her I would be there by 7:30.

When I got off work, I didn't want to do anything or go anywhere! Sitting in front of the tv with the feet up was ALL I wanted to do! But... I went anyways, like I promised I would!

And I was NOT let down!

My church had some pieces in the Art Crawl. It was a great experience to be there and see all the people coming in and seeing the work of a handful of talented individuals from the church! It was a great experience to just spend time with friends, and chat, and see the talent that the church has!

After spending a couple hours there, I got in my car, turned on CBC Radio, and drove around downtown. I felt so inspired! I wanted to just park and walk around, but I figured that might not be the safest thing to do at 10 o'clock at night. So I continued to just drive. I made it to the Mountain Brow and decided to take pictures of the skyline at night.

I felt filled and rejuvenated!

Something just sparked in me tonight, yet again!

...I think it all started after a couple of us were chatting with one of the artist's, and she said something to the affect of,"When you do art on your own agenda, it takes a long time, but when you allow God to work through you, it is finished quickly."

That struck a cord in me.

I have a painting sitting on my easel, that I have been working on for almost a year. And why? Because I have been doing it on my own agenda! But then I look at some pieces of a series I did a couple months ago, and I completed a couple of them within a couple hours. And that was because I was focused on God!

The view from the window

A friend of mine just got an apartment in Hamilton, and she has had absolutely no furniture for the past couple weeks, but tonight we went to Ikea! Oh how I LOVE Ikea! I couple spend all day in there, no problem!!

We put together her kitchen table, and it just makes the whole place look so much more home-y and livable! And I got so happy and excited for her, just seeing it come together!

I've been dealing with feelings of inadequacy and feeling like I'm a) going nowhere in life, and b) a bit of a failure, as I have gone to university, and graduated with a BA in Psychology, but I'm still working at a bakery, which I have been working at for 3 years now... I just feel like I spent all that money and time, and I haven't really make any effort to find anything else.

But I've just been listening to that song "While I'm Waiting", which I talked a bit about in my previous post. The song is just about waiting on God when times are rough, or when you feel like He's left you alone, or no matter what you're going through, that you will wait patiently, and worship, serve and praise His name, as if things were going just peachy! And I feel convicted tonight, to just turn to Him, and just trust Him with my life! Yes, I do really need to take the necessary steps to find something else, but if nothing comes out of those things, I need to trust that I didn't get the job because God has something better out there for me!

So... here I am... waiting patiently on the Lord.

...it's almost like it never happened....

What a week! Thanksgiving Saturday at Bennett's is the BUSIEST of the year! The week before is tiring and draining, and then Friday and Saturday come.... and it's over. For another 364 days!

I was thinking today how you work SO hard on something for days, weeks, months, or years, and then one day it's all over! So much work went into the past week at Bennett's, and now it's all over!

Despite the craziness, sore feet, and exhaustion, I am thankful to work at Bennett's! Like any job, it has it's moments when I would much rather be somewhere else, but overall I am thankful that I have a job. I've made some great friendships there, and they are what make work enjoyable!

I watched Fireproof today, and forgot how much I like it. A couple songs caught my attention, and I had to download them :)

"While I'm Waiting" by John Waller is a song about being obedient to God and following Him even in times of trial, and when it seems that God has left you alone. A couple lines I love from it are,

"I will move ahead, bold and confident;

Taking every step in obedience.

While I'm waiting, I will serve you.

While I'm waiting I will worship.

While I'm waiting I will not faint.

I'll be running the race, even while I wait"

No matter what I am going through, I strive to keep my eyes on Jesus!! I strive to worship him, even if I don't feel like it, or I feel like I have been abandoned, because it is after that time of solitude that amazing things will begin to happen!

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with my whole family tomorrow. I'm planning on bringing my camera and tripod, and getting a family picture :)

For Christmas, I'm making my Nanny either a quilt or pillow cases (haven't decided yet) with pictures all over it, and right at the center is going to be the most recent family photo :) I had a hard time deciding what to make Nanny for Christmas, and my mom suggested a quilt of photos. And so, over the next few months, I have my work cut out for me :) Although... my mom is going to be helping me put it together, because I have no idea what I'm doing :P haha!

"You're my daughter, you're my son;

You're the one I long to love.

And you've heard I chose to die;

Do you know you're the reason why?"

"You Belong to Me" - Grey Holiday

And this is what I'm thankful for.

Light of Your Face

Lately I have been listening to a lot of Ian McIntosh. I love his sound and his lyrics! He is just an overall good artist!

I was just listening to my ipod, and a song came on that I've hear before and love, but it had a different beat and sound to it. When I looked, I saw that it was the song "Light of Your Face" by Jesus Culture, but it was on an album I just bought of Ian, that I haven't listened to yet, featuring Melissa How. Two of my favourite artists/bands together! I love it! :)

"Oh Lord, bless me and keep me. Cause your face to shine on me.

Lord be gracious; lift the light of Your countenance.

Give me peace.

I live only to see your face, so shine on me!

Let the light of your face shine down on my heart and let me feel it."

Weddings - Nathan & Janelle

At the beginning of May I had the privilege of photographing the union of a beautiful couple, Nathan & Janelle. Here's some of my favourites from the day!

Back at it!

It's been FAR too long, and so here I am, just writing a very short post to let all 3 people that are apparently following me that I am back at this yet again!

I shall write more later cuz it's 12:30am and I have to work soon!

So... Goodnight my friends!

New New NEW!!!

Dora (my car - 95 Civic) has been slowly dying... it was coming to a point where I was putting more and more money intoit, so it was time to get a new car. I went looking all over, and then I went to a used-car dealership that I have been told by many people is awesome! So, I checked out Haldimand Motors, and I found my new car!! She is a silver 2007 Honda Civic. I did some research on whatkind of car I should go with and stuff, and when it comes down to it, Hondas have the best ratings, so I stuck with Honda, and I really like Civics. The funny thing is, Izzy (my new car) is just a newer version of Dora!!! I apparently like my Honda Civic DX's :P

I had Dora for 6 or 7 years (I can't really remember anymore :S), so she was AWESOME while I had her!!

Also new in my life, well GOING to be new, is my Ipod touch! It's on it's way!!! Izzy has an auxiliary (sp?) outlet, and I like the idea of not having to have billions of CDs in the car, but my current Ipod is only a 8GB, and only holds a portion of my music library! So I ordered a 32GB 3rd generation Ipod touch. I'm really looking forward to it :) I was debating just getting the Ipod classic, but as I was talking to people and then thinking about it, there are so many cool apps on the touch; one of which I'm really looking forward to is the Bible in ALL translations! I love thatidea! It's great in church and stuff! So, I should be getting it on Monday or Tuesday :)

On a completely different topic:

For a numberof years now, I have wanted to be a full-time missionary overseas, and a number of times, I have had it prophesied over me that I will indeed be doing that! At church, they often talk about how "missions" is right outside of our front door, but I have always had a hard time getting that mindset!! For 4 days at the beginning of this month the people of Living Hope (the church I attend) all took part in prayer and fasting. Many people fasted from food, and others, like myself, fasted from other things that take up LOTS of their time. I fasted from TV (which included movies), the internet, and I ate healthy (which I am trying my best to continue into the restof the year!) I was fasting to grow closer to God; when I wasn't working or busy, I was praying, listening to worship music, drawing, paintingor dancing!! It was an AWESOME time!! God showed me things and showed Himself to me in ways that I have been needing to see Him, but I haven't spent the time with Him to actually see it. Also, during these 4 days, something changed in my heart and mind - I now have a passion to see those just outside my front door come to the Lord!! When I walk outside or to work, I try to ask God who He wants me to talk to or what He wants me to do to show others His love. It has been an awesome experience!! Just after the prayer time at the church on Friday night, I had 2 really good conversations/connections take place that might not have happened had I not spent that time with God!!! I was taken to NEW levels in my relationship with God that I have never been to before!! I am the closest to God than I have EVER been before!! It's awesome!! I love it!!! I am trying everyday (some days are easier than others, I have to admit) to ask God how I can be used to impact a life. I want to be His instrument that He uses to speak to those who don't yet know Him, or even those who do know Him, but have maybe fallen away or need to grow in their relationship with Him.

This year is going to be a year of breakthrough!! I have seen MANY things happen throughout my whole life where God's hand has been, but this year, I want to grow so much in my relationship with my Saviour, that I will become SO sensitive to His calling, His whispers, and His nudgings that I can one who can distinguish His voice from the worlds,Satan's, and my own! Not only am I believing that this year lives are going to be changed because of my obedience to the Lord, but I am also believing that I am going to change! If I don't change, how can I be used to change lives?? It just doesn't work!! In 2012, or even at the end of 2011, I don't want to look back and see that I haven't really made a difference or that I haven't really changed!!

I'm REALLY looking forward to this year!!! Amazing things are going to happen!!!

Are YOU open to changethis year? Are you open to making a decision that will change and make your life BETTER?? Because let me tell you, asking Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour is THE BEST decision I ever made!! And it is NEVER too late!!! God accepts you as you are, with ALL of your hurts and with all the decisions that you have ever made! Will you accept His love??

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For my birthday and Christmas, I just asked for money to get a new camera! These are some of the pics that I've taken in the orchard that I live at! :)