The Last Day of 2008...

It is the last day of this year today; and I won't beat around the bush- I'm glad 2008's over. Thats probably the first time I've said that too. Usually I hate for years to end.. for example last year I really didn't want it to end; but this year I'm so ready for a new year. A new page, a new beginning, a new start.

As I look back over the year as a whole, I kind of give it a rating; I think probably everybody does that. I dont rate complicated, it was either a good year, a bad year or an amazing year.

2005-

was a good year-LDC happened, other stuff happened, it was just really sweet overall.

2006-

wasn't overly amazing-I graduated and that was cool, but it had some pretty big bumpy patches

2007-

BEST year ever! super amazing! By the end of January I knew I wanted to quit my job, which I did at the end of June, 'washed my hands of it' By April I came up with the thought up going to Australia-by May I got my passport, By June I had my tickets, By July I knew what I was doing out there, So 4 days after the most amazing 5 weeks of Camp, God carried me across the world and tucked me in Down Under, and held my hand and took me through the hugest highlight of my life. I had a few months of not worrying about my future at all, I had no clue what I would do when I got home, and I just didnt' even give a rip about it, it didnt' bother me, didn't phase me. I was in amazing place; hanging out with amazing people on the most beautiful beaches and places, Seeing and doing things I'd never ever done before. Blew my bank account to pieces, it was the sweetest of sweet.

2008-

I think I knew that after coming off such a big high like that it would be hard to return to normal life, 2008 was a year of 1 year anniversaries, except that it was hard to be happy on them, cuz I didn't like that the past was slipping further into the past so fast.

A bunch of my friends got married, which was super exciting, but as each of them gain a husband or wife, I always feel like I lose a friend; of course I don't really.. but it changes things up, and its hard to be left behind.

God and me had a rough year this year, which totally affects so many other areas of life as well, cuz He's what makes life go 'round. I have to learn how to put things into His hands, and trust him with my life, and my future.. instead of trying to figure it all out on my own. Its just always so much easier said then done.

The job was real tough this year-after quitting and telling myself I was never going back to daycare, and then getting sucked back in made my attitude towards it not very stellar. Then when I finally got my foot out the door only to get slammed back in a few weeks later; just wasn't a very pretty moment in life. Although I think daycares gone better in the last month, which is a good thing, Im not quite climbling up the walls anymore.

I've learnt to accept it.

Now for the HIGHLIGHTS OF 2008

March 15-23- I flew to Calgary, to my roomate that I had when I was in Australia.

Saw our Rockies for the first time, went to my first NHL game, went to West Edmonton Mall, It was a good time.

(I could sell this pic to a sports mag or something lol)

Saturday April 26th- I bought 'my baby'

a 2008 Pontiac G5 SE

This was taken the day I brought it home.. why was there snow at the end of April??

May- Chantal 's wedding-which made a bunch of time for us girls to all be together again which was really awesome.

its not everyday you get 6 women in a bathtub

July- BCBC- my one week there turned into 2 weeks cuz you can never get enough of the place. I loved my time at camp this year once again.

Summer and beyond..

I turned 20

I went to my first Bombers Game..finally

the friendships that I have with some people got so much tighter, which was awesome, cuz I needed them so bad. Thanks you guys! Much love.

Tonights gonna be a first-Im spending new years in the city.. gonna see the fireworks!! whoo!

I've got high hopes for 2009!

After all.. odd number years seem to be the better ones for me; although i know that doesn't really apply.

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

Merry Christmas PT.2

Once upon a time in August 2007, I went to McDonalds in Australia's Capital city. Canberra.

(say it how the Aussies do and its "Can-bra") Now I don't usually leave my purse places, but this night I did; of course I didn't realize it until my friends and I got home to Cooma (which is like an hour and a half south of Canberra) Anyway my reaction was not good. If you left you purse (with your camera, wallet, and everything else thats pretty dear to you in it) in Winnipeg, like what are the chances that your gonna get it back right? So we called the police in Canberra to see if anyone had turned it in etc. Nothing yet. So for a few days I was just right upset. The one and only time I cried in Australia was when I thought I'd never get my camera back. Anyway one miraculous day my roomate Brooke came running into our apartment (right in the middle of my tear spillage) and was like "Sheila, Sheila,. Sheila! they FOUND YOUR PURSE!" and I was happy.

A few days later we went into Canberra to take Brooke to the airport, so then we also stopped at the Police station to pick up my beloved purse.. mostly my beloved camera. Sure enough it was all in there except for my belov.. nah my 42.00's worth of money. The police told me it was in their safe, but the dude who had the key wasnt there, but they gave me a paper, and said I could come back another time to get it. So that was all fine. So then the next time we went into Canberra which was like a month later, we came back to the station and they were like "We don't have a record of it, go look at such and such a place. So we went to this other police place an they were like "we dont know why they told you to come here cuz its not here either." but go talk to so and so. So the next time we came to Canberra which was just before I flew up to the Sunshine Coast, we talked to this head cheese guy and he didn't understand why;d they put me on such a rat trail, but said he'd send me the money, and I was like well dude Im not gonna be in Australia forever so you're your gonna have to send it back to Canada, cuz its not gonna get to me in time out here. So he's like okay we can arrange that bla bla..So I gave him my address with not much faith that he would actually carry through, but really it wasn't a big deal. cuz its $42.00, its not my whole bank account lol. Anyways I kinda forgot about it all. Came home. Nothing came.

SO a couple months ago I was going through all my Australia stuff and papers, and I came across my paper that the police gave me, and I was like ya know what? Im gonna write these Australia convicts of police a letter and just see what happens, If nothing happens whatever, but Im just curious if they'd reply. So I photocopied the paper they gave me, and wrote a oh-so-professional letter to the Woden Police Station (found their address on the internet) and mailed it off. Totally forgot all about it and then yesterday I got home from work, and my parents are all like serious and there like "Sheila you got mail from the Australian police" and Im like "what did I do???" but then I remembered and I was like"ya gotta be kidding me, they actually replied??!?!!?" so I opened it up and just laughed my head off.. 1 year and 4 months later they sent me my money back!!! I just have to smile. I dont even know if I'll deposit it.. cuz its just fun to look at.

Todays Christmas eve.. but cuz we did everything we would normally do on this day on Sunday, it kinda just feels like a Saturday.I had the greatest sleep in, woke up feeling just great, talked to my sugar for abit, cooked some mac and cheese for dad and me, then he left and i was home alone. I started working on my skating trail outside, but it meant that I had to clear trees outta the way, so I whacked a whole heap of little trees down, most excersise I've gotton in a long time, cuz it took like 50 whacks for each tree lol.. but I got that part finished, then I came inside to melt my freezing face. I shook a bunch of sticks outta my hair; and now Im blogging and singing along to a bunch of sappy love songs that have no particular face behind them so I just picture my future husband, who doesn't really have a clear face but I know he's about the hottest man on earth. hahaha, the beautiful thing about being super single is that your imagination in the limit.

Anywho Im gonna go wash some dishes, and see what else I can do with my skating trail around my yard.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!!!!!

Merry Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

My family did our family Christmas last night, because Melissa and Adam aren't around over Christmas.. so in some ways I feel like Christmas is already done in some ways.. just cuz we did all our presents already. Something that makes me feel reassured about giving/recieving is that when it comes down to it, I find it way more exciting to give my gifts to my family then to see what Im getting. Especially this year, I couldn't wait to see their reactions. It was good. Made me feel 'less-selfish' I did however get beautiful gifts, my family did a really good job in picking out things I love. (jewellery, nail stuff, towels and things for my future bathroom;D, TICKETS TO TAYLOR SWIFT and Kellie Pickler next summer, travel mug that looks like a normal glass mug.. hopefully I dont break it. Its really cool, 'The Power of a Praying Woman' Norwex stuff...n more) I got my dad the game 'Are you smarter then a 5th Grader' its so degrading.. some of us can't even get 1st grade questions right.. I wont mention names though hahaha!

This weekend I started on my skating rink, took the snowblower out to the back forty and cleared a big rectangle area. I was totally pooped when it was done. Go figure then that it snows and blows like crazy overnight and now I'd have to start all over if Im gonna do it again.. Dad was saying maybe instead of a rink I should make a skating trail, Im kinda liking the idea, it'll be alot closer and possiby easier then dragging and hooking up 10 hoses to reach the back 40. I'll have to go out this afternoon and scout the area.

Today is Katelyn's birthday- pray for her family; it must be so hard. First her birthday and then Christmas...

I hope everyone has a really special Christmas this year.. not sure if I'll write again over the next couple days or not. We shall see.

I <3 kids

Today one of the girls at work and I were talking about how we expect so much from these little tykes...but when we see them out in public its like wow there so small.. but cuz we're with them everyday we know how much they are capable of. We know our babies can say please and more and all done even though they cant speak yet, (a dear little thing called sign language that works so amazing, and you'll never see someone learn so fast as a little one.) We know that one of our 1 year olds can put on her whole snowsuit by herself.. We know that though those 2 year olds are small and OH SO CUTE... they are so capable and have a huge understanding of what goes on around them. Pretty much the bottom line is Never underestimate little munchkins, they may be small, but they are dynamite none the less. Be careful what you say around them cuz when they find there voice, they'll fire it right back at you.. Be it scolding, swears, expressions, they hear it all, even when you dont think they catch on.
I have no clue where this particluar blog post is going.. I just kinda typing randomly and this is whats coming in the kids department.

I love the rush of December, I love all the parties, concerts, family gatherings, and times with friends. I love having something to go to almost everyday, and I love how Christmas brings so many people together. Oh speaking of Christmas, ITS CHRISTMAS... not HOliday.. Im shocked at how fast they made that switchover of not saying Merry Christmas but Happy Holidays. I hate it.. You can't take Christmas away from Christmas.. without Christmas there wouldn't be the holiday.. so just say it for what it is, and this whole all about Santa Claus, and No Jesus thing pretty much sucks too. If people are offended about Baby Jesus and the real meaning of Christmas, then Im offended of Santa Claus. I dont mind abit of Santa, it kind of cute and has its place.. but when it 100% replaces Jesus then screw it. (something that gets me ticked every Christmas at daycare is that we can't have anything with Jesus in it)If it wasn't for HIM we wouldn't have Christmas. I wish people would understand that. Wow okay sorry this turned into more of a rant then anything...Im not trying to be negative..just strongly sharing my thoughts lol

None the less I love Christmas, I love the love that goes around, and the true spirit of it all!

To Love and to Be Loved

So I've always wondered about something.. How do you know when you love someone, and if they are the 'right guy?'
I'll just stop this thought right here and clarify that Im not in a relationship, but the last time that I was close, I fought with this idea good and hard cuz I just wasn't coming to a point.. I knew I was loved, but I could never say it back.

Anyway the other night i had this dream that it was my wedding day, and I was marrying a black man, he was big, I think he was a football player, a kinda famous one, but in my dream he never had a name, so I cant tell you who he was. Anyways I married him, and in my dream I remember looking at him and being like ' wow I really and fully Love this man' it was a pretty powerful feeling for being just in a dream. but when I woke up and thought about it I was like ' that was really reassuring, one day Im gonna be in love, and Im gonna love him without a doubt' so this was my thought or shall we say dream of the week.
Yesterday was my Dads 50th Birthday, so we had abit of a partay for him. I have the greatest dad, and can honestly say Im a Daddy's girl. He's the kinda dad that has a shotgun for when guys come to get his girls haha. Yeah I love him! Happy Birthday Dad!
I also had the worst flu on Sunday, spent over 12 hours IN BED. So weak, felt like I got driven over by a truck, had a fever, and was dehyderated, it sucked pretty bad. Apparently my flu shot didnt' cover that type of flu lol. hows everybody liking this big dumping of snow today!?

Vanishing Ring and Fishes

Here's a mystery and a half:
I had a bunch of fish in my aquarium. 1 fantailed goldfish, 4 neons, 3 skirt tetras, 1 lil algae eater guy.
Now I have 2 neons, a goldfish, 3 tetras.
NORMALLY.. when lil fishes die, you usually see them bobbing around super dead, or stuck to the filter or lying in some plants, then proceed to flush them to sewer heaven.
well my 2 neons, and algae eater have simply vanished! absolutly no traces whatsoever. I have a lil idea of what might have happened, but have my doubts. I'd like to hear your ideas! so comment.

I also have this ring that I bought in Aus. Its unique and I love it cuz its different then any other ones that I have, and its GONE! or missing.. or misplaced or something. I can't find it, so im prayin hard its gonna show up SOMEwhere.

My name is Sheila, and Im here to save your life.

"Call 911, we need an Ambulance, and come right back!"
"Man are you ok? Can you hear me?"
"1and2and3and4and5and6and7and8and9and10and11and12and13..."
"Stand clear of patient. All clear!"
"Shock administered"
"Im sorry that you have a pen stuck right through your elbow, Im going to bandage it up and get you to a hospital so that they can remove it"
"First Im gonna wrap up your stump and then I'll pick your hand up off the ground.."
"How are babies supposed to tell you that they are ok? why do you even ask them if they are ok? obviously they are not!"
"Chris Walby Im gonna have to get you to kneel down because you are too huge for me to do the heimlach on you."

So if you haven't figured already, I was at a CPR/First Aid course today, and I super aced my test, so Im feeling quite qualified now to save an adult, child and infants life. Twas a good time, pretty long, but our instructer was really fun, and unlike most of the time, I caught onto everything pretty fast, even how to do all them finicky bandages. I almost wish I could do CPR on someone now just for the sake of being able to put what I learnt into practice. But I would never wish upon somebody to almost die. We learnt alot today, and covered so many things, most of which was all really interesting, we covered CPR(adults,children,infants), burns, pple who are impaled, cuts, strokes, heart attacks, choking (adults, children,infants), unconscious and conscious, drowning, etc. Interesting Fact of the day: 60% of the stress you carry around isn't even yours to carry. So after working at daycare for 2 years-ish. I finally now know what I was supposed to have known within the first 3 months. yippee. Oh and i still have my dummies lungs lol

OH and I figure maybe I should let AlL of you know... Australia's not gonna happen this year, so its gonna be a white Christmas for this girl. Hopefully God will bless the idea sooner then later, and if it just isnt' meant to be, then He'll open a different window, as there are still other places in the world I'd like to see. Its just I have a bunch of friends there, and in 10 years we'll all be in different "places" in our lives or we'll have totally lost touch, they often ask when Im coming back and I can't wait to be able to tell them, hey guess what, Im on my way... we'll see if we can't do something big for '09.
This is how I'd ideally think about travelling these next couple years... cuz its something thats started already.. 2007-Australia, 2008-Banff, Calgary Edmonton, 2009-Big trip(Australia, Carribean??). 2010-little trip (Vancouver, Niagara Falls..).... by little trip I mean something thats cheaper within Canada. Of course this is how I view it now, but we all know it will probably become near impossible, cuz life is life, and money don't grow on trees. But for now.. I like to dream big.

Good Weekends go into Good Days

Today was a good day! I had an opener shift (6:45-2:15) which is probably my favorite shift, once I get out of bed, and have actually woken up fully which doesn't happen until around 10 lol. I only had 4 two year olds in my group today, which was amazing, I figured that even if they were as bad as could be It would still be a much easier day cuz there was only 4 of them. My sanity stayed intact ALL day, it was so nice having a small group like that cuz I felt like I could actually care for them more individually. Twas a good time, put me in a good mood that for sure. After work I went and hung out with my cool sister, we did our nails and had tea and sugar popcorn, it was lovely girl time. Then I went home had supper, did some dishes, then I called up my sweet Aussies.. First I talked to Nanda which was very nice cuz it had been quite a few monthes since I had a good talk with her, then I called up Luke, who I havent talked to AT all since leaving Cooma, so its been just over a year, he remembered who I was and everything lol. So that was really awesome. Now I have there addresses so I can send them Christmas Cards. FYI. its super hot down there right now as they are just nicely enjoying there summer. not fair man, i told them i'd send some snow there way.
Calgary won.. twas sweet. I finished every last bit of Christmas shopping this weekend. WHooo! now i have this big pile of stuff on my floor that i need to wrap up. Im super excited about Christmas now though. Bring it!

My 3 Favorites

The Mountains

Palm Trees

The Ocean

Sweet Friday

Today was a sweet Friday.. after abit of a rough week, I finally sailed through one day smoothly. I didnt' lose my cool once, of course it helped that I had an early shift.. 6:45am! but 8 hours later puts you just past 2 and I still had the rest of the day to enjoy. So I came home watched tv, had a nap which is really weird for me, but I got a big headache, and was really tired. I wonder if it had anything to do with my flu shot from yesterday which was the big event of the week, mostly cuz I contemplated it for so long and still didnt' know if I was gonna get one until I drove by the clinic and was like Im just gonna do it. See the thing is that everyone was freakin me out saying that they got super sick from it etc.. but once I got to the clinic they all said nothing major would happen to me so I got it. I really hate needles but this one wasn't to bad, haven't had one since grade 9. My arm really hurt afterwards, but so far so good..Im gonna be right ticked if I do get some weird illness this weekend, cuz I've got too much riding on this weekend, I plan to get all my Christmas shopping DONE. plus some grey cup partying (GO CALGARY!!!!!!), plus some sitting in a docs office, plus a bunch of driving, but it'll all being worth it cuz Im gonna see my bestest buds. Should be a good time in Winnipeg!

TODAY WAS CRAZY

T-tiresome
O-out of control
D-disaray
A-attitudes.. big attitudes
Y-yelling?

W-worry
A-aggravating
S- soothers

C-crying.. so much crying
R-rowdy
A-a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k..................now i know my abc's next time wont you sing with me
Z-zealous
Y-yikes


the cutest thing today?
i made a ninja turtle costume for a lil guy.. fireman helmet for his shell, baby blanket rolled up and crisscrossed for his 6pac abs. a paper mask with pipecleaners, more rolled up blankets for his leg protecters, big plastic spoons for his swords.... im not gonna lie he was a pretty cute site. We called him BlUe LiGhTnInG

A step forward, that is IF anything comes of it

So the last couple days I've been thinking more about my 3rd option or whatever number it was.. going to Australia just for a few weeks, Mom was telling me she was concerned about my job, and how my boss would take it cuz it always seems like im always jumping in and out of work, so I figured the fair thing to do would be to at least warn my boss that IM THINKING of jumping to the other side of the world for December, I tried quite hard to emphasize that nothings happened with it so far, that im still just THINKING about it. but at least now she had a heads up, cuz if I get a plane ticket for a reasonable price, dude Im so outta this snow covered country. but its very much up to The Big Guy UPstairs, I kinda figure if the price is right then God's blessing it, but if its simply to much, then I'll just sigh and do my best to move on with life for the time being. I have a place to stay out there, in my head its half figured out already, its just gonna come down to the price, and a few phonecalls. On the reverse side of all my dreamin... Im really scared to go back, cuz Im scared that its gonna suck cuz I have such high expecations cuz the first time around it was like a movie, it went so good, it was the best 89 days of my life.. so we shall see. thats all i can do is just wait and see.. on a side note though my boss wants to know asap! cuz if i go then our new girl can start a month earlier, but she still has to be able to give her 2 weeks... and im thinking this whole idea is gonna come right down to the kincher.. i can totally see myself buying tickets, packing and leaving in a matter of a week type deal. but we shall see. right now my travel agent auntie is in Portugal for a week, so I have to wait till she comes home again... So we shall see folks! where this girlie's gonna spend Christmas, is it gonna be a white one, or a white sand and sparkling ocean one... theres a thought and a half