in continuation of my last post

I tried to draw a picture of the following event in true Janiceblog style, but alas the same new system which won't let me upload photos also will not let me draw. Sigh. . .
In reference to my last mention of storing things in the oven in desperation for more storage space, I have learned this is not always a good idea. Whilst making an absolutely scrumptious looking chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, I discovered that while I thought I was preheating the oven, I was actually cooking my favorite empty glass 9 x 13 pan with matching blue tupperware lid for easy transport of baked goods. Oops. I now have a perfectly good glass pan with a muchly warped blue lid. My oh my. When will I learn? I'm just glad Gord wasn't home or I would have got a tsk tsk. Hopefully the smell of baked cheesecake will overtake the smell of burnt plastic by the time he gets home. I can hope, right?

Am I still alive?

Or am I just that pathetic of a blogger? Well, I am still alive, so I guess that just makes me pathetic. Also adding to that fact is the fact that our computer broke down and we couldn't get windows to work on it anymore, so I switched to a free program called Linux *shout out to Ben* and I can't figure out how to get pictures on it. Blast. Nonetheless, here is a little literary update on our lives, numbered, but in no particular order.

1. We are selling our house. So if you know anyone in the market for the best Condo in Calgary, let them know. And once it's sold, I must change the name of the blog as we will no longer be "Riverfolk". Sad, but true. In answer to your questions, we don't know if we will rent or buy after, but one of us (unnamed) thinks the market will crash and also does not want to own anything so we'll see where we go with that one.

2. We are taking Spanish lessons. Or should I say nosotros estamos tomar clases Espanol. Please feel free not to correct me if this is wrong. Just give me a stinking A for effort. And I don't know how to get the little accent on the N so forget about that too. Oh why did I even mention Spanish. We can barely count to ten. At least we try.

3. We have applied (and been accepted) with MCC to serve in long term service (2+ years). This is not actually as exciting as it may appear at first glance in that it doesn't mean we are actually going anywhere right now. It just means we could. . . if the right opportunity presented itself . . . and all the details worked out. . . Regardless this is something we are both extremely excited about, but at the same time we are trusting in God's plan and keep living life fully here in Calgary until something else presents itself.

4. After waiting and hoping for many years, we are finally expecting a new arrival. Okay, so the arrival is not new, it's just new to us. And they're not really coming here, just to LA. But the waiting and hoping is true - we have always wanted to see U2 live and we're just extra pumped that we get to see them in LA and that the tickets are quite unbelievable, that's all.

5. My brother got married to the lovely Tania at the end of March and a fun weekend was had by all. Jonathan looked like he was ready to bounce right out of his suit during the ceremony. I've NEVER seen him look quite so excited. I'm just happy that he found someone willing to marry him with all that he comes with (like a cabbage he's had in his fridge for 5 years and two moves across provinces). They are a lovely couple and I'm so happy for them and to finally have a sister!

Well, I think that's about long enough for now. As you can see, life has been quite eventful for us lately. Hopefully I'll be able to get some more pictures up soon. And now I must rescue my slowcooker soup from the oven where I hid it when we had a house showing this afternoon. Sometimes I run out of space to hide things and then I remember . . . . there's always the oven. *props to Gord and his parents*

The Easy Way Out

Merry Christmas to all of you from the two of us. . . in a two year old Christmas card picture. I said I was taking the easy way out, didn't I? Things have been delightfully crazy around here the past little while. I've been up to my eyeballs with baking and Christmasing. But no malls this year. No presents. No hustle and bustle and spending and noise. Just joyously fun and reflectful Christmasness. Taking time to wait in expectation for the arrival of a King. It's been wonderful.

We are absolutely loving the faith community we have recently become a part of. It feels like we've been with them for such a long time. It is just such a beautiful thing to find a community of like minded believers who share the same passion. We truly feel that God was leading us in an answer to our prayers when we found Awaken

We are excited to be seeing family and friends again this Christmas. Although we feel a stirring deep within us, we are now at peace with the road God has been leading us on. We are excited to be seeing some of you again and catching up.

And on that note, I'm off to watch more of this

which my momma just sent me in the mail. Thanks Momma (and Dad)

Winnipeg, thou art lovely.

Last weekend we had the chance to go to Winnipeg to for the wedding of Gord's cousin Ashley to Michael. We absolutely love going to Winnipeg to see his side of the family, so we'll take any chance we can get. The wedding was wonderful and adding to the fun was the fact that it's the first wedding I've been to in a while that I wasn't actually involved in. We did get to drive the wedding party around, but that was great because it gave us time with the bridal party that we wouldn't have had otherwise.


Ash walking down the aisle.


The Cake. So cool. It looks just like them and also, the cupcakes tasted amazing.

They also had a photo booth at their wedding like the ones they have at malls. We could all get photos taken and the bridal couple got to keep a copy of all of them. I'd post ours here if we had a scanner, but we don't, so I will attempt to recreate them for you.


The next day we had a golf tournament in memory of Gord's Grandpa and our cousins' beautiful little boy who recently passed away. It was a great idea and we had a blast hanging out together as a family. Afterwards we had a breakfast and awards ceremony.


Uncle Todd won "best golf outfit 30 years and over".


I won "looks most like Auntie Corina without actually being Auntie Corina". Maybe you'd have to be there, but since I started dated Gord I've been told I look like one of his aunts which frankly, I don't mind because she is one good looking lady. Again missing an acutal photo so I will enlighten you.


The resemblance is uncanny. How could I not have won the award?

The next day followed with a giant waffle breakfast for everyone. We got to hang out with our cousins Josh and Leah quite a bit which we just love. It was really great to see them and share with them again. All in all we had an awesome weekend and I can't wait to go back soon.

Fall is now here . . .

and it's beautiful outside. Here is the view from the balcony. It's my favorite time of year for running because I love the crunch of leaves under my feet.

We have been keeping busy with a variety of things. We went on a trip to visit family and friends in Saskatoon. We got to see many good friends and spent a day on the lake with my family. My camera battery was really low, but I managed to snap a pic of Blackstrap mountain before it died.

If you need help, the mountain is right in the middle of the picture. I love Saskatchewan. I really do.

Gord and our friend Lance ran a half marathon in Canmore. They had a great time.

And Shoshanna and I had a great time watching - not running.

We have been trying to settle in with a church and honestly having not a whole lot of luck. This leaves us (especially me) in a place of frustration and impatience. I just want to be serving and ministering in a practical way and it seems I hit a road bump at every turn. This has however, left me with much spare time for sewing, crocheting, baking etc. So if anyone happens to stop by, you will be greeted with a friendly cup of coffee and a fresh baked cookie. . . and maybe even a blanket.

Stampede with a twist

This year's Stampede brought my company's second annual Stampede party. Such a blast. And I ended up scoring a pair of tickets to the rodeo to boot. It was such a fun evening of line dancing, socializing, prize winning and stampeding. Our table was pretty lucky as we won rodeo tickets, a blackberry pearl and a free flight between us.
Me pretending I'm a hat person.

Chandra with her new Blackberry.

Some pipers walking down Stephen Ave.

Me with Ferida and Chandra on their last day at work.

Sunday was the annual Calgary Marathon which I conviced myself to run in for some strange torturous and unknown reason. But anyway, I did. Not the full marathon mind you - I'm not athletic. Just the half. Which makes it sound short. . . "Oh, I just did the half". People - it did not seem short. 21.1 Km is actually far. But I did it. And I have to say I'm proud of myself. Also for the fact that I was the ONLY person I saw wearing Russells, and Huskie ones at that. Eat it Lululemon. (I have a personal vendetta - ask me later).
Me and my Huskie shorts mid race.

The Finish - my favorite part. They even called my name. Official Time - 2:40:18

The post race stretch.

All in all a pretty productive weekend.

The times they are a changin'

Well, June 15th saw our church, Sema come to an end. A very, very sad end. Actually, it's worse now that we've gone to another church already and been moderately dissappointed. The actual weekend Sema ended was wonderful. We had a church camp out at a retreat centre and it was so much fun. We had some worship time and lots of food and games. This is the picture of Gord just after winning the sack race.


The closing of Sema is leaving us more than a little lost right now. The church community was so much a part of our lives.

At the beginning of June we took a little trip to Vancouver Island. We just needed some time to relax. We took the ferry over to Vancouver to meet up with good friends Rosanna, Elissa and Doug. Then we went for a hike at the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge.



Gord also celebrated his birthday that day.


The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at.


Gord and I did lots of hiking and even went for a canoe. It was just so beautiful.
Cathedral Grove. I must apologize to Gord for putting up this picture, but I love it.




Goats playing at the Little Qualicum Cheesworks.


Hard Ice Cream $1.49. Are you serious!?!?


Our last dinner together.

Has anyone ever noticed that the more you have to say at one time, the harder it is to say anything? Hence, no post in a long time, but lots going on. Especially lots of thinking and feeling. So here's the deal. I update in a brief and factual way and save you the ten hour read of what's "new with us".

1. Jon and Dayna got married and we saw so many old friends. Total happiness.
2. Our church is closing as of June 15th. Love + closing = sadness in a huge way
3. Gord is now a certified journeyman plumber. Finally.
4. We got a visit from Tim, Erica and Nicole last weekend. Yay!
5. We are soon visiting Vancouver Island for a much needed vacation. More on that later.
6. We are waiting, but actively waiting for God's leading in the future as we sense quite a powerful redirection.

That's it in a nutshell. Sometimes less is more.

End of an Era

Well, yesterday I said goodbye with my fellow coworkers to a beautiful thing. Our Bridgeland clinic closed for good, dispersing my good friends and I to a handful of other clinics across the city. I will miss the good times, the jokes, the patients, and definitely the barbecue on the balcony. Most of all I will miss the memories of good friends being just that - good friends. But we move on. I will be working with many of these people at another clinic which I have been working part time at. I look forward to new memories and friendships built. This along with other unknown futures in my life remind me once again that God is sovereign. He is with me whether I feel Him or not. He walks before me into my unknown, seeing all that is to come and preparing me for it.

Sushi Masters

Last night the ladies of Sema had the priviledge of learning how to make Sushi from a true sushi master - the mother of one of the ladies at church. Was it ever fun. I was pretty gung ho about the whole thing and managed to make some pathetic looking sushi, but it all tasted good in the end. What a fun idea!
Sushi Prep

All the ladies

And Gord and I didn't mind one bit that we had our lunches made for today!

I think winter's almost over.

Or at least, I hope. It feels like it's been a long one, but things are starting to swing towards spring and the feeling of new life. Since the last post, we've been pretty busy with a multitude of church events and doing a lot of just hanging out. At the beginning of January we had a Winter Carnival with church. This was my favorite game - Bowling for Penguins.

We just returned from the wedding of our friends Eric and Amber. It was a wonderful time with not that many pictures. (It's amazing how playing the piano for a wedding gets in the way of taking pictures of the ceremony.) Here are some of the keepers. Jon and Dayna

Gord and I

My friend Rachel from Winnipeg! Weddings are so great for reunions!

As I write this, it's a Tuesday afternoon and I am reminded how grateful I am to now be working 4 days a week. I work two days each at two clinics and one of the clinics is closing in a month, which feels like a sad ending to a new phase of work, as I truly loved the clinic that's closing. It seems like sudden changes like this prompt thoughts of new beginnings and Gord and I are in a phase of thinking on what the future might bring and how God can best use us. Gord also started his last period of school for his plumbing apprenticeship this week. I'm hoping to weasel a few extra house chores out of him while he has some extra time! I can't complain, though after last night's fabulous barbequed red pepper and parmesan chicken breasts!

I Never Sleep

This Christmas started off in an unusual way with the death of my dear Grandma Bushman. We started our Christmas holidays off early to head out to the funeral in time. The funeral was amazing. There were so many people there, which was incredible because my Grandma would have been 98 on Boxing Day, so most of her peers are already gone. The funeral highlighted her long life of faithfulness to God. We were reminded of her contentment in any situation and her constant gratitude. It is a huge comfort to know that she is finally home.
While in Watrous for the funeral, we were able to spend some time with our dear friends Jodie and Steve. Gord was happy as a clam to be able to go ski-dooing with Steve after a long day of family and dress clothes. Can you tell how happy he is?



Next we had a wonderful Christmas with Myriam, Samina, Bev and Mary a tradition going for many many years now. Much fun rivalry was had around the game table.

Our Campbell Christmas (Mom's side) was the next day. I always enjoy these gatherings. Here are some pics.

Me and Gord



Mom and Me



Grandpa Campbell and Evelyn



Before we left for Winnipeg, we were able to have breakfast with Sandra and Steve and Alison and Clarke. Boy, do we love getting together with you guys. It's almost more fun then when we were all single dreaming of these times!

Then on to Winnipeg.

We had a wonderful time with the Klassen side (Gord's Mom)! We don't see them often enough.
Some cousins attacking a gingerbread house.



The result of too much sugar.



Our cousin Ashley and her boyfriend Mike.



We went out for Thai and then dragged the boys to Enchanted. I know Gord secretly loves princesses.



We were also able to visit Trev and Rebekah. Guys, it was definitely worth the drive (which really wasn't that long). There little guy gets bigger by the day. We had a blast with them.




And finally, one of our highlights - Rod. Nothing more needs to be said.

Blessings

This season I'm finding myself a feeling quite blessed. And not just in the glad I have a warm place to sleep and enough to eat kind of way - although I am. I'm finding myself blessed in the way that there is a God who loves me enough to have redeemed me from all my valleys and brought me through. Blessed to have a God who loves me enough to challenge me in every way I know. A God who chases after me to redeem me - He will not let me go. I have seen His love this last year in the way He carried me through my Mom's illness and a difficult summer. I have seen his love in the love I share with Gord. It seems that today I have caught a glimpse of a beautiful God who sets me free anew everyday with His wonderful grace. He carries me. Oh that we could rest in His presence close at hand.

Thanksgiving Weekend (yes, I know it was three weeks ago)

This Thanksgiving we had the awesome opportunity to see Steve Bell play with the Calgary Philharmonic. It was wonderful. I love to see Steve play live and the Orchestra was an added bonus. Definitely different than his normal performance as in this format, he didn't have the freedom he normally does.

A brief visit from my good friend Rachel just in town for the weekend and we were off to Saskatoon.


We also had a delightful evening with friends Rob and Lisa Braun and Tim and Erica Baerwald. We had a Vietnamese Cookoff. Gord and Rob made this spicy chicken dish. (I've never heard two males talk more in the kitchen, but all the talk seemed not to hurt the flavour).

Erica and I made this pork dish, the best one I might add. (not biased)

Tim and Lisa made a DEElishous Shrimp fried rice (Sorry I lost this picture guys)

Overall, we had ourselves one good meal. The only hiccup of the evening came when our group effort to make our first ever vermicelli ended up like this.

That's right people, I said vermicelli, not mashed potatoes, as hard as that is to believe. So, if you're out there, and have cooked vermicelli successfully, please leave comments and tips because apparently following the instructions does not work.

There was also the inevitable complete Turkey dinner at the Bushman household where many interesting times are always had. My brother brought his girlfriend, Tania and her mom, so it was wonderful getting to know them a bit better. I could tell my mom is really doing better because she cooked the entire Turkey dinner herself and still ended up with a smile on her face. And all this after we'd stuffed ourselves and my parent's church's "Super Simple Sandwich Sunday", a regular occurence, apparently. I was cruel and made my parents say the name multiple times and tried to refrain from giggling each time.

We capped off the weekend with a huge Jerry's breakfast with the ever exciting Sandra and Steve. Such fun!

And now, today's baking: Gingerbread Biscotti