2007 - A Year of Blessing

What a fantastic year. This year has been a year of incredible blessing and enjoyment. This year Troy & I sold our first condo, and purchased another, which is much more like a house, than a condo. We celebrated our first year of marriage in a beautiful little village called Waterton, we had visits from my Mom, Dad and Paula, and Jon, Mary & Richard, as well as visits from Troy's Mom Rena, and a couple of friends passing through. We've had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco, and Las Vegas. We've celebrated my 27th birthday and Troy's 30th Birthday. We've aquired some treasures for our home, and picked a lot of things we will treasure in our hearts. We've spent time with family, and friends. Unfortunately this year, Troy's Dad passed away on July 2nd after a brief battle with cancer (it is a brief episode of time looking back, but while he was battling through, the time seemed endless). However with that sadness, came blessing, as Troy's Dad accepted Christ as his Savior shortly before he died, and went to be with the Lord. Over 40 years of dillient prayer - God answered. What a blessing.

This year God has blessed us. Who knows what 2008 will hold. We're very much looking forward to finding out. Christmas will come and go quickly I'm sure.

God Bless you all.
Merry Christmas!

Shara

Alias

I have a serious addiction. For Troy's birthday, I bought him a season of Alias, which we'd never watched before, but we were curious about. We watched the first season quickly, and purchased the 2nd season, which is where we are in the Alias Saga. WOW. I have serious problems here because I'm so addicted to it. I think about it in the course of my day, like its real life. I'm concerned for cute little Tippen with that wench Francie who's not even actually Francie, what's going to happen to him? And what about Syd, is she going to hesitate to shoot her own Mom again? I admit its a problem, but I need to continue, or it will haunt me forever.

If you have not watched Alias yet, I think you should join my plight. We have season's 1 and 2 if you want to borrow them. I honestly think its the best show I've ever seen, and can't believe its taken me this long to get into it. At least we don't have to wait to watch the next episode though. That would be awful.

Wish Me Luck!!

I've been busy studying this past weekend and am ready. My exam is in 1 hour and 48 minutes. Only 2 more exams and I'll have reached my goal. It seems as though I'm always studying (or should be studying) for one exam or another. I'm looking forward to that being done with. I'm in the home stretch!

The weekends before my exams are always dreadful weekends - for the one and only fact that I'm very distractable and although especially with this subject, I am knowledgable about the text already, however it is so important that I really study and take in all I can, because these exams are tricky. I've never come across a straight forward one - so although this exam is on the "essential skills of an insurance broker" and I better have those skills by now, having worked as a broker for 6 1/2 years, I likely won't ace this exam (just being realistic) cause these exams are so tricky and I've never been very good at writing exams.

Anyways, of course this morning I'm procrastinating again - I wish it was 9:30am and I could just get this exam started. I'm excited to write it, and see what I've learned this semester.


On a completely different note - "Christmas Season" is in full swing. The malls are packed with people, there's snow and cold everywhere, and our home is decorated for Christmas. I love Christmas. Its my favorite.

I should get back to studying!

S

Surprise of the Century

To some of you, this will be old news. To others, not so much. Troy turned 30 last week Wednesday. Just after our wedding last year, I started to think about what I could do for his 30th birthday - something awesome. I knew I'd have to plan ahead as I wanted to do something really special, and it'd cost more money than I could spend at once, without saving. So I began to save.

About that time, Troy sold his car, and gave me the money he got for selling it, to put towards another bill. I didn't put it towards that bill, but put it in my savings account (which he doesn't really have access to), as my float. Over time, I ended up paying back my float money, and saving up money for our birthday adventure.

I figured I better plan a diversion, as well - in case he was onto the fact that I have a surprise brewing. SO I planned a surprise party, and despite the fact that I called him from our home number, and told him I was out painting pottery - I managed to pull off the surprise, with the help from a few friends.

Finally November 21st came, and I woke Troy up at 4am to tell him that it was time to get up. He asked me if it was ok if he went back to sleep. I told him "nope - we have a plane to catch". He said "no, really?" over and over and over, until I finally managed to get him up - and believe that his co-worker would be by our house at 5am to pick us up, and take us to the airport where we would catch our flight to Vegas.

Despite being very tired, and Troy being sick, we managed to get ready and off to the airport at 5am, and arrived at the airport with loads of time to check in, and catch our 7am flight.

Off to Phoenix (we got to watch Transformers - which Troy's been really looking forward to seeing), and from Phoenix to Vegas. We arrived at our hotel around noon Vegas time, and checked into The Venetian. If you ever get the opportunity to go to Vegas, try to stay here - it was the most fantastic hotel ever. Our room was gorgeous, with a sunken living room, 3 flat screen tv's and at least 3 phones. King sized bed, Marble 6 piece bathroom, with a view of the Las Vegas strip, and 3 of the Venetians 7 pools below. We were on the 10th floor. It was a fantastic hotel. We ordered lots of room-service, and spent a lot of time exploring the huge hotel. There's a mall, with water canal's winding its way through them, with the sky being something quite indescribable. The Venetian is also home to the "Blue Man Group" whom we saw from the 3rd row, as well as Wayne Brady, whom we saw from the 2nd row. Also, as previously mentioned the Venetian has 7 pools. I think they're going for the "Roman Baths" theme, because they all have varying temperatures, so one is warm, then hotter, hotter, hotter. It was fabulous.

Other than our grand hotel, we took a night flight, helicopter ride over the city and had many amazing views. Then we dressed up, and went to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant which is a 1/2 size replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The restaurant is about 1/3 of the way up, and overlooks the fountains of the Bellagio. We had a magnificent meal, while we overlooked the Las Vegas strip as well as the fountains.

We had the pleasure of seeing the Cirque Du Soleil performance "O" which is their water show, only in Vegas. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, and I spent much of the show with my hand over my mouth in amazement of what was going on. I would go see that show $1000 more times if I could. WOW.

We toured the Las Vegas strip, taking in things like: Siegfried and Roy's Dolphin and Tiger Habitat, The Forum at Caesar's Palace, the Lions at MGM, the Buffets at both the Mirage and Treasure Island, The Museum of Modern Art, Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum (where I nearly killed a stranger in the creepy scary part, and likely made him deaf in at least one ear), The Guggenheim Museum, we took a ride on the roller coaster at New York - (I closed my eyes throughout the entire ride cause I was scared).

We had a fantastic vacation, and it was a blast to give the one I love so much, such a fantastic birthday present. Thanks to all the people who kept the secret, and also those who helped to pull it off.

I'm SO tired!

I know I should just shut this down and go to bed, but I was just entering into a new realization - I think Blogs, are becoming a thing of the past - at least with my blogging friends. Rarely is there a new post. :( BOO. That makes me sad, I love blogs. I read all kinds of them, and when people stop posting it leaves me in a lurch to find out - what are they up to? Oh well.

I guess at the same time its a tragedy that people resort to blogs and facebook, instead of picking up the phone. I've been shocked lately to see how many people interact on facebook, rather than phoning. Offering breakfast invitations, or dinner plans with someone through facebook, hoping they read it before the deadline. That's too bad. Is our society leaving the personal touch of a phone call, after we've already left the personal touch of a handwritten letter. Where will it go next. Although I do think its sad, I'm the worst of them with phones. 9 times out of 10, my cell is turned off, or the batteries are dead. When it is on, I normally leave it behind, or have it somewhere it can't be reached within 4 rings. Our home phone is different - we do answer that when we're home, but honestly, we're out so much, we have more missed phone calls than we ever have received calls...and I don't much enjoy talking on the phone outside of my occupation anyways. I think being in customer service sort of wrecked that for me.

Anyways - if you're a blogger - I will be divorcing your blog soon if you don't write. :) I know, I'm not one to talk, but I love reading what you have to say, and I'm going to have to go and find some new bloggers to suit my reading pleasure at some point.

In other news, we took Jack for the day today and we sure had a blast. We went to the Zoo. As far as I know, it was his first trip to the Zoo, and it was great. I think he loved it. He was so happy and enjoyable all day! It was great to hang out with him, especially when we went to pick him up this morning, and he had a HUGE smile on his cute little face, and lifted his arms informing me he was wanting a big squeeze from his auntie. I love that little boy!

15 Minutes

I have 15 minutes left on my lunch break, and of course, procrastinating studying - so here I am. For those of you who were dying to know, the surprise 30th birthday party for Troy was fantastic! It was a surprise, and I didn't even ruin it, by calling him from our home phone, and telling him I was at the pottery painting place, painting pottery. I figured I'd totally let the ball slip there, but nope - of course my husbands trusts my every word, and didn't even think twice about it. Cute little him.

It was a great party, and loads of people came to wish him well. I think he really enjoyed it. Now only 1 week, and 1 day from his REAL birthday, and the presents and surprises for that day! I love birthday's.

Speaking of Troy, he's written in his blog a couple times lately, so you should definitely check it out.

The weather in Alberta has been amazing, and I was thinking this morning, how ok I would be if it stayed like this all winter. Snowing from time to time lightly, then melting away; still being cold, but not cold enough to get me into a parka. I love this weather. Its beautiufl.

I think I've been fighting off a cold or flu or something, cause I've been exhausted. I wasn't feeling well for several days, until today actually since the party. I don't know if I spent myself in preparations or what, but I'm feeling better, but still pretty tired.

Only 10 minutes till my lunch is over now, and I better clean off my desk and get ready to get back to work. Thanks for reading my blog!

Snow

We woke up to a beautiful covering of Snow. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't happy to see it, however it already is November 4th, and we have only had snow once since then, so there's not much to complain about, but it was beautiful. It still is beautiful. I think it's still snowing. I'm not positive because although it is only 5:40pm, it is totally dark outside. I won't complain about that either, because I got an extra hour of sleep last night.

That one night a year is always so wonderful when you're sitting up talking with an old friend, and so exhausted thinking - I'd love to stay up and catch up, but I'm so tired, I'm forgetting how to talk, and then someone mentions that we get an extra hour of sleep. WOW. How come we don't have more days like that. I'd be fine with it, if we got one of those ever week. Now I know that means, that half the time we would be sleeping in daylight, and working in the dark, but that's fine with me. Get a good set of curtains and we're all set (ours are fabulous by the way - they were included in our house, and we found out after the fact that they're from Pottery Barn, and they're raw silk! Haha! I would NEVER spend that kind of money on curtains. If they cost me more than $30, they're too expensive.

Anyways. Yeah for an extra hour of sleep.

I'm waiting for our chicken legs to cook, and for "The AMAZING Race" to start. It'll be funny when we look back in 20 years, back to the days of reality television, (who knows where we'll have moved on to by then!), and talk about how much time we wasted, watching other people live lives of adventure from our couches...while we got fatter, and lazier, and they got a great adventure and a lot of exercise. That'll be a good joke on all of us fat people (in 20 years!) Ha. Not so much.

Well - my laundry just finished, so I'll go be a good housewife and finish the laundry. You know what I'd like to do? Go on a shopping spree. I need some new clothes like its nobody's business (and really, it is nobody's business - unless of course you're planning on giving me the money for my shopping spree).

Good Night - enjoy the snow!

S

Sorry They're Sideways

Not sure how that happened, they're the right way up in iphoto - but I don't know how to fix it.

Cas Hailey meets Colbie Cailat

So let me be the first to say, that I really think that Cas Haley should team up with Colbie Cailat and do at least one duet. They'd be AWESOME together. Is it possible to copyright that idea? Cause it'd be a knock-out!

Its been a while since I've posted, but that's mostly because there's nothing new in our lives. We got a beautiful painting from Lindsey Love...I should post a photo of it...but not just now, its lovely.

Work is all same ol', Troy's 30th birthday is coming up, so that's always fun. Too bad I'm so poor and can't throw a big ol' shin-dig for him. Oh well. Maybe when he turns 40!

Troy is out at his photography class and I've been studying! How impressive huh? My exam is over a month away! Hopefully I can keep it up, so I don't have to crap it all in at the last minute.

Tomorrow is flu shot day. But also Halloween. I dressed up like batgirl, and troy dressed up like Dwight K. Schrute for the Halloween party we attended on Saturday night. It was fun.

Chelsea's little guy Jack turned 1 on Sunday. He's great, and so cute. I have to post a photo, and then I have to get back to work here. Take care, and happy Halloween!

OOPSIE!

Big oopsie in last post...if I could wrangle Lennie and Bonnie to Calgary for a visit, it'd be worth writing anything in here, however I will assure you, my night on Tuesday night could have only been more perfect, if my loving husband was home, but he was at his photography course.

I've gotten to work early today, so I have a minute to post...not that i have anything to say (I never really do), but here I go anyways.

October 11th. Sounds like it'll be a good day. Thursday's are my favorite because in the midst of a crazy busy week...we have a night at home, with no plans. So we can vege out all night, watch some of our favorite television programs, and enjoy each other's company.

I better go, get my coffee, so I'm ready for 8:30am.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Nights like tonight could only be more perfect if my husband was here, and if I didn't have to work tomorrow. I'm curled up in front of the cozy fireplace on my comfy couch. I've been reading, and relaxing (even though my neck seems really sore) and am having a great evening.

Thanksgiving weekend was awesome. Loads of food, family & laughter. At the Bierman family Thanksgiving, we even turned Settlers into a drinking game. That was different, but fun. What a great family we've got. Eden was very disappointed to see that I've taken out my tongue ring. (I took it out in San Francisco, I had a sore in my mouth, and it wasn't going away. It was directly under my tongue, and was so sore that my mouth was numb a whole lot of the time, so I figured the tongue ring had to go, and you know what? I used to get canker sores in my mouth constantly...I haven't had one since then....I wonder if that is a coincidence?)

We also had thanksgiving at the Hooge's which was of course amazing. Then back for a games night (first annual) with Chels and Andrew, and cutie-pie Jack. What a great night we had, and weekend. It sure seemed to go by too quickly though, that's for sure.

We also had lots of naps...I love naps. They're great.

Now the next big thing is Jacks Birthday, and Halloween. I wonder if we'll have trick-or-treaters? What is "cool"to give out? How much candy should I buy to have an adequate amount, and yet, not have too many left overs to gorge on (to my cute husband's disappointment).

Also - I'm quite disappointed that Volkswagen does not have a body shop in Calgary. What the heck-fire is up with that? Seriously. I'm actually quite annoyed. That was one of the selling features of my first car (Honda Civic - Cute edition 2000). They told me there that they had a great body shop, which I found to be true. I guess I took that for granted when I bought my VW last year. Now that someone rear-ended me a couple weeks ago, I need to make use of a body shop, and am totally annoyed that I have to take my vehicle to someone who's not even an expert at VW's. That's garbage. Who can I complain to?

What would make this an even better evening, is if I had a high metabolism rate, and could eat an entire plate of cookies and big glass of milk, and not feel guilty. If someone came over and baked me cookies...that'd be even greater. Mmmmmm...that sounds really good. Where's Troy.

The large Tree outside just scared me cause I thought it was a weirdo.

Do you want to know about one of my dreams the other day. Prepare yourself...there's something messed up in my head, and my dreams are quite...disturbing most of the time. (I don't ever watch scary movies, or tv, or even commercials, so I'm not sure where any of this comes from).

I was on a Ferris wheel with my niece - and all of the sudden small babies started to fall from the buckets around me, and hit the side of my bucket, and fall to the ground. I tired to catch as many as I could, but I could only catch so many. Then I had a separate dream where I was holding a baby, and as I put her down, her ribs dislocated, and crushed...and I felt it...(nasty). If anyone knows how to interpret dreams that'd be great. I dream these weird things, all the time.

I'm just trying to bide the time before my cute husband comes home. I love him. The other night when we got home from Chelsea and Andrew's place at like midnight, my back was killing me (not sure why, but the pain was shooting down my leg!). He warmed up hot water bottles, and stayed up even when he was super tired, to rub my back really good. He's such a good husband, and I love him.

Anyways, I better go, this is just rambling on (which is pretty standard around here).

S

My Ears Are Bleeding

Not really, but nearly. On my frustrating drive home today, I ended up besides an onoxious guy who had a stereo more expensive than his beater truck. He felt it necessary to bring attention to this point, by turning his stereo up, so loud that my car was vibrating. I happened to be right beside this vehicle in my vehicle, with my window open. I looked over to glare at this guy, and he, seemed to have not a care or consideration in the world, and bopped his head to his obnoxious music, while both of his windows were open. I figured I didn't want to hear his music, but I wanted to hear my own, so I turned up my crappy Honda stereo, to just about as loud as it could go. It was definitely so loud that my ears were hurting, but I didn't care. I kind of wanted to prove a point, that not everyone thinks he has the most amazing taste in music. I really had a hard time hearing his music after that...but I think he turned his music off. I'm choosing to take it as a compliment, that he loved my music. Hopefully the rest of the block did too. Anyways, it made my frustrating, traffic filled drive home more bearable.

1/2 the leaves on the trees in my block are in my front yard, and on the street in front of my house.

I went to Rona today to pick up a few things. I think Rona makes people sing. They had music on in there, and I walked by at least 4 people who were audibly singing along with the music. It made me smile. I think all places should endorse people singing loudly along with the music. Wouldn't that be wonderful? (provided everyone could sing on tune!). Also in Rona, I saw some leaf blowers. Seriously, what are those for? Is that why all the leaves are in front of my house? Does it mean that people blow their leaves onto someone else's yard? Is there such a thing as a leaf sucker? Like a vacuum cleaner, except for leaves? I think the leaf blower is hilarious, but honestly probably the stupidest invention ever. What is the point? Does it make raking easier? I don't get it. I considered buying one, just to find out what all the hype was about...but decided to vent about it on my blog instead.

Well my cute husband is home now, so I'll go and chat with him. I'm excited about season premier night tonight, and SERIOUSLY what's going on with Jim & Pam???!!! I'm so excited!

S

A Real Treat

San Fran was a real treat. We walked forever there, and it was so sunny and beautiful. We saw loads of sights there like Alcatraz, Aquarium on the Bay, Pier 39, Union Square, the Golden Gate Bridge, Winchester Mystery House, just to name a few. We had some great food, and an all around wonderful time. I love being on vacation. I guess everyone does, and that's why people save so they can retire. Mmmmmm. Retire. Troy and I wake up every day thinking it'd be real nice if we won the lottery that day. So far it hasn't happened.

We're having a housewarming party next Saturday, so if you'd like to come, please do. Just let me know so we can have enough food. Should be a good time, and a good crowd.

Gotta jet!

Sleeping Lonely

For only the 3d time in my married life, I am not sleeping beside my husband. Never in our married lives, has he been so far away from me. Troy left for San Francisco this evening, and I am back here...playing on my computer...getting tireder. Its strange to miss someone when its not even been 6 hours since I've seen him last. I am sitting on his side of the bed, which I rarely ever do. Its comforting. Its very weird to become so dependent on someone, and not in a clingy kinda way...but he depends on me, I depend on him...and when he isn't here...its just weird. Hopefully the alarm doesn't go off tonight. That'll REALLY freak me out.

Anyways, I suppose all of you now know what a sap I am. That's ok.

My weekend is over, and that I'm sad about, but this week has some exciting new adventures. Troy and I are going to check out some cool stuff in San Fran. Everyone knows about Alcatraz, but not everyone knows about the Winchester Mystery House

anyways, probably won't write till I get back!
S

Shara "Iggy" Bierman

I scored 4 goals in my last floor hockey game.

Silly Questionaires

5 Things that you cannot live without for under $10/each:
* Hair Elastics
* Sunglasses (who needs the expensive ones anyways!)
* Troy’s foot-rubs. 
* My water bottle
* Deodorant

5 of your favorite movies:
* 13 going on 30
* Shawshank Redemption
* Bourne Trilogy (specifically the last one)
* LOTR Trilogy
* 50 First Dates (even though it is crude in some places, its really cute)

5 +5 = 10 baby names that you love (5 for a girl, and 5 for a boy!):
* BOYS: Brookyln, Jorja(said Georgia), Grace, Kate, Ashton
* GIRLS: Matthew, Judah, Benjamin, Miciah, Jacob

5 songs you could listen to over & over & over:
* John Mayer - Comfortable
* Shane & Shane – Prodigal Me
* Daughtry - Home
* Black Eyed Peas – Shut-up
* Matt Redman – Blessed be Your Name

5 people who have influenced your life in a positive way:
* Chelsea Pritchard – my best friend (with whom I have had the best of times, and thr worst of times)
* Hans Peter Royer – Bible school director.
* Tom Loewen – friend.
* Katie Smith – my previous mentor.
* Troy Bierman – my wonderful husband.

5 items that stay in your purse all the time:
* wallet
* phone
* sunglasses
* lipgloss
* keys

5 moments when you knew everything had changed FOREVER:
* the night my Mom told me my parents were going to split.
* In Austria when I learned what to “Honor Father & Mother” meant, and actually put that into action.
* When I left the Toronto Train Station for Calgary.
* When I let both of the messed up relationships I was in, go.
* June 3, 2006 – my wedding day.

5 obsessions you have right now:
* Big Brother
* Planning San Francisco Trip
* Keeping my house tidy
* Not spending money
* NOT getting pregnant.

Dead Mice & San Francisco

So the other day I was taking the deposit to the bank for work. I got out of my car, slammed shut the door, and looked down at my feet. There was a dead mouse inches away from my foot. Now I realize this fear is completely ridiculous, and makes no sense, but I am terrified of rodents, which was only confirmed to me on this day. As soon as I saw the dead mouse, I was paralized with fear. I couldn't move or yell. I was afraid. I had a hard time breathing...until I convinced myself to step away. I nearly ran into the bank, although my breathing was still labored. Once inside, it occurred to me that I would have to walk beside the dead mouse to get back into my car. ARG.

I decided to get in through the passenger side, and climb over the gear shift and the e-brake. a lot better to do that in a skirt, thank to have to walk by that dead mouse again. Anyways, I think I've recovered. Although I can't get the picture of the dead mouse out of my head. I'm ridiculous.

Secondly, and obviously more important, we are going to San Francisco. Troy is going in 10 days, and I am going in 12 days. I can't wait. I've been wanting to go there for as long as I can remember, what a cool looking city. It turns out that Troy is being sent there by his work for a conference. I'm going to join up with him at the end of his conference, and we're going to do some exploring for several days. I'm thrilled.

We're going to do a tour of Alcatraz at night! How fun huh? I think it could be really freaky, but probably totally awesome. I booked our tickets for that last night. I'm totally excited!

Besides that...we're thrilled to have the long weekend here...not so much Labor day, since it means that the summer is nearly over, but I love long weekends, as does everyone I'm sure. This morning we're just lounging around, Troy is watching Soccer and I'm playing on here.

Anyways. Take care!

S

I Guess I Don't Blog Enough

My cute husband has been bugging me all week that I don't blog enough. I guess its that I don't feel like I have anything witty, or interesting to write about. Today was spend-fest, 2007. Well for this week anyways. This morning we went for breakfast at Lido, followed by a trip to "Fine Furniture Outlet" where we bought our dining-room set a couple weeks ago. We managed to find a very cool chair there, and promptly purchased it, and brought it home. After that, we walked to Co-Op to get some ingredients for an amazing brownie recipe I got. Then as I made my brownies, Bondars delivered the sidebar we purchased 2 months ago. Now our main-floor is furniture complete. It still needs a few accessories, but the furniture is complete. The only piece of furniture we need still, is a comfy chair for our bedroom "nook". I put in that way, because I'm not really sure what a "nook" is. When I think of a "nook" I picture a window, with a window seat. We have the window, but not the window seat...so I'm not sure its a nook, but I long to read there. Anyways.

The rest of the day was spent driving to Cochrane, and then delivering a tv to a friend who is moving to Toronto. (Bye Heather!). Then we've gotten home and have been relaxing, watched a few episodes of the Season 3 of "House". After that, I cleaned out our storage room, and separated things into a "garage sale" pile, and a "distribute throughout the house" pile. Tomorrow should be fun.


Anyways, as you can see, and you're probably yawning with boredom, I don't have anything interesting to write about. its been a lazy and relaxing summer....since July 4th, anyways.

I made an amazing cheesy dip which is in the oven baking, and T & I are going to watch some more Hugh Laurie do his thing. That man is amazing.

BYE!

S

10 Minutes Left

I have 10 minutes left in my lunch break, and I've just noticed its been over a Month since I've posted. I keep looking at other people's blogs and thinking - "why don't they ever post!" and here I am, guilty myself.

Since I last posted, Troy & I had our nieces Vienna and Eden for 1 weekend. We had a blast, but we're a bit scared and may never have children as a result. It was a HECK OF A LOT OF WORK! We took the girls to the science centre, then up the Calgary Tower, then to Chuck-E-Cheese. The next day we took them to Heritage Park, and they were crank-sters. They did well on Day 1, for most of the time, but day 2 was a disaster. Probably cause they were exhausted.

Anyways, both of us left that weekend thinking that perhaps we could survive life, being the best Aunt & Uncle we could be. Who knows.

Besides that, we got our beautiful new couch, which is fabulous. We got our new bedroom furniture, which is amazing. I love being in my new home, and hate to leave. Its beautiful.

Work has been fairly slow for me in the new business department which stinks. I hope it picks up soon.

I was very disappointed in the outcome of America's Got Talent. I really wanted Cas Hailey to win, from the first moment he was on the show. Terry Fator was good...but seriously, he had NOTHIN on Cas. Or Butterscotch for that matter. Throughout the entire season I always called her buttercup, I could never remember her name. But I guess its Butterscotch, or Antonette. I think Buttercup is better, but no one asked me unfortunately.

I love reality TV. I can't help myself. Big Brother is awesome. I always want to check into the daily blogs on the Internet about what is going on, but then again, I don't want to ruin my viewing pleasures when the show is on. SO I wait in anticipation.

In other news. I PASSED both my exams from July. One of them I did not too bad on, and the other one, I just got by by the "skin of my teeth". Is that a phrase? Did I just make that up? If not, what the heck is that supposed to mean? My teeth have no skin.

Anyway. One minute left. What else...I think this is all. Now if you're a blogger, could you please post something interesting? Seriously.

S

Incompetence

I have lately been flabbergasted by the amount of incompetent people out there. Its really sensational. I am currently speaking with someone from Royal Bank who #1 told me they had received a full payment for something I'd sent in. Then he asked me how much the payment is for. Hmmmm...seems strange that you just told me you received it...but you don't know how much it is for.

Further, I had someone call my receptionist yesterday and use some very unprofessional language with her. When he came into the office, I told him he could not speak with my staff like that. He honestly denied saying anything, and stormed out of the office, telling me to grow up.

He called back an hour later to apologize to the receptionist because after thinkign about it for a while, he'd realized he did say the things that he had previously denied saying. Hmmm...yeah.

I suppose that's not incompetence, that's just stupidity, but the incidences of incompetency I can't really get into in this arena.

It is funny to me though.

Last night at my floor hockey game, I tripped 3 people, on 3 different occasions. I honestly did not mean to...but, hey it worked out in my favor, and was sort of funny. But I honestly didn't mean too. SORRY!

I have a problem. Its called Big Brother. I am addicted. I've been able to stop myself from purchasing the 24 hour life feed, but I have asked Troy to record the 2 hours of 4 hours or whatever, of raw recording that they show every night between like 12am - 4am or something. Hmmm..serious problems. I can't decide who I want to win. But it is a good season. So much drama.

My hair is so tight today, its giving me a headache. I love that.

I better go. I'm on my lunch break, but I have some other things to do..(like check out the Big Brother quiz online!)

S

Lunch Break

Its so strange to have my lunch breaks back to do whateva I want. Its also strange to be at home, and then the thought occurs to me...I should be studying...and then I remember...I'm done with that. Freedom...I love it. I need to get back into the things I love to do...paint, read, go for walks, and the new hobby I'm acquiring is working in my garden.

My Mother-in-Law is coming to stay with us for a couple days. I'm excited for her to see our new plave. Its so exciting everytime someone new gets to come over to see our new place. It will be more exciting once we get some of the furniture we've ordered, so it doesn't look baran. :)

I've been very busy at work today, which is a much-needed change. I really enjoy what I do, especially when everythign runs smoothly. When people don't tell me they have zero tickets, when they really have 7. (that's happened), or forgotten they've had 3 accidents (that's also happened), or when the guy who has had his license for 15 years, shows me his driving abstract, and he's had his license suspended for a total of 32 years. (that's happened too!). Those ones are fun...just kidding.

Harry Potter....I can't wait. I think I may cave, and read the books. I've heard many comments that the movie isn't as good as the book...so I'll feel ok to be disapointed after I see the movie. I've heard the books are fantastic. I love the movies, so I'll be excited that the books are better.

I'm on the search for a new receptionist...if you know anyone, send them my way.

Maybe I'll go for a walk!




Shara

Getting Back To Normal

Well my exam is over, the memorial service is over, and my holidays are over. I'm getting back into the swing of things. Life is relaxing and fun. Both Troy & I are exhasted from all the activity from the last several months, but I suppose life will calm down.

We had a fun time at Stampede last week, and I absolutely loved the Rodeo and Chuck races it was fantastic! Also my home is laden with flowers. Everywhere you look. We've been given a LOT of flowers in the last little while here...and its great.

Anyways, I just wanted to post a quick note telling you I'd survived my exams.

Take care and happy Stampeding!

S

24 Hour Countdown to Freedom

24 Hours from now, I will be finished with my exams, have a sore arm, and be thrilled! I'll be sitting at Joey Tomatoes, sipping a Bellini, and conversing with my Dad & Step-Mom. I'm thrilled. My Dad & Step-Mom are HILARIOUS people, and they will provide a much needed does of laughter, and fun. I can't wait to see them...(mostly for them, but also, when I see them, it means I'm finished with exam writing until December).

My brain hurts. I've been studying all weekend...well for weeks now really...cramming...trying to stuff all this stuff into my brain, making up acronyms to remember things with.

This is only a small post, because we all know this is an attempt at procrastinating from my studying.

Wish me luck!

S

My Father-In-Law

This morning, with his wife with him, and his son Jason, my father-in-law passed away. He passed away peacefully, and not in pain. His battle with cancer is over, and he is now free to be with Jesus.

Thought I'd let my blog family know. Thank you for your prayers.

S

Banking

So I was at the bank the other day getting some cashola to pay for our movers. My cash limit is $500, so I had to go into the bank branch to see a teller, since I needed more than that. I went up to the teller, and asked her for $800 in cash. She took my debit card (ONLY), and told me that would not be a problem. She asked me for what sort of quantities I'd like the money in, went to her money counter, and got it for me.

Then since I was there anyway, I told her I was moving, and would like to change my address. She told me, unless I had something proving my new address, like a Drivers License with changed address, or piece of legal mail with the new address, and my name on it, she would not change it for me.

Do you think it is bizarre, that I could give some lady a bank card, ask for $800, not enter any pin number, of provide any additional identification, and she would give me $800 from the account I asked for the money out of....YET, she will not change my address when I ask her to? That is bizarre to me. I am still thinking of perhaps calling and complaining, I think that's brutal.

Anyways I think I forgot to post about that, so figured I would during my study break.

Studying has gone alright this weekend, I've accomplished a lot, with not putting too much time in, however, its really crunch time now, my exam is in 3 days. And then my Dad and Step-Mom are coming! I can't wait...(for the visitors part, not the exam part!)

Anyways, in the final leg of my studying crunch, I'd ask for your prayers, that I'd be able to remember what I'm reading, and be able to correctly articulate it in my exam, enabling me to pass BOTH the exams I'm taking on Wednesday.

Thank you.

Cheers!

Shara

Procrastination

It sounds like a monastery upstairs. What is Troy doing up there? How funny.

Well we're down to one condo now. Yesterday we said goodbye to the condo we got engaged in, the condo we had all kinds of parties in, relating to our wedding. The condo we called home for the first year of our marriage. It was sad. I nearly cried. I kissed the wall as I left. Good thing I didn't have lipstick on, that would have been embarrassing.

Today I found out my brother, his girlfriend and her friend are coming for a visit next week. How random, and quick! It'll be cool for them to check out stampede! Its super fun, and I can't wait to go to the Rodeo and Chuck Wagon races. And my favorite part of the stampede....the entire room full of infomercials! I love it. So much stuff I could buy, and want to. Its my favorite. Oh, and the dream house.

How exciting that this time next week, I'll be out celebrating being finished my exams, with my Dad and Paula, and my cute hubby! I can't wait. I also can't wait to have some time off work. Tomorrow is my last day, until July 10th. YIPPEE!

Ok, so I'm supposed to be studying. I wrote an entire post the other day in here, with photo's and all, and my MAC won't let me post in "safari", so somehow it got lost. Oh well. Hopefully this time it works.

So here is our spare room...wanna come for a visit? And also, the long-anticipated, Burberry Bag I promised to post a photo of. Isn't it beautiful?

Settling In

Well we're in the midst of settling into our new home. It sure takes a long time, when you have so much space, and so much stuff. We've figured out we have about 1900 sq feet (including the basement). this is over double what we had at our condo. It feels great to not be so jam packed in. I love every single room so much...even the bathrooms. In our master ensuite, I feel like I'm in a grand hotel or something. Its really cool.

Our alarm system continues to give us trouble, dispite the alarm guy coming to get the system working for us. I think he still has a bit of tinkering to do tomorrow.

So I'm down into "crunch" time for studying again. Why do I always do this to myself? Except this time, is the worst of times. I have 2, 3 & 1/2 hour exams on July 4th, that means 7 hours of exam writing in one day. Normally I hand write for lets say...a total of 3 minutes. Now I will be writing for 7 hours. Hmmmm....that should be interesting. On top of that, of course this semester has been the most brutal of my working career...so with all the pressures of life, on top of work, family issues etc....I haven't had much time to study. So..."crunch" time. Please don't entice me with requests to hang out...and have loads of fun, at least for the next 2 weeks...cause who wants to study? Not me...and that is why I sit here blogging, instead of studying. Good thing I didn't become a teacher!

And now for an update on things concerning Troy's Dad. So things have made a turn for the worst again, about 2 weeks ago now I guess. Dad's throat has been giving him a hard time for weeks, and finally after doing a scope down there, the doctors have told him that the chemo is not working, as the cancer has spread to his throat. They have taken him off all the treatments, and he is being medicated to his preference. We went to Kelowna a couple weeks ago, a couple days after we found this out, to say good-bye. Unfortunately, neither of our jobs facilitate working remotely for too terribly long, so we must remain in Calgary, even though our hearts remain in Kelowna.

It is a very sad time for our family. Thank goodness, for us, we have some fun things to look forward to, to distract us. First and currently, moving, then my Dad & Step-Mom are coming in 2 weeks (also on July 4th) for 6 days, so that'll be fun. We're going to go to the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, and Chuck Wagon races and Grand Stand show. I've been a Calgarian (if I can call myself that) for 7 years now, and have yet to attend either of these events. Needless to say, I'm excited....except if there is that calf-roping. That makes me cry a little bit. I'll try to remember tissue.

Anyways, I should probably get back to studying...oh...woe is me.

Take care,



S

My Dream of Oprah & Brandi

So I had a weird dream last night. I was a guest (in the audience) at the Oprah show...and wouldn't you know it...it was the highly popular "my Favorite Things" show. ("My" being Oprah's, favorite things). (for those of you not educated in the Oprah world, this particular show occurs once per year generally, and they never advertise when it will be, cause everyone on the planet would try to get a seat. Anyways, Oprah showcases some of her new favorite things...I've seen such things as laptops, ipods, luggage, perfume...relaly everything under the sun. She will give away her favorite things, to each person in the audience, so it is not uncommon for a person in the audience to walk away with $20K+ in free gifts.) Anyways, back to the dream. I was at the Oprah show, and it was the "my favorite things" show, except it was not Oprah. It was Brandi Weston.

Anyways, thats pretty much my dream. I can't remember too much else, except when I found out it was the "my favorite things" show, I was so excited I was having trouble breathing.

Anyways, how fun to be there for that show....hmmmm...

Shara

First Night in a New Place

Note to self for next time...don't forget if moving, to check out the alarm system in the house, and find out how to disarm.

Yesterday when we arrived at our new home (which I'm in love with), the alarm was beeping about every 5 minutes or so. I found the alarm box, and pressed the "disarm" button. The alarm guy is coming to hook it up for us on Monday. Anyways, no more problems until midnight, after both of us had worked all day, and were more exhausted than either of us remember being in a long time. Anyways, the alarm starts to beep 6 times (really loudly) at midnight, and then stop. It continued this every couple minutes for a while. So of course, I start to freak out, because I'm sure someone broke into our house. I make Troy go check all the corners and closets. He finally gets back, we settle into bed again (after pressing the "disarm" button, and tried to get back to sleep. (oh yeah, and I unplugged the alarm as well!) (its a wireless thing...who knows how it works really), anyways...

Then it begins goign off every minute, instead of every 5 minutes...so Troy starts to see if he can fix it...only to set the whole alarm off! Oh my word! Its so loud...and he has no idea how to turn it off. The disarm button doesn't work anylonger. He's holding himself over the speaker (at midnight remember), and I'm running around the house truing to figure out what to do.

Finally troy yells "GET THE KEY FAB!" (the wireless disarmer" and wow...who knew. Finally the alarm was off.

Troy found the manual and was able to fix it...and no further problems.

What a night...

7 Random Facts

Since I was tagged by Crystal, so it's now my turn to share 7 random facts.

Here are the rules… Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog.

1. I can not stand to touch, or talk about cotton. It gives me goose bumps, and freaks me right out. I imagine bighting it...I know its weird, but I can't help it.

2. I hate large paper clips, you know those black ones with the silver clippy things? They freak me out and I hate them.

3. I love to sing in the shower, but haven't done it in a long time, cause I don't want anyone to hear me.

4. I am a very intollerant driver, and have no patience. I'm an insurance broker, and trying to figure out a way so my insurance company doesn't rate me for my 2 convictions, but I can't think of anything.

5. I am facinated by animals, (except rodents), and creation. I could marvel at it for hours, and I normally talk to Animals I encounter, again, not so much if anyone is around...except my husband.

6. I think my name is really funny, and I consider writing in to Jay Leno. Shara Bierman. Share-a-Beer-man.

7. I get a runny nose everytime I go for a walk.

So there you have it. Now I get to tag 7 people...let's see....

I tag: Lisa, TroyB, Lexi, Hmmm...who else reads my blog...Kassie, and Tanis!

A few more Things

Tasha will be so proud. Troy got me a Burberry bag for my birthday! I'll take a photo and put it on here, when Troy is done with my macbook. Its so beautiful. I love it.

Is it just me, or are drivers in Calgary getting dumber, and ruder. People no longer wave a sign of appreciation when you slow down to let them in, or they drive 50km/hour when merging onto the Deerfoot. Come-on people. Seriously. I think I'm going to be a great old person. I think I'll rant LOTS. :)

Troy bought us Rodeo and Grandstand show tickets tonight! YEAH, and last night, he bought me Kelly Clarkson tickets. I love her, and can't wait for her concert in September. We have front row, first balcony tickets, straight on, with the stage.

How exciting! I have so many things to look forward to in the next little bit.

So my floor hockey game this evening...wasn't really so much recreational. Those brutes were slashing, and ramming, and running people over. But don't worry...apparently in this league, you're allowed to smash someone, make them trip, and as long as you say sorry, then it wasn't intentional. Interesting. Anyways. At least we won...well killed them really. I think it was 6-3 for us! Good thing...that would be a tough game to lose.

So holy crap flash flooding in Calgary. Check out Craigs blog to read a "in the action" account.

And finally...course I'm taking is an insurance course, for a designation I'm just 4 exams shy of getting. its taken me 3 years...I guess 5 really...cause I took some breaks, and I'm almost there. In April of next year (hopefully) I'll be writing my last exam.

Anyways, I only have 14 minutes left of use on this computer apparently, the battery is nearly dead so I'll sign off.

Please say a prayer for Troy's Dad, (Doug), he's not doing so well right now, and is battling Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Thanks.

I'm 27!

Happy Birthday to me! Troy & I were in Waterton for the weekend. It was awesome. We were celebrating my 27th birthday, as well as the 1 year anniversary of our marriage. It was so fun to go away, and relax for a couple days, and just be a bit extravagant! We ate out lots, we went on a boat cruise down to Montana, (just a short 2 hour one), we went for short little hikes, and discovered the cute town. We had a blast! I would definitely recommend that cute little place. I'll post some photo's when I'm done here.

So I'm in cramming mode. I have 2, 3 & 1/2 hour exams on July 4th. BOO. I actually got quite far today, I'm quite proud of myself. Hopefully I can keep up this dedication. I actually got 10/10 on a quiz I just did with my online course. Hurray.

In 10 days we are moving! Don't worry, we won't try to recruit anyone to help. We've hired movers. Yeah! No back-breaking for us! I'm excited about that. Only 10 days...almost 9.

We had the most awesome thunder storm here tonight. There were so many car alarms going off around here, it was funny. And it was so loud, I nearly fell off my chair a couple of times!

What else...I remember I had a couple of rants for here...what were they...crap I forget. Oh well I'm tired anyways. I should go to bed. I'll put up some photo's first. BYE! Sorry for being so delinquent!

Its Funny

Do you remember as a kid, when you used to think up any excuse to stay up? Time to go to the bathroom all of the sudden, or not interested in water any other time of the day, but bedtime, or forgot to clean up my toys...who on earth is concerned with that! Anyways, its funny how I continue to fight going to sleep. Even now, my eyes are heavy...(I had to contend with Snorance last night) and I'm exhausted. On top of that, I have some cold/sore throat/stuffy nose/head thingie, so I'm sure the extra sleep would be a blessing, but NO...I can't stop thinking of things to do. Things that will not benefit me more than sleep...things, some things never change.

I don't really have anything to post, just...like I said, wasting time so I don't have to go to sleep. For shame...I love sleep!

I've just finished going through my enormous pile of resume's and will likely contact some applicants for interview's tomorrow. That should be fun.

Like I said...nothing to post about! :) We;re going to see the killers on Thursday, that should be fun. I'm excited about that. All I need now, is a Killers t-shirt...hmmm.

Only 12 days till my birthday, and my 1 year anniversary! Being married rocks. I have the best husband, I could have ever thought up. I actually could never have thought him up. He's pretty great. I get a great food massage nearly every day. He buys me flowers often, and other misc gifts. He's constantly serving me. He loves me incredibly, and he's my best friend. What more could a girl ask for? He's amazing.

Anyways, I think I'm ready for bed. I'm getting cranky, and I'm not fun when I'm tired.

BYE!

S

You'd Think...

I have an ad in the newspaper and online, as I'm looking for a new receptionist for my office. You would not even believe the volume of resume's that I receive that don't include cover sheets, include very poor spelling and grammer, or the "resume's" that I receive that are not resume's. They send an email, and detail themselves in the body of the email, instead of sending a proper resume. Its very strange. Its kinda hard to convey this on my blog...hmm.

Its May 2-4 weekend, and I'm thrilled to have no plans, aside from babysitting Jack tomorrow evening while Chelsea and Andrew go see Feist. That'll be fun. I'm hoping Troy will take me out for dinner tonight to that place across form the Cecil, the surf and turf place. I've heard from several people, how great that place is, and I'm hungry and don't feel like cooking. We'll see.

4 weeks form today and we're moving into our new place.

An update on Troy'd Dad, he seems to be doing a lot better. He's been able to start his 2nd Chemo treatment, and is still in the hospital. He can not sit up for more than 7 hours a day, and still can not do anything on his own. He can not walk or stand. But he's doing a lot better. Thank God.

Sorry, not much for exciting things to write about, even after not writing for a couple weeks. I have joined facebook though, the time vortex. :)

I'm off, Troy'll be home soon.

S

Emotionally Exhausted

So we're going to the circus with Vienna aand Eden on Friday. I'm so thrilled for the distraction. My brain has been going crazy with all the things happening. Lets go back to Dad.

So the tests came back yesterday and they're not sure that it was the cancer that caused the fluid on the brain, but they decided it needed to be taken out immediately (the fluid, not his brain). He was then scheduled for emergency surgery. At first Dad said he did not want the surgery, even though he was told, without the surgery he could slip into a coma within hours, and die likely within the day. He said no to the surgery, until he was told by his cancer doctor, that she really thought perhaps the fluid had nothing to do with the cancer. Then he decided he'd like to go ahead with the surgery.

He was in surgery at 9pm last night (Monday). They put 4 holes in his head, to drain the fluid out. Apparently today, he's doing much better than he was yesterday. His physical state however has digressed, and he is back, unable to do very basic body functions such as feeding himself, even scratching his face is difficult.

The tests are not back yet, as to whether the fluid is lymphatic or not, and I'm not sure when those tests are coming.


On a completely different, and equally sad note, some dear friends of mine are going through hell as well right now. (this info is to the best of my knowledge) On Friday Willy Dueck went for a run by himself on his lunch hour, and did not return. He was found by some misc. person, lying on the side of the road, not breathing. This person started CPR, and 911 was called. he was rushed to Emergency, where hours later (after 10pm at night, his frantic family finally located him). He was in a coma. Apparently the doctors wanted to keep him in a coma for a while, to diagnose the situation or something? Sunday, they began warming his body to bring him out of the coma. today I've heard that he's woken up, but a brain scan shows there is a lot of brain damage. he is communicating with only blinking his eyes. How does something like this, happen to such a good man.

So all around me, is talk of hospitals, and illness. its difficult. I'm exhausted. i could hardly keep my eyes open after I got home tonight, but I'm trying to do some things aroudn the house, and post here to keep everyone updated.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers.

Shara

Home Again

After a long drive back, we're home again. Up until a minute ago, I was relieved to be here. It was great to have a night to relax, and not worry about going to the hospital, or if anything needed being done. Now I just feel sick.

Let me get you up to speed. Slowly, they've been taking tubes out of Dad, and he's been learning to do things on his own. Feed himself, drink again, and doing a bit of physio. He's looking completely different than when we saw him last Sunday. His color is returning, and his jokes are coming back too. Then Thursday Mom washed his hair, and his hair started to fall out in her hands. (due to the chemo), so he decided he wanted his head shaved.

We were all a little concerned about how he would look, however he looked great with no hair. He even looks younger than his 65 years. We decided to leave Sunday morning as we needed to get back to work. I think I've only worked 5 days in the last 4 weeks, and I want to go back to work. Thursday they took Dad off the epidural he was on, and put him on morphone. i guess they were concerned that perhaps the cancer had gone into his spine, causing numbness in his legs. We were relieved to find out this was not the case, however they decided to leave him off the epidural, and leave him with the morphine. Since then, he's not been himself. We thought he was just tired. He slept all the time, and could no longer remember things very well. He couldn't stay awake for any amount of time.

I just got a call from Troy, and the doctors think perhaps the cancer has gone into his brain. Apparently they are going to do some tests on him this afternoon, and if he goes into cardiac arrest due to this...they will not recusitate him.

I feel sick to my stomach. If you will, please pray with us. Sigh...I was hoping to not have to think about hospitals, or sickness for a long time. We thought Dad was getting better. Both of us agreed on Saturday after our good-byes that we didn't feel like that was goodbye forever. We were both encouraged.

s

Flowers From Dad's Garden

On a happier note, I'll post some photo's I took in Dad's garden.

Continuing On

Thanks to all of those who have posted words of support. We really appreciate them.

We're still in Kelowna. It is an amazingly beautiful place here; if you get a chance, I'd definitely recommend coming here for a holiday. Our time here, is far from that.

The complications from Dad's Surgery on Friday are working themselves out, and he looks a ton better than he did when we first arrived. The tube going from his mouth to his stomach has been taken out, and he can now talk a little bit. It is hard for him, and labored, but he can do it, if he so desires.

The surgeon scheduled him for a cat scan yesterday, however his oncologist cancelled it as she advised his organs could not handle the scan. Lucky for him, like I said earlier, the complications from surgery are working themselves out, however on the other hand, the cancer is still raveging his poor body. His organs are reaching the beginning stages of shut down apparently.

He can not begin to fight the cancer, until he gets chemo, however he can't continue chemo until he's improved dramatically from the surgery, which could be days, even weeks.

We're hoping to have a family meeting with the Dad's team of doctors, or perhaps one of them at a time, to discuss the prognosis.

It is very difficult to be here. It is very difficult to see Dad like this...and Mom like this as well.

On a completely different topic, I've joined facebook with the extra time I've had here, with nothing to do. So if you are already on facebook, look me up! If not, don't worry I didn't give them my email addresses so you won't be getting an email from me...from facebook...well I hope you won't anyways, those are terribly annoying.

I'll let you know how we make out in the Dr. meeting.

S

Kelowna

Unexpectedly we've had to take a trip to Kelowna. Troy's Dad was diagnosed with some kind of Lymphoma cancer back in November. It was a very slow growing strain of it, and it was found during a routine annual physical. He had no symptoms of the cancer. Since then, he's been fine up until about 2 months ago. First he got a cold he couldn't shake, and then he started to lose his energy. Finally they went to the hospital to see why he could not make it up the stairs without being completely exhausted. They found he had lymphatic fluid in his lungs.

They admitted him to the hospital, and began to drain the fluid. That is when Troy flew out to Kelowna about 2 weeks ago. During that week he was in the hospital he had many tests done, and also found out that he'd acquired another strain of cancer (so now he has 2 types of cancer in his body). The slow moving one is still there, but it was also branched out to a very fast moving cancer, which is now at stage 4. (Cancer is diagnosed from stage zero, which has no symptom's, to a maximum of 4 which is the worst of course...that's what Troy's Dad has now.

As soon as he was diagnosed with this fast moving cancer, they decided to start chemo the following day. This past Friday he started to have intense pain in his lower abdomen. He was sent in for a cat scan, when the found out that he'd gotten a hole in his intestine. He was immediately sent for an emergency surgery to repair the hole. While there on the operating table, they almost lost him, and during, they had to call in some extra doctors to help stabilize the situation.

Following surgery he was in critical condition, and so of course, Troy and I have come to Kelowna. Troy's brother Jason and his wife Shannon are also here. Darren & Nicky are ill, and since Dad's immune system ws destroyed by the chemo, he can have no one around him with any hint of illness, as doesn't have the immune system to fight it off.

Anyways, today hopefully is the day when we'll find out what the new course of action is, to fight off this fast moving cancer. As the chemo didn't work with Dad's body, who knows if it will continue to put holes in his intestine, so we don't know if they'll prescribe more chemo.

Anyways, please keep him (Doug) and Troy's Mom(Rena) in your thoughts and prayers. Please also keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It is awful to see a parent in such a state as he is in.

thanks all, I'll try to keep you posted.

Forgive Me

So many of the pics below are sideways. Sorry, I don't know how to change that. They are the right way in my iphoto, so I don't know what happened. :)

If you can't tell, I'm very excited about our new place. June 15th seems like FOREVER away, but I guess its only 51 days. That's a long time. Yuck.

Tomorrow my Mom & I are off to the West Ed Mall. I'm excited! Shopping is fun! :)

Nothing new really going on with us, Troy's Dad has been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I think its lymphatic...but I'm not exactly sure. He's undergoing some very intense chemotherapy right now to battle this off. Please keep him in your prayers. His name is Doug. However on an exciting note, he became a Christian this week...after years and years of prayers of his family members. Praise God.

Anyways, I'm watching Dr. Phil with my Mom, and its a great one...its getting really heated! Tehe!

BYE!
S

More Pics

Going To Get My Husband

I'm up and ready. I'm waiting a few more minutes before I go pick Troy up from the airport. Troy's Dad is very sick, and is in the hospital, so Troy flew out to Kelowna on Friday morning to be with him, and Troy's Mom. He's coming back this morning and although its only been 2 days...its strange how much I missed him. I was bored...I couldn't find anything to do (not that I tried extremely hard). Anyways, I'm thrilled he's coming home today. His plane gets in at 8:59am...and so I shouldn't leave for about 20 more minutes. :)

We are so excited about our new house. I'm going to post another photo...we're going to take a drive by there this morning, and I think we're going to get another viewing when my Mom gets here next week! :) YEAH!

Re. Our new Home

Sorry this new format for blogger on my Mac is weird, and I haven't fogired it out yet. Anyways..despite feeling sick, this past Monday evening we made an offer, and purchased a home. We saw several places, and when we opened the door to this one...I think both Troy & I knew. Its a beautiful (as you can see) townhouse in Renfrew. Not necessarily what we were looking for...but still considered inner city. Its a great place. 3 bedroom, 3 full bathrooms, stainless steal appliances, oak hardwood floor, oak cabnets, built-in cabnetry, built in whole house stereo, gargage, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on. Its beautiful. We take possession on June 15th...so only 65 short days. :)

Its hard to really get excited about it when I'm feeling so terrible, and I'm so glad we'd agreed to go out looking because we had another competing offer as well...so we had to make our offer a good one. I'd made the arrangements with our realtor to go out on Monday night prior to being sick, and then once Monday rolled around, I felt semi-ok, and unfortunately for us, the next couple weeks were supposed to be booked. Troy's Mom was supposed to come (not I don't think she's going to), then my Mom is coming...and then we're already into May...so...we figured we better get looking. Good thing we did, or we couldn't have bought this gem.

So whether dumb or not, the offer we gave was not conditional, so its actually already sold. :) YEAH.

Both of us are thrilled...and can't wait to June 15th.

Anyways, I'm feeling minimally better today. Weak, and still very ill, but at least I'm mobile. But if anyone missed ANY television from today, I've got it all watched...so let me know. I can give you a play-by-play.

Troy has gone out for dinner with Darin. Darin's going back to Regina on the weekend to work on Corner Gas, and we'd arranged to go out for dinner with him...unfortunately, I couldn't make it.

Anyways...I better watch CSI. I love that show.

(I'm happy to see Hailey go! BYE BYE LEGGIE!)


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