how the squirrel got his stripes.

when problems overwhelm us
and sadness smothers us,
where do we find the will
and the courage
to countinue?

well the answer may come
in the caring voice of a friend
a chance encounter with a book
or from a personal faith.

for janet, help came from her faith
but it also came from a squirrel.

shortly after her divorce
janet lost her father
then she lost her job
she had mounting money problems
but janet not only survived
she worked her way out of
dispondency
and now she says
life is good again.

how could this happen?
she told me that late
one autumn day
when she was at her lowest,
she watched a squirrel
storing up nuts for the winter
one at a time

he would take them to the nest
and she thought if that squirrel
can take care of himself
with the harsh winter coming on so can i.

once i broke my problems into small pieces
i was able to carry them,
just like those acorns,
one at a time…

pumpkins, girls, and the weekend.

whoa! what a busy weekend it was! friday was a busy day at work i had a busy half day at work before i was off to our second ultra sound. this ultra sound was a special one though because we found out the sex of our little one! ...and it's a GIRL! i couldn't be more excited or happy. jess and i went out to my parents house to break the news to them and my sister and her husband. saturday i worked a half day while jess, my sister, and mom went to the baby expo and then shopped the day away at carter's and other baby stores in celebration of our baby girl. i was off work by one thirty and met up with everyone in beaumont. then my sister thought it would be a good idea to go on a double date. first we went for din din then to see "the rum diaries." and then came sunday. my day of relaxation and nothing. except i was up at 800 and off to the pumpkin patch with my sister, brother in law, my nephew and jess. so all in all the weekend was amazing and amazingly busy, but fun. hope your weekend was as fun as mine was! ...I'M HAVING A BABY GIRL!

 pregnant snacks are the best snacks

   DINOSAUR GRILLED CHEESE & PICKLES!

music mondays.

so i've decided to start trying to make "themed days" to try to help me blog more consistently. since i love music so much i thought i would share my thoughts and taste in music. i wouldn't mind some suggestions as well, if you have any!
for the first "music monday" i want everyone to know about "record in a bag" by "hollerado." this is the bad that has brought you some radio hits such as "juliette" and "americanarama" they have also recently released a new single titled "day at the races" i'm always extra happy when i listen to a record and it's canadian! hollerado is from ontario and i wasn't a fan of there "hits" until i saw them live and then purchase "record in a bag" i really really really recommend you go grab or download this album it was definitely in my top 5 albums for 2010.

fun-do

first off i apologize for the title but i had to. so after a really busy and great first week at my new job jess and i decided to have a few of our friends over for fondue. so needless to say saturday was a very busy day. it was full cleaning, grocery shopping, and a whole bunch of other errands. i think having 10 people fondue on a 6 person set was a little much but the company was excellent and i think it was the first time jess and i actually hosted a "party" since we moved into our place which was over a year ago! and a big bonus was that the oiler game was on after dinner so we all got to enjoy that. except i think mostly the guys enjoyed it. all and all there isn't much more to say than it was a lot of fun and i didn't think i would ever write a blog about fondue. now it's back to lounging around in my sweats watching jurassic park. have a good sunday. i know i will.

the first day.

ah, ha! my first day! it went great! i really really didn't realize how stressed/tired/annoyed i was with my old job until today. today was a great day of work! it felt good to get back to the basics of carpentry and just put my head down and work, sweat, and get some insulation in my underwear! the last part is true and it was very annoying by the time i got home. i was very thankful for my shower today. i'm also finding that i love my supportive and loving wife more and more every day. i also like that fact that her cravings are delicious! tonight we had nacho's for dinner, not just any kind of nacho's we had turkey nacho's. thanksgiving rocks. hope you had as good of a long weekend as i did.

late night blog.

it's really not that late but i should be sleeping to get ready for my first day on the new job tomorrow. i'm not really that nervous since the guys i'll be working for seem like great young business men and i've worked with one of the two guys i'll be working along side with. i think i'm just really excited. it's nice to have a change of pace. as great as my other gig was i think it was slowly slowly wearing me down. i know work can do that sometimes but, i'm pretty darn sure i have made a great decision in the direction i'm heading. so wish me luck. i'll check back in tomorrow and let you know how it goes.
goodnight.

wedding photos.

this is directly copied from iamkristenmarie.com
our wedding photographer kristen did a wonderful job on our wedding photos and i thought i would share them. note the very very kind words at the end from kristen. thanks again kristen.

Ben and Jess have a respectful love that is vivid in their presence and it's

been such an honor to spend so much time together even though we live so

far apart. They've got a lot of joy and shared it with the closest friends and

family at a southwest style B&B in BC. I know they are going to have a

wonderfully rich life together. :)

La Punta Norte B&B. Summerland, BC.