from my husband...

I got an email today from Ronel because he finally saw the photos of my "new haircut" (the one I got on the 6th of February!)

He says that he really loves my new haircut!

I think that I could do pretty much anything to my hair and he would like it but it sure was nice to hear that directly from him! (and he told me again on the phone - I am actually talking to him right now as I type this cause I am such a multi-tasker and can't handle just sitting in front of my computer talking to Ronel and not doing anything, so I am posting this while I talk!!)

update

After not going swimming last night with the kids at the sleepover (our church had a sleepover for kids in grades 3-6 last night and I was one of the bus drivers so that they - all 44 of them - could go swimming) because the blister was still on my ankle and I didn't want to risk bursting it, cause then it would be prone to infection. When I got up this morning my leg really hurt and when I looked at it, the blister looked different so I went to the bathroom to look at it and what do you know , somehow, in my sleep, I burst the blister! It is very sore, oozing stuff out of it and stings to try and touch it, even with tissue to try and keep the oozing down to a minimum! I have to go out to the store now to try and find some sort of gauze/bandage to cover it with because I don't want it to get infected and I also don't want it to ooze all over my leg!
SO GROSS~

I am a little nervous about the very redness of the area but will keep a close eye on it! Once it is a little less sore, I will start the treatment my doctor prescribed - the lovely one where I get to use a pumice stone on my leg to scrub off the layers of the wart!

Oh, and the wart does look a little smaller than before the liquid nitrogen treatment - I sure hope that this killed it and that this is the end of all of this wart stuff!



Oh, yes and in other news~ my sister woke me up this morning to tell me that it was snowing!!! Yes, you read that right - SNOWING. There was snow on my car yesterday when I went to work but it only really stuck till the sun came out, today the roads are now just wet but the snow/slush(cause that is what is looks like now) is still on the cars, trees, my patio, etc.

This is very normal BC weather but I still don't like it!! For YEARS, we would have snow around my birthday and also numerous times during spring break which is in March!!

Crazy weather!!

Have a fabulous Saturday!

it made my day!

Well, I thought that I would let you all know that I got through to Ronel today and got to talk to him for a little bit this morning. I hadn't been able to get through cause he was still in Mirebalais with the group he went away with for the weekend and I caught him just as he got off the truck and hadn't even made it to his house yet!

I think I will probably call him again tomorrow and hopefully get to talk for a longer time.

Have a great night!

My birthday flowers

These are some photos of the beautiful flowers I received on my birthday today from work.

They are really neat cause the whole bouquet is showcased in a "plastic vase" that is like cellophane tied up and then filled with water.

One of the girls at work asked me if I noticed that the ribbon colours
were the same as the colours from our wedding

Happy Birthday!!

I received this lovely little email today from the radio station I listen to (I am an "online insider" which is why they have my birthday info) It was so sweet though.

Hi Theresa! We just wanted to send you a quick email to wish you a Happy Birthday from 93.7 JRfm!

I got a card last night from my sister and her family and a call from my sister this morning on her way to work to wish me a great day.

And all my co-workers and the kids wished me a happy birthday. We will be having cake and such this afternoon.

And this evening at minichurch, we are having a little celebration to celebrate both my birthday and Eli's which was Monday.

Lots of birthday fun today - now if I could just get a call through to my husband!! that would make my day!

Because I said so

My sister and I went to see "Because I Said So" tonight. It was cute... though I did think that the mother and daughters were a little too open with each other about their s*x lives - especially since two of them aren't married.

While there were spots where I thought it was going to be a bit average, it was overall good and I enjoyed it - though, as usual there were sections where I cried! but that isn't uncommon for me these days!

new medical adventures

Well, first off - I want to post a warning that the photos below are kind of gross - there is no blood or guts or anything but the comment I got the most of today at work was - Eww, gross! so proceed with caution if you have a weak stomach.

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This is a photo of my right ankle AFTER my liquid nitrogen treatment today at my doctor's appointment.
I found out in October that this "mass of skin" that I have had for YEARS was in fact a wart! So, I decided that it needed to be removed. Now, it has taken awhile to get around to it - what with going to get married, Christmas and then just busyness, it got put off until now. My doctor sprayed it with a hand-held can of liquid nitrogen and froze the wart and the surrounding area (as visible in the photo by the LARGE blister)

When I got back to work - there was a very large red area around the wart but no blistering. As I was talking to some of my co-workers asking about the pain I was feeling - cause Oh, did I mention - It HURTS! - I have had this stupid thing for years and never had any pain, even when I accidently shaved the top of it off, and when I try to get it removed, it hurts! In fact, it has been almost 10 hours since I had it done and it still hurts, especially when the denim fabric of my jeans touched it! - - the skin started blistering, first just a little tiny blister and then it just kept getting bigger. It is now about the size of a quarter (though not completely round)

The one side of it is MUCH larger than the other, since the side with the wart can't get as big with the wart "holding down the skin"

I also have a prescription for it. If the wart doesn't go away with these treatments, my doctor wants to biopsy it to make sure that it is just a wart and not anything else!!

Oh, the fun medical adventures I have!!!

Organ Donor...

Saw this on a blog I read regularly and decided to sign up to be an organ donor. I have had the donor sticker on my care card but that is not enough on it's own.

In BC go HERE to find out more about being a donor and make the decision that could save someone's life!

Happy Valentine's Day

for my husband!

Ronel - this is our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife - we have just passed the 3 month mark of what I pray is many, many, many months to come! Though we are separated by many miles, I pray that you know that I am thinking of you, missing you and loving you with all my heart! Last year at this time, we were preparing to say goodbye as I moved back to BC and this year has been one full of changes! - I moved back to BC, we got married, I came back to BC by myself and now we wait - for God's timing as we try to get your immigration paperwork filled and processed! I pray that you know that God is watching over us both and there are people all over praying for us and for the immigration process. Cheri mwen, whether you are in Haiti or here in BC with me (which I pray will happen soon!) know that you are always in my heart, my thoughts and my prayers. You are my double cabbage!, my husband, my friend, my love and I am so thankful that God brought us together! Mwen renmen ou toujou mari mwen!
You will always be my chouchou!


A day I will never forget~!


I love you Ronel!

your wife,
Theresa

Love....

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

photo credit: Artistically Amy at 160 Acre Woods

My Wish

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you’re faced with the choice and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you
And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin’ ‘til you find the window
If it’s cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile
But more than anything, more than anything

Chorus

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold
And while you’re out there gettin’ where you’re gettin’ to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish

I hope you never look back but you never forget
All the ones who love you
And the place you left
I hope you always forgive and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get
Oh, you find God’s grace in every mistake
And always give more than you take
But more than anything, yeah more than anything

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big

Credits:

Steve Robson, Jeffrey Steele
sung by Rascal Flatts

I love this song and today after my phone call with Ronel, it really hit home - this is my wish for Ronel, for myself and for all of you!!!

Happy Birthday!!

to my friend Joanna and my nephew Josh

i don't like

being so far away from Ronel!! Okay - so I understand that it is kind of an obvious point but I still had to say it! I received our wedding video in the mail today - Thanks Ed & Sandra for your roles in the journey from Haiti to BC! I put it in the VCR and started to watch it and then decided to call Ronel and let him know it arrived. So, I did that and we then talked for 36 minutes - which was fabulous but.... just made me miss him more! When we hung up I was almost in tears as we read scripture together in both English and Kreyol, talked about day to day life, talked about some family happenings (his cousin just had some extended family members in a accident - three members of one family died - mother, father and one child -and one is in the hospital with at least one broken bone, another child is in Port au Prince in school - I don't believe that they are directly related to Ronel in any way but still very sad news)

Then we talked about stuff I bought this weekend while I was shopping - items for me that are gifts for Ronel! (come on - you all know what i mean without me having to write it out!) which made him smile - I could hear his smile through the phone!, we talked about our upcoming weekend plans, what we did today, etc, etc and I told him, I don't like this - if we were together, I would be lying in your arms and we would be talking face to face... to which he replied, YES, and you would have been here for the couples' Valentine's party!

It is stuff like this which make this whole separation stuff difficult! The "events" - not being there for each monthly "anniversary", my birthday next week, Valentine's Day, etc, etc.

Well, after all that "sad" talk - I will say that I am very happy to have a copy of our wedding video and look forward to watching the whole thing - maybe even a couple times!!!

record setting

Today I called Ronel when I got home from helping decorate at the church for our Valentine's Event tomorrow at church, then went out for lunch with Terri and Shealyn and then we went "dollar store-ing" (went shopping at dollar stores) and then picked up my car from Canadian Tire where I had dropped it off this morning and had Leslie (sister) drive me up to the church. I had gone out to my car and found that my front tire was low and tried to fill it with air but couldn't get it to read higher than 10psi on my tire gauge so called Leslie and asked if Mike was at work and if he could get one of his guys to look at it today. When I picked up my car, Mike said that they had fixed something (he wasn't sure at that moment) and that it would be no charge! Wow- I wasn't expecting that - especially if they had to actually fix something but that is one of the many perks of having a manager as a sister and her boyfriend as the shop manager!

Anyway, back to the original point of this post! So I got home from doing all the above, and decided to call Ronel before it got too late (it was a5pm here so 8pm in Borel.) I called and we talked for 30 minutes! That is the longest we have talked on the phone to date! It was fabulous, plus I also got to talk to JeanJean, a friend who just got married in December - his wife read a scripture during our wedding and he helped coordinate all of us on the way down the aisle as well as keep out all the late-comers until we were all finished walking down the aisle, Rosena (Ronel's cousin), and Eddy - Marc's dad, which was also nice.
It was a great call, it was much more like being there cause we were just talking, there was some silence where I just enjoyed knowing that Ronel was on the other end of the line and also parts where I just listened to him talk, then he asked why I wasn't talking back and I said, cause I am just enjoying listening to my husband's voice. We both laughed when we found out that we had spent the morning doing the same activity - decorating at our churches - tomorrow afternoon/evening is their big Valentine's event for couples at Ronel's church and is also our Valentine's event for our kids tomorrow morning at church.

We also talked about how tomorrow is our 3 month anniversary. That's right, we've been married for 3 whole months!! It seems like it has gone by so fast, which I guess is a good thing cause hopefully that means that our "waiting" period will fly by as we wait for immigration approval.

Well, it is now 8pm and I have to get ready for my big "shopping/travel" day tomorrow as I take my mom and granny to the airport. I talked to my granny today about shopping tomorrow and she said that she isn't a big shopper but maybe we can teach her a thing or two tomorrow so it looks like it should be fun! I have to finalize our itinerary and make sure I know how to get everywhere I want to go as well as still get to the airport!

The Red Thread

My small group/minichurch has started studying/reading/discussing a book together that was written by a local Foursquare Pastor who is also our new President of Foursquare Canada. His name is Barry Buzza and the book is The Red Thread. We are currently on book one in this trilogy that follows the lifeline that stretches from God to Us and back again.

I am looking forward to going through all three of the books.

The original Valentine's gift

"For God so loved the word that
he gave His one and only son,
that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

I found this and LOVED it so I decided to post it on my blog....

if you click on the photo, you will be taken to the blog where I found it.

Photo credit: Artistically Amy

Happy Valentine's to you and your loved ones

weight loss.....

well, weight loss has always been a source of frustration for me! I lost 65 lbs the first year I lived in Haiti but unfortunately most of that snuck back on once I had more variety in my diet!

Well, after starting eating healthier - I am currently down 6lbs in 4 weeks! I have started doing a points system with some gals from work (Weight Watchers but without going to Weight Watchers.)
I have consistently lost weight each week when we weigh in and many people are commenting that they can tell I have lost weight (which is always a great feeling!)

I find it kind of funny only because the specialist I saw for my biopsy consult had asked if I was losing a lot of weight as it is one of the side effects of celiac disease and I had told him - Nope, only the couple of pounds I had lost at that point by watching what I ate and how much I ate. If I am going to lose weight, I would rather lose it the healthy way and not because my body can't absorb nutrients that I need!

anyway, that is it for tonight! Tomorrow I am going to help decorate the church for our Children's Ministry Valentine's Event and then go to pick up my grandmother from the ferry in Horseshoe Bay and then Sunday I drive my mom and granny to the airport in Seattle for their flight to Puerto Rico where they will be visiting my aunt and uncle for 3 weeks. Sunday we will be leaving early (right after church) so that we can stop and get some shopping in on the way to Seattle! (okay - so I will probably be doing most all of the shopping but they get to come along for the fun!) Their flight doesn't leave till midnight so they don't have to be at the airport till about 10 pm so that gives us lots of shopping time!!

new do

I thought I would also post a larger photo of my new profile pic. I got a haircut and so was taking photos to send to Ronel so he could see my new look and liked this one so much that I decided to make it my profile photo (atleast for a while!) and let you all see the new me as well!!
My hair is a little shorter than I was thinking when I went into the salon but I really am quite happy with the end result - I got a lot of compliments at work today and someone even told me that I look like a teenager with this new do!

books

well, I love to read and found out that a friend of mine - Josee - also likes to read and she told me about lists of bests where you can find various lists of "bests" books, albums, films, food, etc. So I went on and found some lists that I want to read through. And then "created" one of my own with Christian fiction novels that I want to read (and some of them that I have already read) Most of these books were on someone else's list with other books I wasn't interested in.

Check it out (my username is treely)

****update 2/6/07 10:47pm****
I have added my list of "what I'm currently reading" on my sidebar

spa day

Wow - today was a great day!

Today was SPA DAY - 5 of my girlfriends and I had booked hour long massages with a masseuse who was coming to the home of one of us and we were spending the afternoon/evening together. Relaxing, eating, hanging out and getting a massage. Nadine, the masseuse, set up the massage table upstairs and we were all downstairs. She did a great job at setting the mood - it smelt great and was very relaxing. I was the last of us to go so I got to enjoy the day and then head up for my very first professional massage - well it wont' be the last! I truly enjoyed it and am still feeling very relaxed!

Plus, I got to have a great conversation with her - she is going to be marrying a "non-Canadian" this summer and then going through the immigration process so she was interested to hear how everything had worked for us so far. Documenting our relationship, phone call, multicultural ceremony, not having family from BC attend and the whole bit. Her fiance lives in London, England but is from Ghana and she will be flying to London first in July(haivng a "reception" for those that can't make it to Ghana) and then they will be continuing onto Ghana to have the wedding there (apparently it is easier for immigration purposes to have the wedding in Ghana). Because of the flexibility of her job, she will be gone for approx. 3 months and this will be her first trip to Ghana and they plan on spending 2 months there after the wedding and really seeing the country. I think it is fabulous and really hope for the best for them.

The funniest part was when she told me that her mother is Haitian - wow what a small world!!

Plus before the spa day, I went out and did some shopping and got some great deals today so it was an all around successful day (and I spoke to Ronel today!! always a good start to any day!)