2014 Suzanne Judge. Powered by Blogger.

Back from Vacation!!

>> Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I am back from a great 1-week vacation at the Brimley family farm in Simcoe, Ontario (just about a 5 minute drive from Lake Erie). My sister got married there on Saturday and it was beautiful. She was stunning, the weather was perfect, everyone had a ton of fun, and everything went off without a hitch. Her and her hubby Clayton are now off for a 3-week honeymoon in Italy!

It was really fun to have the whole Brimley clan back together again. I got to meet my 3-month old niece Claire and she is as cute as can possibly be. It was great watching my brother and sister-in-law with her - they are naturally great parents! And to have my grandma and all my uncles, aunts, great uncles and great aunts together to celebrate the wedding was amazing.

Now we're back at home and although I must admit I was quite sad to leave the farm, it is nice to be home and have Franklin back (he was at the doggy hotel for awhile). Now the countdown is on for the week-long vacation Chris and I are taking in the middle of July. We're heading to a cottage up North for a week of reading, relaxing, swimming, hiking, boating and good food! We're also taking a week off in August to celebrate our third wedding aniversary. Right now we're leaning towards a road-trip somewhere in the States - we want to have an adventurous vacation so we're even thinking of just closing our eyes and pointing to somewhere on a map of the US and then designing our trip around that. ;) We'll see.

I don't go back to work until Thursday (the store is closed tomorrow for Canada Day), so I still have some time to relax (and unpack and do some laundry) before my vacay is officially over. I'm actually kinda' glad that it's raining today (and probably tomorrow) as I have some things to get done around the house, and nothing makes me procrastinate more than sunny weather!!

Hope everyone has a great day off tomorrow! Here's to friends, family . . . and Statutory Holidays!!

Read more...

Lost in the Music

>> Sunday, June 21, 2009

I discovered this clip on youtube last night. I must have listened to it about 20 times in a row. I have always loved great instrumental pieces, and time pretty much stopped for me as I took this in and was filled with inspiration, passion and life. It's a blend of Taylor Swift's "Love Story" and Coldplay's "Viva la Vida".

Check it out:

Read more...

Perfect Moments

>> Friday, June 19, 2009

I had a perfect moment today. It was one of those moments that you just know you will remember for the rest of your life.

There was nothing out of the ordinary about it - I was off for the day and Chris came home for lunch. I walked him outside when it was time for him to go back to work. We kissed good-bye and I stood and watched him as he walked down our tree-lined driveway to head back to the church. Halfway down the driveway he turned back and smiled at me and we said something silly to each other and laughed. As I walked back to the house I actually thought to myself "that was a perfect moment", and it made me smile.

It was simple, ordinary, full of love . . . just perfect.

Read more...

Waiting for the chips to fall

>> Tuesday, June 9, 2009

So I guess we should have been prepared as they do say that things come in threes. After Chris' dad spending time in the hospital, then Chris being admitted the day his dad got discharged, I should have known that the hospital stays weren't over just yet. Not even a week after Chris came home, his dad was re-admitted to the hospital (this time at Scarborough Grace, which thankfully is a lot closer than Credit Valley in Mississauga). We're not sure how long he'll be in there, but I'm hoping they start a better treatment plan soon.

It's been a rough road these past several weeks for our whole family, and I keep thinking "what else?" I keep waiting for the chips to fall, waiting for what else could happen and what other bad news we might have to hear or hard decisions we might have to make. Probably the single thought that has kept me sane so far though has been "God never gives you more than you can handle." I've always believed this, and it's given me a lot of comfort lately. Of course, I also think that things could always be worse, and I should just continue to be grateful for all the blessings that have occured so far. But - sometimes that's just really hard.

On a completely unrelated note (or maybe not) I also feel really confused at the moment about where my life is going. I've been pretty open about my continuing search the last little while for true meaning and passion in my life. I feel like I'm at a real crossroads career-wise. There are soooo many things I'm interested in, so many directions I could go - how does someone pinpoint exactly what it is they should spend their life doing? Growing up I always thought I'd be an actor, then for the longest time I thought "singer/songwriter", then perhaps humanitarian worker, then maybe outdoor adventure guide, then I thought "hey, why not all four?". I just don't know why I'm here, what my true purpose is, and for someone who likes to plan ahead and know what's going to happen I find that horribly frustrating and annoying.

I've been reading a lot of books lately, those lovely "self-help" books that my husband hates. While I do agree that some of it is fluff, I can see how some of them might be helpful in the long-run. One thing I read the other day really resonated with me. For the last few years I've always kind of thought that I would find my passion suddenly, kind of like a flash of lightening. I thought I'd have some sort of spiritual experience or something that would leave me absolutely certain of what I was supposed to do and accomplish in life. This book focuses on the fact that for most people, this just doesn't happen. It's through trial and error and just going with your gut instincts that things start to happen and you find yourself on the right career-path. I can't explain it as well as this author did, but it did make me think that maybe I should just start doing things I like to do and stop worrying about where it's taking me or what the "next step" is. I tend to get really discouraged when I can't see how I'm supposed to get from A to Z, but perhaps by just focusing on doing "A", that will eventually get me to "B", which will then get me to "C", and so on and so forth. There is that famous quote from the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" which maybe has stuck around for so long for a reason - it makes sense.

What is my first step though? Which direction shall I go in? As I write this, I feel like I need to get back in touch with who I am, and not who I think people want me to be. Hmmm, something for me to think about.

Anyhoo - I'm going to wrap this up as I feel the urge now to maybe just go for a walk and clear my head for a minute. I've always felt better and more "myself" when I'm out in nature (I went to a cottage this past weekend and as soon as I saw the lake it was like my heart sighed a big sigh of relief). I'm staring out my big window in my office at home, looking at how green the trees are, and although it's rainy and wet outside and I have a zillion chores to do, I think both Franklin and I are due for a walk.

Hope everyone out there in Internet-land has a great night,

Ciao

Read more...

The sun shines a lot brighter this week!!

>> Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Yessir, the sun is definitely shining a lot brighter this week than last week. Chris was finally released from the hospital on Monday and is home, doing well, and responding very well to his pills and treatment.
This will be a quick blog, but just wanted to say a big THANK-YOU to everyone for being so incredibly supportive and awesome during this crazy time. I think I would have had a nervous breakdown were it not for my family, friends, and people from the church (both the pastors and our friends) who were so supportive and helped out in ways that mean a lot to me and will never be forgotten.
Thanks for all the love and prayers! I firmly believe that Chris is home now because of all the people who were praying for him to get better!!
Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you!!

Read more...

  © Blogger templates Sunset by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP