The Dresser

I’ve seen the distressed furniture all over the web.  ’Miss Mustard Seed‘ always inspires me, as does ’4 the Love of Wood’.  So I took that inspiration and added some perspiration!

I found a solid wood dresser at the Sally Ann for $30.

The Wood DresserSanded it down, painted it white (2 coats), then sanded it again (really rough) and then rubbed some walnut stain on it to dirty it up.  I used stain instead of wax since I always change my mind about decor and with wax, it’s a done deal, you cannot paint over wax without a ton of sanding and prepping.  So I used the stain which I can easily paint over again if I change my mind.  And when I got the look I wanted…I sealed it!  I added new crystal knobs on the top drawers and spray painted the existing larger handles black.

And here she is…

New & Improved Dresser

 

I love how it turned out…The crystal knobs

And with the addition of just one word that I just had to paint on the top…

LovelyI think it turned out quite LOVELY!

In the bedroomMy clothes are excited to be in the new dresser!  Even with the cupboard doors that I put on upside down!  I’m loving the look…or just can’t be bothered to change it…you decide.

Ever your phlegmatic ocean soul furniture distresser,

Karen 

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A Good Trade

I’m trading this…

winter wonderland

for this…joshua_tree

and trading these monkeys…

for this…

for a whole week!

I have much catching up to do…I’ve been busy with some fabulous projects that I think you will all enjoy.  I’ll share those tomorrow! 

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Merry Christmas

From our families to yours, we wish you a wonderful and blessed Christmas season with your families and friends.

Whether you are in a cold climate…

or in a wonderfully warm, oceanside part of the world…

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Merry Christmas!

“ She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” – Matthew 1:21

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Winter Wonderland

There is no denying that east of the Rockies is in the throws of Winter. Funny that my husband and I are flying West today during our biggest winter blast yet. Quite the LOL I think. Be blessed, XXOO Jukavo

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Robert Frost (1923)

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. 

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Spooky Sights

Are things looking spooky in your neighborhood?  Here are some pics from our family outing around town last night…

Enter if you dare…

down the garden path in eerie green haze…

shrunken head tiki torches lighting the way…

Our favorite by far was the “Grande Admiral” Hotel…

Complete with a whole story…

We should have known from the silhouette in the front window, that this might be a bit scary, a bit “psycho”…

The “lobby” of the hotel had some pretty scary guests…

from there we go to the deadly lounge…

As we got closer, that bartender pulled out a hatchet and started hacking his “customer” and then started towards us!

And then we ran into the courtyard where the grave digger was having some trouble keeping things together…

But perhaps the scariest part of the “Grande Admiral” hotel, was at the end when the Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer shows up (I apologize for the heavy blur…I was kind of running for my life at this point, screaming at the top of my lungs since he was using a real chainsaw and revving it up…focus was not a priority!)…

There was way more to this production, however, I didn’t take many photos as I tended to be jumping and running quite a bit of the time…there were scary actors at every turn, hands reaching out and sneakily touching us on our backs…You should have heard the screams!  And why do these people go to all this work?  The same reason we went to all of the displays and productions with donations in hand…

The Kamloops Food Bank together with other local charities has many wonderful partners in our community who go to a lot of work to raise money.  And we enjoyed the fruit of their labor!  Even if we peed our pants!

Have a wonderful and spooktacular evening! 

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

This is what we arrived home to, after our trip from Boston. It remained cold this whole week, snowing on and off, a little each day. Yesterday, we had plus temperatures for the afternoon, so it began to melt. This morning, though, the fog was thick. Hoar frost was present, so I ran out and took a few pics. Are you braving the storm in the East? We escaped in time, I think. Keep safe, keep warm, keep steeped in hope, faith, love… XXOO Jukavo

It is Well with My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio G. Spafford, 1873 

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Road Trip Photos

I took a last solitary trip to Kamloops last week before driving over the Rockies becomes dangerous, due to snow. It was beautiful to say the least, with Autumn in full-force this side of BC. I took some pics on the way, and on the way back, I stopped at Emerald Lake. It really lives up to it’s name! I stayed with Karen for a few days and then at my folks. It was a lovely time, and I enjoyed the miles of road to myself. It’s sad when I get home-bound for the winter, but that’s ok, because I have taken up my knitting again (thanks Karen…) and I suppose my car needs a break. I must give a heads-up that I won’t be blogging here anymore, after next month. (I can’t speak for my partner in crime Karen, this is just my personal decision) It became apparent to me, that I was getting less and less motivated to blog, and since I have really taken to my photography lately, I think I will post photos that I take on a Tumblr blog, which will be attached to my Tumblr, at a later date. As much as I love you guys and have enjoyed all your wonderful comments, it’s time for me to get into all those projects I have laid to the wayside. Thanks for always tuning in. Here are my pics…enjoy and be blessed! XXOO Jukavo

leaving Calgary just after sunrise

the grapes ripening in Karen’s arbour

I love ‘golden’ hour

butterfly at Emerald Lake

I loved all the logger jackets lined up at the store!

there was a wedding going on at the lake, and I loved the positioning of the chair with the pink ribbon

the ‘lone’ tree, so symbolic of my solitary journey

PS. I will be posting on and off this month, another trip is planned to a conference (with my hubby this time) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania soon, and I can’t wait to take pictures of Autumn there, and as we drive towards Boston! 

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1000 Miles and a Million Years (part 4)

Sometimes it’s just good to have a special quiet spot where you can devote some time to God.  Okay, so it’s a bit of a rustic camp with old bus seats on a deck overlooking the lake, but it worked for me!  I was able to pray for guidance and wisdom…especially since most of my keynote presentations hadn’t successfully transferred onto my iPad (which is what I was using for the whole week!).

And before you knew it, camp was underway, kids were everywhere!

What was I going to do?  I was going to do what I always do when my own humanity fails me (seriously, I should have double checked to make sure I had transferred everything over from my desktop to my iPad!).  I cried out to God to help me.  And He did.  I totally changed things around and went totally low tech, barely using my iPad at all.  God provided a fabulous alternative, he gave me the inspiration and strength I needed to complete the task at hand…the task of telling the campers what’s so great about Jesus.

I went to the first chapel session.  The campers sang at the top of their lungs and did all the actions for the songs…

I saw all the campers faces and realized that these were the kids that my crazy prayer group had been praying for months in advance.  These were the campers that God had at this camp for a reason.  There were no coincidences…God had a plan.  So I spoke the words that God gave me, I hung out with the campers and the counsellors and the staff and got to know as many of them as I could, doing my best to remember everyone’s names.  I even learned to paddle board with some of them (I’m the rounder one standing up on my paddle board!  Me getting up on a paddle board could be classified as a miracle! LOL)…

There were tons of high energy crazy games…this dodgeball team was called “The MisFits”…

Fun activities like blobbing…

There were all kinds of skill training classes, like riflery…

and rock climbing…

and remote control car racing…

But it was the counsellors and staff that absolutely blew me away.  They all had interesting stories of why they were giving their time and energy to be at camp.  I was impressed by their love for God and their genuine concern for their campers.  This group of counsellors not only read God’s Word, they live it out…

And because of their love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and gentleness and self-control (all fruits of the Holy Spirit, by the way) they were able to set a beautiful example of what it means to be a real christian, for their campers.  And as a result, some of the campers decided that they wanted to follow Jesus too!  One of the campers came up to me one evening, with her counsellor in tow, and said, “Karen, guess what?  I’ve decided to become a Christian!”  We did a whole bunch of high fives and hugs and happy screams!  It was stellar!

And this was only the first week!

(to be continued) 

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1000 Miles and A Million Years (part 3)

After driving what felt like almost 1000 miles with only the odd building peeking above the wheat fields…

and a rather unusual trestle bridge in a marshy field…the paved road gave way to gravel road.  And the gravel road provided my first ever close up of a porcupine…As Monty Python would say, “that porcupine is pushing up daisies, it’s singing in the choir eternal, it is no more…It’s DEAD!”  If only I had some pliers on me, I could extract the quills and use them for jewelry…yes, you heard me correctly…pliers, porcupine quills, jewelry.  I have a pair of porcupine quill earrings…seriously…they are totally cute…see?…

I got them from a missionary that I met at CreationFest a few years ago, but that’s a whole other story and I need to discourage my ADD spin offs.   Back to the main story…where are my pliers when I need them?  Alas, I leave the deceased porcupine in its pristine deceased state and continue on my travels.

I finally arrived at Stoney Lake Bible Camp…in the middle of the woods, in the middle of northern Saskatchewan, in the middle of absolute peace and quiet.  And the view from my guest suite?

I am very familiar with B.C. camps like Stillwood Camp and Conference Center, Camp Qwanoes, Gardom Lake Bible Camp or Greenbay Bible Camp, where my daughter was working on dish-pit duty this summer.  But I have never been to Stoney Lake Bible Camp and what a surprise it was…just click the play button here on their promo video to get an idea of how special this camp is.

After I unpacked, the associate camp director treated me to a deluxe weenie roast complete with the traditional s’mores…

But two of the really special things about Stoney Lake Bible Camp?

That would have to be my two great-nephews (the sons of aforementioned associate camp director…yes it was nepotism that got me the speaking gig! LOL) who enjoy s’mores just as much as I do!  I think their mom enjoys s’mores too…

After a long day of traveling and enjoying s’mores and great-nephews…I prepared myself for the week ahead…the young campers would be arriving the next day.

It was definitely time to focus and time to pray.  Something big was going to happen.

(to be continued) 

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