Christmas time...

Christmas is a funny time for me.
When you marry someone from another country, like I did when I married Beth, you put yourself in a difficult position at this time of the year. Traditionally, of course, Christmas is a time for family. For gathering together and celebrating the birth of Christ with those closest to you. When you marry, you form a new family, but you also keep the one that you had, and gain another one too.
Because my family is in England, and Beth's family is here in Toronto, we're left with the choice of who we spend Christmas with. If both our families were in England, even some distance apart, we could come up with a reasonable solution - my parents, my sister and I always visited my mum's side of the family just before Christmas, with our immediate family on Christmas day, and with my dad's side on Boxing day. That's not really possible with a 3500 mile plane ride separating our families now.
We've been doing this for some time now. Last year, we spent Christmas in England - our last Christmas before we were married. Beth came to visit mid-December, and we stayed at my parents' place for the holiday. The year before, when I proposed to Beth, I had come to visit her in Toronto, and we celebrated with her family.
This year, we were in Toronto too - the decision of where we would be was largly made for us by the advanced stage of Beth's pregnancy.

All this to say, we had an amazing time this year. We spent time with friends, we spent time with Beth's family. We went out for a meal on Christmas day, and we had a nice quiet Boxing Day at home, just the two of us (well, three, I guess).
Certainly we missed my family, although the blow of this was softened by the fact that my parents surprised us with a visit three weeks ago.

Christmas can be a tricky time for families, but in many cases, it is what you make it. Just because I didn't get to see my family over Christmas, it didn't stop me remembering what a great time we'd had the previous year, or thinking about visiting them next year, or even from celebrating with them in some small way; as we opened presents from them, they opened presents from us and we spoke on the phone.
In the future, we may find that we live in a completely different country from all of our family - that's something that is yet to be revealed to us - but Beth and I will be together. I guess that's why it's so important to start our own family traditions at Christmas. Especially with a new member of the family about to join us...

Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had, are having, and will continue to have an incredible holiday, whoever you're with.
Love.

(Apologies to someecards.com for stealing their lovely image used in this blog.)

I look psycho when I laugh

So, whilst procrastinating today (there are two essays I should be churning out) I found these two ridiculous pictures that made me jump. Hahahaha....how scary.
Ooooooooh I should be researching right now. One paper has to do with the Cuban Revolution and one is on Aboriginal rights and quality of life within Canada...yeahhhhhhhhhhh.

I know. Before that, I'll let you know that the countdown to Mark's twenty-sixth birthday has officially begun: t minus *22 days* WOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Here are some nifty present ideas... he likes comedy movies, british comedians, classic literature and mystery novels, games, ginger, cakes, rock music, hockey, cryptic crosswords, graphic design, cats and silliness. Alrighty?

not ashamed

I was just on a website called www.prisoneralert.com, a branch of the large Voice of the Martyrs ministry. On it there are pictures and life stories of prisoners from all around the world: Vietnam, Indonesia, Eritrea and many more. All of them have one thing in common- they are in prison for their faith. I can't imagine what their world is like...

You can write letters to them and the UN right on the website. Have a look.

Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

It's quiet up here...

Well, we've moved into our new place. I've dreamt about living in Downtown Toronto ever since I first came here to visit in Spring 2001.
We were really blessed with the place - we just wanted somewhere close to Beth's school to make it easy for her to get there, and somewhere cheap. We ended up with the most amazing apartment. Just check out the view from our balcony. I eat breakfast while looking at the city skyline every morning.

Things are taking some interesting turns at the moment. Beth is looking more and more pregnant every day. She's 24 weeks pregnant tomorrow, so we're nearly into the 3rd trimester. Not long now until I get to hold my beautiful baby son or daughter. If I put my hand on Bethany's tummy, I can now feel the baby moving around. Man, that thing can kick. It's like Bruce Lee meets Chuck Norris in there.
We launched the North York Church a couple of weeks ago. It's going so well. We had John Arnott speak on Sunday, and he talked about how he sees us being a Church that sees many people saved. That's cool, eh? You can download his message for TACF North York here.
Beth and I are speaking this week, on Hearing God's Voice.
This is seeming to be a really busy Fall, but then again, it was a busy Summer, and a busy Spring. And the Winter was rather hectic too. I'm starting to notice a pattern emerging.

Let's recap:
I moved to Canada in January, we got married in February. Came back off honeymoon, and helped to run a huge youth conference. In April, we got pregnant, and in May we started preparations for TACF North York. In June and July, we did the Leaders' School of Ministry, and shortly after that, August took us to England for my sister's wedding. Returning from there in early September, I drove to Texas for Jacob's wedding, driving back in one go, me the only driver, a week later. Then to Peterborough for Tim & Kathryn's wedding, and finally, last Friday to Laura and John's. With the launch of a church in the middle, and the preparations for a baby. And a move of apartments. Oh, man. I'm tired just writing it.

So, this is a busy time. But I notice that we're slowing down a bit too, in preparation for the baby. Tonight we walked to the Eaton Centre (yep, we're close enough to do that now...) to buy me a new Fall jacket (I left my old one in Texas). Last night we stayed in too. I don't think we have any big plans for tomorrow night either. We're busy alright, but we're just taking some time for ourselves too.
It's a little bit like our apartment here up on the 19th floor. The road and everything is busy down below - it never stops. The elevators are constantly full of people. But the walls here are concrete, and it's all rather quiet and peaceful really.

Right, I'm off to sit on the couch with my lovely wife. I might just see if that baby will give me a roundhouse kick too.

hair therapy

There is nothing like ending an insanely busy week at the salon.
Something about sitting there in the chair being waited on hand and foot while someone else drips with sweat all to make you look and feel fabulous.

And the smell of freshly groomed hair? You know that smell ladies........sigh.

So it was a long week... now back to the books for me. I've got three assignments on the go- tata!

urban bliss

Ooooooooooooh the joys of moving. We are settling into our new corner of the world at Wellesley and Sherbourne. Who knew representin' the East side could be so fun. Here are some perks of our nineteenth floor apartment:

-the view of the CN Tower and lake
-the Food Basics directly underneath the building
-the free ESL classes in the building
-the sauna and workout facilities
-the 15min walk to school and 20min walk to the Eaton Centre
-our French Canadian neighbour

The list goes on...


Come and visit, ok? We have lots of treats!

Four Weddings And...Another Wedding?

Two down and three to go! I've never had an Autumn like this before...

I don't get tired of weddings. Ever. Ok ok, this is partly because I love to dress up and dance like the rest of you party animals (I don't get out much), but the big fat MAIN reason is because nothing feels better than celebrating love. L-O-V-E.
I sit in the pew while the bride clutches her dad's arm down the loooooong aisle and re-feel all of that nervousness, excitement, and emotion of our wedding (give me a break it was only 8 months ago). It makes me want to BURST but I end up just subtly tearing up into a kleenex and leaving it in the slot for the hymn books.

On Laura and Brett's day, Mark's dad spoke about resonating with God. He pointed out that when we find ourselves celebrating love, marriage, committment, security and family... our hearts resonate with the Creator of it all. This was a timely reminder for all of us present.
No matter how near or far we felt from the Lord, we were on the same page as Him when we willfully supported and witnessed the union of two of His favorite people. Pete went on to illustrate this with a tuning fork. We all hushed to hear the note fill the stone church in Carlton.
The foundation of the church is over 1000 years old!

This past weekend on Jacob and Carolyn's day I remembered that clear note coming from the little tuning fork. I was resonating right there with God the Father as he cheered his children on.
The day went really well, and the night was exceptional...yes Mark, even though they played Hip Hop. It was a blast. The baby, who is now GROWING like CRAZY seemed to like it seeing as I didn't ralph after all that spaghetti and meat balls. But wait, he/she doesn't like Yorkshire puddings so does this mean our baby has an Italian palette? Hmmm...

Best. Video. Ever.

There's no such thing as a jaggy snake...

Biffy Clyro. If you haven't heard them, you should do. Watch them live here. Really, do it.

Oh, I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside...

Wow. We're back in the UK. It's my sister's wedding next Saturday, so we're over here getting ready for the big day. It's been quite emotional at times; this is the first time we've seen my family since our wedding, and so it follows the first time we've seen them since we got the news that we're pregnant. There were lots of tears at the airport, and when we got back to my parents' house, there were more.
My parents and my sister had gone a bit crazy with the baby clothes shopping, and presented us with about 6 bags of clothes. Some of them hand knitted by my mum. Incredible. There were also some things from when I was a baby, saved for this sort of thing, no doubt. We're getting quite a collection for the littlest Hardy, what with the stuff that Beth's mum has already gotten us at home.

Well, it's amazing here. The weather wasn't so good at first, but it's all got rather nice the last few days. It was particularly hot the day we went to North Yorkshire's Heritage Coast; visiting Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay (where the pictures were taken) and Scarborough.
Whitby was beautiful as always, but I haven't been there in the height of summer for years, and I'd forgotten how crowded it all gets. You could barely move. We did, however, escape from the hustle and bustle by popping into Sander's Yard for delicious cakes. I also enjoyed a tasty bottle of cider. Oh, the joys of England.
We moved on to Robin Hood's Bay, an old fishing village once very popular with smugglers, now very popular with families. The beach is clean, and full of rock pools, of the sort that you can find small crabs in. There's also a good amount of slate to be found, and within this slate, fossils. We hunted for the preserved remains of ancient creatures for a little while, and came away with a few good examples of shells, and some average ammonites. I haven't been fossil hunting with my dad for a long time, and it was rather fun.

Finally, our journey took us to Scarborough, where we were surrounded by chavs, scallies, pikeys and the likes. Lovely stuff. We took Marine Drive down to the town, and marvelled at the beautiful water, looking more like the Mediteranean than the North Sea. Like I say, I haven't been in the summer for a long time. We parked under the castle at the foot of the cliffs, and wandered past the fairground towards the sea front. Oh, man. It was rough. But it's all good fun, and you have to have the dirt and grime for it to be a real English seaside town, don't you? We ate fish and chips from Winking Willy's, where they still fry everything in beef dripping (it's terribly bad for you, but it tastes so much better that way). We spent ages in an amusement arcade, putting plenty of small change into the 2p pushers in an attempt to win a fortune (it never happens). Our last port of call was to be the Harbour Bar; an ice cream parlour on the seafront, but it was closed by the time we got there, so we returned to the car, tired and happy.

And that was that. We've been having a great time. We went out in Worksop with some old friends last night, and enjoyed the bank holiday weekend. James (my best man) is coming over today, and it's going to be great to see him. We went to Nottingham, and saw Rob Littler at a frisbee tournament, spent some time in the peak district, conquering Mam Tor, and headed to Leeds to see some old friends from my days in that wonderful city. We shopped in York, and enjoyed a cream tea at The Crossing in Worksop. The girls are off to Manchester tomorrow to do some shopping, while me and the boys enjoy a lovely game of football at Hillsborough (very stereotypical, I know).

I'm sure there'll be more to fill you in on by the end of the trip. It's fantastic being on vacation, and really exciting getting ready for Laura and Brett's wedding. No doubt Beth will be itching to fill you in on this stuff in a few days. Until next time, ta ta.

a bun in the oven

Have you heard????

In May we were suprised, pleased, amazed, and overwhelmed to find out that we're going to have a wee little baby! Yep, there is a real person inside my belly and it has a spirit, a brain, a heart beat, a nervous system, arms, wrists, legs, toes and more.

As hard as it is, we're leaving the gender a secret and finding out when we meet the little guy or gal. That should be some time around the 29th of January, 2008. I wonder who he/she will look like...

How do we feel about it? Good question. We're over the moon.
We found out first by three at home pregnancy tests, and then got the news confirmed at North York General Hospital.
While there are many decisions, changes, and plans to make, we are learning as we go. We have so many questions...as you can imagine.

I'm slowly getting over the sicky/exhaustion phase and not showing at all yet. But as time goes on it will all become more real and more close I guess. Mark is being a legend as usual, and reading constantly about what the baby is experiencing and doing. You might have had him enthusiastically educate you already.

What a busy time. We are starting the Leaders School at TACF next week, which will be oh so timely and amazing (I miss school so much I'm el desperado to take notes!). We also just recently found an excellent apartment for the fall which is within walking distance to Ryerson Uni- my new place of study and second home.
The countdown is on until we leave for Miss Laura Hardy's wedding in England this August and maybe after aaaaall that the baby will start kicking.

More updates to come...

Revelations...

As part of my internship, I went to a Prophetic Equipping School this week.

I've always been fascinated by the prophetic, and my dad is clearly a prophet, so it was incredible to have the chance to spend a couple of days dedicated to learning more about this incredible gift.

There's way too much to write here about prophecy and the prophetic, so I'll stick to a few key points that I've picked up, both this week, and in the past few years.
When we accept Christ as our saviour, and receive Him into our hearts, we become able to prophesy. The way that I understand this is that it doesn't mean that we have a particular prophetic anointing, but that if we open ourselves up to it, and God speaks to us, we have the ability to prophesy. I also believe that we can receive a prophetic anointing that marks the anointed as a Prophet, and there are several things that come with that.

God's heart is to reveal his love for his people. If you look at the Old Testament, there is a string of prophets, whose job it was to reveal God's love for the people. Sometimes this wasn't quite what they wanted to hear, because they had strayed so far from His plan for them that they needed disciplining. God never disciplines out of hate, but always out of love, so if a prophet brought a word that appeared discouraging to the Israelites, it was only so that they could be brought back into line with His perfect plan.

We have for several years now seen a revival of the post of prophet in the Church. This excites me, because I want to know God's heart for his people. Prophecy takes various forms. God's word can be revealed through pictures, visions, dreams, interpretation of dreams, the scriptures, impressions, words popping into the head, and sometimes the audible voice of God, to name but a few of the most common ones.

Why is prophecy coming to the forefront of God's people again? I don't know. All I know is that when a prophetic word is brought, it's used for the encouragement of the Church, and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. It's for God's glory, and it's to reveal his heart for his people.

Hmmm. Some stuff to think about.

On Mrs. Twit and Beauty

An excerpt from one of Roald Dahl's delightful childlike masterpieces, The Twits.


"...Mrs.Twit wasn't born ugly. She'd had quite a nice face when she was young. The ugliness had grown upon her year by year as she got older. Why would that happen? I'll tell you why.

If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you ahve good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely."

Quebec City

The almost four hundred year old city of Quebec was BREATHTAKING to behold.
We spent quite a while exploring this roaring, wet area you see in the pictures, and the rest of the time was spent mainly in the city centre. Oh, and Montreal on the Monday.
None other than the generous Puddles themselves decided they would take us lot on a wee long weekend holiday as a wedding present...how enormous is that?!

Oh how lovely it is to be constantly overwhelmed by the kindness of Jesus through our friends...

an apple a day

Yesterday I finally enjoyed my very first candy apple (well, to memory) at the Falls, and it was delish.



An old- fashioned sweet shop window caught our eye and before you knew it, we were one step closer to getting a cavity. I'd love to have a sweet shop of my own one day.
Is it difficult to make fudge?

So it was another romantic date night mixed in with the celebration of Mark receiving an Ontario Drivers Licence. When they insisted on confiscating his English one, we shamlessly asked for a photocopy...it was COOL, ok?!

We enjoy reading our English dad's new blog, and you might too! He is full of wisdom and creativity. Plus, he IS Mark's dad so he is quite silly as you may have guessed already.

For all you Canadians, have a delightful long weekend and wear your sunscreen!

Taking it back to the Temple...

Ezra 6 v5:

"Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought it to Babylon are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God."

So, King Cyrus of Persia wrote all this down when he came to power, and his decree was carried out by King Darius, who took over the sovereignty.

Here's a few thoughts about this.
In Revelation, Babylon is used as a metaphor for 'the abominations of the earth'; Essentially, the works of Satan. Also in Revelation, Heaven is referred to as The New Jerusalem.

So, looking at this from the point of view that we are; after Christ, in the last days, how does this sound? For Nebuchadnezzar, read 'the Devil'. For Babylon, read 'all the crap that comes with being in a fallen world'. For the temple in Jerusalem, read 'the City of our Holy God in Heaven'.
Having spent some time reading this the other day, Holy Spirit started speaking to me, and revealing the power of this statement.
All the treasures of the Temple, that is, all of the treasures of the Kingdom of God, which we have open access to since Jesus gave us the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, which have been stolen from us by Satan, are to be, and are now being returned to their rightful place in the house of God, and we have full access to them.

How's that for a slice of fried gold?

Passover to my place...

So, last week was Passover. We decided to celebrate the festival, so we invited some good friends over, purchased the necessary ingredients, and I researched the service.
I used a number of sources to compile my Haggadah, and made sure that I had everything that I needed. I printed out enough copies for everyone, and Bethany designed the cover.

Bethany and I put together the Seder Plate, and made a rather tasty roast chicken dinner. And so it began. I love the fact that, with the exception of the language we were speaking, we did almost exactly the same thing as Jesus did when he celebrated the Passover. The same thing that he did when he ate the last supper with his disciples.

A few interesting thoughts, then, on the subject of Passover. Jesus celebrated this feast. It's not only part of the Jewish calendar, but the Bible says that we should celebrate it, and not forget the way that God rescued his people from Slavery in Egypt. In fact, that's the whole purpose of the festival. When Jesus rose from the dead, he defeated sin and death for all time. Because of what he did for us, we're now free. The whole idea of celebrating Passover as a demonstration of God's ability to set us free has a new meaning ever since Jesus died for our freedom. That's pretty cool, don't you think?
When we got to the actual meal, I took out my Bible, and read from Mark 14:

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me."

They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"

"It is one of the Twelve," he replied, "one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."

Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.

"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. "I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

In the Passover ceremony, a section of the unleavened bread is kept over, and not eaten. There is also a particularly important ritual, which involves pouring an extra glass of wine, 'The Cup of Elijah' and leaving it for the prophet; tradition explains that Elijah will come before the messiah, and proclaim his coming.
Funny, then, that this is how Jesus referred to John the Baptist:

This is the one about whom it is written:
" 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.'
I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.

So, when the cup is left for Elijah, it is in anticipation of the coming of the messiah. When Jesus broke the bread, he took the piece that was left over, and shared that out. Then, he took 'the cup', and passed it around. Jesus makes it clear right then that He IS the Messiah, and that anyone still waiting for Elijah to come to proclaim the coming Saviour is wasting their time. Not only is Jesus showing what will happen to him, but he is demonstrating the New Covenant there and then. He takes the cup, to be saved until the Messiah comes, and shares it out. He celebrates the feast that he has been instructed by Jewish law to celebrate, and then uses some of the elements to create something new; instructing us to 'do this in remembrance' of Him. The feast that was created to remind us how the Almighty God set his people free from the slavery of the Egyptians is re-made by Jesus to remind us of how the Almighty God has set his people free from all slavery!

I thoroughly recommend celebrating the Passover next year. I learned so much about my heritage as an adopted Jew through celebrating the feast. I learned even more about the fulfillment of the law through Christ. And most of all, I discovered a greater understanding of the importance of Jesus' death and resurrection.

relax

"In nothing is the English genius for domesticity more notably declared than in the institution of afternoon tea."
- George Gissing



















The dainty tea pots you see before you are three new additions to my collection (yesterday I decided that these + my other two = the baby stages of a colletion, non?).
So these gorgeous gifts were from three separate gals all within ONE WEEK and I think they're ace. Ok, how cute is that elephant?!

Mark, the English gentleman that he is, also gave me an adorable tea book for my birthday.
It's called, 'The Art of Taking Tea' by Kim Waller.
The book has a few tips for putting a formal shine on your tea time...whatever time of day that might be. The author suggests that one should aquire:
- creamer and sugar duo
- strainer to place over the cup for the loose tea leaves or lemon seeds
- sugar tongs and lemon forks
- tea caddies
- teaspoons : preferably with your first or last name initial engraved
This book has pictures. Pretty ones. Not everything matches, either, which I like.
Waller suggests to put tea cups and saucers together by form and colour themes.
To me this means keep an eye out for cool finds in charity shops and at garage sales then mix and match, but be picky. VOILA.

Alright... time to relaaaaaaaaaax and enjoy an afternoon tea myself since class this morning was extra intense (there are only three weeks of first year uni left! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
Yeah, I'll write about more interesting things soon. School has taken over slightly you see... and I have this brand new husband to hang out with 24/7 which makes this the most FUN time of my life so far :)

ps: mark says that in a fight, coffee would kick tea's butt. I say no way hosea. You?

She's My Rushmore...

Band Club wrote a song for us on the occasion of our wedding. Brilliant. It's about when I proposed to Bethany. Steve says that we have sole rights to it. And that means that I can post the lyrics here. As with most Band Club songs, there's plenty of popular culture references in the song. Try to work out what they all are. I might even post a link to the track at some point. Enjoy...



She's My Rushmore (the Ballad of Mark and Bethany)

Her name/the east
Her name/the east
Her name/the east
Her name/the east
Her name/the east
This could go on and on.

So I say 'Bethany'.
And you say 'that way'.
Oh you've got to hand it to the poor.
You've got to hand it to the poor.

Cos she's my Rushmore
She's the ligaments of bees
She's my Rushmore
And she joins me in all these
Extra-curricular activities
She's my Rushmore
And I'll get down on my knees and get my trousers wet for her.

The plane delayed
The plane delayed
The plane delayed
The plane delayed
The plane delayed
This could go on and on

So I'll take the airlines recompense
Convert it to Canadian cents
And then into a silver ring for her
Into a silver ring for her.

Cos she's my Rushmore
She's the ligaments of bees
She's my Rushmore
And she joins me in all these
Extra-curricular activities
She's my Rushmore
And i'll get down on my knees and get my trousers wet for her.

In this climate
There'll be extremes of weather
Somehow I know that
We've been through the hardest stuff together.

Oh, we must have been depraved
More miles than Charlie would have braved
And Craig
Would have been easy to stay put.

But (oh) they'll never build a bridge
Over the mid-atlantic ridge
But you know I would have
Done it all on foot.

So come on.

Married and loving it...

Jack and Jill went down the hill...

To watch the latest toboganning adventure, visit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhTJ4fK5UaI

Our English parents, the best man, and many other cool Britts arrived yesterday.
Some of them enjoyed a nice, wholesome Candian snowball fight this morning until Rob's groin got injured.

Lesson of the day: Men, wear jock straps when engaging in a snowball fight.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie

That's Amore...

Yesterday was the best Valentines Day ever. Period. Let me explain...
To start, a delightful couple called Ben and Kelsey, arrived on Saturday from England. Showing them bits and bobs of our multifaceted city has been lush to say the least.
*FYI: I think Mark should be on a 'This-is-why-Toronto- Rocks' commercial. He NEVER ceases to find yet another positive thing to mention about our home and native land. Tourguide extraordinaire.*
Then Rob, a groomsman and really super close buddy of ours arrived. Amazing!

So I thought this year we'd be a bit too busy to get do a proper Valentines Day. It's not a big thing, but I am used to celebrating on the fourteenth. My mom has been superb at transforming the kitchen and living room into a festive pink white and red wonderland. She would combine just enough atmosphere and chocolate to make my sister and I feel special regardless of whether we had anyone else to celebrate with that day.
This time around we in fact WEREN'T too busy to my suprise. I was spoiled rotten by Mark and later by my family. He had put together this adorable plan to pamper me, and it was overly successful.
I was treated to a refreshing/cleansing facial, an hour massage, then a manicure at a phenomenal salon. WOW! Then he scored tickets to a LEAF GAME in the evening. It went to a shoot out! Soooooooo good! I didn't think it could get any better. Then it snowed . MAJORLY. This was all on the thirteenth.
On the fourteenth I not only woke up to little pink cupcakes on a heart-shaped plate with my favorite tea (complements of Becca), but to cards and sunshine and a McDonalds breakfast as well! Imagine that after all of these wonderful presents and calories I remembered I was getting married in TWO WEEKS!
The evening consisted of toboganning, hot chocolate and heated games of boggle. See why it was the best?

Ok, I'm out of breath now. But there is more. Just have a look at this verse from 1 John:

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we're free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ's. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. He loved us first.

How good is that?! I could fall off my chair. On a day that has unfortunately become a money-maker, and possibly heart-breaker, the most important thing to remember is that He is LOVE!
Yes, He is affectionate and sweet and romantic and generous and kind and so in love with you! Woohooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Cats and Casinos...

Well, since Bethany has not yet posted, I figured I'd best have a little go. Things are pretty hectic here, to be fair. Any spare time we have is spent sorting things out for the wedding. Which is ONE MONTH TODAY. People are coming to visit in less than a week, and it's all getting very close and exciting. No wonder these posts are short, and few and far between.

Last night we went to see Casino Royale. I have come to the conclusion that Daniel Craig is the BEST BOND EVER. Very gritty. Judy Dench gets better every time. She's awesome. Bethany enjoyed the movie a lot too, and we saw it with some good friends, which always makes for a good time. We ate good food, and played Cribbage. And we skated in Nathan Phillips Square.

What was particularly enjoyable about yesterday, however, was coming back to my amazing new cat. He's awesome. You should check him out in this video here that Bethany made last week.

More posts soon, I hope. I love you all...

Amsterdam...

We went to Amsterdam for a day at the end of last year. I think Bethany's going to write about it later, but here's a short video to keep you going...

I could go to Canada...

You know, the last month or so would have been a great time to blog. Shame I didn't take advantage. It would have made quite interesting reading, if only I'd had enough time to get round to it. I had Bethany visiting me at my parents' place in Worksop for three weeks over Christmas, which was fantastic. It was one of the best Christmasses that I have ever had.
I think that the main contributor to that might have been that it was the last Christmas that I would spend with my family before I left the country to start my new life as a husband.

So, after my move back to small town life, Bethany and I headed to the airport, and boarded a plane bound for the big city. There were tears at the security check-in, as we said goodbye to my mum and dad; knowing that this was the biggest move that I would ever make. We went through, and several hours later we landed here in Toronto. At passport control I was diverted to speak to someone in immigration, and a number of questions later, I was given my voluntary work visa. I have the right to stay here for up to a year at present. Once Bethany and I get married at the end of February, we'll begin the process of applying for landed immigrancy.

So, I moved into my apartment. It's flipping huge! We still have a couple of little things to buy for it today, but it's pretty much perfect for what I need. I spent an excellent day with Jacob yesterday moving in and getting rid of some junk that was in here, and you can check out the fruits of our labours by watching this video.

Well, I'm here now. Nearly six years after I knew that I would live here, I've finally made the move. I start work on Monday, and preparations for the wedding are in the final stages; it's less than seven weeks until the big day. I'm still having a hard time realising that I'm not just visiting. Life is good...