All Things Canadian

Harvey's hamburgers. Crisp fall weather. Yellow maple leaves. Red maple leaves. Oak leaves. Raking leaves. Black squirrels. Swiss Chalet dipping sauce. Cold hardwood floors. Fireplaces. Bread from Cobbs bakery. Breakfast at Cora's. Cooking with my Mom. Homemade soups. Playing with my niece and nephew. Reitmans. Cotton Ginny. The Bulk Barn. Halloween kiss candy. The 6:00 news. Hot tea. Family stories. Hiding under blankets to stay warm. Gray rainy afternoons. The Hip. Hockey night in Canada. Don Cherry. Snowsuits. Mittens. Touques. Storm windows. Spending time with a friend from grade six. Childhood memories. Cafe mocha from Timmies. Packages in the mail. Phone calls to far away family. Rugby games in the park. Cold pop. Tennis bubbles. Hockey arenas. Fairy Lake. Walking on a trail covered in birch leaves. Stopping before the white lines at intersections. Using blinkers. Winter sand storage domes. Express and collector lanes.

As frustrating as it has been not being able to work yet, I am loving being at home...

Exciting Times

Isn't it exciting to be a child of God? There are so many amazing things happening for His Kingdom right now...
Check out Jenny & the Kluges' blogs (links at right) for some Honduras updates. Casa de Esperanza is just hours away from bringing home some more kids to love, and the Manna project has begun in San Miguel, feeding literally hundreds of hungry children.
How amazing is it that God would use us to minister to these people in Honduras?
Continue to bless their efforts Lord, and give them the strength and the wisdom to continue serving in Your name so that You alone will be glorified...

Thinking While at "Home"

The word "home" has taken on different meanings to me over the years... (sigh, am I old enough to actually use the word "years" there??)
When I left for Nashville, "home" became synonomous with Canada. And somehow my friend Tammy and I became ambassadors for our country, even though what we often described as Canadian was only in reference to the booming metropolis of Newmarket. I now try to correct people when they label things I do or say as a Canadian-thing and remind them it's probably just a Judy-thing. At any rate, home was where my family was, where I had worked at the movie theatre, the mall, the donut shop, where I had gone to school, where I had gone to church, to camp, to the cottage... so MANY memories.
And then, with time, the word "home" shifted across the border to where Brett and I began our life together after getting married, where our family started. In the city where I spent most of my adult life (since we've moved further south now). It's where we earned our degrees, where we started those friendships that you know will last for life, where Brett began his journey as a coach, where we both learned that being a Christian is more than just going to church and praying when life gets rough.
And my heart feels at "home" whenever I return to Honduras in a way that I could never describe to you. I have so many God memories there that at times my heart becomes overwhelmed just thinking about it. And pictures of our little "family" in Santa Ana are proudly displayed on our fridge at home.
So while I've been home in Canada I was visiting a sweet friend of mine who innocently asked me the other night, "Have you been visiting many friends while you've been home?" to which I answered, after laughing out loud, "Well, I'm HERE..." We became friends in grade six and she's the only "friend" from home I still keep up with after all these years, since Tammy is still in the States. And I got to thinking...
All of these places are home to my heart for many different reasons and many different memories... and each of them have a common thread of being part of my family. Because one thing I've learned since moving away from home, and that is some of your friends will become part of your family. They're the ones you get to choose.
So, rejoice in the many places your heart calls "home" and the "family" you have there!

Attention: Identity Thieves

The SSN previously posted on the blog entry following this one is not in fact my SSN. If you would have taken the time to read the next entry you would have discovered, in fact, that I do not have a SSN so that obviously won't work for you to qualify me for one of those hilarious commercials about identity theft... them motorcycles were LOUD!
So, in order to stop my father from having any more cows about it, since they don't have the room for a cattle farm at the house, I have removed it.
However, if you're interested, let me know. Not only has the FSBPT randomly assigned me a meaningless 9-digit number for identification purposes, so has Belmont and Lipscomb...

P-R-A-I-S-E the L-O-R-D!!!!

Last Name	First Name	Middle	License Number	License Type	Date Licensed	Expiration Date	Appointment Type	Status
MITCHELL	JUDY	SMITH	PTH4886	PHYSICAL THERAPIST	10/13/2006	10/1/2007	EXAMINATION	ACTIVE

Here I sit and wait...

Steps to obtaining an Alabama Physical Therapy License:
1. Take the PT board exam..........................................check
2. Take the AL jurisprudence exam.................................check
3. Get a SSN...........................................................OOPS!

I am caught in a vicious immigration circle/nightmare!

In order to get my license to work here in the good ole US of A, I need a SSN. In order to get my SSN I need to be in the States on a visa that doesn't expire in the next two weeks (or two days as the case may be). In order to get my visa I need to apply for a visa screen. In order to apply for a visascreen, I need to have a license #.

Hello, Houston????
Does anyone else see a problem here?

Canadian Thanksgiving

In honour of Canadian Thanksgiving, and a small attempt to be different from the self-absorbed, self-indulgent culture we live in, I decided to list some daily blessings that I wrote down last weekend. I challenge you to do the same. Try to go deeper than the obvious (family, spouse, friends, health, etc). Not because they aren't blessings, just really think about specifically why you are thankful for them.

1. Hearing the words "I love you" before going to sleep at night

2. Learning from my sister that Samantha keeps asking her when Auntie Judy is coming home

3. The spontaniety of my parents leaving to go out of town to "somewhere" so they could see the autumn leaves and celebrate their 40th anniversary

4. Baking apple crumb from the same recipe that my Mom uses to make it for me, and probably her Mom used to make for her

5. Cherry coke

6. Watching the love and support given to those at church who go forward for encouragement/forgiveness/prayers

7. The peace that I've had about my upcoming board test

8. Melted cheddar cheese on a soft yeast roll (you know, I wouldn't be a true Carter if food wasn't on here somewhere!)

9. The sound of a soccer ball being kicked into the opponent's goal

10. The anticipation of going home to spend time with my family and escape the stress of everyday life

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kristen & Kevin

I decided to celebrate the fact that I can now post pictures on my blog again with a shout out to my friends Kristen & Kevin who will be getting married Saturday, September 29th, 2007, time is yet to be determined... but I'm sure it's NTL COB (right, all you JSH fans out there?) .

Congratulations to some of my favourite Ohio people!! (Go Buckeyes!!)
And a Holl-ah to Dixie Mae for helping her daddy propose...

So Kristen, when you coming down to show off your ring that I found out you were getting the night this picture was taken?? :)