LIfe is just hard...

...for no reason at all.
-Remember the Titans
Any prayers on behalf of Benji & Rebekah for the blessing of their daughter Gracie would certainly be apprectiated.
Instead of typing out the details I'll simply send you to http://www.thebenjamites.blogspot.com/
Our prayers are with you...

The little one....

Here is our ultrasound pic from 21 weeks (I'm currently 24 weeks pg). {Sorry for the delay!}
For those who don't know, we aren't finding out what we're having, so if you see something in this pic, you're better than the technician :) At this point we are just grateful to have a healthy baby with a four chambered heart, intact kidneys, and split brain (yes, I'm a medical geek). Looking forward to meeting this chiciringo!
{strangely enough, this post is for my Mom, who flew out to Cuba for some sun and relaxation today and won't see this for a week... sorry Mom!}
And a special shout out to my friend Carissa for scanning the pics... you rock girl!

The Holidays - Canadian Style

Maple Leafs vs. Penguins in Mellon Arena. Driving through snow storms. Presents. Mincemeat tarts. Wearing multiple layers in frigid temps. Snow, snow, snow. Rain. More snow. Christmas crowds. Cafe Mocha. Climbing through snowbanks to find the car at the mall. Nanamo bars. Christmas movies. Giving. Family. Love. Excitement. Opening stockings. Hot tea. Cranberry pudding. Christmas Vacation. Turkey soup. Canasta with Grandma. Mary Brown's taters. Skating. Laughing. Carter Christmas. Wi Bowling. Breakfast at Cora's. Baby Mitchell presents. Swiss Chalet. Snow tubing. Hot chocolate. Frost bitten toes. Days in the car. Christmas holidays 2008.

at Mellon Arena

Yeah baby!!

Samantha & Cole

Cole & Judy

Yes, it's true
the Ontario sister: holds the wall while skating...
the Alabama sister: not a chance!!

cheerleader pose!!

love this pic of Samantha..

Brett & Cole

Who doesn't need help getting their skates off?

The Carter/Smith girls
Jennifer, Janette, Kathy, & Judy

Mom bowling!

This is truly a photogenic moment...
Mom & Auntie Erma showing Dad & Uncle Vern (the techies) how to use the Wi remotes :)

I love how Davis is peeking up into this pic!

New Years Eve: the chalet at Snow Valley
I love how this turned out blurry - that's how tired we all were after tubing out in the cold!

Celebrating, celebrating

As of today we've been a part of eachother's lives for 17 years.
There are no words to adequately describe just how much I love and respect this man. I simply can not imagine my life without him in it, or imagine a more suitable partner to get to journey beside through this life.

Highschool sweethearts.
Best friends.
Soulmates.
17 years knowing eachother.
10 years of marriage.
6 months until our little family becomes 3....

Headin' to Starbucks

Today Starbucks is donating to the Global Fund to help save lives in Africa in support of World AIDS Day. So head on over and get your favourite latte, coffee, chai tea. Doing good never tasted better.

Happy Thanksgiving

In my pitiful attempt at a blog update, here are a few pics of our State Park visits this fall...

Oak Mountain

Brett thinking he is pretty clever
"Why don't you get out of the canoe and get a picture of those trees?"
And when I turn back around, he is 20 ft away from the shoreline... haha!

We went one afternoon to Oak Mountain and rented a canoe, which we haven't done in FOREVER!
Being in the stern of a canoe with Brett behind me is one of my absolute favourite places to be!

Radnor Lake, Nashville

Karen & I

Derek, Timothy's legs, Karen, Brett and I
We were fortunate to spend a morning hiking at Radnor with dear friends of ours one Saturday in Nashville. The extra bonus is that Timothy will be quiet the whole time he's in the sling :)
{And we got to hang out with some of our favourite people!}

Proud Canadian

Kudos to Roxy for directing me to this site, written by a Canadian in Texas...
Here is a blurb from one of her posts. To me, it's absolutely hilarious. Unless you are a Canadian who is living or has lived in the States you may not get it. Or may even get offended.
My last post was for my Mom. I suppose this one's for me. :)

Taken from "Canadian Thoughts in Texas" {italics mine}
"What have you learned about being Canadian and Canadian-ness since you moved to the US?

That even though I've been gone for 6 1/2 years, I still love that country to death. I don't care that the taxes are higher there. I don't care that in a lot of the country it is freaking cold for a long part of the year. There's something magical about Canada to me, because it is home.

I've said before that if someone had told me even two years before I moved here that I'd end up living in the U.S., I would have thought they were crazy.

Because in Canada, we're raised to have a very mild disdain for our neighbors to the South. Not that we'd ever tell them to their face, because that's just not the Canadian way. But much of Canada's culture is based on our snickering of the brashness and loudness that is America.

No offense to my American brothers and sisters, but you guys drink the cherry-flavored America Kool Aid by the gallon. You're like that popular blonde girl who talks about how pretty she is all the time. And we're the mousy brunette with glasses who's really cute if you look past the glasses, and who never has the confidence to speak up.

When you drive down any street in the U.S. you will see flags left right and center. Many, many American flags. And if you ask people about being American, they'll tell you that they live in the greatest country on Earth. Which always strikes me as amusing, because really? Have you lived in every country in the world to say that?

That's like experiencing ice cream for the first time and claiming that this in fact has to be the greatest flavor in the world. And it very well may be. But maybe, just maybe, somewhere out there there's a pint of chocolate ice cream with chocolate truffles in it. And chocolate covered almonds. And maybe that's better. But being American and admitting that maybe potentially one of the 193 other countries just might be better than the U.S. is probably considered treason.

Ask a Canadian if they live in the greatest country in the world and they'll launch into a long tirade about how we have universal healthcare, and golly that's really good, and we're really pretty good about not littering, and our beer is really great, but we've been told that the Swiss have an even lower crime rate and they have really great chocolate, and, well, Switzerland sounds really pretty cool too and really we should go visit there together.

I think the reason Canada and the U.S. are so different, is because of the ways we earned our independence. Because the U.S. had it just as bad or good as Canada in the 1770's. We were both overtaxed. And we were owned by the British. And the U.S. went "screw this! They may talk with a fancy accent, but we ain't giving them another cent!" And then to show they were serious, they dumped tea in the Boston harbor. And the British don't like people wasting perfectly good tea, so they went to war to teach the Americans about respect. But the British lost and they finally thought "these guys are too much trouble, lets them leave and we'll just get the Canadians continue to pay for us to build even more castles."

And the Americans were proud, and had every reason to be. They once were a colony, but now they no longer were. And more than 200 years later, that pride lives on, it's part of the country's identity. You're either American, or you're not. You either get it, or you don't.

Canada didn't really see a need to get its independence. In fact, in 1812, the Americans looked over towards us and yelled out "dude, you're totally getting screwed by your British Mom and Dad! Run away with us!" And Canada said, "oh, we're fine, it's not that bad, we don't mind them. Plus we get to put their king on our money, which is pretty fun!"

And the Americans went "dude, you're so dense! We'll come up there and fight you to teach you that you should be independent."

The Canadians were like "what? Why don't you chill and have a great Canadian beer? And maybe a piece of this yummy maple syrup coffee cake we just made?"

And somehow, the Canadians won the war of 1812. Although, to this day, Americans still won't admit that. It's a sore point with them. They also won't admit that the beaver is a way cooler national symbol than the eagle, because really? Eagles, they're majestic and all, but beavers? they can karate chop you with their tail.

Canada finally became independent in 1982. I'm not freaking kidding you. And you know how we did it? We just asked. We said "hey there, Queen Elizabeth II, so we're thinking that maybe you'd let us be independent. Although we'd love for you to still be a figure head for our country, and our money's so cute with you on it, we'd like to keep your face on it."

Queen Elizabeth thinking that really, she was tired of getting shipments of beaver tails (the pastry, not the animal's appendage) and maple syrup, figured why the hell not.

So it's hard for Canada to have the rah rah rah sentiment that Americans have developed. You fought for it. We didn't.

Another difference with Canada is that for some reason, we're very good at infiltrating Hollywood. Name just about any celebrity and odds are pretty good that they're Canadian. William Shatner? Canadian. Avril Lavigne? Canadian. Alex Trebek? Canadian. Rachel McAdams? Canadian. Keanu Reeves? Canadian. Jim Carrey? Canadian. Pamela Anderson? Canadian. Howie Mandel? Canadian. Michael J. Fox? Canadian. 3/4 of the great NHL players? Canadian. Peter Jennings? Canadian. Mike Myers? Canadian. Celine Dion? She's really an alien who claims to be Canadian, we really don't have any part in that one.

Why are Canadians so good at entertaining? It's the snow. Not much to do on those long winter nights, except for practice scenes and Oscar speeches.

The thing that's great about Canada, is that nobody ever hates us. So living in the States, I don't ever have to hide that I'm originally from Canada. It doesn't matter what Canada does, it can't cause ripples. Like you know that little Iraqi war thing that won't end? Remember how France refused to go and Americans were horrified? Calling them all sorts of names, boycotting the entire country, like Jean-Pierre in suburban Paris had himself agreed to the government's decision. French toast and French fries were renamed. It was quite the debacle.

And Canada? Canada also refused to go to Iraq. And nobody raised an eyebrow. Because really? Picking on France? Way more fun. Plus, the fact that the New York City police force is larger than Canada's army might also make the U.S. think "well, if Canada's not going to send Bob and Joe out for this war, I guess we can do without two more soldiers."

Being Canadian in Texas means that you get to tell people how much better Sleeman's Cream Ale is than any microbrewery beer here. It means scoffing at the weather people when they speak of doom for the entire city of Dallas because 1/4 inch of ice is expected. And then telling your coworkers about those times you dug out your car with your bare hands after four feet of snow came down and buried it.

Living in Texas means that I get to regale people of tales of Canadian TV shows like "Danger Bay" and "The Littlest Hobo" and "You Can't Do That On Television". And swoon when I watch an episode of Degrassi where I recognize something from Toronto. And feel homesick when the sportscasters don't bother talking about the Stanley Cup, because the Dallas Stars are no longer in it, and they figure who cares. And feel sad when a Canadian team wins a large sporting event and I can't be there to celebrate. It means that people look at you funny when you say that you don't get what the big deal is about College football and March Madness. And that you get excited when an American sitcom makes a reference to something Canadian. Even if it mocks the country.

It means that the second you find out someone else is Canadian, you feel an instant bond to them. Because really? No one bad ever came out of that place, so they must be a great person.

Living here also means that I get chills and goosebumps every time the American anthem plays, because it's such a gorgeous and heartfelt song that makes me misty eyed and proud to have been allowed to live here. And when I go home and attend a hockey game against an American team, I get to sing proudly to both songs without ever feeling like I've abandoned my home country.

Being Canadian in Texas gives me something unique from everyone else in my department. Something that they can tease me about and that I can talk about endlessly if they'll let me. Being Canadian is being able to talk about the country tongue-in-cheek without feeling like I'm being unpatriotic. As Jodi said, Canadians love to laugh at themselves more than anything. Having a self-deprecating sense of humor is as mandatory as thinking that maple leafs in the fall are one of the most beautiful things ever. Does anyone outside of Canada think we're as funny as we think we are? I'm not sure. But I don't think Canadians care one way or another.

This one's for you Mom...

Someone's been bugging me for an update....

Brett and I are about to head out to TN so his boys can whup up on Freed-Hardeman tonight @ 7:00. Memphis BBQ with Anna Jane. Then we're heading to Nashville to meet my nephew and spend some quality time with his parents Karen & Derek. Dinner with Terry & Margaret on Saturday before heading to the Predators season opening game against Dallas. Hopefully there will be some eating involved at Pancake Pantry and/or Baja Burrito at some point. And back to the Gump by Sunday...
Holla..!

My NOLA family

A few weeks ago I got to spend 24 hours in Navarre, FL with my NOLA family.. Dawn, Aubrey, Miss Jeni, Ken... and I got to meet sweet baby Kate!
Dawn and I were RA's together at Lipscomb, and she quickly became one of the dearest friends I could have ever asked for. She has been, hands down, the biggest cheerleader of my life. She believes in me during the times when it is hard to believe in myself. She worked through trig problems with me when "the back of the book was wrong- again!" She actually helped biochemistry make sense! She tells me I'm the smartest person she knows, and that I really could have made it through med school. She tells me I am beautiful in the exact moments I need to hear it. She quietly closed my dorm room door when I was napping through chapel. She reminds me that God is in control, and that's exactly how it should be. She quickly agrees with me when I tell her I feel old. :)
I haven't seen Dawn since she made a quick trip to Montgomery in 2005. When she phoned to say she would be in Florida for a weekend at her Mom's house I just had to carve out some time to go see her.... you know, she's that kind of friend. And, of course I had to meet sweet baby Kate. Who at 11 months is so much like Dawn it makes me laugh out loud! I loved getting to see Dawn be a Mommy...
And I also got to see Miss Jeni, Dawn's Mom. She's moved to FL since Katrina hit New Orleans, and even though she is in a different house, nothing has changed. Good times and good food are always found in the Genter house. {even queso dip to clear your sinuses!} Now it's just complete with a hammock and bay view instead of the French quarter and beignets. Miss Jeni is seriously one of my other mom's. I stayed at her house every time I went to New Orleans, whether I came down with Dawn or not. ;)
It did my heart so much good to be there with them, even if only for a few precious hours...
Love you Dawnie!

Miss Jeni, Grandma, Dawn & Kate

Miss Kate Valentine Watkins

My new favourite place- The Genter dock!
Got to spend some good time out on that swing...

Camp Omagh

Eighteen years ago today I was baptized at Camp Omagh... which scares me a little bit in that I feel like 18 years after making a public commitment to walk with my God, I should be a lot more mature in the faith and a lot more knowledgeable in the Scriptures... I will say that I am definitely still a work in progress, and live a life better than I deserve, being blessed beyond my wildest dreams.
I guess this is why Omagh memories always seem to flood me in the month of August. It may also be that August is so unbearably hot in the Gump and makes me long for the summer weather and activities of Southern Ontario... the Ex, the air show, Wonderland, cottage time, jello fights, and backyard barbeque's... But Omagh will always be a part of what I miss about my teenage years and teenage friends.
Making the decision to get baptized at Omagh was about as easy as it could be considering the importance of the decision. I simply can not put into words what my camp friends mean to me. There I was surrounded by people who loved me for being me, which meant more to me at that time in life than anything. Don't get me wrong, I had a very loving family and extended family. But this was different... At school I was the skinny, awkward, LOUD girl with unfortunate hair, and a handful of acquaintances.. I had one true friend who stuck by me through everything. But at camp I could be me and never had to justify myself or pretend to be someone I wasn't. I was loved for who I was, a child of God. And so, on August 25th, 1990 I stepped into that pool with that cross floating behind me, and publicly surrendered my life to God...

He's early!!

Congratulations to Derek & Karen
and big sister Emily
on the anticipated arrival of sweet little

Timothy Michael Kramer
5 lbs 6 oz
18"
on August 22, 2008 @ 1:28pm

Welcome to the world Timothy, where God has a purpose and plan for your life! You have already been given two of the best parents and older sister that I know :). Your life will be full of love and laughter {no doubt!}. I can not wait to meet you and watch you grow and develop your own personality. As your Canadian "aunt" I promise to teach you about hockey, futball, skiing, and that a toboggan does not go on your head! :) You will also be happy to know that when your Mommy phoned me to let me know you had arrived safely, your Uncle Brett and I were watching the gold medal round for men's soccer (of course!)
love you already,
Auntie Judy xox

Honduras...

"The nature of the work in Honduras throughout the summer is pretty intense. We wake up each day and go to work (building homes, distributing food and clothing, conducting VBS, meeting basic needs) among some of the poorest people on the face of this planet. The needs are obvious and apparent and it is easy to see what to do. Back here in "over the mountain" AL, we live in the suburbs and our daily interactions and the environment we are in makes it less easy to see what to do. The needs of those around us is less obvious. Are there still needs and things to "do"? Absolutely. It just takes a keener awareness and more attention to discover some of what those are. I'm pretty confident that God has each of us exactly where he can use us. Are we open to letting him use us where we are? Are we ok with that use being less grandiose or intensive or obvious? Are we ok letting God decided the who, what, where, and when of our journey? Does our own guilt drive us to feel like we need to do more or something other than what we are doing?"
-Mark Connell Studio310
I couldn't have put it any better. We've been back from Honduras for six weeks now. It's long enough to start to slip back into old routines, but close enough that the experience is still very fresh on my heart. I printed out this post when Mark first wrote it and recently came back across it. It still rings true. Even after going on 13 trips to Honduras, God continues to use a love for those people and that country to speak to this heart. And I so want to sit quietly and listen...

Happy 70th Dad!

Never a dull moment!

Currently I have a stroke patient who is suffering from SEVERE left neglect {basically, her brain has difficulty processing everything to her left so she stands looking over her right shoulder and thinks her head is straight}. When I walk with her I have to give her a million cues to make her aware of what is in her left field of vision. We are walking around the corner of the centre offices, where a huge piece of cardio equipment is. On our left. So for all practical purposes, it doesn't exist in her world. She can't see it. Now, this equipment is in serious need of oil... it periodically begins squeaking with every movement of your legs, God love it. So we come around the corner while another patient is working on it, squeaking away:
My patient: "What is that? Am I hearing a flock of Canadian geese?"
Leigh Anne (who is in the parallel bars with her pt right beside us): "Nope, that's just your Canadian therapist!"

Bufftruck Day

Brett spent the day building a house to replace one destroyed by a fire:

typical Torch house

putting in the floor...
apparently Mark is "supervising"

crowd of ninos that inevitably gather :)

Judy and Katie went to the warehouse for day two of stucco removal proving that you can't keep a good bufftruck down!

taking a MUCH deserved break from hammering..

KFC with the Mololoa kids...

Although Torch has been doing this for years, this was my first chance to play in the KFC with my kids from Mololoa. SO much fun! Climbing through spaces not intended for anyone taller than 3 ft and sliding down hearing nothing but the laughter of children getting a chance to act like a child for a few hours... amazing! This was the only chance I got to see my kids from this village.. no words can describe the feeling when they run in the door and see you and run towards you arms open wide, calling you by name... I wonder if they stop and wonder what I'm doing as many times as I think and pray for them? With every trip I take to Honduras the place in my heart that stores the most treasured moments, where you wish time would stand still if only for a few mintues, so that you can absorb all the emotions going on in that exact moment, grows bigger and bigger. I imagine it's alot of what heaven will be like...

Oh yeah baby...
it's four stories tall complete with a soccer field!
{guess where Brett was most of the time?}

Carmen & Judy

Aren't these "masks" absolutely hilarious?!

Franklin
{this one's for you KT!}

Hospital Esquela

This is Julio. He's four years old and has been coming for chemo treatments for about a month. He wanted me to put ketchup on every bite of chip he ate... seriously, every BITE! I think he's part Canadian :)

Good Shepherd Children's Home

Leslie doing manual labour :)

Sneaky little guy

all the kids want to use your camera...

playin' in the water