Then again....

Just when I thought I didn't have enough time to blog, I've found some time while supper is cooking to post something extremely important that I just received through email. The injustices of this world are so numerous. However I do not post these things to overwhelm you. I post them so that you are aware. With that I give you simple solutions that take little time at all to do and THEY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

It never ceases to amaze me how many things occur that we just do not know about. I had never heard of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now however I will never forget this place. It is there that many men who have been captured from all over the world are being held as prisoners in a US Naval Base. These men were captured after the September 11th attacks and have not been released or even given a fair trial. US authorities have repeatedly called these men "killers" or "terrorists" however no one from this place has ever been convicted of a criminal offence. Torture and extreme psychological abuse have been reported by those release and military.

There is an urgent call to action to release these men. Please take a second and check out the website below for more information.

http://www.amnesty.org/guantanamoflotilla

Please sign on to help others from all over the world close Guantanamo and release these men back to their homelands and families! As a wife I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache and pain that their families are going through. The waiting, not knowing, confusion. These men are not even allowed to stay in contact with their families. Please act now!

On hold.....

Thanks for continuing to check this thing. However for the time being blogging is on hold. I probably won't even be able to think about this site until the middle of next week. I'm crazy at work trying to get year end completed and outside of work is busy as well. So no need to continue to check this sight daily wondering when I'm going to post. Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

To ponder....

Everyday on my way to big bad Petty (for those of you who aren't as cool as I am Petty is short for Petitcodiac) I drive by Campbell's Auto Repair in Riverview. Campbell's always has something out of the ordinary posted on their sign. Sometimes I agree with what it says, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I don't. However this week the quote has really made me think. Especially in relation to where my life seems to be at this week. Here is the quote "Today is the tomorrow that you were worried about yesterday".

I feel like all week I've been worrying about things but once they're done they really aren't that bad so why do I do this to myself? Is it perhaps human nature? Is it a trust issue for me? I had a counselling session on Tuesday and I knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant so I was worrying about it not knowing what I was going to come out there discovering. However I learned a lot about some things that I've been feeling and that my body has been telling me. So now I'm so thankful that God pushed me to be honest with my counsellor so that we could explore yet another dark area that I did not want to venture in. I'm thankful now that the today that I was worried about happened because I feel a lot better now.

Then yesterday all day I was feeling yucky because I knew that I had to share about my sexual abuse. People around me know that I've been sexually abused but never had I sat around and read all the gruesome details of those events. Until last night there were only 3 other people on this earth (my husband, my counsellor, and my best friend) that knew about the horrors of my childhood. However I now let 4 more people into that circle. Was it hard? ABSOLUTELY!!! There was nothing in me that wanted to admit or talk about what had happened. However with that, was it rewarding? ABSOLUTELY!!! The rewards definitely outweighed the fear, shame, and tears. I'm so thankful that I was able to share what I did with the women. Even though I just did it last night I could already see in them how much my story impacted them in a positive way. They all told me that they would have had no idea that all of that happened to me. Ah the secret lives we lead and the masks that we where to hide it all so well. However I'm convinced that that can only go on for so long. There comes that yucky time in everyone's life where those masks, walls, whatever begin to break down and it's scary but beautiful because that's when we become real. That's when we are able to turn to God and rely on Him for the strength, love and encouragement that we've been searching for our whole lives!

K, I got on a little bit of a bunny trail there. I really want to be able to remind myself each day about those things that I get so uptight about because I know it's coming that it won't be that bad. I want to be able to ask myself is this really necessary? Is it really worth worrying about so much? Has God ever let me down before in something that He's pushing me to do? Have I ever come out of a situation that I've been so scared about that I didn't see God's beauty and hand on me throughout it? I would have to say no to all of those questions!

Next time I'm literally making myself sick over a situation hopefully I will not only remember this week of my life and all the positive ways I've grown and learned but also that I will remember this quote in order to remind myself that things will be all better in 24 hours or less!

Introduction....

So most of you hear me talk about this wonderful thing called "fair trade". However I realize that many of you do not fully understand what that means and why I am so passionate about it. As you may or may not know I work for Ten Thousand Villages. "Men and women around the world have a simple dream – to earn an honest living, provide a home, food and education for their children, and to be gainfully employed in a job that brings dignity and joy. Ten Thousand Villages partners with thousands of talented artisans in a healthy business relationship. Often referred to as ‘fair trade' our philosophy of helping to build a sustainable future is based on the principle that trade should have a conscience. Through ‘fair trade’ artisans receive respect, dignity and hope from working hard and earning fair value for their work."

"Ten Thousand Villages is a not-for-profit, self-supporting Fair Trade Organization (FTO). FTOs are non-governmental organizations designed to benefit artisans, not to maximize profits. They market products from handicraft and agricultural organizations based in low-income countries, providing consumers with products that have been fairly purchased from sustainable sources. Ten Thousand Villages is a member of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), a global network of Fair Trade Organizations. IFAT’s mission is to improve the livelihoods and well-being of disadvantaged producers by linking and promoting fair trade organizations and speaking out for greater justice in world trade. Over 270 FTOs in 60 countries form the basis of this network." (for more information see our website http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/)

In Atlantic Canada Villages is on a much smaller scale than it is in the rest of the country. Out of our office here in Petiticodiac (yes I drive 50 minutes to work 4 days a week) we have a store, which is the only store in Atlantic Canada. However we also coordinate festival sales from here. This means that we send out a truck full of our product with two volunteers to go to places to set up a sale for the weeknd all over Atlantic Canada, on different weekends of course. Most of our sales are down between September to December, but we are now getting more and more spring sales as well. We have contacts who approach us because they are interested in doing a sale and we provide them with the materials and help that they need to do that. They are in charge or organizing volunteers for the sale (to unpack the items, work the cash, etc) and as well we give them advertising materials and a small budget for that and it's up to them to use that how they wish. We are always looking for more communities to have sales in. You'd be amazed at how well a sale can do in small towns and large ones all over Atlantic Canada. If any of you would like more information about this or have any questions please leave me a comment. It's a great activity for youth groups, women's groups, etc.

Working for this organization allows me to do a small part to help a greater cause. A cause that I've got such a passion for that it continues to break me over and over again (yeah Bill Hybels). It's important to me that I'm working towards something that I believe in. It's important to me that I'm following my God given passion using the gifts that He's given me. Everytime we sell 3500 dollars worth of product it provides for a fmaily of four for one year. How cool is that? We try to focus on families provided for and not dollar values around here. For example we have a chart in the lunch room here that tells us how many families we provided for last year. Atlantic Canadians, through purchasing our products, provided for 142 families. It blows me away everytime I think of that or see that chart. We worked our butts off around here but it was so worth it when you take a second to think about the lives that have been changed and the hearts that have been touched.

Now there's a million more things that I could write about and I will get to that so stay tuned. I just don't want to bombard you with too much info right away. I will be posting more on fair trade and giving more examples and info on that at later dates. Thanks for caring and for hanging in there with me on this journey!

My story.....

Some of you may know that this year, well last year in October, I decided to co-lead a Christian support group on sexual abuse. I had taken part in two support groups previous years. However I felt the push to now jump into this fun area of my past (do note the sarcasm please). Those of you that know me also know that I'm usually open and honest about my past and where I'm at with that. This though I must say has been quite tough on many days. There are so many things in that workbook that still shock me when I read them. Or on the even better days (again sarcasm) make me realize "oh crap another experience that falls under this umbrella of sexual abuse". I'm glad that God pushed me to do this because the healing I've received from this group is amazing. I had no idea how much of who I am today was distorted because of the sexual abuse.

We are now at the time of year in our group when it is time for each of the participants to share their story. So it's my turn this week. I just spent all morning recalling the events of my past of trying to write them down without too much detail so that I don't trigger things in others but enough that people understand. Trust me I did not want to get out of bed this morning knowing that this was going to be the start of my day. However now that it's done it feels good to realize that the long list of people that I just wrote about have all been forgiven. I have successfully forgiven all of those who took advantage of my childhood innocence. How great is that? The only way that this was possible of course was with God's help. So this morning I just find myself in awe of Him. I only started my journey with Him four years ago but the amount I've grown in those four years is amazing!
(if any of you ever want to talk to me or ask me questions about any of this I'm totally okay with that, I feel like I've been given the opportunity through my healing to help others with my experiences in life)

Save stamps.....

This past weekend I participated in a fundraiser for our church. Good old inventory counting at Kent (for those of you that have no idea what Kent is it's very similar to Home Depot). I'm actually an odd species that seems to enjoy it, shows you what kind of life I have :) Actually though, this simple task of counting inventory this weekend to help out a great cause got me thinking of ways that I can pass on to some of you some simple ways to help out great causes. So I'm going to try to give you some things over the next little bit that really take no time at all but can make a huge difference in the lives of others.

You may or may not be familiar with Oxfam Canada. I encourage you to check out their website it's www.oxfam.ca. Oxfam Canada's mission is to "build lasting solutions to global poverty and injustice". They "work with allies in Canada and around the world to change the policies and practices that perpetuate human suffering. We support oraganizations in poor communities overseas in their struggle to secure basic rights." Sounds like a great organization huh? Who wouldn't want to help them out? By helping them out I don't mean that you need to donate money either. I mean you can certianly do this if you wish. However for those of you that just aren't able to do that Oxfam has a simple program that they offer for people like you and me who want to make a difference but just don't always have the financial means or time commitment necessary.

Oxfam has a program called "Stamp out Hunger". The money is raised by everyday folks like you and I saving stamps from envelopes that we receive in the mail. You know the ones that you just throw into the garbage anyways? You can just take two seconds and rip off the corner of the envelope where the stamp is (without ripping the stamp of course) and put them into a larger envelope with your collection. How simple is that?

Through this simple project Oxfam raises about $10 000 annually by sorting the stamps collected and selling them to collectors. This program started in 1980 and has raised over $130 000 since. How great is that?

So I'm asking you to please save all stamps from your envelopes (foreign ones, Canadian ones, commerative ones). However if the envelope that the stamp is attached to has a clearly identifiable town/village postmarks or registered/special delivery postmarks then please keep the entire envelope wth the stamp attached.

Great now I have this envelope full of stamps and envelopes, what do I do now? Well when you've got a full envelope you can simply give them to me. I'll be collecting these from you throughout the year. So if you're getting frustrated with having them laying around and you're someone that lives by me (k no ones lives by me where I live), um I mean if you're someone that I see in my life then just give them to me. I'll be forwarding all stamps collected this year at the end of the year to the Oxfam office in Ontario. For those of you that are away and would like to still do this please do! The address to forward the stamps to as well as a list of projects that this project supports can be found at http://www.oxfam.ca/what-you-can-do/fundraise-for-oxfam/stamp-out-hunger.

Please run wild with this project! I am the one who opens all the mail at my work so I have an envelope sitting on my desk at work where I put the stamps. Perhaps get some co-workers involved, family members, friends, etc. This is so simple. Something that we're throwing out everyday can make a difference to so many other people all over the world. If anyone has any others suggestions on how to make this project a success please post a comment. As always I'd love to hear what you think and how you're doing with the project. Thanks for caring!

Number 3.......

Okay a little blip in blogville. I am new at this and I'm a girl :) so that makes things complicated sometimes. I'm taking a blogging vacation for a couple of days and will start fresh next week. Sorry for all the complications and confusion!

My child....

I'm always looking at my friend's blogs and seeing cute pictures of their kids. It's great to see them and read the funny things they say. Since I don't have any kids yet (ya I said yet....scary), I thought I'd introduce you to my "child". This is Kitty. I got her right before I turned 16. I got my boyfriend at the time to drive me out to my friend's in the sticks so that I could go pick out a kitten from her cat that had just had kittens. I picked her because she was grey and I wanted a grey cat. Not too long though after I got her home her colors started to change. I made sure that I went to get her while my mother was at work because we already had two dogs and she did not want anymore animals. I actually managed to hide her in my room for three days before my mother found out. That morning when I came out of the bathroom from having a shower my mother was standing there. I then heard "you think you're some smart don't you?" Trying to play dumb I told her that I didn't know what she was talking about, actually at this stage in my life there could have been a whole bunch of things that I could have been in trouble for. She then told me that there was something meowing in my room. From that moment on Kitty has not shut up. Jason gets a kick out of everytime I call her. She'll meow the whole way to me as if to say I'm coming. She got stuck with such a plain uninteresting name because I had no idea when I got her if she was a girl or boy. So by the time I got her to the vet it was too late, she already thought her name was Kitty. She's a blesisng in my life. When I hit my low period in my life this cat was the only thing that I felt like I had some days. We're a little co-dependent with each other, it's great :) She will be celebrating her 10th birthday this year which saddens me because she already has some issues with her back legs. However I keep telling Jason that she's immortal so we've got nothing to worry about. Jason was not too impressed when we moved in together that I brought two cats. However him talking in his cat voice to the cats and calling himself Papa is a normal thing in this house now. Plus since he's come along I've retired from litterbox changes, it's great. There now that you've seen my crazy cat lady side lets see if you'll still be my friend!

They're here......

So some of you may know (if not you'll hear about this I'm sure) that Jason just recently made a very exciting purchase. You see I opted to get rid of the gym membership to get a treadmill. Jason didn't opt to get rid of his golf membership and bought a new set of irons (for those of you that don't know those are golf clubs). How does that work exactly? Actually it's been very cute watching him. He's so exicted! He found the exact ones that he wanted on Ebay for half the price. He's been checking the UPS tracking number everyday and calling me from work to give me updates on where his precious purchase is. Well guess what arrived today? You got it. He's so excited. I was supposed to go see a friend this afternoon but things have changed. The reason I tell you this is because he wanted me to drop the clubs off at his work so that he could see them. He can't even wait until he gets home. The sad thing is that I was actually going to do it. So just to torture him a little longer I thought I'd post a picture of the box that's sitting in my basement right by the door. Hope you like it dear (she says with an evil grin on her face).

PS- As I begin to post pictures of our house please note that it's a work in progress. There are only two rooms that we have completed to our taste and you have not seen those. Jason's working on the bathroom downstairs. I can't wait until it's done! We're hoping to tackle this space that you see in the picture soon as well. I'm just not a border person.

Snow Days......

I love snowstorms. We had one last night. I don't think it was as much snow as everyone was expecting. However nevertheless there's beautiful white snow all over the ground now. I sometimes miss the days when I was a kid and you could stay home from school all day and play in the snow. Now a snow day means I get to stay home all day, but I have to work from home. However in my PJ's I sit with my tea. Even though I'm working it's still nice to not have to drive to Petty and be at home. I've taken a few pictures of the lovely white view that we have. So I'm hoping to get those posted later when Jason comes home. I installed the software and plugged the USB cord into the computer and camera but there's still an issue. I could pick up the manual and read it but that sounds like something that the other Constable, you know the one with more patience than this one, can do. So back to work I go now that the kettle has boiled again. Check back later for hopefully some snow pictures (that doesn't sound very exciting does it?).

Yeah the camera works now thanks to my wonderful, patient (unless it's a treadmill) husband. So how blessed are we? Every morning when we wake up and exit our bedroom this is what we see!

Alpine loves the view as well!

This is the view from the main floor looking out the front door.

So now maybe some of you can wrap your brains around why we chose to move to Hillsborough.

Canadian Tire Purchase.....

It's not going to be my regular plan to blog everyday or even on weekends. However I didn't want to leave any of you hanging tomorrow because I know I won't be able to blog tomorrow. So I'll take some time out of my weekend to entertain (or perhaps bore) you. Awwwww aren't I nice?

Three days ago we decided to purchase a treadmill. It's a great time of year to decide to do this because everyone has got deals on these things. Guess it's the whole new year's resolution thing. They want to suck you in so that you buy it and place it in a corner somewhere and never use it. Well joke's on them. I'm not a new year's resolution person. In fact I don't think I've ever made one. Perhaps that's because I always saw or heard of people making them and then they never follow through (if you've made a new year's resolution please leave a comment about it and let me know, I'm wondering if people do actually succeed in this area...what is it? how are you doing with it?). Anyways what I'm getting at here is this is more than a new year's resolution for me. This is something that I need to do because I cannot go to the gym in Hillsborough (small town, too much gossip at the gym, need I say more). So since I'm limping a lot again because of my back, I thought what could be more romantic in our evenings then me getting all sweaty on the treadmill before I go to bed? That's what I thought...nothing :)

So Mr. Constable is downstairs right now put it together. Of course it's a fancy one with all the gadgets so he's really impressed. Let's just say I'm glad that there's no little Constables running around yet because of the colorful words coming out of my husband's mouth! Anyways, here goes a new tradition in the Constable residence. EXERCISING AT HOME...oh boy how exciting (do note the sarcasm here please). Crap I guess this means I'd better start today. Ahhh and it begins already!

Help Sudan....

A little less than a year ago I met a very special person. We met at workshops that we were both attending. By the end of the workshops I had had a chance of a lifetime with him. I got to sit with him for over an hour and listen to his story. He was from Sudan. He told me about the heartache in his country and about the traumas that he and his family had went through. Like most North Americans who have never had to face these horrible things, I just sat there with tears in my eyes not knowing what to say. He was not looking for words of advice or sympathy. I think that he was just happy that I was interested. I cannot even begin to explain the life long impression this beautiful man has left on my life. I look forward to connecting with him again some day and I'm very thankful that he and his family are now living in Canada. I pray that God will bless them, give them peace in their hearts, and allow them to feel comfortable and welcome in their new home.

After seeing the following post on my friend's blog I couldn't help but think of my friend and thought that this might be one way that I can help his people and his family in Sudan. Please take a few moments out of your life to do this. I did it, it only takes a couple of minutes. You can make a diffrence. Please don't sit there and think that this is a waste of time and that there's nothing you can do. These people need us!

Did you know that 2.5 million people have been driven from their homes in Darfur, Sudan? Each day, they face threats that are hard for us to even imagine including rape, disease, and starvation.

These people need our help to put an end to the genocide and they need it NOW. Please join me in taking the first step to stopping the violence.
Click here to sign the Save Darfur Coalition's petition urging President Bush and UN Secretary-General Ban to take immediate steps to stop the killing.
Together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of people in the region who desperately need outside help.

The Save Darfur Coalition is urging the international community to prevent further killings, displacement, and rape by deploying the UN peacekeeping force that has already been authorized, strengthen the understaffed African Union force that is already in Darfur, establish a no-fly zone, increase humanitarian aid, and ensure access for delivery of food, medication and other essential supplies.

Please do not stand by while the violence continues - you can make a difference.

Give credit where credit is due...

So there are some individuals in my life, (some very important individuals) who are sad that they have not yet made an apperance on my blog page. I didn't have the heart to remind them that I've only been blogging for 2 days (hey I didn't say they were healthy...just important). Here are some pictures of important individuals to me who want to feel that much more important by having their face on the internet.






Brodie









Bob (and Roscoe but mostly Bob)




Penny

Alpine (aka Airplane or Maeeee..spelling Mandi?)

Kitty (aka Double O or Oost)

Ha ha ha ha ha there Jude you made my page.....thanks for being so wonderful to me Tom and Judi!!!

Where to start?

I'm so excited that I have a blog now (I don't get out much) that I just don't even know where to begin. I'm thinking that I should keep it low key at first before I start hopping on my soap box. We finally dove into the digital camera world at Christmas thanks to my mom. So if my husband (ahem hint hint honey) ever teaches me the tricks to using it I'll have to take some shots of this great view that we have from our house. You see I wanted this cute little camera that would fit in my purse. However my sister and husband are much more artistic than I and wanted a super duper camera so that's what we got. A camera with all the bells and whistles. I don't even know how to turn it on.

I think I'm going to dig back in the files and show you some pictures of our trip from Newfoundland this summer. It's the most beautiful place I've been to yet! We had such a wonderful time. We (my father, his girlfriend, my sister, my husband and I) were there for 9 days and it still wasn't enough time to see all that we wanted to. So for those of you that have never been I hope that you enjoy the beauty in some of these shots. For those of you that have visited I hope that it reminds you of your adventure on the rock!

Ah the boat ride there....how exciting! Look how excited Jason is!

So just incase you can't read the sign it says "Warning Dangerous Cliffs"

"Warning Morons on Dangerous Cliffs"

The views from Signal Hill. The first picture is St. John's.

Historic St. John's...did you know that St. John's is the oldest established city in North America?

K I'm almost done I promise....so hard to pick and choose!

The part of Newfoundland that is a must see is Gros Morne National Park. It's huge and we only had a couple of days to spend there at the end but it was so worth it. Ever corner you turned, every trail you hiked there was another breath taking sight. I couldn't help but praise God in these moments there for the beauty of His creation!

Speaking of beauty and creation (ha ha ha). I'm horrible! This was just before we caught the ferry in Port aux Basques to leave. My dad was real impressed as my sister took the photo! Thanks for hanging in there while I dug through some of my favorite photos from our trip last June. We're going on another fun trip in March to Arizona, California and Nevada. I'll try to control myself when it comes time to post those pics!

Here goes....nothing

So I really enjoy looking at other people's blogs (many of you out there don't even know that I do). I often wondered if there would be any sense in creating one of these things myself. So I thought, what the heck. If no one reads it, who cares. Atleast I'll have somewhere to rant about all of the injustices in the world and let off some steam! So here's to post #1. I wonder what Mr. Constable is going to think, especially since I put this lovely picture of him on here? For those of you that did not get the blessing of seeing this beautiful hat in person this holiday season I didn't want you to miss out or feel ripped off in any way!