soo much todo

These past few weeks have consisted of school all week, and then wedding stuff on Saturday. The first week went great, got the church booked, then the hall...and then...AHHHHH it seems as though nothing seems to end. As soon as I start thinking about one thing, suddenly it as though that one thing has opened the door to a billion other things.
For example, this past weekend, my maid of honour, Jaci and I went shopping and were looking for ideas and the bridesmaid dresses. (we ended up finding center piece ideas which was nice.) This search naturally lead us into a tux shop. With our colours in mind we went about trying to find the "perfect" look before we set the boys about their ordering and trying on. Well this whole even left me feeling unsettled as we looked at our colours and discovered them to be slightly 80's ish on the guys side. This was definitely not what we wanted. Not wanting to feel to discouraged, we headed over the dress store beside and low and behold we found the perfect dress. Now I wish I could show you the previous dress we found before finding this gorgeous one, but Jaci and I amongst our laughter did not even think to pull out the camera, for it looked as though we had placed her in a garbage bag (Now those who are a bridesmaid for me can thank JAci later for her effort and patience she had while I dragged her from store to store and had her try on numerous dresses, not all of them being very flattering.) Anyways the dress we have now found was a beauty, however the discovery of this has thrown a kink in our plans, as I am now on the search for a new flower girl dress, as the tutu idea I had orginally planned is not going to work.

Now I would love to tell you all the lovely details of this day, but have decided to instead head to bed, stay tuned for more lovely happenings in my quest for the perfect day.

At just the right time....

As many of you know, I got engaged on November 8,2009 to Benjamin Cowman. It was really quite a surprise. I had suspected that he had gotten the ring, due to some careless comments on his part, however I had not expected him to propose until at least January, or maybe at the earliest around Christmas. As you can all tell, I was mistaken.
My dad's dad had passed away on the Wednesday before and the funeral was to be Friday (prayers) and Saturday funeral. Before going up, I had instructed Ben that he was in no way supposed to ask my dad (Ben had been hinting/teasing that he was going to do so.) On the Saturday after the funeral, Ben asked my mom, if there was a good time for him to come up that week to talk to my dad. My mom (unaware of my instructions to Ben ;P) told him that there was no time like the present, as a question like that could help to boost his spirits. Thus, Ben asked my dad..and obviously you can guess what the response was.
Now Ben is horrible at keeping secrets and so after getting the yes, went on to tell my entire immediate family minus my brother Justin that he was going to propose, as well, had told a few people here in Regina (amazingly everyone managed to keep it a secret from me.)
On Saturday afternoon, we decided to drive Jerrid back to Saskatoon, he had a hockey game that night, and I was still hoping to enjoy the weekend away from Regina. On the drive down Ben was being all sweet and loving and suggested we go for a fancy diner, however, upon arrival home I discovered I had nothing to wear and thus we ended up eating at Jerry's with my brother (who had decided not to go) and then hanging out with my cousin Ashly.
The next morning, Ben asked if we could just hang out in Saskatoon until Jaci and Will showed up there (They were coming to Saskatoon to for her birthday) I figured that made sense as we would probably get out of church by the time they were even half way here. He then goes on to say we could go out for lunch than go for a walk. This got my mind wheeling..A WALK!?!!?!?! I usually have to drag his butt for a walk...now he is proposing that we go for one..I started to pester him, about this sudden change of character. It was all made clear after church as we headed to get some stuff for our picnic. He said that he wanted us to have a positive day because the past weekend activities were depressign and not really positive..To me this was enough explanation as to why he was acting to so funny.
We headed to the train bridge and had a lovely picnic down on a fishing pierre (to many of you, you can see where this is headed..and at this moment I was still clueless, lol) We then walked accross the train bridge and started on the path on the other side. THere is this ledge, not far from the train bridge that over looks the river and is absolutly breath taking. I stopped here to view as I had never been this far on this side before. We started talking about my up coming job applications and I was asking if he could live in Saskatoon once we finally got married. The next few minutes look something like this.
" This is the perfect spot" (Ben)
"Yup"(me) after a few minutes, recognizing that i have no idea what he is talking about and wondering if he thinks he can put a house on the ledge then goes "For what?"
"to propose." (Ben)
I stop listening and try to figure out what is going on...He then pulls out the ring, and gets down on one knee, says some stuff ( Something LIke I love you, we can finally make it official and will you be my wife..there was more but that's all I can remember)
I then spend the next minute or so still trying to figure out what this man is saying to me, my mind racing from ring to the word proposal...when what is happing finally hits me..I have to mentally tell myself to answer his question. With a yes he pulls me into a hug and I start laughing. (very romantic I know)
The next ten minutes or so consisted of me freaking out calling people and leaving inaudible messages that no one not even myself when listening to them makes sense (you who got texts are lucky lol)
We have been enjoying the engagment process, and will be getting married on July 24, 2010 I simply cannot wait!

The moments in life

You know those days, when all seems to go wrong. When your bombarded with one awful moment after another? First you cant sleep all night, then you have parents and stubborn students and then there is the parking ticket that you got because you did a quick 5 minute run in to get a student loan sheet that shouldnt need to be done, but due the circumstances needs to get done...and then there is the traffic and the marking and all that other really fun stuff? Obviously That was my day. But that is not what I write to you about today. Tonight as I drove home from a generally crazy day in the life of Kristen, I started thinking about the little things that perhaps would work to make this day a little more of a blessing and less of a day from hell.
First there is an I love you text to kick start your day. These are often rare occurances (Ladies you may know what I am talking about) But they seem to have the power to make that lack of sleep night, almost worth it.
Then, there are the moments when you walk into the classroom and the noisest kids are quiet, reading and on task. Of course you stop youself and look twice as such an occurance is a rarety, but upon further investigation you see that indeed these kids are on task (of course you must first look past the quiet kids who are noise discussing the events of recess and everything else non class related :D)
And of course, one cannot forget the innocent comments made by your students about your love life. For example after not seeing my students for about and hour, I was late getting to class as I had a phone call to resond to, upon entering my classroom, my students ask if I was engaged, and then fabricated this story about how my boyfriend/fiance guy had gotten down an come over to ask me to get engaged...their words not mine. lol..How can one not laugh?
One must also remember their friends, and how they each serve their purpose..and nothing can make a day better than catching up with old friends. I am so thankful for each on of them..after all with out them I would be quite a loser :P I love you all...
Of course there is also the person who sits beside you marking papers, listening to you vent over the parking ticket and how rediculous you think it is. He also the same person who knows the secrets to your heart and will tell you the truth regardless of how rude and abrupt it may be. This person can make you increadibly mad and/or frustrated one minute and the next has you smiling and laughing even when they are the last thing you feel like doing.Now dont let the "he" fool you..everyone has one of these people in their lives. A friend, family member etc..They are the people who we can count on to be there for us even when it seems life is slowly crumbling beneath you. In my life this person is a guy...and I know I tell him almost everyday what he means but there are no words that really say it. As a song says, " Every time I try to tell {him} how i feel it comes out I love you.
So hope you enjoyed the read, Have an awsome week.

To sit and contemplate

Today, I took my class on a field trip. We headed out through the wind, and down pour rain to the beauty and serenity of Dallas Valley (about 20mins North of Regina.) It was a new experience for me. I was able to see my students in another light. You get to see how well they really understand you and whether they really understand what you expect of them.
My class did not let me down. I have this thing, where I start talking really quietly and I expect the students to be quiet and listen as I talk. I did this today as we were playing games inside (due to rain we cancelled the afternoon outdoor stuff and just did stuff indoors for 2 hours) my class stopped talking and listened to me. I was so thrilled. I know it's a silly teacher moment, but its these types of moments that you cant help but be proud of your class.
I've had A complaint that I have not been writing lately so i feel the need to fill you in on my life (though the person who complained is a major part of it..so i really dont get why he bothers complaining but....)
Really my life revolves around school, the youth girls group i lead and of course Ben. I must say, Ben is such a support, lately i've been a little crazy, and yet he will still just grab my hand pull me into a hug and make me fill like its going to be ok. His job takes him on the road lots, so many days i spend it trying to fill in the moments he is here, or trying to get ahead so I can spend the days he is around with him. THere is something about that guy that just makes me smile, he pushes me to be me (of course the only one who is really reading this is Ben...but oh well, in case someone else happens to read it...then you shall know this amazing man ;) )
School is full of learning moments and since the internship i am finally stating to enjoy teaching. This october, i am starting a month long unit that goes over all subject areas on survivor. I cant wait, its as if my teacher brain has finally clicked on. lol.
Girls small groups, is great, i love my bunch, they are all so amazing.
Well thats my life..those are the moments....

Promised.......

This past Tuesday was Ben and my official six month anniversary. On Saturday night, we went out to celebrating. Ben has been secretly planning this night for the past week and would not tell me anything.
To start of the night, Ben picked me up from my place and took me to Luiggi's. There we had an amazing pasta dinner, if anyone ever wants to eat there, I highly recommend it. There, he surprised me with a promise ring. I was so surprised. Yes, this form of ring is not a common thing especially between people my age, but to us it had become something we needed todo. In the past, I had been in relationships with promises that were never kept, and this was his way of saying that he was serious about me and that he was not just saying things. He calls this a "I Love You Ring" because although it is a symbol that we do plan to get married, and that at this point we cant (Due to some criteria needing to be met) he still wants to, it also says that he loves me soo much and that he wants nothing more then to be with me when things are right. By accepting the ring, i was telling him that I love him and that I see a future with him. in otherwords, I plan on being a Cowman. It was a symbol of my commitment to him. This ring also allows for us to be open about our plans and to actually think about marriage openly. Yes a ring is not needed for this, but due to past experiences, it helps me to put away any doubts that maybe making a home in my head. Every time I glance at the ring, I can remind myself of how Ben feels and that I know his words are more than just words, they are long held feelings that he seriously means.
I love Ben so much, every day I thank God for putting him in my life. He is the guy of my dreams, that I have spent soo many years looking for. Our relationship is everything I could have dreamed about and more. I never have to doubt if he can look out for me and take care of me. He has this way about him that lets me be me, and he doesnt expect me to change. He accepts me for me, and puts up with me in my most moodiest and crabbiest of states. He is patient beyond belief and still listens even if the words I keep saying are only repeats of my anger and frustration. I cant wait for you all to meet this wonderful man so that you too can see how understanding and loving he is.

The First Day...Dun Dun Dun...

Today I turned 21..WOW..I'm gettting old. Last night I celebrated my birthday with Kim, Britt and a 2 of thier friends. Both girls are friends from Dorms. Unfortunately neither Niki nor Ben could be there. I will however, be celebrating with my church friends this up coming Saturday..We're having bon fire :D
the real purpose of this blog, is that i wish to share with you all my experience as an intern on the first day of school.
To be honest, I was nervous. I dressed really nice though. Had on my brand new Kapri's that were beige, and a real cute sweater that went over a dark purple tank top. To complete the outfit, I had on my White sandles...Oh and my hair done real nice! Do you get the picture..Ya..I looked amazing, haha.
My class is a 6/7 split which is going to be a challenge. One MOnday when I had started, My co-op and I were teaching a straight 6 and then with an increase of students on Tuesday we were shuffling students and now on thursday we await the news as to whether they will be giving us a new teacher (we have reached the number that requires another teacher.) There is a strong belief that that will not happen, so please if your reading this pray we get one, all classes have high numbers and even the splits in the younger grades of 26-29 students which is really too many little kids for one teacher.
Anyways back to the day. The kids are great. I look forward to teaching them. Tomorrow I start with my very first lesson of the year, in health (Another great thing, I LOVE Health!) Today, I got to try my hand at intro activities. The activity that i did had students fill in name tags with info about themselves and then on the back we played 2 Truths and a Lie. The kids really seemed to get this and enjoy it. They spent many minutes going around asking and giggling as they found out interesting things about each other. Also we have many new students, so it was an excellent way for them to get to know each other.
We had expected that there was gonna be a lot of problems with the new set up as the parents had been told at the end of the year which class thier kid was gonna be in. HOwever, that did not happen and the although the switch had occured the kids were so adapting, It was such a blessing!
God has blessed me with an amazing co-op. Deb is so full of knowledge, and she is helping me out tons with planning for lessons and stuff. We seem to work great together. I'm really thrilled to see what the next few months hold. Have a great night everyone :D

ending of Summer

Well, I have finally finished Day Camps, and it was amazing. Although it had its moments of stress it was all worth it in the end.
The first week we had 45 kids walk through our doors, which was just the warm up for week 2 in august, where we had 90 kis walk through the door. I praise God for the wonders he worked.
Our VBS theme this year was Crocodile Dock. The stage looked absolutly amazing as well as all the other decor. I never could have done it with out all of our volunteers. We had a total of 61+ volunteers come out and help with station leading, group leading or just being an extra set of eyes an hands when we took our day campers out on feild trips.
The people we had come out to help with decor was absolutly amazing. We had so many cool things whether it was the critters we made for each day or the cattails to mark group spots each memeber of the volunteer decor team is a valued member who deserves tons of thanks.
I must say we were brave. We took both weeks to Rick Hansen Park, Ipsco (Evraz) water park and then to Griffiths Petting Zoo in Lumsden. For the first two trips, we had only our campers ages 5-11 join us, at Griffiths we had all campers. The excitement of the campers ages 3-4 during the petting zoo was worth any difficulties we experienced while at the zoo. I can still hear thier shrills over seeing a large peacock and rooster. Honestly, the excitement of the children just made you smile.
This year we focused on God sightings during our VBS time in the morning with all our campers and I would like to share with you some of mine.

• As previously stated Volunteers was a major God sighting. There were so many moments where I was unsure if we would have been able to even hold Day Camps. The second week was especially scary, as we only had about 6 people. Then God came through and we got volutneers from our sister church, Glein Caren.
• The number of children we had come out to VBS was another God sighting. In total we had 135 kids walk through our door. Jaci and myself had only planned for 120, once again God surpassed our goals and worked amazingly at VBS.
• Ben. He was such an amazing guy. He worked with me during the long hours even though he wasnt getting paid. He did name tags, lead a station and just listened to me rant and rave when I was getting stressed out. I could not ask for a better man, to be beside me.
• Kids enthusiasm. Every morning we would be greeted by loud shouts from the kids as they enthusiastically participated in the morning activities. Watching them dance and particiapte in the songs always made me smile.
• Health and Safety. I am happy to report that we lost no one on any of our excursions. We also had very few injuries, which is such a blessing considering how many kids we had coming to our Day Camps.

There are so many stories that I could tell you about each of the kids, and so much more i could say, but that would make for a very long blog and personally I dont have time to write that much and I'm sure you dont have time to read it.
So i'm gonna close off now and go do the cleaning and paper work I need to get done before school starts on Monday.

Day Camps coming

It's amazing how fast VBS has snuck up on me. It seems like just yesterday, Jeven(my pastor) had called me to tell me that I had that job. Now in less than one week, I will be the director of The Crocodile Dock day camp/VBS at Rosewood Park Alliance Church. Never in a million years would I have thought I would be the one leading something like that.
The funny thing about being a director of a VBS is that you have so much control yet so little control all at the same time. Sure I control the planned events, and in some ways the outcome of the decorations, the lessons, the crafts and snacks that are done. Yet at the same time i have no control over who donates supplies, or even which supplies will be donated. I cannot forsee which volunteers I will have or how many I will have, and most of all I cant even begin to control how many kids will walk through the doors of Rosewood Park.
Yes, I have set limits on the amount of children that will be allowed to pre-registar, but I have no control over which parents will decide to come the day of, or even the days during to bring thier children to this amazing atmosphere where God is being alloweed to work.
One of the biggest thinngs that I'm struggling with is trusting God to bring in the donations and volunteers to make this summer's day camp a success. At the moment I have 109 kids attending, between the two weeks (July 27-31 and August 10-14), yet the volunteers are very small (I think I'm at about 15 including station leaders and registration people). I KNow that God will provide me with the people that will help, yes somedays One has to wonder.
Today God was amazing! I have become quite frustrated with the people at Rosewood, as they seem to be very last minute, and thus even in the area of donations things were getting a little scary. I was starting to worry that perhaps I would be buying everything on my own. However, today, another volunteer came in, as well we recieved many food donations that will help to cut the cost down in the area of food and crafts. Praise God!
Its in the moments like these ones that I really see how God works and they help to push me on in my journey of trusting him as well as learning the art of patience.
Well that's my life up to this point. Please Pray that I get the volunteers and Donations.

This is me

I'm not really much of a blogger, as a matter of fact, i generally dont do it. Words and me generally do not mix. However, tonight as i was thinking i realized that perhaps the best way to allow people to keep in touch with my life, was to blog. So throught this blog, i hope to keep people up to date with the events in my life and the thoughts in my head.
So for a recap of the last few months.
I finished my 3rd yea at the U or R doing education and am still living in Regina. Come August, I will be starting my 4th and final year with an internship at MacNeill school in the north end of Regina. Planning for the internship is definitely something I look forward to.
This summer, I'm working at smitty's as a waitress, as well as at Rosewood Park Alliance church as the summer intern. There I am responsible for planning and executing the 2 day camps offered, as well as aiding in the children's ministry. This definitely keeps me busy, though i'm sure that it will be very rewarding in the end.
In march, I started dating a very amazing man named Benjamin. Being 6"7' makes him the perfet hight, for me, as it allows me to wear any size heels I want ;). He is a sweet guy, who is constantly looking out for me, and putting up with my many attitude moments. Together, we have had some adventures, including easter at Baba and Gedo A's, many trips home to saskatoon, a photo shoot with McMasters in Moose Jaw, countless trips to Moose Jaw and recently have decided to hit the gym (though at this point Ben is not much of a fan). From January untill this past June, we also served together in the youth ministry at Rosewood, meeting many interesting and exciting young individuals.
At the end of June, Gedo M was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which came as a surprise to many, especially me, it was not something that I was expecting. So this past weekend, Ben and I made a trip home to visit him ( he was in the hospital in Saskatoon) and were pleasntly surprised to find him up and very upbeat. Please pray for him.
Upon finding out about Gedo's cancer, Justin shaved his head, raising $310 for Cancer..WAY TO GO BUDDY
As well dad celebrated his 45th birthday this weekend, so while we were still in Saskatoon mom threw him a surprise birthday.
As you can see God has been very active, placing many interesting and amazing individuals in my life (although not all are mentioned here). He continues to take me places and lead me into situations and experiences that i could never dream of. I look forward to see what he has planned for my life, which if time allows I will share with you here on this page.
Well that's all for tonight. Have a good one :D