Niagara on the Lake

David asked, what was your favorite part of the weekend? My answer was the unexpected *WOW* moments that happened throughout the entire weekend that dazzled and impressed me. 

It felt exhilarating crossing the border into Canada. Not only were we out of town and out of state, but we were out of the country! We went to the most perfect bed & breakfast at Niagara on the Lake.

The whole weekend far exceeded any expectation that I had. The weather sunny and warm, Niagara on the Lake was breathtaking and beautiful! Vineyards and wineries that made me feel as if I was in Italy peppered this quaint town still in full bloom of flowers.

We learned that Niagara on the Lake is a micro-climate. It will look as if its still summer there for approximately three more weeks, winter doesn't happen until January and it only lasts five weeks then it is warm again.

No wonder vineyards thrive, I am ready to move! 

We went away for the weekend for his birthday & Sweetest Day. 

Only a bed & breakfast would do for this weekend and I found The Woodbourne Inn. Their attention to detail made our experience extraordinary and this B&B far surpassed my every experience and expectation. It was their attention to detail that we appreciated and applauded again and again and again.

We walk in and was greeted by the owner, John, and the sweetest West Highland Terrier, George.

Warm, friendly and so incredibly informative, he set us up with the where to go, what to see, what to do, what to eat. The guy has class and knows his stuff! 

He provided us a map of the town highlighting must-do's. He gave us free passes for wine samples at several wineries and vineyards that allowed us to sample 3-4 wines including ice wines (our favorites) at each location, which means we sipped a variety of wines all day and never had to buy a glass! :D

Our room was beautiful. That fireplace a wonderful touch ...

That tub, amazing! This came with four different bath salts to relax and enjoy. We did.

The shower had a rainfall shower head on the ceiling of the shower. Down to the fixtures, this bathroom was laid out with extraordinary. The soaps were handmade. 

John asked what time we would like our wake up morning coffee tray to arrive an hour before breakfast. I said 7:00 a.m. As a routine creature of habit, I am always up at 6:00 a.m. and I was most certain I would want this early. Turns out we went out, came back late, and a later wake up knock at the door would have been a better choice. 

The muffins were fresh out of the oven, warm and made with fresh fruit. They were heaven to bite into!

Breakfast was at 8:00 a.m. (Yes, I chose that too early of an hour.) I had just got out of the shower, still in a towel and wet when David said, "It's 8:03 a.m." My punishment was I had to go to breakfast with wet hair and no make-up. It was funny and I deserved it. It would have been so rude to show up more than a few minutes late. 

This cinnamon roll, heaven! It was huge, hot, crunchy with cinnamon and was the best cinnamon roll I have ever eaten. Made fresh from scratch, of course.

Pumpkin waffles with real maple syrup and of course Canadian bacon. Delish!

We tried so many wines, frozen ice wines, ate a French baguette sandwich made with Brie cheese, pear slices, mixed greens and a vinaigrette sandwich. 

The shops on Queen Street where something out of a movie. So beautiful, so quaint.

That evening we went to Niagara Falls ...

Then to the casino where we spent four hours having fun playing on the machines on only $5.00! We won up to $38 and played until we had nothing. It was hours of fun.

Walking through the casino, a gentleman handed me two FREE tickets to the Le Grand Cirque show. They were $92 each and in the front section by the stage!

Heading home, we stopped in Buffalo, NY and toured three ships. A battleship, a submarine, and another battleship ...

The whole weekend was far better than I ever imagined. We found a gem less than four hours from home.  

I'd rather have a weekend of extraordinary than a week of ordinary. 

Happy birthday, David Franklin and Happy Sweetest Day to us!

New Carpet and Change

This morning I woke up to new carpet in my home. While that sounds so ordinary, it is actually quite extraordinary for several reasons.

I am a creature of habit, almost to a fault at times. I don't like change and as change has it, berber carpet is out of style. Who knew?

History continues to prove that I hold onto things until they are nearly discontinued, such as my favorite color of lipstick that I held onto for 10 years until one day it just wasn't made anymore. And berber [while not discontinued, nobody buys it anymore].

There I was in a carpet warehouse on a mission to find the same berber carpet in the same bone color. When I was forced into change, I went into the other direction. Flipping through so many choices that I was confused, my eyes came across one.

It was a pattern.

Do I like it or don't I like it? A bold risk. I am not a pattern girl; however, for change sake I bought it.

Suddenly, that bone color berber carpet I always thought I loved, I couldn't get it out of my house fast enough!

How do you go from loving your choice for so many years, to the wear and tear and footprints that slowly stain, to complete disgust?

Then the sweetest surprise happened ... I was at work when someone said there was a guy there for me. It was my dad. He walked in, hugged me, kissed me, and handed me the payoff to my carpet. He found out I was getting new carpet and paid my debt.

My carpet is perfect. Brand new, plush, clean, the color and pattern exactly what my home needed.

A Modern Day Ruth Post

I love this, from A Modern Day Ruth ...

She likes intelligence...Toilet humor just won't impress her.

She is very aware of a heart that's in tune with the Holy Spirit.

She is attracted to genuine kindness, and a hand of gentleness more than your bank account...and how you steward and handle your money does matter. What do you do with it? What do you invest in? Where does your treasure mainly go?

She's been humbled many times in all that she's had to walk through. She needs you to understand this and to treat her better than her temporary circumstances.

She's intelligent and needs to have inspiring and warm conversation. Talk of what level you made on a video game isn't going to cut it.

She needs you to know she may be kind, gentle and have a child like faith but that don't mean she's not a woman. She is real. She's passionate and sensual too. She just keeps it in check for the one who is worth the wait.

She takes things a bit seriously. She's analytical and could use your humor. Dry, realistic humor makes her laugh. She loves to laugh, she just doesn't know how to get herself there sometimes.

She notices how you treat others: children, the elderly, those in authority, those who serve...She notices.

You take her breath away when you completely and totally abandon pride and worship with all your heart.

She is old fashioned. She's an old soul. She likes to be pursued first. She isn't going to chase you down. She will let you know she likes you, though.

She is a lady and always will be and she won't be treated like anything less.

She cries because the Holy Spirit makes her heart so tender. Her tears don't mean she's weak.

Your age doesn't matter as much as your maturity.

She is a follower by nature. She wants you to lead spiritually. She's wants to follow, not lead.

Her children are her great treasure and blessing...If you can't see or appreciate that too, you are not the one.

She has been misunderstood, labeled, abandoned, broken and used. It took her a long time to find her worth. She won't lower her self worth again for anybody. Be a reminder of who she is in Christ every day. She will honor you for that.

She has a heart for the kingdom, and it's her hobby to serve in His kingdom always. She loves ministry and investing in others for God. It's her favorite. She eats, breathes, and lives to encourage others. She might not see the point of joining a bowling league...Just saying She wants a man who she can serve with...who has a heart for people.

Her heart isn't easily won. The right one will know how to not give up.

She can't follow a man who has no vision, dreams or aspirations. She can't follow you if you don't follow and listen to the Holy Spirit.

She admires a man who tries and who is sincere. She knows you're human and that you're not perfect. She isn't looking for perfection...She's longing for humbled sincerity.

She longs for your strength, your manhood, your availability to be leaned on. You can be her earthly hero if God is yours.

She wants to hear the music of your heart. It's not how you sing, but why you do that matters. A king David, kind of heart is attractive.

She is a girly girl by nature. She loves to wear dresses and heels and have her nails and toes done. She likes sparkly things. Don't let that make you think she is materialistic, because she's not. She loves people, God, and animals more than things, but she does enjoy a new handbag and shoes once in a while.

She loves taking bubble baths and she hopes to someday have a man who will either join her or read the Bible to her while she takes one.

She doesn't own the key of her heart...Poppa God does. So if you want in, you must know the doorman and get His permission.
Written by Jenny Williams, A Modern Day Ruth Copyright 2014

My Responsibility

God knows all. He hasn't missed a thing. 

He is my First Love, my Provider, my Protector, my Vindicator.

God breathes life and love.

God breathes hope and words of affirmations.

God breathes gentle reminders.

God opens doors. 

God breathes attention, affection and everything we need exactly when we need it.

He knows and He uses any vessel He chooses.

My responsibility is to find that woman in me and set that woman free.

Don't Water the Weeds

The grass is greener on the other side, is an overused cliche meaning many believe they would be happier in a different set of circumstances.

Then came the cliche the grass is greener where you water it, meaning if you want greener grass, take care of it.

We get it. We get the logic behind tending to your own grass.

I used to be a freak about my grass. I treated it myself with Scotts in the spring, summer and fall so my yard was thick, rich, and weedless. I remember pacing my yard with a bottle of weed killer to spray an individual weed that may have popped up. I may have only had to spray seven total.

Truly, I had the nicest lawn on the street and it was a competition in my mind.

Neighbors on one side used an expensive lawn serve that came out regularly and sprayed, but my lawn always looked much better.

The neighbors on the other side of me do nothing. This is the first year in 10 years they have mowed it regularly at least. It's full of weeds, bare spots, and often 12" high.

I understand the analogy of tending to your own grass if you want it to look good. I know what happens when you stop treating the weeds, they take over the grass.

I confess, my yard is mowed regularly and always a nice height, but I stopped passionately treating those weeds and my yard does not look the same.

It's a common sense analogy, but for most it is just more effort than what we are truly willing to do.

Then, I heard another, don't water the weeds!

This is baby steps. If you don't want to make the effort to do the work to make your lawn beautiful, at least stop watering the weeds.

The weeds of sarcasm, hurtful comments, questionable behavior and anything you don't want growing is a weed. The seeds of one weed will take over quietly and quickly.

Don't water (feed) the weeds. That makes complete sense.

Love Letters to My Future Husband

Daily Love Notes was a small book date-stamped with me capturing and writing down daily little things that meant everything to me, far more than money could buy. It was 40 pages, 25,452 words of love intended to be given on a wedding day. 

I enjoyed capturing thoughts, romance and happy memories. It was a way to say, I didn't miss a heartbeat. It all counted.

It all mattered to me. 

Then, life changed.

I simply have to have an outlet for my thoughts and my heart and I am SO excited I have found one that hits me at the core of who I am, and dances on the waters of my three fave's: faith, hope, and love.

There is a way to become a wife before a wedding day [This idea is borrowed through a new study I am doing.]

I am writing love letters to my future husband.

This is journal of my devotion to him, prayers to cover him now, the life I've dreamed of, my faithfulness to both him and God through my season of singleness as a gift on my wedding night. 

When a Small Voice is Enough

In nature, the noise from the world quiets and you can hear your thoughts. 

Spend a lot of time quiet and you meet God who is already there ready to whisper in a voice that can only be heard when your eyes and ears are ready to listen. 

That wasn't always the case.

I used to run around with my hair on fire, master of my own universe until I was exhausted and deaf by the noise of the world. 

There is peace and calm in the quiet.

Just God and me.

It is a time of conversation, covering, protection, healing, and slowly life is breathed back into me.

God is my protector and my provider.

There have been times in my life when I have looked to heaven and said, "You need to handle this" and He did. Not testing, but I recently said, "Okay, can you make this happen?" It was an odd request. Two days later, walking through a room, in a smooth segue, I hear this topic of my request present itself and time slowed down in my mind ... my God.

I remember thinking, touche. Then a part of my mind was OMGosh that is so God and look at him respond so quickly showing off! God is my Provider, He always has been.

Right now, it's me and God.

It is a magical place of walking together and talking with the noise of the outside world quiet. He is the true place of rest and rejuvenation.

I am covered and quiet as He whispers and my heart is open.