Usually around this time of the year I am brought back to the root of my true love… the one thing that I can lean back on… the time in my life when I think the clearest… my one true source of entertainment… basketball.

I am in love with basketball. But it is a growing love! Shooting around in the gym is not only boning up on my skill or blowing off a little steam, it is also a time when I can sort out life and listen to God’s direction while I do it.

I sometimes shed a tear in the movies Step mom, the Notebook or some other sappy movie, but when I watch Coach Carter I can barely hold myself together! I cried when they won, I cried when they lost, and I cried in the end when the player answers back what his greatest fear is! AH! So good!

This last three days I have watched nine basketball games at the Wesmen Classic. It’s a huge tournament at the University of Winnipeg. I love it because my cousin plays on the Wesmen and this year they took home the Gold!!

HEY I JUST FOUND OUT IT’S A SNOW DAY! No one can get out of their houses we got so much snow! Sweet! I hope that movie snow day is on today!

Anyways HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Make it a good one… if you can get out of your house!

Oh I love Christmas and this year was no different! I consider it offically over after boxing day! Sometimes I just wish that Christmas gatherings were spread over a week or so, not just bunched up into four hardcore days of partying! I am definately going to enjoy some alone time tomorrow at the mall!

My Dad's birthday is on the 23rd so we always celebrate it with some friends. Christmas Eve is at my grandma's and at this party we just laugh, sing, and get all emotional because God has been so faithful to my family. The next day we have gift opening at my house with the immediate family followed by a turkey dinner as we are joined by my parents best friends. By this time I'm kind of tired but then the next day we go out to Rosenort and spend the WHOLE day doing Christmas stuff! This year Rosenort was my favorite! We had a pingpong tournament, a game of donkey, a crocano tournament and I learnt how to cross country ski. It was so fun... we almost ran out of time for presents!

Speaking of presents, I never think i'm going to get anything. But I always get wicked stuff. I got a MP3 player and for all of you (SUSAN) who I've been talking about this with, it was a huge gift. I also got some kitchen stuff and clothes, not to mention some other cool things!

This year was kind of different for me when I stopped to think about the real meaning. I agree that Christmas is an important part of one's faith because it is initially when Jesus was born, but I also find huge importance in spending the holidays with the family. Looking back and reflecting on what God does daily in our lives. I think I get this from my grandma and grandpa. We just sit and cry at Christmas, all 16 of us together as we sing a worship song and thank God that He is such a great God. For me that is what Christmas means!

Flying high with TANGO!

Well here I am… back in Winnipeg. When I look around at all the streets, talk on the phone to my old friends, and spend time with my family I feel as though I have never left. It’s almost like Saskatoon was a dream… an amazing dream… but a dream, a dream where I grew a year and a half older. When I left for Saskatoon I feel like my life in Winnipeg froze. But now that I’m back I realize that my grandpa has been sick two years now rather than one. My friends have been married for three years rather than two and my sister is in grade 12 not grade 10.
Normally at this point I would be agonizing over where my real home is or how I fit into this new unexpected equation. But instead its gets me excited that I got to leave and now start over. I have a fresh sleight and I really can make what I want with my new Winnipeg life. No this doesn’t mean that I have decided to live here for the rest of my life, but because this is my life for the next three months I have to and am going to make it amazing. I just have to go to the drawing board to figure out how that will happen!
I love my family and I never want to leave them. But so many people in Saskatoon have become my family. What is wrong with two homes? Home is where the heart is and I honestly think mine is split into two!!!

Oh Memories...
It seems like when I have access to a computer I have nothing to blog about... but then when I have no computer I could write a blog everyday!
I could have blogged about how amazing my youth leadership girls are... they did the sweetest thing for me on Sunday. I was feeling sick and took medicine for it to pass... I had a horrible stomach ache so one of them suggested I lay on my stomach. I thought I would look like a retard but then they all laid on their stomachs, played with my hair and tickled my back so we all just looked like we were being girls! I love you guys so much and I'll miss you!!
My small group girls are just amazing. I have seen a few grow in relationship with God over my year and a half at Westside! On friday we sat in a circle during our small group time. We put many chocolates in the middle of the circle and each girl would take a chocolate and give it to another and tell they something about them, what they have done, and memories they have of them in our last year! By the end most of us were sniffling and hugging each other pretty tight!
I will miss you ladies so much!! Remember! Go Big or Go Home!
Today my friend Vanessa baked a cake for me and we decorated it together!!! I realized that it is fun but I will never do it for a living... I did put subliminal messaging in it though!
I have a feeling that I'll be blogging about amazing memories for a long time... I'm really going to miss it here in Saskatoon! But I'm so excited to go to Winnipeg! With Endings come amazing new beginnings! Although they are hard they are completely worth it, because this new beginning will have an ending too! However, life is always about moving ahead so I know that is what I'm doing!

Miss Cranky Pants

Ok so I have felt a little sorry for those people who have had to be around me the last couple of days! Usually at this time I am going hard for Christmas but this year something has been holding me back… today I realized what it was.

I am a coffee addict...

I realized that if I do not drink my coffee in the morning life just is not the same. It does not have that special glow that it would if I had my cup of coffee. You may ask, “Wendy how could such an addiction start?” Well it all goes back to my coffee shop days.

Last January I started working at ‘the Way Back Shack’. When I first started, my bosses insisted that I taste EVERY coffee I make. Some days I would leave there with more than five shots or Espresso in my system. It was great! I was never tired and I found I could run five miles easily at the gym…

Life kept on going and I started at school. Tim Horton’s has been feeding this addiction every day, yes everyday since September. Now that my coffee fund is running dry, I repay life with crankiness. I went home today and made coffee in my new roommates coffee maker. It was glorious. I had some special Starbucks coffee sitting in my cupboard just waiting to be used. Now I am happy.

I cannot decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. You may say, “Hey loser you are addicted, it’s a bad thing.” But common… I heard a cup of coffee a day is good for you!! So here is the plan, I am going to make coffee as soon as I get up in the morning, shower and then drink the coffee. That way I will cut back on costs, enjoy a nice cup of coffee and be on my way to a nice day!