In Loving Memory of Grandpa Holyk

Grandpa Holyk was my unofficially adopted grandpa. He's Matt Brown's real grandpa and after Matt and Mel got married their family pretty much adopted me. Grandpa was alot of fun and full of sarcastic remarks and hilarious humor. He loved to arm wrestle. Almost everytime I saw him he was smiling. I'm really gonna miss him and I know that going to 100 Mile House or going to the cabin in Canim Lake won't be the same without him. May you rest in peace Grampa.

HOLYK, Paul Stephen Thursday, 28 Oct 2010 -100 Mile House Free Press 100 Mile House, BC

1935-2010
Paul passed away peacefully, after a short battle with cancer, on October 28, 2010 with Shirley, his wife of 54 years, by his side. Left to mourn his loss with Shirley are his children Barbara Anne (Dennis), Wyatt (Heather), Maggie (Pete), Mark (Coleen) and William (Tammy). He leaves behind his adored grandchildren Matthew (Melanie), Steven (Kiera), Ryan, Danielle, Melissa, Jamie, Samantha, Ashley and Megan as well as his three great-grandchildren, Hanna, Mathias, Zephania and many nieces and nephews. Paul is survived by his brother Ben (Loris) and predeceased by his parents Ben and Anne Holyk.
Paul was born in Ledwyn, Manitoba and was a man of many talents. He grew up playing hockey in nearby Riverton, winning a junior provincial championship. Paul was on town council and was very active in the Elks Lodge. He worked as a butcher in the family store, drove a school bus and operated a bulk gas station and a pool hall. He moved to 100 Mile House in 1973, opening the Macleod’s Hardware Store along with Shirley as his business partner. They were able to retire early, and he pursued his many hobbies, tinkering on motors, woodworking, and spending many happy hours playing with family and friends at the Canim Lake cabin.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Vancouver General Hospital, Palliative Care Unit for their kindness and compassion.

What?!

How did more than a year pass since I have last posted?! I suppose I have been keeping myself really busy this last little while....juggling work, church, the gym and a personal life. Seems like life has been a real roller coaster ride lately.

I just got back from a week of camping as well. So much fun!! I'm pretty sure I could live beside a camp fire and drink camp fire coffee all the time. lol You can see in the picture we were camped right beside the Red Deer River and it was so quiet and peaceful as we had the whole campground to ourselves. It made me realize that I don't like working in an office and answering to people. I wanna be my own boss and be able to do what I want and come and go as I wish...if only we lived in a perfect world. :-) Well enough of my ramblings, Cheerio! I better be..shoveling off.

Happy Birthday Mommy!!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you soo much and really wish I was there for your birthday. I really miss you. I just want you to know that you are the best mom that any girl could have. You're patient and sweet and very understanding. I hope you have an awesome day!

Love you forever Mom!

Vacation on Vancouver Island

Hey folks! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm feeling kinda inspired right now though cuz I'm on Vancouver Island in the beautiful weather. It must be the fresh mountain and ocean air. I'm sitting in the Czinger's living room and all I see is trees and mountains. This is definitely my ideal vacation. Just being completely spontaneous. I love it. Anyways, I'm out here with Lisa Osterbeck and Leslie Czinger and we went fishing last nite out on the ocean. I'm gonna try and post some of the pictures and videos up. It was hilarious. But we got to watch the sunset on the ocean which was gorgeous. Now I just need a special man to share all this stuff with. haha ;)

Worship

The other night in church, Pastor King preached about worship and the fact that everyone worships something whether it is sports, Hollywood stars, or whatever it may be. The reason for this is because that is the way we were created. God created us to worship him and because the majority of people don't worship God the way they were made to, they find an alternative because it is instinct. Here is a quote from a writer that is not a christian.

"The instinct to worship is hardly less strong than the instinct to eat."

Dorothy Thompson

Man! Even non-christians understand that. We are the true worshippers and we should not be ashamed to admit it or show it. God is a jealous God and we need to do what he created us to do! That was an awesome message Pastor King!!

Please, Please, Please

I just read this quote and I really liked it so I thought you all should get to read it too.

"A man over time falls in love with the woman he is attracted to, and a woman over time becomes more attracted to the man she loves." Jennifer Wilkinson

Now I wouldn't really know from experience but from what I've seen from my parents relationship this is true. I really hope one day I will get to experience the same thing and I hope the same for all of my single friends. :) Lord Willing!

Happy Kinda Belated Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Leesh. I just want you to know that no matter what we go through together, I love you lots and that you'll always be my best friend....no matter what! You mean alot to me and you have always been there for me. Just wanted to tell you that. Also, I can't believe how old you are...haha! Do you have gray hair yet??

2008 Recap

Wow! 2008 has gone by pretty fast. I just wanted to post a few pictures of some of the events that took place this year as well as some random pictures to tie up the year. Enjoy!


ARIZONA TRIP

MATT'S GRAD

TRAV & COCO'S WEDDING

Merry Christmas To All Our Troops Overseas

Just want to wish a Merry Christmas to all of our troops overseas who don't get to be together with their families this year. They sacrifice alot for us and their families. May God bless them and keep them safe.

Hangin Out in Banff

Here are a few pictures from our last two weekends that we spent in Banff just hanging out and spending time together. We went for a hike as well near Canmore and it was really nice.

My Hunting Trip

I know some of you girls are gonna think this is sick but I've been raised doing this and I love it. I went hunting today with Dan and my mom. My brother dropped my mom and I off at a coulee, which is like a little valley with a stream going through it and a bunch of brush, for us to sit on the side of the ridge while he "pushed bush" for us, which means he makes the deer move toward us. We sat there for about 15 - 20 minutes before a bunch of mule deer came grazing about 100 yrds away. I let mom go first cuz this would be my first deer and I was having a hard time with positioning. So she took a shot and got the first one on the ground. We cleaned it up and got it in the truck and decided we would go again because there was another herd coming through the coulee and I still needed to fill my tag. Dan and I dropped mom off this time to push the deer towards us and then we went right into the coulee to wait for them. Almost as soon as we got into the coulee we saw the deer coming but they were running away from us. All of the sudden they stopped, turned and started running right towards Dan and I in the middle of the brush. I couldn't stand up because they would see me so I just sat on my knees until they got about 25 yrds away. Then they stopped and looked in the opposite direction of where I was kneeling so I took advantage of this and got a doe in my sights and I took her down with a headshot. She didn't even go anywhere she just dropped. Believe me, I was pretty excited and it took a minute for it to sink in that I got one. lol Here is the picture to prove it.

Just Me

I'm not a perfect girl. My hair doesn't always stay in place and I spill things alot. I'm pretty clumsy and sometimes I have a broken heart. My friends and I sometimes fight and maybe some days nothing goes right. But when I think about it and take a step back, I remember how amazing life truly is and that maybe, just maybe I like being unperfect...

Man! Time sure flys!

Well...it looks like it has been a year since I've posted anything. Sorry folks. lol. Anyways, lots has happened around here. I had an awesome summer for one. Probably the best summer I've ever had. I met a guy named Case at the beginning of June and he hit it off with my family from day one and we hung out all summer. We had a blast. Anyways, that filled up my summer pretty good along with work and just regular everyday life. Almost everynight that we hung out with Case, we didn't get to bed till about 3 or 4 in the morning. I don't know how I survived but here I am. And I definately don't regret one minute of it.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and my favorite time of year. I love fall and wearing sweaters, drinking coffee and walking through the crunching leaves in the cool crisp fresh air. MMMMMM...I love it!! So tomorrow, we are having a thanksgiving dinner here at our house with some family for company. I think it will be fun. My sister in law, Coco and I are gonna do some baking I think. I can't wait! Well...that's it for now. I'll try to post some more soon. See ya!

Quote of the Day

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

We're Not Done Yet

Florence Nightingale once said: Life is a hard fight, a struggle, a wrestling with the principle of evil, hand to hand, foot to foot. Every inch of the way is disputed. The night is given us to take breath, to pray, to drink deep at the fountain of power. The day, to use the strength which has been given to us, to go forth to work with it till the evening.

Our spiritual life is very much like that. A struggle every step of the way and we will lose the fight unless we persevere and not give up even for a moment. God will be with us and strengthen us.

Attitude

Here is a little article that I read that I really like and believe that it is very true although sometimes it's hard to maintain the proper attitude.

'The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break an organization, a school, a home.'

Author Unknown

Parksville,BC

I've just come back from yet another trip to BC, but this time with Alicia. We went to Parksville, BC where we stayed in a little cottage looking place. We had soo much fun. We went to the beach quite a few times to collect shells.....and a few other things. Lol. Here are a few pictures of our trip. Hope you like them.

Courage

Courage is the strength from God that enables you to endure any trial or danger.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Hang On

Here's a little quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt that I read and it made me think.


"When you come to the end of your rope...tie a knot and hang on."

I know that I've felt like I had come to the end of my rope many times but I'm still here. I guess we need to just keep on keepin on. God will see us through the hard times if we hang on and trust him.