A Poem Packed With Thoughts

When I wake up at morning, 

And I hear the robin's song, 

I can feel the cool spring breeze, 

Blowing steadily along. 

When I look out my window, 

And I see the new sunrise, 

The scene is picture perfect, 

Pinks and purples splash the skies. 

When I step onto the lawn, 

And my toes are soaked with dew, 

I can see the plants rejoice,

In every thing that they do. 

They tilt back their petalled heads, 

Smiling brightly at the sun, 

They're basking in the warm rays,

Cause a new day has begun. 

Every place I cast my eyes, 

I see brand new signs of life, 

No anger or frustration, 

And no agonizing strife. 

Just signs of new beginnings, 

They are present each new day, 

We just need to learn to look, 

In a different kind of way. 

To power off our iPods, 

Sounds crazy to you and me, 

But taking just a minute, 

Could help us to better see. 

To see beauty in the world, 

The way that God intended, 

Without alerts from Facebook, 

About people we've just friended. 

We'd see the world around us, 

Showing off its great beauty, 

Earth praising its creator 

For His splendid majesty.

And one thing we would notice, 

Is that everything that lives, 

Makes mistakes throughout each day, 

And with each day God forgives. 

If God gives life new chances, 

With every brand new day, 

I think we have the same chance, 

To make everything ok. 

To apologize for wrongs, 

And pull ourselves together, 

Cause there's no point in sulking, 

If we can live life better. 

We ask God for forgiveness, 

and we're guaranteed reply, 

When He died for you and me, 

He wiped our sinners stains dry.

When I go to bed at night, 

And I think of what I've done, 

I'm glad I can remember, 

God sent us His only son. 

Knowing He sees me perfect, 

Takes away all my sorrow, 

I know that He forgives me, 

And I look forward to tomorrow. 

When I wake up at morning, 

I know everything I see, 

Will have a different meaning, 

Especially to me. 

I'll see life's own true beauty

Remember His forgiveness, 

Celebrate every new day,

And know life has a purpose. 

Blondies...A Pearl

I've caught a sweet tooth...if that's something that is possible to catch...

     After a friend almost maliciously told me yesterday about some decadent, blueberry stuffed pastries that he was creating from scratch, my stomach seemed to go green with envy. I've been craving something sweet for the past few days, but have been satisfying my sugary craving with fruits; grapefruits, apples, oranges, papayas and mangos. I've even made a few shakes along the way. But after I was tempted with the thought of warm, homemade, blueberry pastries, I was hit with a wave of longing. 

After dinner tonight, I came downstairs from reading and with the thought of fresh, tart, blueberries in mind, I officially decided that I needed some sort of dessert...If only I hadn't lost my cookbook that contained endless possibilities. I didn't give up though, instead I grabbed my MacBook and resorted to the old adage; when in doubt, use the internet! 

During my adventures across the world wide web, I came across several ideas, but eventually discovered a simple recipe that was easy on my brain and forgiving on our pantry. I decided to try my baker's thumb at something foreign to me and bake a batch of blondies. For your enjoyment, I have provided you with the recipe for ooey gooey, melt in your mouth, chocolate chip blondies. This is only the second recipe I've posted so far, so if you dare to take on this challenge, let me know how it goes!

• Scant 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

 Combine ingredients. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes in a greased "8x8" pan. Serve with a glass of milk and enjoy!

Chills and Squeals

I've officially decided that with all of the amazing trailers I've seen and books I've read, that I should make a list of my top ten, must see movies for the next year. Then, as I see them, I'll write and post reviews about them. The main idea of this is to keep me writing, but also to see if these movies turned out to be just as good as we thought they would be! Trust me, the more I looked at what movies are coming out the harder it was to only pick ten! However, this is what I could come up with, despite my wanting to put every movie down! 

Note: There is no particular order to the following. 

1. Catching Fire-November 22, 2013

2. Star Trek Into Darkness-May 17, 2013

3. Iron Man 3-May 3, 2013

4. Despicable Me 2-July 3, 2013

5. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters-August 7, 2013

6. Divergent-March 21, 2014

7. The Maze Runner-February 14, 2014

8. Thor: The Dark World-November 8, 2013

9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1-November 21, 2014

10. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug-December 13. 2013

Keep checking back for updates and reviews. The first are to come shortly! 

Canada's Immigration...An essay type of point

Forward: The following is an original essay based on Canada's points system for immigrating into the country. The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and should not be taken in any other way.  Sources used are listed in the hyperlink below.  

    
      One of the major complaints about the Canadian point system is that our country seems to pose a double standard for individuals wanting to immigrate. The reality that we have a growing demand for skilled trades workers may not be entirely surprising for people to hear, but the rough estimate is that by 2020 we will need 320,000 new workers to fill that type of position. With the majority of our young population not willing to work for hard earned careers, it's understandable that one of the last things people want to do is to educate themselves to become skilled trades workers. As a country, it then seems that our simplest option would be to allow immigrants into the country to fill those jobs for us. However, the people educated to fill these positions cannot enter the country since their level of education does not award them enough points.

     It may be unknown to the majority of our population that Canada requires immigrants to have at least 80 hard earned points to enter the country. Even if an immigrant posseses the maximum amount of possible points in the four other categories, with only a certificate in skilled trades they can find themselves four points short of entering Canada, unless they are fluent in French or have arranged employment approved by HRDC. This is because for 15 years of full time study, immigrants only earn 20 points, whereas if you have a master’s and 17 years of full time study, you are awarded 25 points, something that still, if you are not proficient in English, can keep you out of the country.  

     What then, do we as a country do, if our need for skilled trades is slowly becoming desperate? It seems that the simplest option would be to slightly adjust the education category so that each level of education past high school is worth five more points than it currently is. With this set in place, it would make it slightly easier for immigrants to enter, while still requiring them to be proficient in English and the other categories. By only raising the education value by five, the same immigrants that have the maximum amount of points and a fifteen year education could find themselves at 81 points, just enough to let them into the country. It may also make it slightly easier for other immigrants to enter and possibly persuade them to go to school for an extra year so that not only will they become five points closer to entering the country, but also be more educated in the field of work that they plan to pursue in Canada.

     

       Having said this, in conclusion, research shows that as of January 2^nd, 2013 Minister Jason Kenney of immigration and multiculturalism launched the federal Skilled Trades Program to ensure that greater consideration is given to the skilled trades industry when processing immigrant applications, moving us a step forward.

Sources