Christmas cards

I'm busy making Christmas cards and thankful that my gift buying is almost completed! :)Thinking ahead to decorating the house a little and baking some too. I love this time of year. Lots of joy, laughter, love and giving. Family, friends and Christmas church services. All brings joy to my life.

Joy is something I strive to find in every day and can only find through the gift of Jesus my Saviour. Rejoice for our Living God is among us even now and will come back to take us to heaven to live with him forever!!

Best news ever!

AVG

This is a warning for those using AVG antivirus software. It can be corrupted by viruses apparently and then disable your computer to the point of needing to reinstall windows and start from scratch again.

This unfortunate situation happened to me a couple weeks ago and I have now reinstalled windows and as you might have guessed I am not using AVG again.

Thankfully my computer was not a write off like I thought it was. :) And I have it back up and running now. :)

November

November is proving to be a tough month. Maybe it's that I'm working 5 days a week, but more likely that I don't have two days off in a row. Maybe it's that all of our evenings are taken up and short. Maybe it's just my attitude. Maybe it's something else but I feel like I'm just managing to do everything that needs to be done at home and I would rather waste my time doing other things.

Maybe I've been spoiled in the past with time and now have to face reality. Well, we're half way through November and I'm hoping for a better December. At least I have Christmas holidays to look forward to.

Oh boy, that's not very uplifting or positive sounding. I pray that God would help me see joy in every day and to remember God in every situation.

"Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Paradise Meadows

Last week my husband and I went to this place in the mountains about 45 min from where we live. This is on Mount Washington near the resort and ski area. We went for some hiking/walking on the trails through the meadows. It’s a lovely way to spend a day if the weather is nice.

This is the Mount Washington Alpine Resort. This place is known for skiing in the winter.

 

 

 

 

 

I took this picture as we were coming back down a hill toward the wood path. You can see the wood path in this picture.

 

 

 

 

 

The Meadows were so peaceful and there were different plants to see. Some of flat areas where water sits or runs through. We were on a path that led to a lake. We made it to the first lake and then turned around.

 

 

 

While at this lake we were standing looking around at the scenery and 2 birds landed near us and so I was taking pictures of them. They are not afraid of people. Later I noticed an unusual tree. It was an evergreen where the bark peels. So I took this picture. While I was doing so a bird flew right at the tree and landed on a branch. I couldn’t believe that in the picture you can see the bird flying!!!

 

 

 

   

While we were walking it rained on us twice. Not very hard, just a light rain really. Oh and there was also some hail. I could have walked for longer that day but it was time to go back. A nice outing to get away from home for a few hours. :)

an afternoon by the water

It’s Friday afternoon and I’m down by the water, the ocean! The water is lapping at the rocks that are just below where I’m sitting. The sound of the water is so pleasant, the breeze in my hair so nice and I’m feeling blessed to be able to enjoy this place.

Several boats have gone by and I’ve seen one seal. (although it got away before I could get a picture.) I almost always see a seal when I come here. A couple weeks ago I was here in the evening and saw fish jumping. That was fun. Tricky to because unless you’re looking directly at the spot they will jump, you’ll miss them. They give no warning. Here there is a picture of a fishing boat and 2 sea doos or jet skis or something too.

A tug boat docked at the wharf is named “Pacific Fury” reminding me that this water is not always as calm as it looks right now; reminding me that farther out to sea it can be quite unforgiving and steering a boat or trying to swim would be a challenge.

Clouds have started to roll in turning the colour of the water from a lively blue to somewhat more subdued grey colours. Yet before the water turned colours I was intrigued by the colours you can see in the water as it ripples around in the wind. And what you can see through it since the water is so clear.

Campbell River is right alongside Discovery Passage which is the water that runs between Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. It seems more like a wide river than a part of the ocean right here. From where I’m sitting I can see houses on Quadra Island, I can watch the ferry come and go between the two Islands and beyond Quadra I can see the mountains from the mainland BC peaking over.

This picture was taking another day when it was clear and you can see the mountains in the top left hand corner.

 

This picture is of the ferry that goes from Campbell River to Quadra Island. It’s a 10 minute ride and it runs hourly.

 

At the end of my visit to the water today the clouds started to rain just a little and I went to check out a couple of the shops that were close by before walking home. I think I’ll miss living here, but I’m enjoying the adventure!

Settling In

So I've worked for one week so far. I like my job. It's not something I've done before but I'm enjoying it. And being introduced to fresh bread is definitely one of the perks. You should all help out your local bakery and buy fresh bread sometimes. It's good stuff. I've learned that if you freeze fresh bread all you have to do to use it is take out a couple peices of bread for your sandwich or toast of whatever. Leave it on the counter for 3 minutes and it's thawed. Pretty cool :)

There's something about changing your licence plates from Alberta to BC that makes it feel official. We are residing in BC! It makes me ponder the fact that while our car had to be switched to BC plates, our health care could remain with Alberta Health for the year we are here. Alberta Health Care considers us a student even though we are out of province. But for the car ICBC does not allow us to get student perks because while we are in BC Tim is not studying at a school in BC he is studying at a school in Alberta. Therefore the ability to keep keep our AB plates was not an option.

Thankfully the inspection went well. We did replace our tires but we already knew they needed to be done. Now the car is working much better!

new job

I heard from a lady that the bakery she works at is looking for someone to work the front counter. Having had little luck with getting enough resumes out, finding enough jobs to apply for and having little to fill my time I was up for anything. I took this lady's suggestion and took in my resume at about 1pm. It seemed as though he didn't have a need for someone at the moment but that there was a student working that would go back to school in september leaving an opening. But he sat me down and looked through my resume with me. We chatted a bit and he seemed impressed with me and my resume.

He said "come back at 3:30 and hang out for a couple hours, see what we're about, and get a little work experience" So I did I was there for 2 hours. Cleaned the display cases, washed some dishes and learned some things like how to make coffee. When I arrived he had written down 4 shifts for me for the next four days. I was surprised since he gave the impression that he didn't have many hours available.

This bakery is run by conservative mennonites, very Christian people and people can't say enough good things about the owner and his family.

I hope that this job works out for me. It's something I haven't done before and for some reason I'm not very excited about working there, I'm more nervous. I pray that God will give me what I need to do the very best I can.

Plans

I don't have many plans right now and pretty soon that's really going to get me down. I don't have a job yet. I don't have many things I can do here. Thankfully that came in helpful when my husband needed help with work yesterday and I had lots of time to give him. Hopefully things will fall into place soon. Or if they don't I guess I'll be learning some kind of valuable lesson this year. We'll have to wait and see.

We are supposed to be going camping next week with the church. It's their campout weekend. We have a couple people offering to lend us things like a tent and sleeping bags because the only thing we have that you need when you're camping is a cooler. And that's not much. haha.

Even though we're sort of settled there's a lot that we have to be ready for to do with the church and I feel like we're just scraping by, not really planning ahead for much. Hopefully that will get easier when some of the big things are behind us. It should get better in a few weeks.

Praying that I find a job or something helpful to do, and that everything works out!

Morton Lake

These pictures were taken at a small lake called Morton Lake. It was incredibly peaceful. The water was fairly calm. We swam a little but it was pretty cold. This is a lake that is inland a bit. We actually had to drive about 20 minutes on a logging road to get to this lake, it's off the beaten track. There's a campground at this lake and most of the sites look right onto the lake. We were at the beach part which was really sandy. It was a lovely day, enjoying nature, peace and quiet, and good company!

pictures

My last post was about Seymore Narrows and the hike I took up to a bluff looking down on the narrows. here are a few pictures.







This last picture is of logs being stored in the water. I saw this as we were part way up the trail. Since I hadn't seen this before I took a picture. They dump the logs in the water and then tie them together. They probably go to a mill from here. Sadly the mill in Campbell River just shut down.

Ripple Rock Trail

A girl I met here took me hiking today on the Ripple Rock Trail. It starts from just off the highway and you end up 8 kms later on top of the ridge looking down on the Seymore Narrows. Seymore Narrows is a stretch of water where the water runs quickly and you see whirlpools. Cruise ships, barges and other boats come through this way but they couldn't always get through because there was a reef or a ridge under water that was too close to the surface and so at low tide the boats would run into it and sink. So people in the 1950's dug a tunnel under the water there, filled it with dynamite and blew it up so now the water is deeper and the big boats can get through. Because of making space there are now whirlpools and fast moving water there. The trail was fairly long and the hike was quite a workout. But really great too. We saw how the logging companies store the logs in the water. We were walking in a forest of trees, ferns, and other things growing. The trail was shady for most of the time. We saw a garden snake, a shrew, lots of slugs and a bird or two.

All in all a good morning of hiking and enjoying the great outdoors!

the internet

Today I've been pondering just how dependent and reliant we are on the internet. Having been without internet access for over a week it's like this vast electronic world that is the internet has just been opened up to me once more. I don't know what to do first, wade through 20+ emails, search for that much needed job, or the many other things that I can do....like blog. LOL.

Oh the internet what did we ever do without you???

Campbell River - 1 week in

We've been here for one week now. The family have gone home, the house is unpacked and put together, we've met some of the church family, I've found grocery stores, done laundry and even done some sight seeing. Sounds like we're settled eh?

On the surface, yes we're settled in. Tim's started his work as vicar, I've got the house in order and can find almost everything! And I'm getting familiar with the city. I hosted 4 people in my house before being here a week. Once they all left I crashed and had no more energy to spend. Moving sure takes a lot out of you. I've changed my phone number, arranged for cable, and stocked the kitchen.

Under the surface we're still getting comfortable with our life here. I'm wondering what will keep me busy this year. Who will I make friends with? What will enjoy doing? Will I find a job? I already have one job to apply for this week. And I'm waiting until we have internet access to find more job opportunities. Thankfully the internet is being hooked up tomorrow! :)

On a more exciting note I've met some wonderful people at the church! They have really opened up to us right off the bat. Wherever you go in town people say “Hi” to you. The ocean is beautiful. I've been down to the pier twice when the sun was out and the water looked incredibly blue. We saw a crab swimming seals poking their head up for air and blue herons probably looking for food. I saw someone catch a fish off the pier! I walked in a forest where the tree tops were metres above your head.

Campbell River is truly a beautiful place! There is so much to see and do. The other day I said, “This is a place that you come to visit, do all the touristy things and then leave. I don't know how to live here.” But there is more to this place. I can already see that this is a friendly community. Everywhere I've gone people are meeting people they know.

Overall this has been a great beginning to our year here in Campbell River.

Home

Home is where you find the people you love, and where you have memories.
Home is where you have things that you own, where you spend or spent a lot of time.
Home is hopefully a safe place and a positive place to be.
Home is where you belong best and where others there want you to be.

Home is our apartment but we're moving to our new home which doesn't feel like home yet.
Home is my parents house and my in-law's house
Home is so many places over the years that I have lived
and can no longer call home.

Home is not a place, you can't build a home like you can build a house.
Home is created by the people, through love and care of the house you have
and the relationships you share.

Home is a place where you love to be, where you don't want to leave
and where you miss when you're gone.

Romans 8

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

Romans 8 is one of my favourite chapters. And the above verses are some of the verses that I like the most. It is a chapter of comfort and truth. God is always there for us, we can never be separated from God, and God works good for his people. In bad situations I like to remember this verse because it reminds me that at the end of this path is good because God works even the bad stuff together for Good. It may not be the good I am looking for, but there will be good in some way or another, for me or for someone else.

Trip to Victoria

My husband and I just went to Victoria to visit his sister, her husband and their new baby. We drove there, about a 14-15 hour drive plus a ferry ride. Even though most people flew there, we decided to drive and loved every minute of it. Driving through the mountains was gorgeous, even though it was also a little bit of a challenge to drive. My husband drove the roads flawlessly!

Our nephew is so adorable! We were there for his baptism. They did something that I haven't seen done before which was to put a white garment on him during the baptism to show that God has covered and taken away his sin. Pretty cool.

I now have my first godchild since they asked us to be his sponsors! We were thrilled and are looking forward to seeing him grow up.

The only thing was that I was holding him through the baptism which was great except that he cried the entire time. People said he wasn't loud though. He sure seemed loud to me!

Campbell River, BC

My husband and I are moving to Campbell River, BC. What an interesting time of figuring out details and working out plans. Boxing up stuff and everything that goes with moving. Everything is falling into place it seems. It's always a comfort when there aren't many road blocks in the way. This is one sign that I use that suggests this is God's plan. Since all doors are opening this is what we should be doing.

What I know about Campbell River: It's about 30,000 people. But it may feel smaller than my home town of 15,000 since there doesn't seem to be as many conveniences, or towns around. I will be living an easy walking distance from the ocean, and there are also mountains on the island. The scenery should be lovely! We could go Whale Watching or learn to fish, tour the island and see what's there. Visit my sister-in-law her family, or visit my husband's aunt. And of course I will be in need of a job.

We are quite looking forward to this new place to live, but I must admit that as the day draws closer I'm a little more apprehensive and nervous. Even though I have these feelings I'm also confident that we will do well in Campbell River and that we can make the most of the year we will be there.

Card Making

So I've gotten into card making, stamping and stuff like that. I really love it and enjoy sharing my thoughts with the receiver through cards. Since I'm not so great with words otherwise (although I'm working on it) cards may be a good way for me to say meaningful things to people as I get better at it. I also love personalizing the items, words pictures and colours for each person that I make a card for. I have started a collection of stamps from the company called Stampin' Up. Card making is something I want to continue doing. It's fun and I enjoy it and I like giving to others what something that I've created!

Sunday School

I find it interesting that Sunday School teachers are given very little training. They do get curriculum but it seems to me there is more to teaching children for an hour than just having the curriculum. Maybe I just don't have a lot of experience but I'm struggling with teaching my class. Mostly with presenting them with activities they are interested in as well as keeping them engaged for the 45 minutes. Right now I have a very shy 3 year old that won't participate much and an energetic, and pretty smart 5 year old. Quite the opposite. I will also have a girl who is almost 3. Both of the younger ones have never been in a school or daycare setting so attention span is short and understanding what a class is like isn't there.

Today I was able to engage them for the first part of the class through the story, until we got to the craft type activity. Then both of the children were only interested in playing elsewhere and the 5 year old thought sunday school was over.

Anyone have any tips? Or perhaps online resources of time filler ideas/games/activities etc.