Posted some new pictures on my Flickr page, available right here!

Last weekend, Phil and I headed down island to spend the weekend with his Aunt & cousin. We usually get to see Wanda, Al & Tra at least once a month (often more!) but have not seen them since July, since they went on an awesome trip to Israel and Italy. We try to spend every holiday with them in some capacity – and so when we went down we had Thanksgiving dinner (Al is always excited when we come, cause it usually means a bigger dinner, which we also enjoy!). We spent Saturday night with them, and came home Sunday afternoon. It was wonderful. Phil and Tra got to catch up – although no rough housing this time as Tra had just gotten all 4 wisdom teeth taken out. Wanda and I were able to catch up which is always so well needed, and wonderful!

In the morning before we left, we were talking about ‘where the wild things are’ and Tra went and got the book, we had story time on the couch – I read to Phil and Tra… then a little while later Wanda read to Al. Oh how I love that book! I am hoping to see the movie this weekend with Mom & Shannon.

Exams are now in full swing – I have 2 tomorrow, 1 Thursday and 1 on Tuesday of next week. I’m feeling pretty confident in them, but exams always give me a little more anxiety then I’d like. But, I feel that since I’ve attended every class, have very thorough notes and have done well thus far, I have nothing to worry about.

Anyway… next time I’ll be sure to post some photos of recent happenings! Actually, Phil should be posting some as he was out taking photos of the amazing fall colors we’ve been having!!

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

This thanksgiving, I was remembering a Thanksgiving many years ago … my dad worked shift work, 4 on 4 off. This one year he was suppose to be working, and I didn’t want him to at all. I wrote a special note for him to take to work, asking for him to have “Turkey Day” off, and was very thankful when he was home with us!

Like I said in my last post, we were hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for our youth group, I expected 15, we served 21!! I am still in awe that we fit everyone in our apartment. Everything turned out perfect, it was my largest turkey yet, and it was delicious!! Kids were happy, full and left smiling! The only down part was when our neighbours came up and talked to us regarding noise, but once we explained what we were doing they seemed better about it.

Last night we had dinner with the family, and again turkey was delicious, company was grand, and overall a wonderful evening.

This coming weekend we’ll head down to Nanaimo to celebrate Thanksgiving with Phil’s family. We have seen Wanda, Al & Tra since July so we are very excited to catching up and spending time with them.

Anyway, here are some photos from our youth dinner….

So, as you know, Phil and I lead youth with our church, and it is wonderful! Such a blessing and we are so encouraged by all these young people who are in our life. Since this weekend is Thanksgiving, we were throwing around ideas of what to do special for youth. We decided that we’d host a Thanksgiving dinner!! Now, lets be honest, when there is food involved numbers always grow, which I’m definitely not complaining about…. but here I am realizing that I’ll be making the largest turkey I’ve made yet — so here goes!!

Pray for me this week as I prepare dinner, pray for the youth as we’ve asked them to come prepared to share what they are thankful for in their life, and pray for Phil and I as we have the amazing opportunity to minister to these wonderful kids through living out our lives… and that is a HUGE blessing!!

A few questions we have and want your feedback…. you can leave a comment, or send us a message, but we are curious!

1. How old were you when you first owned a home?
2. What did you start out in? (apt. house. mobile home etc.)
3. Did you ever regret taking that step into home owning?
4. Has it caused more or less stress for you vs. renting (if you did rent)?
5. What kind of down payment did you have (5%, 10%, 20% etc. not actual amounts)?
6. Did you take your time and look around a lot, or did you jump right in when you found something that fit?

We’ve looked at MLS since before we got married, checking out whats available, seeing what’s around etc. We are not sure when we’ll buy, or what our plan looks like, but we are getting to a point in our life where we are also sure we don’t want to rent forever! Since we’ve been married (2.5 years) we have lived in 3 places – we do want to move out of the apt. but then we want to stay put for a while. So feeling out all of our options, renting, buying… living with parents (jk)! But curious what your experiences were like!

Homework, homework, homework! That’s how I spend my evenings and weekends! Although its a lot of work, I’ve been enjoying it. This semester I am taking 4 courses – Organizational Behavior, Consumer Behavior, Management Information systems, and E-commerce. They are all interesting, most very different. In each class I do have a group project – which isn’t my favorite thing, but so far I’ve been so happy with my group members so thus far no complaints.

In 2 weeks, it will be midterms, so then I’ll have a real idea of how things are going. I got my 1st assignment back last week and got 9/10 which I was happy with… made a few silly errors, but now I’m totally ready for next time.

So as for blogging — I’ll for sure come back each week and make at least one post! If I have interesting things I’ll be sure to let you know, but please check back each week!

Until next time…

Thanks for checking in…. sorry for the lame-o blogging this month. It’s been crazy! Blogging has been on my mind a lot… but at inopportune times, and then it never seems to happen. So here we are.

School is going AWESOME! So glad to be back. For those of you wondering, I am back to finish my degree in Business, I have 20 courses (approx 2 years left) I think I might be able to finish by next December, but if not by April of 2011 (providing nothing else happens). I’m really enjoying being there, and the challenge is great. Phil is 100% amazing and has been so incredible supportive!

Youth has started up again! Tonight was our 2nd night at our place, and it’s been great. We’ve had about 14 kids out each night and they are so encouraging to us. Last weekend we had a youth overnighter with YFC and had approx. 60 youth there, it was fantastic!! If you think of it, pray for us and our group for this year!

FALL is here! YAY!!! Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, it’s so incredibly beautiful to me, everything is cozy, the scenery is incredible, it’s all just ‘right’. Without fail my decor has changed to fit the fall season. Sitting in our living room is wonderful – cozy & relaxing!

So this is it! Yesterday was my last day of work, and now I’m in my last weekend before school starts. It’s kind of surreal, a little crazy! I knew I’d eventually go back – and it wasn’t a secret to many that I wanted to. But I never thought I’d be going back now. For those of you who don’t know, I’ll be finishing my degree in Business. Not sure exactly what I’ll use it for – although I’ve always dreamed of having my own shop of some sort. So we’ll see where it takes me. Tuesday is orientation, and then Wednesday is the 1st day of classes. I’ll let you know how it goes.

We’ve been playing beach volleyball in a league this summer (and by we, I mean we filled in as others were not here) Last week we played in the semi’s and won, so this week we are on to the finals. It’ll be grand.

Otherwise than that – things have been pretty normal around here – Phil and I have been trying to stay slowed down, relax and enjoy the last few days of summer. Hope you are able to as well!

It’s official, I am going back to school. I’ll be starting September 8th, and will be working towards finishing my degree. I have 20 courses (2years) left. I think I could done 13-14 of those by next September, as some are distance, but we will see, life sometimes gets in the way. Phil has been a great encouragement that I should go back now, and I am very excited. I’ve quit my job, as I will be studying full time, and don’t want to spread myself too thin. This is a new and exciting adventure that we are both pumped about.

That’s all for now….

Today I spent the day sewing. Mom gave me her 1st sewing machine a few weeks ago, and I have started my hand at sewing some things. It’s quite fun actually. I’ve decided that hoping to sew enough things to sell one day, is much easier when I have a sewing machine at home. Anyway – today I made just a few crafty things… 1… I made a baby blanket. 2nd, I made a gift for a friend, a nursing cover & 2 burping clothes. No patterns, just went with it. I’m happy to report that all turned out. I’ll be making this items again, they were pretty simple and look great.

And for some photos….