After the winter...

...hopefully spring has returned to Alberta. We were doing fine up until about a week ago, when all of a sudden, all of Alberta, from Edmonton down, had a huge spring blizzard, and another, and another...for over a week! It was crazy. During this time, Kristy had planned to come visit from Red Deer but the roads were so bad, we didn't want to really do the drive to pick her up. She then decided to try the Greyhound bus and it worked out well. It took her quite a long time but she arrived safely during my last set of days off and we had a good visit. Her and I took to painting and decorating "her" room (the spare bedroom) and I was so glad for her and Mandy's input. I'm thrilled with the results even though I think Floyd feels the room is dark. It is...at least compared to what it was before, but there's a lovely big window in there so I think it's okay. I was going for the Africa/South America look with dark wood accents and dark burnt orange walls. We bought a new duvet cover and curtains and now it's all ready for visitors! And it sounds like we're going to be having quite a few over the summer....

When I'm not working, literally every minute is spent either unpacking boxes or looking for things. There is still so much we haven't found. I'm also going through a bit of a crisis because, for this house, we just have too much "stuff". So I'm doing a big cleanse and giving so many things to the Salvation Army - hopefully it will find it's way to someone who needs it and that's the thought that keeps me piling it into boxes. I don't need it. Some of it I haven't looked at for 15-20 years...why on earth am I keeping it? And it feels good to be throwing it out, it really does.

We're getting the downstairs kitchen fixed up nice as well. We've bought a new microwave and fridge (will be delivered on Wednesday this coming week) and it gives Mandy and Jorge a bit of privacy - especially in the morning before he goes off to work. There 's still a bit of "major" things we have to do/buy but we've decided to just "bite the bullet" and get it done. That includes a new hot water tank, furnace, and updating the electrical. It will be so good when it's done. This set of days off coming up, I plan to do more painting - in the living room and kitchen (upstairs).

Floyd has got the garage looking really nice. He's insulated one whole wall and put up a workbench and hung peg board for his tools. As well, he's put shelves on the walls to hold all the excess stuff that we don't have room for, or don't want, in the house. He's started outside in the yard, too - trimming dead tree branches and figuring out where the fountains, etc., are going to go. I'm hoping that I can get the inside of the house looking better before I have to start on the outside. But I'm really looking forward to the gardening as well...

Since my last post, we have been to a Brian Doerksen concert which was awesome. It was wonderful because, except for Bob, our whole family was there. There was one point when we were standing singing, "Today" with him and I looked around and all my girls and their husbands were singing along with all their hearts..."today, I choose to follow You...today, I choose to spend my life on You..." and it brought tears to my eyes because God is so good. He's taken our family and instilled in each of us a desire to simply live for Him and nothing else. As I've said, Bob wasn't there but I know it's his favorite song, so his heart is aligned with all of ours. It excites me to see what God has in store for each of us for the future. No matter where on earth my girls and their families are, they are living for Jesus, and I could ask for nothing more...

I need to start winding up here so I don't lose you. And I need to post more often. One thing I wanted to mention is that, so far, we haven't been seeing as much of Tanya, Tom and the children as we'd intended. But, having said that, we haven't even been here a month yet...it just feels much longer. I just want to get the house in order before we start having them all over and having sleep-overs with the girls, etc. But it will happen soon. And then I'll be able to relax and play and spend time with them...

Oh, and yesterday I went with Mandy to her prenatal class because Jorge had to work. It was fun, brought back lots of memories of when my own girls were born, and I enjoyed spending the time with her. It's hard to believe that soon her little one will be born!!

I know, I know, I know....

....sorry. It's been a long time. Kristy keeps telling me I need to update and she's right - I do. My days are filled with unpacking boxes, looking for stuff (income tax papers...eeek), finding "stuff" and not knowing where to put it, and, today...painting!! I'm SO excited about painting! Sorry, Floyd...he's not as excited...ha ha. I hate the preparation but love the end result so much, it's worth the temporary mess. And then I can start hanging my pictures and putting up my Wall Talk!!

Today we started the living room. A couple of days ago, Jorge painted their bedroom downstairs - a daring light green - and it looks wonderful! I love to take chances and be daring in my painting but am usually discouraged by Floyd or someone else. Well, Mandy and I make a great team because she encourages me to "go for it"!! Soooo...put our heads together and what did we come up with?? RED! Yup, red. Well, not brilliant (although it did look bright in the can) but more a darker, browner red. However, we were not willing to commit to the whole room being red, so we decided to put a brown on two of the walls and red on the others. We love both the colors - especially the red - with the white furniture it looks awesome. The only problem we have is where the two colors meet. Mind you, it has only been an hour or so, so we have to live with it for awhile for it to grow on us... Hopefully the rest of the family will love it as well. Thank you, Jorge, for your help!!! He was finishing a wall when I left for work. Tomorrow: the dining room!!!

Floyd is getting to know a lot of people in Picture Butte - he goes every morning for his "coffee with the guys" and has been invited to join them to other events at the Community/Senior Centre. I'm happy for him as it keeps him busy and he's happy when he's with people.

My job is going okay. I'm finding it a challenge because...it's often boring. I know that sounds funny but, compared to my previous adrenalin-packed career, this one is very low-key and often mundane. But that's okay, just different that's all. Apart from that, I do enjoy it and am getting more confident in my tasks. I'll be glad when my training is over (end of May) and my shifts are cut back to 8-hours rather than the 12-hour ones. Especially with summer coming and the garden beckoning me. I can't wait to get out there and (a) see what plants I have, and (b) plant new ones!

Anyway, gotta run - at least I updated a bit. I'm still working on going through my Africa photos during my spare (??) time and will be posting them soon. Sorry for the delay!!

Stuff and Sunrises...

One I have too much of and the other, I can't get enough of!! Guess which is which. Ha ha... Yeah, I just have entirely too much "stuff"!! Still got boxes and boxes to unpack and my house is (or seems like it is!) full!

The sunrises. I have been blown away by the beauty of the ones I've seen on my way to work the last few days. The sky here just seems so....big. No buildings in the way, just glorious sky and in the morning, the colours are gorgeous. One day I have to bring my camera with me and allow a bit of time to enjoy the trip.

Okay...so people down here are SO nice! We stopped in the local gas station a couple of days ago and I was in talking to the lady (can't pay at the pump here!) and I asked her what their hours are. She said they were open from 6 to 9 every day but then she went on to say, "I'm usually here at 5, so if you want anything just knock on the door and I'll gladly open for you, sweetie"!!! I kid you not!! Big City Me was just not prepared for that kind of response!

Today Floyd and I were at one of the malls in Lethbridge and saw a booth selling souvenirs from Africa. Ha ha ha.... Oh my gosh. Now I know how people make money!! Bob and Kristy - you would have got such a laugh out of what we saw! There were "THE" plates - you know the ones that I hunted and bartered for everywhere I went?? The ones for R35 (that I tried to get 4 for R100??) - they were selling for $35!!! For everyone else, in South Africa, you could buy them for about $3-$5, depending on the store/market. We couldn't believe it! We were in the mall taking back a vacuum I bought the day before at Sears. We finally settled on one, took it home only to find out that it must have been a return because (a) it was wrapped in tissue paper - I found that rather odd, and (b) there was dirt in the bag!! Ha ha. When I phoned the store this morning to tell them I was returning it (it didn't work either), the lady said, "Oh, if it's wrapped in tissue paper, that means our quality control people were just testing it". Uh...let me think...no. Not good enough. I told her I'd prefer one that hadn't been "tested" first. Ha ha. Good try, though. So we did get a brand new, still factory-packed good one.

Floyd, Mandy, and Jorge are all at the church (two houses down from us) - playing with the worship team. At least Floyd and Jorge are (harmonica and drums respectively) and Mandy's watching, I guess. Or maybe she's singing by now. LOL. The people at the church were so excited when we came two Sundays in a row and are anxious to get some help with the different ministries, so we're happy. It sure is nice to just walk to church. And to get the mail. And to the grocery store. And to the hardware store. Ha ha...you get the picture.

The weather today was HOT!! I think it got up to 16 and is supposed to be in the 20s this weekend! I have a pansy plant in the back in full bloom - I'll have to take a photo of it tomorrow - I couldn't believe it!! And I have tulips that are about 6-8" up already....

Anyway...I should go and unpack some more before bed...

An Audible Sigh of....Relaxation...

Well, here goes! Sorry it's been so long but I can't even start to describe what the month of March was like for Floyd and I!

First of all, there was Africa! Oh my goodness!! I can't even start to tell you how wonderful our time there was! It was so different than I had ever imagined and so beautiful!! Jeffreys Bay was a vision of beauty with miles of white sandy beaches and hardly anyone taking advantage of the view. We spent many days just walking the beach, looking for shells (I got everyone up at 4:30 one morning to try and get the "best and biggest" but didn't find any trophy ones) and swimming/wading in the surf. We took a lot of road trips - to a lion park, an elephant sanctuary (where we rode them!), to the world's highest bridge, to the Garden parkway (where baboons play along the road), to the city malls, and to many, many craft markets! We also went for four days to Capetown and enjoyed, amongst other things, a "romantic sunset cruise" on a sailboat - which turned into a challenging, wet, stormy ride on the high seas!! Ha ha...lots of "long stories". We enjoyed countless hours with Kristy and Bob and their friends at the YWAM base there and came to love them all. I can't wait to go through my photos - soon I'll post some in My Photos and I'll let you know when. My goal is to soon get my scrapbook done of the trip so I can show my Edmonton friends when I go back to visit. We also had our first experience with lost luggage which was a gut-wrenching experience for the first three days we were home. I honestly never thought it would happen to me, but it did. We arrived in Edmonton minus all three of our bags, including one that was filled with souvenirs. It took three days of anxious waiting, praying, and trusting God, but they did arrive safely at our door...

The move. It...it...happened. Ha ha. I don't know how else to say it. We were totally unprepared, even though, before we left, we thought we were. But things just kept coming out of the woodwork that needed to be packed. Mandy and I packed like packrats while the men moved it all out to the truck. The question of the day was, "Where's the duct tape??" We were blessed by many friends who showed up on "the day" and helped us out. They were all a God-send as, when we woke up that morning, we had no one scheduled to come help. Our Pastor, Keith, was awesome as he brought to the scene a lot of experience with moving (himself and his kids!) and performed miracles fitting everything into the U-Haul. Then there was an angel named Gudrun who showed up at lunch time with Quizno subs and drinks for everyone! We were so blessed. Thanks to everyone for your help!

The drive down was uneventful, for which we were thankful. We went in convoy - Floyd drove the U-Haul truck, I followed in Bert and Mandy and Jorge brought up the rear in Ebenezer (yes, yes, we name our vehicles in our family...ha ha). Bob drove his Dad's van and Kristy was in their car but they were ahead of us. We got in late at night, set up some air mattresses to sleep on and then, the next morning, started unpacking the vans and truck. Tom showed up for that, along with a couple of his friends, and we sure appreciated their help on this end. Tanya and Amethyst also came over, with all the kids, to help organize some of the stuff. Thanks, Tan and Am, for your help as well!!

So now we're in Picture Butte and, I gotta tell you, we are loving it! There were a few glitches with the new house - things that should have shown up in the inspection, I think - but we're surviving. The first major thing we discovered about the new house was the fact that the ceiling going down the stairs to the basement is very low. Eeeek. I don't know how we missed that when we were looking at it before. Everyone but Jorge and I have had the head-busting experience of encountering the ceiling - especially the tall guys like Tom and Bob. It's something we're gonna have to really look into even though the four of us now have all become accustomed to bending as we go down and up. The code word for Day One was definitely, "Watch your head!!" - yelled out to anyone we saw going up and down the stairs. We also discovered a noticeable lack of electrical outlets in the rooms which has caused a bit of problems but nothing major. I gave up a bit of stuff in Edmonton because there was no room in the truck and I've discovered that I have more to give away because there's no room for it in the new house. Going from five bedrooms to three leaves a lot of surplus "stuff"...

Bottom line, though, is that we LOVE small-town Alberta. It's incredible how quiet the neighborhood is. We live on a dead-end street as well, so the only people that go by are only our neighbors in the two houses past us. Ha ha. Floyd kept looking out the front window to watch traffic go by and there wasn't any!! Love it! We quickly discovered a favorite in the local Cactus Grill restaurant that puts out meals to die for at wonderful prices. The guys enjoyed the steak lunch special on Wednesday - yeah, I think that may become a regular. Floyd has already met so many people. He goes to the cafe every morning to meet with the regulars that gather there. As for me, my days (when I'm not working) are filled with unpacking and finding the right place for things. Mandy and Jorge have been invaluable to us as helpers and good company. We've made many shopping trips together and have many more to go!

My work is going well - I was thrilled to find out that once my training is over (end of May), my shifts will be 8 hours instead of 12 and that works for me! We have a big garden to take care of and I'll need time to do that. I'm hoping that the weather will stay cool for a bit (did I just say that out loud??) so that I can finish the house before the yard work starts... Having said that the sun was shining today and everyone was out without coats and I even saw some shorts and tank tops!!

Anyway, that's just a quick review - I'm babysitting the grandbabbies today - another joy of living so close to Tanya and Tom.

Bottom line? We're LOVING it!! Thank you, Lord...

Moving Craziness and Settling In!!

I haven't abandoned this blog - please stay posted. We've made the move but our days are filled with "finding this, finding that" and I've had to start work as well... I'll be on days off soon and will try to do a long blog then....