Written week of November 1st:
Well what an interesting day I have had. Yesterday the entire office was sent an email asking us to all meet downstairs on our other floor in the boardroom for a staff meeting. Apparently this NEVER happens so people were concerned. Turns out our entire office is being relocated to Toronto! Most people are going to have a relocation offer and only a few will not. We of course have the choice to decline, work until the end of the summer then receive severance, accept and move to Toronto, or quit anytime without severance. I assumed that I was one of the few not going to be offered a relocation package since (despite doing well at my job) I am quite replaceable. Well, I could not have been more wrong. They offered me a relocation package and in our private meeting let me know they really valued me. I was shocked. They explained the VERY generous relocation offer and the AMAZING severance option which includes working until the end of August.
We are rooted in Vancouver. Our families are here, our friends, our church, etc…and more importantly it’s where we have felt God calling us to be. The only way we would go to Toronto is if we felt God moving….for example there could be a Seminary there for Paul that is a much better price than here, or something like that. But really our heart is to stay in Vancouver. Right now we are 90% staying…I explained, in my private meeting, to the two head guys why we would stay. Paul wants to Pastor a church at UBC. We kind of need to be here to do that.
**we have confirmed now, as of Nov 10, that we are NOT moving to Toronto**
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Surgery update
I am at work today. I was supposed to be in surgery. I spent yesterday in the hospital waiting for surgery only to have it cancelled. I begged to have it rescheduled this week, so I am back in on Friday. Therefore, I will work today, Wednesday and Thursday and head back to the hospital Friday.
While it’s frustrating to be bumped, I am choosing to look at the bright side:
Positive #1: last night there was a guest speaker from our church in Nashville. Paul and I both REALLY wanted to hear him, I love how he teaches. We were going to have to miss him but this way we got to hear him!
Positive #2: I will be having surgery on a Friday not a Monday which means I will have three weekends to recover instead of just two! I will be back at work on October 25th now.
Positive #3: I got to have a trial run in the hospital. I feel a lot less nervous and more prepared for Friday, especially now that we know I will be in overnight. I will make sure my iPod is loaded with movies in case I can’t sleep!
Positive #4: We got to have a trial run at work, with the girl who is covering reception. I forgot to give her the mail keys so it’s a very good thing I had to come in!
Positive #5: Last night I created a new recipe for my dinner repertoire. I made chicken with pesto, tomato, garlic and parmesan. Paul loved it so much he made me take a picture of it…AND told me he can’t believe he was so lucky as to marry me. Which confirms the old adage that the way to a man’s heart is most definitely through his stomach.
While it’s frustrating to be bumped, I am choosing to look at the bright side:
Positive #1: last night there was a guest speaker from our church in Nashville. Paul and I both REALLY wanted to hear him, I love how he teaches. We were going to have to miss him but this way we got to hear him!
Positive #2: I will be having surgery on a Friday not a Monday which means I will have three weekends to recover instead of just two! I will be back at work on October 25th now.
Positive #3: I got to have a trial run in the hospital. I feel a lot less nervous and more prepared for Friday, especially now that we know I will be in overnight. I will make sure my iPod is loaded with movies in case I can’t sleep!
Positive #4: We got to have a trial run at work, with the girl who is covering reception. I forgot to give her the mail keys so it’s a very good thing I had to come in!
Positive #5: Last night I created a new recipe for my dinner repertoire. I made chicken with pesto, tomato, garlic and parmesan. Paul loved it so much he made me take a picture of it…AND told me he can’t believe he was so lucky as to marry me. Which confirms the old adage that the way to a man’s heart is most definitely through his stomach.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Heading in to surgery
Today feels long as I dreamt about work last night. I feel like I’ve already been here and done this. Except my dream was clearly not based in reality; in my dream the CEO had a group of important visitors in. They were midgets, business midgets. They made a big mess & I had to clean it up. It was terrible. They all wore suits and managed to stay spotless; they were used to making messes and not getting dirty.
Paul and I are having a lot of fun in life. A few weekends ago we drove down to the states and slept in his parents van in a walmart parking lot. It was actually so much fun. We have friends over, we go out to visit friends. We play games. We laugh. We eat. We see our families, we go to work and school. We love to have people in our home, especially when we get to feed them and really especially when we get to have good deep conversations with them…though we also like to play games with them too.
Today is a busy day at the office. A bunch of executives from other locations are here and it’s neat to put a face to different names. It means that today is hectic, and yet when they are all in meetings it’s slow.
I’ve been doing pretty well at getting to bed on time since I started working here. I am usually asleep by 10:30 on a work night. I wake up at 6 and am out of the house at 7:05. This week though I have been up to 12:00 or 12:30 each night. In reality I don’t really feel that much more tired than normal; but as I am fighting a cold this is not a great lifestyle choice for the week. However there have been things to do, and people to see. I will be off work for 2 weeks starting Monday to have lower back surgery so at least I can rest then!
Yes, I am having back surgery! Since March I have been experiencing pain in my lower back/right hip. Really the pain feel like it centers in my butt on the upper right side. For the first 3 months they told me it was just a stress induced pinched nerve. Then when it persisted past my wedding and honeymoon they told me it was Siatica. Then when I couldn’t sleep next to my husband because the it hurt to lay in bed (though it hurt to stand and sit as well) they told me it “wasn’t that bad.” Finally I went to Emerg and got pills which actually helped relieve the pain for the first time in 4 months. When my GP saw that those pills were making a difference he realized it had to be worse than Siatica or stress. He finally had me sent for a CT scan in early July. This scan showed that I had a protruding disc that had fragmented and that the only way to clean out the fragmented pieces and keep the disc from protruding was surgery. This was discovered the day before I started a new job! The surgeon told me I needed surgery and that he would book me in for that night, as it was a fairly urgent surgery. However after 2 and a half months of not working I couldn’t afford to lose the job I had finally gotten! I asked the DR if I could do the surgery in the fall and still be ok on pills until then, which he said was fine. Then I went to visit my new workplace to explain what was going on. They very generously agreed to let me have 2 weeks off for the surgery and recovery sometime in the fall. Well that time is this coming Monday. I cannot wait! I have been in pain 6 months; through all the wedding prep, through the wedding, through the honeymoon, through job hunting, etc. Everyone said that the pain would be gone by the wedding/honeymoon. They said, “God is good, he will remove this pain.” Well God is still good but he did not remove the pain. Instead he used it to teach me. I have learned to slow down. I have learned to be patient and gracious with people in pain (especially when you can’t see the problem obviously). I have learned my husband is very kind to me when I am not feeling well. I have learned to be grateful for what is good, instead of complaining about what’s wrong.
Lessons aside, I am glad to be rid of the pain though
So for the next two weeks I will mostly be at home. I have been prepping meals and PVR’ing TV. The recovery will not be bed rest. I will be moving around my home AND resting in it. My goal is to spend some time with God each day, to connect via phone or email with a long distance friend each day, and do every piece of physical therapy they give me to help heal. I will rest as long as they recommend and to my best ability follow everything they say to optimize healing.
Today I had lunch with a friend. I don’t know her very well yet but we have a lot of things and people in common. We go to the same church. We dress similarly. Heck, she was Paul’s only other girlfriend! In my head I think of her as a “dear friend” even though we are new friends. I look forward to getting to know her better. I love the start of friendships that you just know will be good. I look forward to figuring out how to make time for her in my life (on top of all the other people and friendships that are already a priority!).
Alright, I have a mountain of booklets to put tabs in, then bind in a binding machine. Woo!
Paul and I are having a lot of fun in life. A few weekends ago we drove down to the states and slept in his parents van in a walmart parking lot. It was actually so much fun. We have friends over, we go out to visit friends. We play games. We laugh. We eat. We see our families, we go to work and school. We love to have people in our home, especially when we get to feed them and really especially when we get to have good deep conversations with them…though we also like to play games with them too.
Today is a busy day at the office. A bunch of executives from other locations are here and it’s neat to put a face to different names. It means that today is hectic, and yet when they are all in meetings it’s slow.
I’ve been doing pretty well at getting to bed on time since I started working here. I am usually asleep by 10:30 on a work night. I wake up at 6 and am out of the house at 7:05. This week though I have been up to 12:00 or 12:30 each night. In reality I don’t really feel that much more tired than normal; but as I am fighting a cold this is not a great lifestyle choice for the week. However there have been things to do, and people to see. I will be off work for 2 weeks starting Monday to have lower back surgery so at least I can rest then!
Yes, I am having back surgery! Since March I have been experiencing pain in my lower back/right hip. Really the pain feel like it centers in my butt on the upper right side. For the first 3 months they told me it was just a stress induced pinched nerve. Then when it persisted past my wedding and honeymoon they told me it was Siatica. Then when I couldn’t sleep next to my husband because the it hurt to lay in bed (though it hurt to stand and sit as well) they told me it “wasn’t that bad.” Finally I went to Emerg and got pills which actually helped relieve the pain for the first time in 4 months. When my GP saw that those pills were making a difference he realized it had to be worse than Siatica or stress. He finally had me sent for a CT scan in early July. This scan showed that I had a protruding disc that had fragmented and that the only way to clean out the fragmented pieces and keep the disc from protruding was surgery. This was discovered the day before I started a new job! The surgeon told me I needed surgery and that he would book me in for that night, as it was a fairly urgent surgery. However after 2 and a half months of not working I couldn’t afford to lose the job I had finally gotten! I asked the DR if I could do the surgery in the fall and still be ok on pills until then, which he said was fine. Then I went to visit my new workplace to explain what was going on. They very generously agreed to let me have 2 weeks off for the surgery and recovery sometime in the fall. Well that time is this coming Monday. I cannot wait! I have been in pain 6 months; through all the wedding prep, through the wedding, through the honeymoon, through job hunting, etc. Everyone said that the pain would be gone by the wedding/honeymoon. They said, “God is good, he will remove this pain.” Well God is still good but he did not remove the pain. Instead he used it to teach me. I have learned to slow down. I have learned to be patient and gracious with people in pain (especially when you can’t see the problem obviously). I have learned my husband is very kind to me when I am not feeling well. I have learned to be grateful for what is good, instead of complaining about what’s wrong.
Lessons aside, I am glad to be rid of the pain though
So for the next two weeks I will mostly be at home. I have been prepping meals and PVR’ing TV. The recovery will not be bed rest. I will be moving around my home AND resting in it. My goal is to spend some time with God each day, to connect via phone or email with a long distance friend each day, and do every piece of physical therapy they give me to help heal. I will rest as long as they recommend and to my best ability follow everything they say to optimize healing.
Today I had lunch with a friend. I don’t know her very well yet but we have a lot of things and people in common. We go to the same church. We dress similarly. Heck, she was Paul’s only other girlfriend! In my head I think of her as a “dear friend” even though we are new friends. I look forward to getting to know her better. I love the start of friendships that you just know will be good. I look forward to figuring out how to make time for her in my life (on top of all the other people and friendships that are already a priority!).
Alright, I have a mountain of booklets to put tabs in, then bind in a binding machine. Woo!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Fall again
I am a strange sort of blogger; I rarely write (except in spurts) but I check every blog I follow every day. I only learned 9 months ago how to follow these and before would actually go through and click on every link to see if they had been updated. I love to read what my friends and acquaintances have to say and think about life. AND in THEORY I love to write. Something just makes it so hard though. My mind rejects the idea of writing being easy; despite the fact that it really is easy.
I am at work. I like my job. If I have to have a job and have to work somewhere; this is the place to be. People always ask me if I am happy here; and I am. They ask if I like my job; I do. They ask if it’s a dream job; and no, it’s not. A dream job for me would involve much higher pay, travel with Paul and full time availability to rest and build in to people. This dream job does not exist. That’s why it’s a “dream”. However, this job is definitely a gift from God – I love the hours, I love the pay, I find enjoyment in my work here and my co workers are nice. God has provided yet again.
I just looked back and realized that I never posted about my job. I got a job as a receptionist at a Uranium mining company. U1. It’s very exciting. I do administration and answer phones. I like the work. It’s right downtown overlooking Stanley Park. It pays what I needed it to pay and I get to dress up for work every day.
Biggest surprise in marriage? How awesome it is. I thought being married to the man I love and enjoy (Paul) would be really really great. It’s even better. Now I know it’s only been 5 months but whatever. I love my husband.
Speaking of Paul; my husband talks and reacts in his sleep. So for example one day he thought I was me about to turn in to an alien so he tried to get me to stop by pushing me off the bed and shouting at me not to do it. Thankfully I realized what was happening and managed to hop off the bed just before I was pushed off. This past weekend was my favorite though; I was awoken in the middle of the night to Paul doing pushups in bed in his sleep. He was giving it hardcore. It was hilarious to watch. Later he tried to save me from being sucked in to a vortex by pulling me across the bed. It is certainly adventurous to sleep in the same bed as Paul!
I love our home. We are 90% unpacked and settled. I still have some final things to go through but OH it feels like home. Our pantry is stocked to brimming. Our freezer has everything I need to cook the things I love to make.
I am at work. I like my job. If I have to have a job and have to work somewhere; this is the place to be. People always ask me if I am happy here; and I am. They ask if I like my job; I do. They ask if it’s a dream job; and no, it’s not. A dream job for me would involve much higher pay, travel with Paul and full time availability to rest and build in to people. This dream job does not exist. That’s why it’s a “dream”. However, this job is definitely a gift from God – I love the hours, I love the pay, I find enjoyment in my work here and my co workers are nice. God has provided yet again.
I just looked back and realized that I never posted about my job. I got a job as a receptionist at a Uranium mining company. U1. It’s very exciting. I do administration and answer phones. I like the work. It’s right downtown overlooking Stanley Park. It pays what I needed it to pay and I get to dress up for work every day.
Biggest surprise in marriage? How awesome it is. I thought being married to the man I love and enjoy (Paul) would be really really great. It’s even better. Now I know it’s only been 5 months but whatever. I love my husband.
Speaking of Paul; my husband talks and reacts in his sleep. So for example one day he thought I was me about to turn in to an alien so he tried to get me to stop by pushing me off the bed and shouting at me not to do it. Thankfully I realized what was happening and managed to hop off the bed just before I was pushed off. This past weekend was my favorite though; I was awoken in the middle of the night to Paul doing pushups in bed in his sleep. He was giving it hardcore. It was hilarious to watch. Later he tried to save me from being sucked in to a vortex by pulling me across the bed. It is certainly adventurous to sleep in the same bed as Paul!
I love our home. We are 90% unpacked and settled. I still have some final things to go through but OH it feels like home. Our pantry is stocked to brimming. Our freezer has everything I need to cook the things I love to make.
I love our wedding pictures
Also I love my new family:
Life is pretty awesome
Now if only the courier I am waiting for would come I would be very happy. I need to send something to England in half an hour and I haven't yet received it!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Rainy, thoughtful day
Today is a rainy thoughtful day. I am warm, inside my house, happy with the knowledge that there is a beautiful rainy day outside and that shortly I will be catching a bus to UBC in it. I have warm tea, good music and a happy heart.
I am so ready for our house to be unpacked and yet unwilling to do much to make that the truth. It's quite a tricky place to be.
Still on the job hunt; applying to lots of places every day and wondering where I will end up.
Still loving marriage. Very much still in the honeymoon phase....both always trying to do little things around the house to make the other person feel good. Last night I got up in the middle of the night to make Paul's lunch and prepare his breakfast for the morning as a surprise. When I woke up (after he had gone to work) he had cleaned the entire kitchen, left flowers for me and cleaned up all garbage and recycling. It's fun to try and love each other in practical ways.
I hope I get an office job. There are some clothes I would love to own but unless I have a place to wear them will never buy them.
One week today I am heading off on a family/friend vacation to Osoyoos. Mostly my entire family (and for sure my entire Vancouver family) plus a bunch of our friends, and families from church will be there. We will eat, play games, lay on the beach and stay up late talking. I can pretty much not wait.
I suppose I should start getting ready for the very rainy bus trip to UBC...thankfully I have rain boots, a rain coat, a bus pass, an ipod and a book. I think I shall enjoy the ride thoroughly.
Oh and I LOVE my new hair cut. Oh love.
I am so ready for our house to be unpacked and yet unwilling to do much to make that the truth. It's quite a tricky place to be.
Still on the job hunt; applying to lots of places every day and wondering where I will end up.
Still loving marriage. Very much still in the honeymoon phase....both always trying to do little things around the house to make the other person feel good. Last night I got up in the middle of the night to make Paul's lunch and prepare his breakfast for the morning as a surprise. When I woke up (after he had gone to work) he had cleaned the entire kitchen, left flowers for me and cleaned up all garbage and recycling. It's fun to try and love each other in practical ways.
I hope I get an office job. There are some clothes I would love to own but unless I have a place to wear them will never buy them.
One week today I am heading off on a family/friend vacation to Osoyoos. Mostly my entire family (and for sure my entire Vancouver family) plus a bunch of our friends, and families from church will be there. We will eat, play games, lay on the beach and stay up late talking. I can pretty much not wait.
I suppose I should start getting ready for the very rainy bus trip to UBC...thankfully I have rain boots, a rain coat, a bus pass, an ipod and a book. I think I shall enjoy the ride thoroughly.
Oh and I LOVE my new hair cut. Oh love.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Married, at home, job hunting...woo! The life of a unplanned stay at home wife.
Ugh..just wrote a post and it disappeared. Then tried again and it disappeared. Ugh Ugh Ugh.
So I will try again.
Last time I wrote I was going to get married in 4 days. Now I have been married for a month and 3 days. This is awesome. I love being married. I specifically love being married to Paul. He is a pretty great husband. And a pretty great man. It was always so important to me that when I got married it would be to someone I could respect; and not fake respect, but actually really really really respect. It's great to have found a man like that.
Enough of the gushy stuff. I promise I will post wedding pics and honeymoon pics and talk about both but am waiting for the pictures.
For now I would like to talk about life. I finished my contract with EveryNation Campus Ministries at the end of April. I am currently job hunting. This means I have been unemployed the whole time we have been married. Weird.
At this moment I have just found out that I did not get the job I interviewed for on Wednesday which is really unfortunate because it was a great job. I feel bummed. I had been so hopeful after a great interview.
In other news...
I just finished putting my pantry together:
Isn't it beautiful? I love a well stocked pantry.
This is where I am typing from now:
And this is my kitchen shelving which I love and will love even more once I find all my plates. Right now it has many random things in it:
And lastly my ever so helpful and organized tupperware stacked cupboard:
And now I will eat a mini pizza to console myself about not getting the job and then I will work my way through folding a giant, living room sized, mound of laundry. So awesome :$
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
4 days left
It's 3am and I am rarely up at this house. However, this is not a normal week. Paul and I are getting married on Saturday. In 4 days time. AND while I have most of the major prep done there are still many tiny details left to finish. Until the last couple weeks I had not felt stress, and normally when stress has appeared over the past few weeks I could shrug it off. Tonight it was much harder. Though now, 8 hours of wedding administration later I feel much less stressed. I have completed my seating charts; the arrangement, the individual table markers & seating board. I had already purchased all the cardstock to go with these documents so this week I can, at my leisure, put these pieces together. I feel much better.
Sarah and I went out for Japanese noodle. It was tasty and strange. It was also pouring out and we got very wet and 'Sweet Love' Morgan came to pick us up. I love him so much. He told me tonight he is amazed at how much work I have done for our wedding and that he has some big plans to show me how much he appreciates me....things like having my ring engraved (which he accidentally told me) and other things I do not know since they are a surprise. i feel very loved.
Paul's mom comes to town tomorrow. More family comes to town Thursday. All family will be in town Friday. Friday we will decorate the reception hall from 9am til 1pm. Then myself and my bridesmaids will make bouquets from 1 until 2:30. Then we will get mani/pedi's at 3. At 5:15 is the rehearsal. 7pm is the rehearsal dinner for our entire family; 60 people! I am pretty excited.
(Weird, as I type this I just had a major flashback to writing a blog entry when Jenna was getting married with a similar timeline)
Saturday Paul and I will sneak away early to have breakfast together before our big day, and after we part ways there I will not see him again until I begin to walk down the aisle. Oh!
I am so excited to marry Paul. He is amazing.
And now I should sleep as it is 3:15am....and I have a staff meeting at 10am....I will be waking up at 8am, spending time with God, going tanning, then bussing to get my car....THEN going to the staff meeting. Phew.
Sarah and I went out for Japanese noodle. It was tasty and strange. It was also pouring out and we got very wet and 'Sweet Love' Morgan came to pick us up. I love him so much. He told me tonight he is amazed at how much work I have done for our wedding and that he has some big plans to show me how much he appreciates me....things like having my ring engraved (which he accidentally told me) and other things I do not know since they are a surprise. i feel very loved.
Paul's mom comes to town tomorrow. More family comes to town Thursday. All family will be in town Friday. Friday we will decorate the reception hall from 9am til 1pm. Then myself and my bridesmaids will make bouquets from 1 until 2:30. Then we will get mani/pedi's at 3. At 5:15 is the rehearsal. 7pm is the rehearsal dinner for our entire family; 60 people! I am pretty excited.
(Weird, as I type this I just had a major flashback to writing a blog entry when Jenna was getting married with a similar timeline)
Saturday Paul and I will sneak away early to have breakfast together before our big day, and after we part ways there I will not see him again until I begin to walk down the aisle. Oh!
I am so excited to marry Paul. He is amazing.
And now I should sleep as it is 3:15am....and I have a staff meeting at 10am....I will be waking up at 8am, spending time with God, going tanning, then bussing to get my car....THEN going to the staff meeting. Phew.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
2 weeks until the big day!
Today is the only day of my life that I will wake up and realize that in exactly 2 weeks I will be getting married. Weird.
On top of all this Stefany and I (with the help of our friend Candace—who is also amazing) made tasty pizza’s and potatoe skins. We even tried a new invention: perogie pizza with real perogies boiled, fried, cut up and layered right onto the pizza! Tasty! We watched ‘When Harry met Sally’ and SNL while cutting papers, sewing pocket squares and wrapping boxes. Productive and fun.
With this in mind I set off on to complete a marathon of errands...all while hanging out with amazing women, of course. I met up with my friend Mila (Paul’s groomsmen Daniel’s little sister) for breakfast at Bon’s (home of the $2.95 breakfast) and a trip to the printers to price our programs and table numbers. They were more costly than expected. Mila, being amazing, came up with a cheaper and better solution. I am in awe of her genius.
After a painful (but timely) visit to a beauty salon (for threading & waxing—my face is so smooth now!) I met up with my dear friend Stefany. Stefany is from Quebec and soon she will be heading home (Oh I hate to have that be true) but she has been living here since June and I have so enjoyed getting to know her. She has been so huegely helpful at every step of the wedding process. When I needed a dress fitting, Stef was right there to tie my corset & take photos. When we needed to register for gifts but Paul was getting tired of walking around the store, I took Stef with me on my next trip. Whenever I have a day full of wedding errands that I know would bore Paul, Stef is always ready and excited to come along. So today, as Paul is away on his Stag, Stefany and I set out to kick some wedding errand butt...and boy did we.
Errands completed:
· Bathing suit purchased—Addition elle on sale!
· Sundress for honeymoon purchased—Reitmans (Thanks Nancy for both of these!)
· Fabric purchased for pocket squares (and later tonight sewn) - Fabricland
· Paper purchased for card box (and later tonight box was wrapped & decorated) - Micheals
· Paper purchased for table numbers (though later realized I am short 10 yellow pages of cardstock, eep. Will finish buying yellow card stock tomorrow.) - Paper Poet & Micheals
· Wedding shoes purchased—Payless on sale! Came with 70% off another pair of shoes + 2 necklaces for half price
· Tie purchased (for Paul) - Walmart (will be covered with orange material to make it match my sash)
· Wedding favors priced out (at Superstore—unless the grocery manager was wrong, and I kind of think he was, Lyndors are super pricey, yikes).
· Home Décor bought on sale in antique shop in New West.
· Marble Slab Creamery ingested on sale! MMMM
· Guest book/photo frame for signing purchased—Micheals, also on sale!
As I mentioned earlier Paul is away on his Stag. He is away with his groomsmen, best man and father. My stagette was about a month ago and I went away with 15 of my female friends. We both got to do what we love best for our time of celebration. I got to enjoy telling stories, drinking martinis and hanging out with great friends. Paul is enjoying being in the woods (despite the pouring rain), fishing and being with his 3 best guy friends and his Dad. I always miss Paul when he is gone but I enjoy hanging out with girlfriends, and doing girlie things. As I write I am still at Stefany’s house. We are having a sleepover with Candace. While the girls are sleeping I wanted to take a moment to update here. It has been such a busy few weeks that updating seemed stressful and a huge goal of mine through this whole process has been anything that is stressful gets left until it is no longer stressful.
After today the wedding is very much still under control. There are still things left to do: pick dance songs, pick worship music & pick reception music (I have been putting off everything music related). We also need to finalize our ceremony details with our pastor (my uncle) and create a run-sheet for the day so that we have a plan for every detail. There are a few other details still left to work out but mostly we are ready. It feels pretty great.
I am so enjoying this final time of being single, while looking forward to a future with Paul. I feel badly for him though as he is finishing this school semester. He is finally done with his papers but now is entering a week of exams. He could definitely use any prayers you would send his way! I am enjoying cheering him up. It’s fun to learn how to love him when he is stressed.
Alright, It is late, and I should sleep. Good night all!
2 weeks until the big day….Wow!
I will quickly add 2 photos:
1 includes Stefany and I and was taken in December, hence my long hair. But it does show Stefany and I enjoying each other. Normally Stef is the photographer so this is a rare treat, seeing her on the other side of the lense, hence how not recent this photo is. And the second is of Lyndsay, Candace and I at a sleepover 2 weeks ago at Stef's. It was a great evening, almost identical to tonight's great sleepover, minus the lovely Lyndsay who is having a sleepover of her own in Port Moody with other friends.
Pictures 3,4 and 5 are of a very happy couple. 3 is us posing of so naturally in front of water. 4 is us excited for marriage *wink*wink* and 5 showcases how much fun we are.
Vein? possibly. In love? Definitely
Sunday, April 4, 2010
27 days to our new home!
27 Days until the wedding! Oh my gosh; it's so exciting. Seriously I can not believe that in 27 days Paul and I will be married!
Yesterday Paul and I found our new home! It is a basement suite at 39th and Cambie. For those of you not from Vancouver that means it is in a medium nice area next to Queen Elizabeth Park (a beautiful park in the middle of the city). It is a 5 minutue walk to the Skytrain (which is like our subway but partially above ground), the 41 Bus (which goes straight to UBC - Paul's school) and Oakridge mall (which has shopping, food and grocery stores).
Google maps tells me I am close to family and friends:
Driving Distances:
to Jenna & Colin's (my sister & her hubby): 5 minutes
to church: 5 minutes
to my parents: 7 minutes
to my aunt and uncles (many of our friends live on the same street): 7 minutes away
Transit Distances:
Half and hour to all the above places!! plus 40 minutes to UBC
The place is a basement suite, 1000 sq feet, 2 bedroom, giant living room, dining area, kitchen and bathroom. There is shared laundry and TONS of storage.
To top it off we get all of that, including all utilities, for $850 a month! This is truly a real estate miracle. Our God gives good gifts!
The only negative is we don't get possession until May 1st (the day of our wedding) so we will have to move in on the 2nd. Any help would be appreciated, eep!
The following photos were taken quickly on my camera phone. They are blury and full of the current renters eclectic belongings. Please see past the decorating to the house itself. Though I love the red walls in the master bedroom! It's totally made me rethink our bedding!
Master Bedroom
Paul's Den & Guest Room
Small living space or Dining space
Living Rom
Bathroom - Lots of storage space!!!
Kitchen - brighter in real life
Dining Nook or shelf space
We are very happy.
We are about to be married.
We are very loved by our God.
We are about to be married.
We are very loved by our God.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Of sunshine and housing
It is a beautiful sunny day. I can hear the roar of lawnmowers outside my apartment. Recently my roommate changed the curtain in our bedroom; it is a beautiful dark green. It lets all the light in. Today I woke up with the sun on my face and a view of a spring day outside. I assumed all this would bug me but it's really quite lovely. After I woke up I took a bus to my chiropractor's (Dr. Dan) and thoroughly enjoyed walking outside. I came home to find a letter from my LeAnna in England. What a treat! I made a huge pita sandwich with sprouts, carrots, meat, lettuce & tomatoes and my tummy is happy.
I am so glad for the peace of this day.
After the craziness of working for the Olympics (in 15 days of work I worked 140 hours between the two jobs) and then preparing to go to trial (I was being sued for having sold a car to a guy who later said the car was junk but had never taken it to a mechanic before buying it - We won. Phew!) my body was not pleased with me. Though I knew God would provide and take care of us I was still stressed about the trial! My Dad is away for the paralympics (volunteering in Whistler) so I have been helping take care of my mom. These things added together to create a lot of stress. My body decided to shut down. I got infections, I got a cold, I got a stress migraine (which caused my arm to go numb, my vision to get blurry and me to feel quite naseaus), I got flareups of any and all ailments I ever have during stress and my siatica came back. The past 5 days have been quite rough, physically. Thankfully doctors exist and all these problems are well on their way to being gone.
Needless to say today I am glad for peace. I am glad for rest. I am glad for sunshine.
I am a pretty lucky girl. I am marrying a man I love and respect who loves and respects me. I have an amazing family and am marrying in to an amazing family. I like my job and am excited to start a new job in May (who knows what I'll be doing then!). I love my home and am excited to find a home to live with Paul in. I am planning a wedding that is not stressful, only exciting. I have amazing friends. AMAZING.
Ok Pollyanna, get back to the point:
We are househunting. Not to buy as we are students but to rent. Vancouver is a tricky climate to find housing in.
Here is our wishlist:
I am so glad for the peace of this day.
After the craziness of working for the Olympics (in 15 days of work I worked 140 hours between the two jobs) and then preparing to go to trial (I was being sued for having sold a car to a guy who later said the car was junk but had never taken it to a mechanic before buying it - We won. Phew!) my body was not pleased with me. Though I knew God would provide and take care of us I was still stressed about the trial! My Dad is away for the paralympics (volunteering in Whistler) so I have been helping take care of my mom. These things added together to create a lot of stress. My body decided to shut down. I got infections, I got a cold, I got a stress migraine (which caused my arm to go numb, my vision to get blurry and me to feel quite naseaus), I got flareups of any and all ailments I ever have during stress and my siatica came back. The past 5 days have been quite rough, physically. Thankfully doctors exist and all these problems are well on their way to being gone.
Needless to say today I am glad for peace. I am glad for rest. I am glad for sunshine.
I am a pretty lucky girl. I am marrying a man I love and respect who loves and respects me. I have an amazing family and am marrying in to an amazing family. I like my job and am excited to start a new job in May (who knows what I'll be doing then!). I love my home and am excited to find a home to live with Paul in. I am planning a wedding that is not stressful, only exciting. I have amazing friends. AMAZING.
Ok Pollyanna, get back to the point:
We are househunting. Not to buy as we are students but to rent. Vancouver is a tricky climate to find housing in.
Here is our wishlist:
- Rent $950 or less all included
- 2 bedrooms
- Laundry
- Decent Kitchen
- Space to host
- Located on or very near to a major bus route
- Located between Cambie & MacDonald, between W 4th and 25th.
Yes, we realize this is most likely impossible unless there is a miracle. Most 1 bedrooms in the west side of Vancouver (which is exactly where we are looking) cost about $950 before hydro/utilities.
Our basic tension is this: for our budget we can get 1-6 if we choose to live closer to the Hood, where the Mitchell's live around 41st/49th and Fraser/Main. If we want to live on the lower west side then we need to sacrifice 2 and 5.
We know that Paul will be attending UBC in the fall and hope to both be attending UBC's teacher education program late next year. We know we want to lead a lifegroup. We want our lifegroup to be in the area that we live. Do we feel that we are to be in the southeast or the west? Does God have a plan for this or is he just want us to make a decision ourselves?
Hmmm....these are the thoughts on my heart. Don't even get me started on a job for May....I can barely contain all the what-if's in regards to housing let alone where I will be employed when my contract is up at the end of April!
I am off to ride the Canada line to Langara....Oh I love the Canada Line.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Dating for the Olympics
So over the past few years I have found it hard to blog with any regularity. There was a time in life that I wrote every day or at least 5 out of 7 days. In the past years it was sporadic, monthly at best. When I started this blogger account I hoped to at least double that. I seem to have succeeded. I am often inspired to write by my friend Kim who writes daily, I very much appreciate her daily updates. I often end up bored and to know I can pull out my phone and click on the updated blogs app and there will usually be something new to read; mostly thanks to Kim, but also my other lovely blog friends, is wonderful. Boredom you shall not win!
It is Sunday; halfway through the Olympics. I have worked every day since the Wednesday before the Olympics. I have worked 11 straight days; one day even working 2 shifts! I am working in the days at Fuse (a little Pan Asian restaurant in Yaletown) and in the evenings I am working with Paul at the Hamilton Street Grill's beer & burger tent (also in Yaletown).
Both jobs have perks; at the tent I make more, it's simple work (pulling pints, yelling at Paul to get more burgers, chatting with customers), and I work with Paul, Prakash & Kathleen. At Fuse I get to sit or stand for part of my shift in the heart of yaletown and watch all the entertainers and tourists, I learn to make all the cool pan asian recipes they have, and meet new friends.
They both have cons. At the tent I work with one lady and one man who are not very hard working, which I can get over as Kathleen & I are capable of powering through even though they seem to be MIA most of the time; it's sharing tip pool with them at the end of the night that is frustrating. Also since things could get stolen we have to take apart the entire contents of the tent each night. This lasts about an hour; by this point my feet hurt. Even at the best of times I am not that great when it comes to having to lift & carry kegs and tables, so this is a bad time of the night for me. At Fuse there is one boss who is kind of scary and expects constant hard work (which I would be fine with; except if i had been told what the job actually entailed (dish washing for hours at a time, cooking on line and barely any serving - I would have not taken the job. Plus she pays 8 an hour but expects you to work as if it's 15 an hour, if that makes any sense).
Paul & I have been tossing around ideas of where we will spend the first night of our honeymoon. We have talked about both a B&B and a hotel. We have a list of pro's and con's. What are your thoughts?
Today is my first day off. Paul is not working either (it was his stag last night). We have a date. We will be going down to robson square and joining in the olympic fun. We have only experienced it thus far through working. We received an early wedding gift of tickets to women's curling tonight so we are headed over to watch an Olympic game! So fun!
Alright, I am off to have a wedding hair trial (woot woot), possibly buy an Olympic sweater and get ready to meet Paul.
It is Sunday; halfway through the Olympics. I have worked every day since the Wednesday before the Olympics. I have worked 11 straight days; one day even working 2 shifts! I am working in the days at Fuse (a little Pan Asian restaurant in Yaletown) and in the evenings I am working with Paul at the Hamilton Street Grill's beer & burger tent (also in Yaletown).
Both jobs have perks; at the tent I make more, it's simple work (pulling pints, yelling at Paul to get more burgers, chatting with customers), and I work with Paul, Prakash & Kathleen. At Fuse I get to sit or stand for part of my shift in the heart of yaletown and watch all the entertainers and tourists, I learn to make all the cool pan asian recipes they have, and meet new friends.
They both have cons. At the tent I work with one lady and one man who are not very hard working, which I can get over as Kathleen & I are capable of powering through even though they seem to be MIA most of the time; it's sharing tip pool with them at the end of the night that is frustrating. Also since things could get stolen we have to take apart the entire contents of the tent each night. This lasts about an hour; by this point my feet hurt. Even at the best of times I am not that great when it comes to having to lift & carry kegs and tables, so this is a bad time of the night for me. At Fuse there is one boss who is kind of scary and expects constant hard work (which I would be fine with; except if i had been told what the job actually entailed (dish washing for hours at a time, cooking on line and barely any serving - I would have not taken the job. Plus she pays 8 an hour but expects you to work as if it's 15 an hour, if that makes any sense).
Paul & I have been tossing around ideas of where we will spend the first night of our honeymoon. We have talked about both a B&B and a hotel. We have a list of pro's and con's. What are your thoughts?
Today is my first day off. Paul is not working either (it was his stag last night). We have a date. We will be going down to robson square and joining in the olympic fun. We have only experienced it thus far through working. We received an early wedding gift of tickets to women's curling tonight so we are headed over to watch an Olympic game! So fun!
Alright, I am off to have a wedding hair trial (woot woot), possibly buy an Olympic sweater and get ready to meet Paul.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wedding related update + Olympics
I only have a minute to write as I have to head out to work shortly but here I am writing from the heart of the Olympics! Living in Vancouver during these 2 week sure is exciting! Paul & I have both gotten jobs in yaletown (which is right near a few venues as well as where the opening & closing ceremonies are). While our jobs are only a block apart we work entirely opposite shifts. The restaurant I am working at has given me all day shifts and Paul works each night from 5pm until 2am grilling burgers in a beer tent. Oh well; we might not be able to see each other for 2 weeks but we are both working to save money towards our wedding, so we have a joint goal which helps.
Last night was an exciting wedding preparation night; I picked up all our centerpieces, and our wedding invites! Thanks to one of my amazing bridesmaids, Crystal, I was able to quickly label all the envelopes and last night put together many invites. Super fun! The more things we buy or book make this all the more real. We are getting married in 76 days (or so the top of this website tells me)!
We are having such fun planning; well lets be honest I am having such fun planning and Paul is enjoying talking over ideas with me, adding some of his own, and then letting me plan again. I <3 planning. Once the Olympics are we can start looking for a place to live. THis is Paul's big job. He is pretty excited. I love that he is doing that; I find looking for homes stressful. I am so excited to see what he finds us!
Alright, I am off to work until church; where I will not only get to worship God, see friends & family but also get to see Paul!
________________________________________________________________________________
Edited to Add:
Home from work & church: Both were good. At work I stood outside manning our kiosk; it was great, got to experience Yaletown in the Olympics. Buskers, tourists, breakdancers, etc; All sorts of fun! Church was also great; got to sit with Paul. Since we work completely different shifts this is the only time I will have seen him over this while. I miss my love.
We were supposed to celebrate Valentines Day after church but he had to work cause his boss' family member is in ICU. So instead of being sad I ate tasty garlic pasta, heated up by me, made by the the people who freeze vegetables. I am drinking Disaronno on the rocks and catching up on TV. I will go to bed & sleeeeeep and be ready for work at 9:30.
OH and when I was buying groceries tonight I found out my debit card was cancelled! So now I have to go into TD in the morning and find out what's up. Ugh.
ANyways; I am happy. I am not hungry. I am excited to marry Paul. I am enjoying living in the Olympic city, though we don't have cable and therefore can't watch the Olympics.
Alright. Bed. Night
Last night was an exciting wedding preparation night; I picked up all our centerpieces, and our wedding invites! Thanks to one of my amazing bridesmaids, Crystal, I was able to quickly label all the envelopes and last night put together many invites. Super fun! The more things we buy or book make this all the more real. We are getting married in 76 days (or so the top of this website tells me)!
We are having such fun planning; well lets be honest I am having such fun planning and Paul is enjoying talking over ideas with me, adding some of his own, and then letting me plan again. I <3 planning. Once the Olympics are we can start looking for a place to live. THis is Paul's big job. He is pretty excited. I love that he is doing that; I find looking for homes stressful. I am so excited to see what he finds us!
Alright, I am off to work until church; where I will not only get to worship God, see friends & family but also get to see Paul!
________________________________________________________________________________
Edited to Add:
Home from work & church: Both were good. At work I stood outside manning our kiosk; it was great, got to experience Yaletown in the Olympics. Buskers, tourists, breakdancers, etc; All sorts of fun! Church was also great; got to sit with Paul. Since we work completely different shifts this is the only time I will have seen him over this while. I miss my love.
We were supposed to celebrate Valentines Day after church but he had to work cause his boss' family member is in ICU. So instead of being sad I ate tasty garlic pasta, heated up by me, made by the the people who freeze vegetables. I am drinking Disaronno on the rocks and catching up on TV. I will go to bed & sleeeeeep and be ready for work at 9:30.
OH and when I was buying groceries tonight I found out my debit card was cancelled! So now I have to go into TD in the morning and find out what's up. Ugh.
ANyways; I am happy. I am not hungry. I am excited to marry Paul. I am enjoying living in the Olympic city, though we don't have cable and therefore can't watch the Olympics.
Alright. Bed. Night
Monday, February 8, 2010
Soup.honeymoon
1. The soup turned out fantastic! I refrained from making Tomato soup since my freezer is small and I can only eat so much soup in the week; SO i made one BIG jar (I don't know their measurements but each jar holds at least 6 hearty bowls of soup) of celery soup that will now be called carrot soup since it is orange and one BIG jar of Asparagus soup. As of lunch today I have finished the carrot soup. It was really good. The Asparagus soup shall wait in the freezer until I finish eating the vegetables in my fridge that need to be eaten in salads. When they are gone, the soup shall be defrosted. Mmmm....and then I shall make tomato soup. Oh it is fun to make tasty, healthy soup.
2. The following makes me happy:
4. We booked our honeymoon. We are going to Puerto Vallarta; Palladium Vallarta to be exact. We will be staying for 11 days at this all inclusive resort. I am so excited I can barely handle it. Paul's step mom is a travel agent and got us a great deal! It is official then; May 3rd to 14th we will be in Mexico feeling super fancy and relaxed.
Here, take a look:
As you can tell I have only just begun to learn how to post pictures....but hey.
2. The following makes me happy:
4. I have so much fun with Paul. I am very much in love with him. I can not wait to be his wife.
4. We booked our honeymoon. We are going to Puerto Vallarta; Palladium Vallarta to be exact. We will be staying for 11 days at this all inclusive resort. I am so excited I can barely handle it. Paul's step mom is a travel agent and got us a great deal! It is official then; May 3rd to 14th we will be in Mexico feeling super fancy and relaxed.
Here, take a look:
As you can tell I have only just begun to learn how to post pictures....but hey.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Glee, joy & busyness
Am feeling in the blogging mood. Tonight has been spent introducing Sarah & Crystal to Glee, going over wedding stuff with Crystal (an amazing bridesmaid), and sorting through all my groceries (chopping veggies for soup & snacks, packaging food and sorting un-perishable food for stacking). I am happy.
Have you watched Glee? Sue Sylvester is one of the most terrifying characters in TV history. She is not only infuriating but also incredible entertaining.
I have also discovered that I love Disaronno. Mmmm.
This week I will make 3 types of non-dairy creamy soups: Asparagus, Tomato & Celery. I am so enjoyable learning to make things that are healthy, inexpensive and enjoyable. I have discovered recently that I have high cholesterol; the doctor says it isn't super bad yet, but that I need to watch it. I suppose this is supposed to be a bad thing but when it comes to being healthy I really need external motivation so i am actually glad. He says he will see me in 3 months and expects to see change. So right off the bat I went for a run. 1 block running, 1 block walking, etc. I am sore but happy. I have just gone grocery shopping & bought mostly veggies & fish. All the veggies are now chopped, packaged & ready to be made into soups, stirfries, salads & snacks. I love feeling organized.
Wedding stuff has been going really well. I have pretty much finished the invites; just need to send them out to be printed. I need to find inexpensive, card sized envelopes. any thoughts?
In the beginning I had figured out what the table decorations would look like but since have come up with a whole new idea. So fun! I just need to figure out the best place to get 28 large round vases, and 83 small round vases. Hm. My wonderful bridesmaid Crystal is making labels for all the envelopes. i feel very loved!
Back to health, I am very excited to get healthy. i would like to not die early. Also, I didn't even find my wedding motivation enough to get healthy...and I feel like I owe it to my future husband to at least try and be healthy for our long term relationship...not being super healthy runs in my family and i would like to kick this now, not in 30 years.
This weekend is CRAZY busy. Wedding showers for friends, hangouts with friends, friends over for the weekend, meetings, coffee/lunch dates, and maybe even sleep??
Every night as I go to bed alone in my single, ikea bed, that is falling apart from moving (it slowly slides apart in the night and has to be pushed back together each time I get up) I realize that Paul & I own a king sized bed and have registered for beautiful (& manly for Paul) bedding. Oh I wish for May and a beautiful, big bed to sleep in, and nights not having to say good night to Paul. That sounds like it could be too much information; but I just thoroughly enjoy talking with him and hate having to say good night at the end of the night and go our seperate ways. I can't wait to have a place alone to chat before sleep.
Ugh, I need to go fold laundry and sort out my dresser. It's all over the place! I need a good system. Any thoughts?
Have you watched Glee? Sue Sylvester is one of the most terrifying characters in TV history. She is not only infuriating but also incredible entertaining.
I have also discovered that I love Disaronno. Mmmm.
This week I will make 3 types of non-dairy creamy soups: Asparagus, Tomato & Celery. I am so enjoyable learning to make things that are healthy, inexpensive and enjoyable. I have discovered recently that I have high cholesterol; the doctor says it isn't super bad yet, but that I need to watch it. I suppose this is supposed to be a bad thing but when it comes to being healthy I really need external motivation so i am actually glad. He says he will see me in 3 months and expects to see change. So right off the bat I went for a run. 1 block running, 1 block walking, etc. I am sore but happy. I have just gone grocery shopping & bought mostly veggies & fish. All the veggies are now chopped, packaged & ready to be made into soups, stirfries, salads & snacks. I love feeling organized.
Wedding stuff has been going really well. I have pretty much finished the invites; just need to send them out to be printed. I need to find inexpensive, card sized envelopes. any thoughts?
In the beginning I had figured out what the table decorations would look like but since have come up with a whole new idea. So fun! I just need to figure out the best place to get 28 large round vases, and 83 small round vases. Hm. My wonderful bridesmaid Crystal is making labels for all the envelopes. i feel very loved!
Back to health, I am very excited to get healthy. i would like to not die early. Also, I didn't even find my wedding motivation enough to get healthy...and I feel like I owe it to my future husband to at least try and be healthy for our long term relationship...not being super healthy runs in my family and i would like to kick this now, not in 30 years.
This weekend is CRAZY busy. Wedding showers for friends, hangouts with friends, friends over for the weekend, meetings, coffee/lunch dates, and maybe even sleep??
Every night as I go to bed alone in my single, ikea bed, that is falling apart from moving (it slowly slides apart in the night and has to be pushed back together each time I get up) I realize that Paul & I own a king sized bed and have registered for beautiful (& manly for Paul) bedding. Oh I wish for May and a beautiful, big bed to sleep in, and nights not having to say good night to Paul. That sounds like it could be too much information; but I just thoroughly enjoy talking with him and hate having to say good night at the end of the night and go our seperate ways. I can't wait to have a place alone to chat before sleep.
Ugh, I need to go fold laundry and sort out my dresser. It's all over the place! I need a good system. Any thoughts?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Intro Entry
I have been keeping a blog since I was 16. My cousin LeAnna talked me into it. I used to mock her for having a blog. I shortly followed suit. Though at the time we called them online journals or diaries. Blog. Fancy new fangled word. Either way, when it comes to blogging I will go for brief periods of frequent updates and longer periods of infrequent updates. I have avoided the blogger world, having once attempted years ago in a fairly unspectacular way.
My blogging heart has belonged to LiveJournal since March 5th, 2002. That is quite the relationship. 8 years next month. Though when I switched the LiveJournal from OpenDiary (having been with them since I was 16; which was only 3 years) that transition felt like a huge infidelity. This switch is less difficult since most of the blogs I follow are now with Blogger.
I am hoping that for a least a somewhat lengthy period of time I will maintain semi-regular updates. We will see if that actually happens. Here's hoping.
For the moment here are some thoughts that have gone through my head in the past days:
- Should I take up knitting? It is a good, productive way to pass time during meetings/movies/etc when my ADD would normally get the better of me. People think knitting is cool, I agree. I like toques and washcloths; both would be fun to make.
- I want to learn Mandarin. Paul & I want to teach ESL overseas once we have our teaching degrees. Our hearts lean towards China.
- I want to go Camping this summer with regular frequency. I have never done this before (camp often that is, not just camp). I love the idea of going away with Paul (either just us or us with friends) to some random place, putting down our tent and enjoy time). Hicks lake here we come!
- I recently saw this question: "If you could experience being dead for one day to learn what happens in the afterlife, and were guaranteed to return to life the following day, would you do it? Why or why not?" My gut instinct was YES. In this there would be no need to live in Faith. I would see up close, in person, the power of God. It would be easy to be godly if I had seen the certainty of Christ. At least I like to think it would be. But where is the faith in certainty? Where is the mystery in seeing? Is there something to be said for believing without seeing? Would there be something lost in the complete knowledge of truth? Would earth ever be good enough after Heaven? Could I actually come back and be content in my life here? Or would it merely seem like a dull shadow of what is to come?
This weekend Paul & I bought our bed. It is a King size. So exciting! We also created our registry at Home Outfitters. Fun times! I am so excited! Also today I went to my first tupperware party! I am officially an adult. I own a bed that costs more than my car, I have a wedding registry, and I am drooling over stackable tupperware. It is official.
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