Saturday 3 March 2012

Things We are Going to Miss

Things we are going to miss about England

  1. Church Bells
  2. Being 15 minutes away from a church, castle, cathedral, or manor house in any direction at any given time
  3. The accents
  4. The plethora of used bookstores with awesome selection
  5. Saying "Hey! Lets go to London/Cambridge/Oxford for the weekend!"
  6. Small English town living
  7. Being able to walk everywhere
  8. The fantastic selection of true British Ales (this one is Donovan's)
  9. The beautiful English scenery
  10. Public transport
  11. Charity shops
  12. Sheep!
  13. Living in a town that was founded by the Romans
  14. Pretty every building is 200+ years old

 England is so beautiful and we are going to miss a lot more than just these fourteen things...but for now this is good enough. :)

I encourage you all to visit England at some point...and not just London..get out and see it all!!


Thursday 1 March 2012

Drawing To An End

On February 9th, 2012 Donovan was called into the Head Teacher's office, twenty minutes before he had parent teacher interviews for the next 3 hours, and was told that at the end of the term (March 30th) he would no longer be needed as they have found a permanent teacher to fill his position. Donovan, in shock, finishes up his interviews, goes home and looks at his contract all while thinking "Can they do this to me?". Well, they can. They have to give a Half-Term's notice (which they did...though not well.) So, of course we were faced with "what do we do?" On Friday Donovan and I Skyped and he told me. I smiled and said "Yay! We can come home! This is really good sweetie!" When I got home on Sunday we talked about it and made plans very quickly. At the end of March we will be coming back to Canada. For good. As of this moment I will be coming home March 21st and Donovan will be following April 4th (Once he is done teaching.)

Donovan has applied for some teaching positions back in Canada starting middle of March, otherwise he will look into getting a job working construction somewhere and I will also look into a job. Of course Donovan's overall goal is to find a full-time teaching position for September and we will be looking all over Alberta for that.

I have been super busy cleaning, organizing, de-junking, packing, and trying very hard not to have a panic attack!

The scariest part of all of this is The Unknown. Not knowing where we will be working, not knowing where we will be going. I know that this is a perfect opportunity for me to trust in God and to rely wholly on him. Not as easy as it sounds. If I don't think about EVERYTHING that has to get done and just focus on one thing at a time I find I stay way more calm. Listening to Worship Music and praying while working really helps...and knowing that I have no control..that helps as well.

I would like to ask for prayers over the next little while...there is a list. :)
- That Donovan and I would not over stress about moving
- That jobs would line up from April till the end of the summer
- That a Full-Time Teaching position for Donovan would open up
- Peace in everything
- That we would remember to praise and thank God through all of this

Thank you everyone!






Monday 20 February 2012

Old friends into New


This past weekend a friend I grew up with, Natalie McIntyre, came and visited us. It was so nice to be able to show a friend around "our stomping grounds" and share in some wonderful meaningful conversation and to have a old friend become a new friend. I want to say that it has been 10+ years since we have had such a wonderful connecting time and I really hope we don't go that long again!!

On Friday we went to Oxford and spent the day, we have decided that Oxford is a favourite of ours…on this visit we were able to go and see Tolkien’s Grave! Such a treat. Then on Saturday we went to Ely Cathedral which is about an hour from here. It was so beautiful! What I think is so amazing is that it is this massive, beautiful building in the middle of a very small town. When you are driving up it really looks like the Cathedral is in the middle of a field because you can’t see anything else but this Cathedral. 

 This should be self explanatory......

Ely Cathedral

January trip to Canada!


Greetings! I know it has been awhile since I have written anything, but now it is time!!

I had the most amazing trip home!! I was there for so many wonderful things. I got to see my newest nephew just hours after he was born, my parents made it possible for me to go to BreakForth, I was able to celebrate my sisters 19th birthday with her, I saw so many old and new friends, and of course was able to see many of my old piano students. It was so nice!!

I don't even know where to start relaying the wonders of my adventures! Seeing my niece and nephews, spending time with my mom, dad, and sister, hanging out with friends playing telephone pictionary and eating Tolhouse Sugar cookies, having many coffee and lunch dates with various people talking about various things, watching a dear friend waltz around in a wedding dress, finding out a beloved friend is going to have another baby, staying up ridicously late watching movies and talking with my sister-in-law, and just the wonders of everyday life.

I sometimes felt like I was on the other side of a window watching these things play out. Not in a creepy way, but in a good way. I knew I was welcome on the other side...but it was almost to sacred to go in. I know that probably sounds insane and crazy...but it makes sense to me. :)

Of course, coming home to my husband was so wonderful as well. The nicest part was that he had a break right away! We spent last week relaxing and spending time with each other and getting me over my jet lag. 

I had the most wonderful time...and I am going to include some pictures to help show what a wonderful time I had!

Seeing old piano students

My nephew Rourke and his Auntie Beth!

A Mini Cow, A Sheep, A Mini Pig, and Purple Monkey.

Pyretta, Auntie Beth, and Hans.

Hans Sebastian Liam (about 9 hours old in this picture!)

Well, thats all for now! Look on my facebook page for more pictures!!!!




Friday 13 January 2012

One Sleep!!!

53 days ago when I booked my flight home I thought the day would never come! Now at this time tomorrow I will be on an airplane ready to take off for a long nine hour flight. I just hope I will be able to sleep tonight and on the plane. Excitement might set in and then I'll be doomed. Plus there is the whole time change thing that might mess with my head. I leave here at 9:45am on the 14th of January and 9 hours later I arrive at the Calgary airport at 12:05pm on the 14th of January. If I don't sleep on the plane hopefully I'll catch a few zzz's on the drive home. My dad is picking me up solo (which is probably killing my mom...she'll survive though) but it means the car will be quiet!


I have already started booking coffee dates, lunch dates, and even a sleepover! I am planning on morning workouts with my wonderful Sister-in-law Sarah, lots of days playing with my niece and nephews, BreakForth, and so many other wonderful things!

On another note...I am going to miss my husband. This will probably be the hardest on him seeing as I help break of the monotiny of going back and forth between school. The freezer is full of meals and baked goods...but that doesn't replace me.


Anyways, just in case I don't get a blog post up while I am gone. See you all soon!!!