Mixed Feelings- Leaving Home

I'm feeling the need to repeat the above words today. 

With those basics I can be happy wherever I am.

To my first home:

Thank you for being everything I thought you would be.

Thanks for keeping me warm (most of the time),

for hot water and the best shower head ever (I still might steal it),

for original hardwood floors and

for the refreshing shade of the maple and the patio in the backyard.

Thank you for housing family and friends when needed,

for putting up with lots of laughter and music

and for giving us a space to learn how to love better. 

I will miss you.

Spic 'n' Span: 1.5 Days to Go!

Hey all,

So a quick update on how things are going:
(I wanted to include pictures, but a) it's a pain to hook up all the cords for the camera/hard drive, b) it's all packed away, so...)

Yesterday and today Mom and Oma came over to help me pack. I cannot express how AMAZING this was.

First of all, if you know my oma and my mom at all, you know they are cleaners extraordinaire!

(this happened at my house as a kid!)

They came at lunchtime on Wednesday, and literally within 5 minutes of walking in the door, we were in full packing mode. And these ladies MOTOR. I think what they got done in the last two days would have taken James and I about a week. Seriously. We are so appreciative of all the help they gave! I mean, Oma cleaned everything. I had to stop her from getting a toothbrush out to clean the crevices in the window. Wonder Woman, I tell you.

With their help, we ended getting just about everything ready for the truck tomorrow. I have a few smaller things to do tomorrow morning, but really, they covered it all. I am SO thankful.

It's amazing how God really does provide in times of need. I never could have done this all on my own. And my mom and oma just stepped in willingly and efficiently ordered me around and got my mess of house cleaned and packed in less than two days. 

They are the best. Mom and Oma, if you read this, James and I love you and thanks again!

And to leave on a positive note:

A Weekend of Blessings

This past weekend really felt like we were moving forward... finally.

On Saturday, we held a moving sale to get rid of all our junk and things we won't be able to fit in our new place. This ended up going really well (although if you would have asked me on Friday, it was the biggest mistake yet!). We had lots of traffic thanks to the church just down the street having a big yard sale, and we sold almost everything! We ended up making enough money to cover all the costs of the moving truck we will need when we move! We are really thankful.

On Saturday evening we moved all our patio furniture over to James' parents' house. It's so nice to have family that is willing to store our stuff for us! It is really a big help.

Then, on Sunday evening we drove up to Lindsay to get our new place! Because James had orientation on Monday, we thought it would be prudent to come up a night early rather than driving up in traffic on Monday morning. Thankfully our landlord was fine with this! We took some boxes of art and books and settled in for the night.

We also discovered that right across the road we have an awesome bike/walk/snowmobile trail: The Victoria Rail Trail. This is a 55-km trail that runs from right across the street in Lindsay all the way up to Kinmount. About 15 km down the trail is Ken Reid Conservation Area. Hopefully in the near future we can spend a day there enjoying the lake. We are really excited to discover everything this trail has to offer!

After a cool night (yes, cool! we are in a basement... it was wonderful!) sleeping in our new place, we got up to go about our business in our new town. James went to orientation and I proceeded to run a few errands. I picked up paint, went to the town offices to ask about garbage pickup, got a library card (can't live without that, obvi) and generally explored the town. It looks like it will be a pretty decent place to live after all.

Hopefully in the near future I will post some pictures of our new place. We will be moving our stuff up in less than two weeks! It all seems like it's coming so quickly. Please pray that all goes well and that our move is smooth. 

And remember, there is always an open invitation to come visit!

Feeling Optimistic

Things are looking good here.

We've got an apartment! And one that is better than we expected. 

Two bedrooms, new, with a dishwasher (!) and laundry inside.

Closets are being purged, the house is being downsized. 

18 lotions bottles, you are now down to 2. Score!

If everything goes according to plan, we may have renters by the end of the week.

And of course, it is summer. Which means beautiful weather and lots of sunshine.

Very thankful right now!

An Introduction!

Let me share a little of why we are here:

For the past year or so, James and I have been throwing around the idea of James going to back to school. In February we decided that this would be a great idea: more education equals a better job equals more happiness and a steadier income for our family. So after applying (and being accepted) to Fleming College, James is off to study Fish and Wildlife, with the intention of becoming a Conservation Officer.

This being decided, we are packing up our lives and home here in Hamilton and trekking 3 hours northeast to the small town of Lindsay, ON. 

This may not seem to be a huge move for a lot of you, but to us, it is a whole new life! It is nerve-wracking and exciting and scary all in one package, but we are trusting God to lead us where he wants us.  We are hoping that small-town life will be fulfilling and are excited to explore a new area of Ontario. 

The intention of this blog is to keep all of you up-to-date on where we are and how we are doing. We are sure there are many big changes coming in the future and are looking forward to sharing them with you!