winter wonderland...

Hello all! Yup, it's snowing. It's actually snowed a few times already, but it's been the kind we get in BC that melts before you have time to find your mittens and scarf so you can go play in it. This is the first "almost real" snow. I say almost real because it's still not true prairie snow, it's really fine and sticky, which means we can actually make snow balls. I'd better enjoy that while I can, because snow ball opporunities out here are not very common. If I can convince Michael and get someone to take a picture, I'll get one of us outside our house, then you can see us, the snow and the house! Other than the snow, I'm still struggling to be a house wife and a student at the same time. Right now everything is taking a back seat because I have an accounting mid-term looming. I'm taking a break to do this, because my brain is beyond coherent thought I've been staring at journal entries so long. I keep holding off telling you about this blog because I want to put pictures, but I'm having a really hard time with that...so here it is (pictures to follow, probably at Christmas).

our house...life group

Ok, so I've been promising this info for way way too long. I have finally made it through the mid-term crunch, and handed in a paper today. Dan & Jen are in the process of moving downstairs, their first night sleeping down there was Wednesday. That means that are upstairs is a lot emptier and I feel like I can take pictures of our house, not just the mountains of stuff in it. We had lifegroup (aka: small group or care group) yesterday at our house, which means it is clean, so I have no more excuses for not taking pictures, except for the fact that I have to locate the camera and some batteries. Life group is going to be good. Soul Sanctuary has a slightly different take on life groups, so it's a total mix of people. You don't have a group of singles or young marrieds, you just have everybody. So, we've got a dating couple who are both at U of M, 2 married couples with kids around our age, a single lady, and a couple of single guys (I'm not too sure on the ages of the single people, except that one of the men was brave enough to share his birthday including the year, 1965). We're starting out with a study book by John Ortberg called The Life You've Always Wanted, it's about spiritual discipline. I think it's going to be really good, and our job is pretty easy. Make our house available, pop in the DVD with the teaching on it, and then facilitate discussion. Well, it sounds easy anyway. It's still a little scary, and does carry some responsibility.

our new lifestyle...

I think I'm really liking this way of updating you, because I can do it in little pieces... I thought I should maybe explain what exactly I mean by new lifestyle. Well, the obvious change is that I'm a student again. I guess technically full time, but I am taking 4 courses this semester instead of five, because I found I was falling behind within the first couple of weeks already so I dropped an elective that had a couple of big projects in it. I'm working at getting back into student life, writing notes and papers, reading and studying...I can't believe how rusty those skills can get in two years! The other big change for us is that we're no longer "truckers." Michael sold the truck back in May, and we sold the trailer now in September. This change is definitely a bigger adjustment for Michael than me, because I only did it with him for a year, and in some ways I was glad to get back to a "normal" life, despite the fun & adventures we had together. For Michael it means saying good bye to a "normal" life and doing something completely foreign. It means I have to work at being patient and supportive as he adjusts to having a schedule that is his own responsibility, there are no longer other people that control his time for him (like when he can unload, or having to be at a certain city on a certain day). After the truck was sold in May Michael was at home for a while, picking up odd jobs when he could and taking care of our house. After we moved to Winnipeg he started work immediately for his cousin's company New Hope Transport. He was driving a local truck for them, doing pick up and drop off work in the city and surrounding area. This job was not his favorite thing, but it definitely gave us a way to transition, he was still involved with trucks, and stay on top of the bills. In September Michael got a call from his old boss who offered him a job dispatching. We were shocked and didn't want to make any quick decisions. Michael was able to arrange for a week off from New Hope to go try out this job. Michael did really well with it, and caught on quickly, and thought he could really enjoy the job. So that's where he's been for just over two weeks now. I think he's enjoying it...he sometimes loses track of time and forgets to come home!