Saturday, November 19, 2011

Free furniture and dishes!

5:48 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Yep you heard right we got some free furniture and dishes for Joel. I can sometimes be an over planner and one thing I love to do is make lists. So pretty much the minute Joel got the confirmation that he was going to Kansas City I started making a list of all the things he would need to bring down with him. A lot of the things we can take out of storage but there are a few things we needed to get. Like a bed, since I will be using ours here. Some kind of seating arrangement, because I am not letting him take my beautiful Crate and Barrel couch with him. Sorry buddy. And dishes because no offence our dishes are too nice to risk travelling. 

While discussing this with my parents they had a brilliant idea. Why not go get some of the extra furniture and dishes from the cabin. We have about 4 sets of everything down there that we have accumulated over the years. So off we went on the cold cold trek. 

Yes there is snow (way more now) and yes it was cold. 

We did get to see the new dock that was installed earlier in the fall. It is bigger and taller and will take a little time getting used to. This picture is for you Ellen. 

Joel wondering why he came back from the Caribbean.

We ran back up and made a big fire and had a little something to eat.

Then we packed up dishes, cutlery, and beds as fast as we could so we could get out of the cold. 

(He also gets 2 Laz-Z-Boy recliners (not pictured here) and could not be more pleased with that.)

We were finally on our way home when we got stuck by one of these. 

The only consolation was stopping for tea and cinnamon buns in Whitemouth. 

Mom trying to make the arch seem less crooked, sorry didn't work. 

So it look most of our day but we got a lot of good free things for Joel and who doesn't love free things.  

 Thanks mom and dad for letting us raid the cabin and for helping us in the freezing cold. 

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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Sally's Sweat Shop: The Winnipeg Chapter

10:20 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Before I tell you about my little sewing class in my basement let me show you what I woke up to the other day. Yuck. The sad part is it has not melted yet.

 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sally's Sweat Shop let me tell you, you are missing a good time. Sally is the wonderful woman who introduced me to sewing and quilting. She invited all the spouses on Saba to her house once a week to learn a few techniques, sew a few things, chat and eat toaster strudel. Some of the students would joke that she was running a sweat shop because we would start so early some days (7:30 am was early but so worth it!). Well when my friends back home heard I knew a little something about sewing and quilting they asked if I would teach them. I said yes in a heartbeat. So Sally's Sweat Shop: The Winnipeg Chapter was born.

We started in October with Lesley and Sarah, but I forgot to take pictures. This week Lesley couldn't make it so Sarah and Jackie came. These ladies picked it all up so fast. I could not be more proud. But I think they may be annoyed with how much I say "Sally says..." when I explain things to them. 

*disclaimer* it is very hard to take good pictures at night in the basement, sorry for the bad quality

 

  Sarah working so hard on her pot holder

Jackie impressing me with her precise cutting skills

and her sheer determination to not let the sewing machine scare her

Sarah with the finished top to her pot holder. It's beautiful! 

Me and my new sewing ladies

Thank you ladies for the delicious muffins, the entertaining conversation and the great time!

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Prayer Request

2:32 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

As some of you already know Joel's mom was seriously injured yesterday. She was walking to work and was struck by a car turning left who failed to see her. He was going about 30 km/hr and did not have time to break before he saw her. She was rushed to the hospital and taken in for tests. The results came back and they were not as bad as we had initially thought. The good news is as of right now she does not need surgery. The bad news is that she has a broken bone in each of her legs and will have to use full leg braces and crutches. She also has 2 fractured lumbar vertebrae. She is in a lot of pain right now but it is being controlled with medication. They are hoping to send her home this weekend and start working on physiotherapy right away.

Could you please pray for her and the whole family during this difficult. Pray for healing, relief, patience, understanding and peace. Thank you to everyone for all the support you have shown Joel's mom and us. We are very blessed. 

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Results Are In!

8:04 AM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

It only took 3 weeks but the results are in! Earlier this week we received the results of Joel's STEP 1 exam. Of course he did a fantastic job, but we all knew he would. We have never doubted how smart that guy is. The whole day was action packed for him. He found out his mark in the morning, sent Sandy (the woman that organizes the clinical placements) an e-mail with his results, ran some errands and then when he got back he got a call from Sandy telling him he will be starting rotations January 2!

He will be starting his rotations in Kansas City, Missouri. He could not be more excited. That was his first choice and it means he will get to stay put till at least the end of April, hopefully longer. It is also great for me because it is a common place for placements which means I already know 2 wives that are living there and there is a chance more will be moving there too! But just to clarify I will not be moving down with Joel but will be down to visit as often as I can. I will be driving down with him at the end of December to help him get set up though. So unless I win the lottery or someone can find me a job working from home (aka Kansas City), I will still be living with my parents.

The other benefit to Joel finding out where and when he will be starting rotations is that he can now start planning. This is probably the most exciting thing for him since the last 3 weeks he has been dying to find something to do. So needless to say he has already started looking for apartments, making lists of the things he needs to bring and measuring the car to see how much he can take down with him. So if anyone has any pointers or information we should know about Kansas City please send them our way we would love to hear them.

That is all the excitement going on in our neck of the woods. Hopefully next post I will be back with some pictures this time.

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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Challenge Accepted!

9:46 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

If you know me well you know that I have a slight obsession with Pinterest. While I was on it a few months ago I pinned a photography challenge (seen here). I knew my friend Lauren (From Our Front Porch) would be game to do it with me. It is a 30 day challenge but we gave ourselves 38 to get all the pictures taken and edited. I am so glad Lauren suggested the extra 8 days because I am not sure how I would have done all of this. It took me to the last second to get this done. I forgot that this would end on Thanksgiving weekend. Oops!

Let me tell you what I learned. One, I am so glad Joel had time to help me. This guy knows his way around a DSLR. I would have spent hours trying to get a picture of stars if he was not around. Two, I have much better luck at taking pictures of people and things that are sitting still. Case in point I took like 50 pictures of Jenna's kids and only like 3 worked out. Three, I am in love with Aperture! Joel found this program from Apple and it is so easy to use and it made my pictures look soooo much better.

Okay now on with the show.

Day 1: Self Portrait

Day 2: What I wore today

Day 3: Clouds

(I'm not a fan of this picture but there were almost no clouds this whole month to take pictures of)

Day 4: Something green

Day 5: From a high angle

Day 6: From a low angle

 Day 7: Fruit

Day 8: a Bad habit

(Hard to find, not a great picture but Sophie licking the dirty dishes is a super bad habit)

Day 9: Someone you love

Day 10: Childhood Memory

Day 11: Something Blue

(Also surprisingly hard to find but the sky was so beautiful on this day)

Day 12: Sunset

Day 13: Yourself with 13 things

Day 14: Eyes

Day 15: Silhouette

Day 16: Long exposure

(can you see the big dipper?)

Day 17: Technology

Day 18: Your shoes

Day 19: Something orange

Day 20: Bokeh

Day 21: Faceless self-portrait

Day 22: Hands

Day 23: Sunflare

Day 24: Animal

(Sophie of course!)

Day 25: Something pink

Day 26: Close-up

Day 27: From a distance

(Canadian Human Rights Museum)

Day 28: Flowers

Day 29: Black and white

Day 30: Self-portrait

Thank you Lauren for doing this challenge with me. I had a fantastic time doing it. I can't wait to see your pictures! 

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Saturday, October 1, 2011

New and Exciting!

1:03 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Notice anything new and different? Yes the blog has had a facelift. Thanks to my sister-in-law Crystal at The Sweet Dreamery. Considering I left Saba 3 months ago, it was long over due for a new design. This one better reflects where we are right now. On the good old prairies.

Now on to the exciting. Joel writes his STEP exam this Tuesday. I can't believe it has come so fast! He is really excited and nervous but ready. Not only that he has a meeting with the University of Manitoba this week. He is going to discuss the possibility of transferring and finishing his degree with them. So if everyone could pray really hard for Joel this week we would really appreciate it.

I will hopefully be back with a post in the next week or so. I have been working on a project I am excited to share with you. Check back soon!

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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Summer Memories

8:19 PM | Posted by Anne | | Edit Post

Today when I woke up it was -1C (30F). So today feels like the perfect day to take you through my summer pictures. I need to remember that wonderfully warm time. I hope you all like pictures. 

Almost every weekend this summer was spent at the cottage. Relaxing, water skiing, eating and spending time with friends and family. 

My cousin Claire

We're best friends

We enjoyed our little beach. 

 We went for boat rides.

My other best friend Abby. Mostly because I feed her treats every time I see her. 

We enjoyed this view...

with a nice cool Carib. Saban style. 

And of course we spent our time soaking up every minute with Alex and Emma.  

Watching Alex learn to pull himself up on everything 

 And Emma pretending to be a dog and fetching Sophie's toy over and over and over....

So as you can tell it my summer was pretty fantastic. The weather was amazing and the time with family and friends was fantastic. I am going to dream about all of this tonight curled up under my big duvet, hoping the weather is better tomorrow.

Just one last picture. Of Sophie of course, enjoying one of her favourite summer activities. Boat rides. 

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