Funerals

Just last week, Jeremiah's grandfather passed away. A very last minute decision had me joining the family on a 17 hour trek in the Buick leSabre to Minnesota to be there for the funeral.

Though I find funerals very sad, I also seem to enjoy the bonding and fellowship that is created when family comes together. Though I barely knew many of these family members, I felt immediately a part of it all. I am glad I was able to go along, support my husband and in-laws during this time. Also funerals for me, bring me back to the fact that there is meaning to this life and hope for the world to come.

These are pictures that Josh, Jeremiah and I had fun taking near the church, as well as brothers laughing & the beautiful cemetery.

Big Love



I have recently been watching a show that airs on HBO called Big Love. It is on its third season, but I am just starting the 2nd. It is about a family who practices polygamy, but are separate from the compound which some of them were raised. A big part of me doesn't know why I feel compelled to watch it, as during some episodes I find myself so angry at their lifestyle choice, but then another part of me is intrigued and gets pulled into the drama (plus I love Ginnifer Goodwin). Polygamy is something that though looked down on highly in the US, it is still practiced in a number of countries around the world. Thinking of this makes me feel blessed that my husband can share his whole self with me, his one wife...

However if it weren't for sharing a husband, polygamy could have its benefits, for example I would probably be able to have a girl's night every night that Jeremiah is working (like tonight). Right now I would probably be watching a movie, eating popcorn and not writing this blog. Just a thought.

~Amy

Quarter Century

Yesterday marked a big milestone in my life. It was the day that I turned a 1/4 of a century old. Up until now, I haven't really thought much about my age when my birthday has come around. However, this year I couldn't help but reflect on the fact that I am closer to 30 than 19, and in fact I am on the road to true adulthood. I am encouraged by friends and family who have turned both 25 and made it past, and show true youthfulness. There is hope for me. I think I still feel young at heart, and I hope I will for years to come.

I had a lovely birthday surrounded by family and friends. My dear husband organized our friends to play curling, which was very fun and something different. I was reminded that I actually met Jeremiah for the first time at a curling rink during LCBI years. I was cut from the team, but got to go along to a curling meet as an alternate. I remember sitting by Jeremiah when his team wasn't playing, and I said "I like your shoes." Little did I know, those same shoes would find a home in OUR home in years to come.

Following curling, we had a lovely supper at my old place the "girl's house" provided by all my friends. The cake was made by brother-in-law Joshua and Melody. The cake followed the theme of "curling", however a main joke of the evening revolved around the likeness of the curling rock handle to a... :)

It is wonderful to have friends and families who care and want to celebrate me. Thanks to all the phone calls and facebook messages that made my birthday not only bearable but memorable.

Thanks!

P.S. I also won settlers which was a perfect ending to the day!

Hello All. Since being in Hawaii I have been using my family's Hawaii blog to make things easier. However I am missing my own blog and am feeling sorry for it and that I have neglected it. So here is a quick hello. I am doing well and Hawaii weather is amazing. Thanks to my lovely sister in law I was able to update the look of my blog, which I am happy with for now.

I hope all is well with the blogging world and that you are finding yourself enjoying the advent season, with Christmas very soon. I am off to lunch now for some mahi-mahi, a type of fish that is really quite delectable! Yum. Jeremiah is in the kitchen now serving it, I am sure, so I will give him a greeting as I go through the food line. He has a hard job and I am proud of him. Tomorrow, we have work off and get to sit in on a DTS class and see what the students are learning. This will be fun for us both.

Talk to you soon.

Hawaiian Update

For those of you that check out my blog, and haven't heard yet, I am now in Kona, Hawaii, about to volunteer as a Mission Builder at YWAM. I am here with Jeremiah, my mom and brother Jesse. We will be volunteering for 5 weeks and spending Christmas here with my Dad and sister Kara too. While here, I will be posting mostly on our Hawaii blog as it is hard to keep up with two. The link is on my page: Ywan Hawaiian Adventures. Please do check it out and post comments. We'd love to hear from you. There are pictures from our San Francisco layover and will soon be pictures from our first day here. It is warm and beautiful here. I will be working in the Go Centre, cleaning as well as doing food prep in the kitchen. Jeremiah will be in the kitchen, so I will spend a couple hours each day working with him!

If you want to make a comment on the YWAM blog and don't have a gmail account to loging just use the following:

user name: ywamhawaii
password: friendsandfamily

Cars Cars Cars

So today marks a day where we begin the relationship with yet another car. Jeremiah and I have been through our fair share of cars, with us usually ending up with bad luck somehow........

Car 1: Jeremiah had a sweet old oldsmobile at CLBI maybe a late 80's car. Unfortunately hit a deer. Tragic Death.

Car 2: We somehow took over Josh's old brown mazda 626 '88. We had it maybe a year or less, when I was cruising Macleod Trail and the strut fully punctured the tire and it wasn't able/ worth it to be fixed.

Car 3: We took over Jer's parents buick, which was a luxury mobile by our standards, maybe a 92', but alas an intense maybe 2000$ fix was necessary, so it was not worth the fix.

Car 4: For 200$ donation to the church (sellers request) we got the 1992 Nissan Sentra. It was a good little rusted car that required me to learn standard, a skill I am happy to now own. Though it made a good trek to Florida when Jeremiah and Josh went, in just over a year it needed a new clutch for over 1000$, and being the rust bucket it was becoming, it again was not worth the fix.....which led to car #5

Car 5: This was the first car we truly looked up ourselves and decided to buy. We thought it was an ok deal, $2500, for a cute little toyota tercel with low milage. Unfortunatly turns out it was all rusted out and the engine finally died in less than a year from when we bought it, when Jeremiah was cruising into Calgary one day. Another 2000$ fix, not quite worth it for this car.

Car 6: This is our most newest car to add to the bunch. It is a 99' Saturn. We bought it at a family member home auction. On the day of the auction it actually ended up being in the shop, which caused, we think, us to get it for a bit less than they wanted as others weren't able to actually see the car. Then it turns out they had to do a major fix on it, and pay a cut to the auction company. In the end they got a lot less for it, which was unfortunate for them, but I guess you could say helpful for us, as this major fix was done and we got a reasonable price.


Anyway, as you can see we have been through 6 cars in 6 years. We are hoping this one will make it a little bit longer. We are grateful to the sellers for selling us the car, even though given the circumstances, had they went with a private sale could've gotten much more. It is a true blessing.

Here are a couple picks of us with the old car and the new saturn. Can you tell we like mint-ish green?? :)

My New Love- Vinyl Lettering

Lately me and Jeremiah have been helping his parents out with various projects at both the church and at home. One project that we are quite proud of, is one that we just finished at the church. There was this band that stuck out around the doorway, that was plain old white and we thought how nice it would look if it was painted and stood out a bit. That led to us painting it a few tones, and then ordering vinyl lettering that said "Go in Peace and Serve the Lord". It looks so beautiful now. Vinyl lettering is such a great material to work with. It went on so easy, and looks so professional. There are many companies out there, but I ordered mine through You-Said-It, which has a link on my blog to their site :) So do check it out. I think words and phrases add so much to a wall/room.

So, the boring white band above the door is now a wonderful piece of art which enhances the mission of the church. Yay.

Hawaii Here We Come!!!

So, next Friday (Nov 14) Jeremiah, my mom, Brother Jesse and myself will be talking of to Hawaii to volunteer at YWAM in Kona for 5 weeks. After that my dad and sister Kara are coming to meet us in Hawaii for some Christmas fun and relaxation. I am very excited for this change, as I have been cramming paper after paper in the last few months. On my list of blogs, you will see a link to our Hawaii blog, so I encourage you to check that one out as we will post pictures and stories for you, our family and friends to check out.

I ask for your prayers as well as we serve at YWAM in whatever capacity they need, and also as we grow spiritually through meeting believers from all over the world. I think they have great internet access, so I will be sure to keep up with all your lovely blogs as well.

Peace.

ROBOTRON-2008

A mini taste of my robo suit.

Sorting


So, I decided to tackle some "junk boxes" tonight, you know the ones that are so random and have just tons of this and tons of that. I wouldn't call myself a total pack rat, but I do manage to collect things over time. I am just unsure of how to get rid of things, what to hold on to etc.

Maybe you readers can give me some tips, how do you sort your lives out? What do you do with kind cards from people that are really old.....you can't truly keep them all can you?

Help Me!

Oh the Country!

As I am very busy trying to get all my online courses done before we head off to Hawaii November 14, 2008, I find myself spending much of my day on the couch in front of the computer. Unlike at our old place, where we were mostly underground and I could only see the legs of people walking by on the sidewalk, in Okotoks, I sit on my couch and look out upon hills, Okotoks in the not to far distance & a beautiful sunset each night. This view makes studying a whole lot more bearable. It has been a blessing to be here and get the sniff of fresh mountain air on a daily basis. Very refreshing!

View From Our Bedroom



Beautiful Sunset Just Outside our Door

A "Fair" Treat At Home

I have recently discovered that I am a big fan of kettle corn. I think I may have disliked it at one point and I am not sure why now. There is something about that sweetness, with a bit of salty going on that is just pure bliss! One time at our old place I decided to try make it. It tasted ok, besides a lot of it being burnt and the very unsafe environment of making it,ie: hot oil bubbling out of the pot and splattering on me. It has been a little while since that disaster, and since Jeremiah and I love it so much, I decided I would brave it and try again...this time with the wonderful assistance of you tube. I found this video of the classic mom teaching how to make kettle corn. She looked like she could hold her own in the kitchen, so I decided to follow her every move. It worked! Hurray. Now I will always make it alongside this wondermom of kettlecorn. Hopefully I won't need to always follow her steps, but if I do, its just a click on the internet away.

I brought some up to the father in law as well...I wonder if this receipe has won him over :)

The RANCILIO "Miss Silvia"

Jeremiah has wanted for so long to make specialty coffees at home. He loves his Starbucks white chocolate mocha, and has tried various ways to recreate it, without the help of an espresso machine. Needless to say it couldn't be done. And so, after the failure of our $9.00 Wal-Mart espresso machine, and much research, Jeremiah made the splurge and got us the Rancilio Silvia and Rocky grinder a.k.a. "Miss Silvia". We had it sent to Portland on our trip so Jeremiah had fun learning how to create the perfect shot for us all....it took 20-30 tries, as there are many factors to creating the perfect espresso, such as tamping, the grind, the roast, the temperature etc.

The thing with buying it in the States, was that with them being so heavy we had to buy extra luggage to ensure all our bags were under 50lbs. Also we made sure to figure out a way to not pay taxes at the border. We made it through ok...no tax paying and no lies even! yay.

And now we have it set up nicely in our cute kitchen! I even found a way to tie in my vintage HALL teapot and tea box. I love it. I look forward to many great coffees and earl grey lattes from my love. And if you come by, I am sure he'll make you one too.

Seattle

We have enjoyed a couple days in Seattle with Josh and Mel and visiting the Overland relatives. Here is a little photo series shot in our ghetto parking lot near Pike Place. You can create the story!