I have a feeling that work just gets in the way of my life! Don't get me wrong, I like my job but I'm starting to feel like I live at the hospital. Today is my one and only day off all week... a full 24 hours....great. Tomorrow is technically work but it's learning fair so I basically sit there and then have a first aid class. Until our trip to Campbell River I don't have more than one day off at a time... what is up with that? And while I'm complaining I'll have everyone know that working nights literally kills you. Seriously, there have been studies done. If you haven't done it before you just can't know how terrible it is. Yes, I still get about 6 hours of sleep during the day but it's just not the same. Then I feel iritable and then I write crabby blogs like this one. Thanks for letting me rant! Cheers.

Here is Keenan Beer!! Ryan and Amanda has him on Feb. 3rd and he is beautiful. The next day Ryan had his appendix removed so it was quite an eventful few days for them! Jeff and I will be heading out to the island to see everyone in early March. We are soooo excited for another nephew!

Just have to show off my cute nephew. These were taken at Christmas. and we are also super excited for another niece or nephew, Ryan and Amanda are due any day!

This one's for carmen!

so we are finally home from and incredible week in Mazatlan, Mexico!

We left on the 28th from Calgary.... it was such an early morning! But it was worth it!

Arriving in Mazatlan we found out that the past few days and the next few were going to be the coldest it had been in January in 60 years!! Well it was 25 degrees but definately not bikini weather for me.

The first night we took the city bus, which is always an experience to the central market. It was also a meat market, yum pig heads and my blonde little sister sure did get some Mexican attention!! On the way back to the hotel we took one of the red trucks with a few seats in the back with a topper. These would not meet Canadian safety standards.

The next few days included trips to stone island, making dad go parasailing, laying on the beach, going to the market and walking tons!

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was the canopy tour on zip lines. We had so much fun and it was beautiful. Mostly it was so wonderful to spend relaxing time with Jeff and my family. My biggest stress in life was where I was going to soak up some sun! Anyways here are a few pictures but i have lots on facebook so check it out there!

I am so disappointed. The yearly hunt is called off and I will not be getting a Christmas tree. I know, I know, what a terrible thing at Christmas time. But realistically we just won't be around very much and we would have to take the tree down on Christmas Eve anyways (because we are going to MEXICO!!). So enough complaining I will just have to be satisfied with my smelly pine cones.... and I know Jeff, pine cones don't usually smell like cinnamon and cloves but I don't care. I love them anyways.

Jeff and I are back from an incredible few days at the Banff Springs Hotel. Each year the Canadian Baptist Pastors of Western Canada meet for a conference to learn and also to relax. The biggest perk is that the spouses get to go!!

First of all I must say that the Banff Springs Hotel is incredible...and huge... and overwhelming. We first drove up to it and I instantly know I would love this place and get lost numorous times inside of it.

They treat you like royalty here and I even hear that there are secret passageways and corridors in this scottish castle inspired building that they take special guests like the queen down, very intreging. Next year I guess we'll try take the tour.

We spent many hours walking around Banff and enjoying all that it had to offer. We learnt a lot about our God, how we do "church" and where we are going. I also learnt much about myself, my stuggle as a wife of a pastor (even though it has only been a few months) and what ministry means for me, not my husband. I feel reenergized and refreshed. I guess that's what spending time with your husband does combined with amazing food, conversation and scenery.

I've realized that it has been only a little while since i've posted anything and because of a few complaints thought I'd catch everyone up on our lives! Since the last post I've started work in Pincher Creek at the hospital and realized that I offically know nothing. Everything is different here and though many, many frustrations I've started to get into the swing of things and don't feel completely terrified to go to work. I've also gotten my toes wet in the areas of emergency and labor and delivery which are always interesting experiences.

I also noticed I haven't posted any pictures of my incredible nephew, Liam.

This is Liam one day old.

And this is Liam a few days ago, He's four months old already.

Jeff and I are also working on our house. It's 100 years old and in some real need for some updates. We decided to start upstairs with removing a few wall, painting, new carpet and redo the bathroom. Little progress has been made, mostly due to the lack of people in this town to do any work and also with Jeff being crazy busy with youth and school. he is really enjoying his work even though it can get stressful at time. There aren't alot of social things to do for a young married couple with no kids so our big date night is a nice walk to the post office to pick up the mail or a drive to the lake for a picnic and a walk. Nothing too extreme.

Last offical shift!!

So right now I'm in the middle of my last official shift in the Chinook Regional hospital. Although I'm excited to finally be offically in Pincher Creek I will really miss this place and the people I've worked with for the past two and a half years. I really love everyone here, the staff is amazing and I always leave with a smile on my face. I've grown so much here, personally and professionally. I've learnt lots of hard life lessons but have learnt so much and know that I will only continue to learn and grow where ever I am but this just feels like home. To all you 4Bers and 4Cers I love you guys and will remember my time here forever! You are all so wonderful and I will miss you and of course I will come to visit!

Carpet, carpet, carpet. The other day Jeff ripped out the carpet in the upstairs bedrooms. Yes it was gross and stained... what I call mystery stains... they are very bad, especially when you come home from work with a mystery stain... just think about it! Anyways the carpet is gone but now I need something else to go there which is why I had to go carpet shopping today. I know very little about the carpet world and am afraid I"ll get hosed. I found one that I like but need the Jeff approval before I buy and I suppose the bank account approval as well. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully we do it soon so that we can move into afinished room and start on our bedroom! I'm tired of sleeping in a lilac purple with yellow wallpaper room. What are people thinking sometimes?!?!

ON a different and rather grosser note.... I saw the biggest poop ever today! My job is ridiculous.

Hey all, I know ... I've been a pathetic blogger lately. But honestly nothing really exciting has happened. The last week has been fairly boring and has been filled with work, work, work. I'm doing a crazy amount of nights (which are nothing but boring and my patients keep me on my toes!!) but nights leave me drained and I don't feel like doing much else other than sleep. I've been staying at my parents to save on gas and because I don't trust myself driving after no sleep. So I've been missing Jeff like crazy especially since he's been at camp councelling for the week. I'm amazed that I miss him like I do and he's pretty much all I think about. He truely is my best friend and I miss being able to tell him everything about my day and what I'm thinking and feeling. Man I miss him!! Anyways the house renos are underway and going very slowly because there is rarely anyone around to do them!! But to be honest I love painting and fixing up the house and look foward to doing it and bringing out "the handyman" in me.

Being in Pincher has been great so far. God has really blessed us in so many ways and has confirmed our move numerous times to us. It can be a little lonely but I think that once I"m working out there and are just around more we'll get to know a few more people. Also please pray for my job situation. my temporary position in Lethbridge end September 2 and I have already applied to the Pincher Creek Hospital. Pray that the online application system actually works for once and my application gets to the right people and that God will provide a job for me!

Also for anyone who doesn't know yet... Jeff and I are now uncle and aunt. Jeff's brother Nick and his wife Denea had a little boy, Liam and we LLOOVVEEE him so much. ( I was going to post pics but my computer is stupid). They are all amazing and wonderful and Jeff's other brother Ryan and his wife Amanda are expecting in January so more little guys are to come... super exciting.

Have a good one.

We are officially moved. On Tuesday we moved all of our stuff into our new home. I hadn't seen our lovely orange beast for over a month and couldn't really remember what it looked like but I still love it as much as when we first saw it. We are finding more and more quirks wih the house and are prioritizing the renos that will need to be done but in all the house in old, beautiful and has lots of character. No cookie cutter house for us!! I've already spent a few ours in the yard with all the flowers trying to figure out what they are and how to care for them. There are also lots of weeds to be taken care of but I'm enjoying it so much. Hopefully I'll develop a bit of a green thumb. Other than that I've been working nights and Janessa graduated, she was so gorgeous.

The house is packed...mostly... I can't find anything, everythings a mess and were're moving in 3 days.Let the fun begin!!

So things are moving along pretty well. Jeff and I found out today that all the conditions on the sale of our house are removed so other than a signature for the lawyer our house is sold!! so now I'll just have to start packing but we have some time as the possession date in July 1... meaning I'll probably procrastinate until very close to then.

We also found a house that was listed privately in Pincher Creek and gave the family a call. They were just in the process of finding a realitor but hadn't put the house on the market yet. We made a mad dash to Pincher, looked at the house and already love it. It is very old and has LOTS of character. There are also many thing to fix on the 100+ year old house but it's all mainly cosmetic and will make for lots of fun summer projects for Jeff and I. The main hilarity of this home is that the owners have recently painted the exteriour.... orange....bright A and W orange. Oh and the trim is dark blue with some red and yellow accents. It's quite a sight and no one will miss finding it. So we'll hopefully put on offer on today and find out soon if we can call it our own. Again please pray that God sorts out our housing situation and thank you to all who already have been. I wish I could post a picture of it but if we buy it... don't worry I will.

Other than that I'm busy with work and Jeff starts June 3rd as well as taking a class from Briercrest and of course we are busy with soccer!! I hope it doesn't rain tonight.

The Scoop

So Jeff and I have had an eventful past week or so. I finally decided to just apply on the medical floors so that at least I would have a job. In the mean time, the first baptist church in Pincher Creek offered Jeff a youth pastor position. After much praying and thinking Jeff accepted the offer. Therefore we need to move to pincher Creek. I've decided to keep my temporary position (which ends in September) and maybe apply casual in Pincher Creek. So I will be making good sized commutes each day or maybe staying in town when I have 5 night stretches to work. Please, please pray for us in this crazy time. We need to sell our house and find somewhere to live in Pincher. You wouldn't think it but Pincher Creek has a hot realestate market which is about as expensive as Lethbridge and very few houses. I mean right now there are two houses on the market that are in our price range. I don't think I will be able to be choosy about what sort of house we buy! But God has already answered many prayers about how this is all going to work out. Even though some of the answers are not ideal they have all been blessing and I'm learning to trust God with every move we make. He has been faithful and won't let us down now!

I'm alive

Sorry that posts have been so few and far between. To be honest there is just not a lot going on right now. Jeff is still waiting about youth pastor positions. we are really no closer to knowing where we are supposed to be than the last time I posted... which was almost a month ago! We are remaining patient and relying on God to direct us and provide for us. It is trying at times but God continues to provide for our every need. I have been hired on the medical floors of the hospital as a graduate nurse and begin orientation on Wednesday! It is exciting to finally be making money but it's scary to have so much responsibility. I pray each day that God gives me the knowledge and clarity of mind to make the right decisions for my patients. Other than that we are just hanging out in lethbridge, having fun and waiting. Jeff has also had an array of jobs over the past month including.... selling vacuums... I mean "cleaning systems", making boxes ( that was short lived) and presently deliverying anything and everything you can image. This last one has an added perk. Each time I enter our lovely car I think that there is a nice pizza in the backseat. I love pizza smell!! I think the past month as been a humbling experience for both of us but as long as our bills keep on getting paid I don't think I should complain.

Well, I'm officially done my clinical rotation in the ICU but will have to wait till May 1st to be a grad nurse. But in the meantime I can enjoy my grad photos! Yes it is a little stereotypical but I love it. I wish we still had caps and the whole bit to tell the world where I graduated from! Nowadays everyone looks the same in their scrubs from nurses to surgeons to housekeeping to unit clerks. Caps identified nurses and I sort of wish I actually had one! Still no word on what I'm doing with my life but I'll be working a little bit here. I was on 4C today and boy do I miss ICU. Medical floors are crazy and I never feel like I was a great nurse at the end of the day. A little disheartening. But at least right now I can still learn, have lots of experienced RN's around me and hopefully this will be a little more time to prepare me before I'm in charge of a full patient assignment. Jeff has been wonderful lately. Now that he's unemployed for a bit he's been cooking, cleaning, buying groceries, etc. I tease him about being a stay at home dad!! But he really would be good at it!

I had a lovely day today finishing up another stretch of a little work and a little clinical. I feel so uplifted today that even though I only have one week left of clinical and then I'm on my own a few of the doctors today paid me VERY nice compliments.... and doctors are not too quick to compliment a student so I feel quite good at the moment. I'm really nervous about being an actual nurse as being a student is a nice safety net and I feel really comfortable in this role. But even though I"ll be done I still don't have a job. Please pray for Jeff and I as we await news of a new job for Jeff. Pray for patience and also for me as I can't really apply for jobs until I know where we are moving. This is giving me a lot of anxiety as I'm a week away from finishing practicum and a month and one week away from being able to work as a grad nurse. I'm really frustrated and just wish I knew where to apply. I'm sure that life will work out but hey, I'm a type A personality that likes to have my life organized and planned out and living day by day drives me nuts!! What I would give for a personality change right now!

Oh life, why must you torture me?

What a day yesterday was. I've just worked 6 12 hour night shifts and I got 4 hours of sleep this morning to go to the eye doctor. And yes I need glasses... again... . Right now I could cry at everything and anything. I suddenly become extremely emotional with no sleep and I feel crazy. Then Jeff gets screwed over by the dentist and I cried... actually I bawled. Oh well life has just been a little rough lately and I'm tired of it. I don't understand why God always seems to tell Jeff and I to wait. And then on top of it He seems to throw us curve balls. I would just like some answers sometimes so that we could carry on with life and be content. Maybe that's why he tells me to wait all the time and just be content with the waiting. Anyways this doesn't make sense.

The day did look up as I took a nice nap to clear my mind and try to feel normal again. I awoke with a kiss and my wonderful husband bringing me supper in bed! Yes supper in bed... it was delightful... everyone should try it! And then to top it off we took a stroll to 7-11 for a candy run. My man sure does know the way to my heart! Finally we returned home to watch Prison Break which is always fantastic while curling up with my honey on the couch. I guess the moral of the story is that life is always better with my husband by my side even if the rest of our life isn't going as planned.

Exciting News

So just in case people didn't know Jeff and I are going to be an uncle and aunt!! Yes, we are very excited that Jeff's brother Nick and his wife Denea are expecting in July! We've been waiting far too long to spoil a niece or nephew and can't wait to teach them naughty things that will make their parents mad!! It will be great.

Sleep

It's reading week... sleeping in feels so good!