Waiting for Spring

I am hoping March brings nice weather. I'm ready for it. The spring flowers in the stores have been catching my eye. These daffodils were beautiful (they didn't last very long though). I just bought some tulips on the weekend and they are cheering up my little home now.

I went to my first Pampered Chef party on Saturday. I was planning on buying very little, but ended up buying more than I had planned (I think this is why these parties do so well). My friend planned a Chinese New Year theme, so I learned a bit more about the culture and we got some Chinese food as well! The boys had their own party in the basement, with beer and darts. Very manly.

Yesterday was Presidents' Day down here and so we had the day to spend together. I think traditionally, you are supposed to go shopping. That's assumed from all the advertising on tv for Macy's, J.C. Penney's and every furniture store around. We had thought about venturing to IKEA but changed our minds when we noticed that they didn't have some tables we wanted (you can check their stock online- it's great!). So, we hung out at home and watched the Islanders' hockey game. It was probably the most exciting game they have played in awhile and they scored the winning goal with 30 sec. left on a breakaway. Yah! They might squeak into the playoffs still.

Fruit Salad and Friends

Well, I have good news, that my nursing application in finally moving along in it's process. Finally! It's on step two of three, so I'll keep you posted on the progress.

We had a great time on Sunday. Our small group got together at a couple's house for brunch. We had a great spread of food. I made a fruit salad with every fruit that I could find. Just a tip: the strawberries are disappointing right now. Just wanted to let you know if you are planning on a chocolate fondue anytime soon. The big hit at our brunch was Scotch Eggs. Keith made them from scratch. They were lo-ve-ly! I've had them before in England but never homemade. They are essentially hard boiled eggs, wrapped in ground beef and Italian sausage, then dipped in breadcrumbs and beaten egg and baked until golden.

On Saturday, we got together with some new friends and played Settlers. It's been MONTHS since we had played that game. Our last game was with our Aussie friends in England. Needless to say, Jason and I didn't win either of the two games that we played, so we will relentlessly play until we win again.

Here is a cute little picture of my nephew Lewis that Michelle just sent me. He is such a happy baby.

Superbowl Sunday

We had a fun weekend and the Superbowl on Sunday was the peak event. On Friday, we went out for dinner with some new friends. It was almost a blind date, because we hadn't met Kyle's wife and we had just met Kyle once. But, it was a lot of fun and we had a lot to talk about. They introduced us to a lively restaurant nearby and we discovered that they like playing board games, so we may have found some new Settlers partners.

Saturday, I went to a movie with a friend. We saw "Notes on a Scandal". It was interesting, there is a twist in there that I didn't know about before hand.

Sunday. The Superbowl. This is the first time I watched the Superbowl in the States, so I was excited to see the commercials. We had some friends over from church to watch it. This picture below is of Crystal, Louise and Sharon (Left to right). Sharon introduced herself to me at church, the first Sunday I was there and we just clicked. I've been really blessed to have met her.

This is a picture of Jason and Josh. Josh had a little "accident" on our couch.

This is Brian drinking mate. A big thanks to Stephen for supplying the special mate horn to drink out of. It's a cool Paraguayan thing that the Friesen family shared with us. And we are sharing it with our Long Island buddies.

I made these great pizza twists that were a big hit. Thanks, Rachel Ray! Writing about this weekend has made me realize how much God has blessed us with in our new lives in New York. The first few months after a move is always difficult, figuring out where everything is, finding new friends, setting up a new home. But, this last month, I've been realizing how many great people we have met and how this place is starting to feel familiar (in a good way).

Good Morning!

Well, I haven't posted anything for awhile. No good excuse really, probably watching too much tv! A big Happy Birthday! goes out to my bro and sister-in-law. Renny just turned the big 3-0! A very special birthday indeed (and she was working night shifts over her birthday) Here are some pics of the two special birthday people. These were taken last Christmas. For some reason, I hardly took any pictures this Christmas.



We had a great weekend. We got the opportunity to volunteer with our bible study group at a street mission on Saturday. We helped with the children's program. Did some singing, crafts and lunch was provided. I sat (of course) right in the middle of the trouble-makers, so I was trying to remember some Supernanny lessons while I was breaking up kiddie-fights. But, overall, we really enjoyed the experience and we were happy that we got to spend time with kids who really appreciated the extra attention.

Things with my nursing license are moving slowly. I'm trying to stay focused on studying for the exam I'll have to write. I think it keeps me from getting too frustrated about the time it is taking for everything to get processed. We now have friends coming to visit throughout March, so it might be nice not to work while they are here. We will see! It's so hard to believe that I may actually get to work one day.

Home from the Holidays

We have been home now for a few days. We had a great time in Canada; visiting, eating and relaxing. Here's a list of some of the things we were up to:

1)Christmas dinner with Jason's family, my family and my aunt, uncle, 3 cousins and my grandparents. A full house! Jackie did an amazing job of organizing, hosting and making most of the dinner. Here are some pictures of my nieces and nephew from that night.



2) Ate 'Christmas Morning-Wife Saver' on Christmas morning: my mom's specialty.

3) Opened presents two days in a row. Here's some pictures of Jason's family (and a princess that joined us that morning) opening up presents.


Jaina "helping" Grandma open her present.


Lewis, obviously not interested in presents this year.
Jason and Michelle, patiently waiting their turn.
At the Olferts' present opening, we open presents, one at a time, beginning with the youngest person and continue to the oldest. It's great because you can watch everyone open their presents and it makes the whole occasion last longer. The only problem is that in the last few years, we get another person added to the circle, so each year it takes a little longer. We have to take bathroom and refreshment breaks now. But it's still lots of fun.

4) Enjoyed a fire and weiner-roast in my parents' living room (fireplace).

5) Drove up to Edmonton to catch up with friends. Saw a friend's new baby and another friend's new house.

6) Watched the Oilers/Flames hockey game in Calgary on New Year's Eve. Watched the Oilers lose but got to spend the evening with Matt and Michelle and watch the game in very good seats courtesy of Jackie. Thanks again!

7) Had a New Year's fondue party after the hockey game with Jason's family. Went to bed at 12:10 am.


8) Had a delayed flight back from Calgary which gave us a few more hours to hang out at Matt and Michelle's place. Finally got home at 3:00am. Had a crazy taxi driver with a lazy eye drive us home.

Holidays!!

We are off to Canada tomorrow to celebrate Christmas and New Years with family. We are in Lethbridge for most of the time, but we are hopping up to Edmonton for a few days. For New Years, we are going to the Flames/Oilers game IN CALGARY! So, we will have to be brave fans and cheer extra loud for the Oilers.

We had a Christmas party last night with our new small group from church. We joined this group about a month ago and it has been so great to get to know them. They have really made us feel right at home in the group.

Well, I should go and start packing. Merry Christmas to everyone!

Things We Learned In NYC

We went into New York this weekend to do some Christmas shopping. Here is a list of things we learned while there:

1) Never get on an empty subway car. There is a reason why it's empty. Our car happened to smell like it had carried livestock previously. I can't even describe how terrible the smell was, in fact, I start to gag if I think about it.

2) You can actually see celebrities in NYC. We had our first celeb-spotting in New York. We saw Ethan Hawke walking in the Upper West Side, talking on a cell phone. Sorry, no pictures. You'll just have to take our word for it.

3) If it's cool, you'll have to wait. I had found out about this tea room that I wanted to go to for tea. It was cozy and quaint, and the scones looked amazing. And there was a 45 minute wait to be seated!

4) Hot dogs are serious food. In our "Not For Tourists" guide book to New York, a hot dog fast food spot is listed as a landmark. We stopped in at another serious hot dog spot for New Yorkers, Gray's Papaya, for the recession special. Two hot dogs and papaya juice for $3.5o. That may seem like a strange combo but it works.

5) Even Canadians can blend in to look like New Yorkers. We had a few people ask us for directions during the day. Maybe it was because we weren't waving our camera around or wearing "I love New York"...

We did take some pictures however. One of them is of the Canadian Lounge that I wrote about in a previous blog and the skating rink that is located in front of it in Bryant Park. There are also a few dinosour pictures as we spent the afternoon in the American Museum of Natural History.

Teas and Christmas Parties

I went to my first Ladies' Tea at church. I was a little hesitant, thinking perhaps it was a little too grown up for me. But it wasn't (I can be quite mature at times). It actually felt a little British, with little finger sandwiches, scones and china for the tea. And I'm pretty comfortable around the British stuff after living in it for 3 years. (The sandwiches looked better than these ones in the picture. Not sure how you make bread pink.)

We also went to a little party on Sunday with some friends from church. We played darts, which I haven't done for EVER! You may be surprised, but Jason and I actually got into darts quite a bit while we were in Edmonton. We would play at this scary pub on 99th Street. We even bought some darts of our own as well. But then we moved to England, and I didn't play at all there. But I did watch dart competitions while I was there (on TV). Who knew it could be so much fun to watch? I ended up winning two games and coming in second on the third game... not too bad for a gal that hasn't thrown in awhile.

I just finished a book I had been reading, "David Copperfield". It was really great to read. The way Dickens describes David's childhood is so funny. I was entertained throughout the whole book. I have now moved on to "Tom Jones", which I have only read the first two pages. It doesn't seem like it will be as easy of a read as "David Copperfield". I have a few books lined up to read and I love that. I also love this time of year, as it gets cold and the days shorter, as the holidays come upon us, it just makes me want to curl up on the couch and read all day.

But I haven't been reading all day long, I have also been sewing some curtains for our bedroom. They are made from king-size sheets, but I think they look pretty good. They block out the light, which is the most important thing. Next project, mittens- for the cold Canadian winter.

Winter Crowds

We went into New York City on the weekend to see the sights of Christmas in the Big Apple. We went to see Rockefeller Center's big, beautiful tree and skating rink. It was sooo crowded. And the line-up to go skating was insane! So, we just squeezed through to take a few quick pics and then moved on. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera (although I took plenty of pictures on my cell phone).

Another cool place we saw was Bryant Park. They had a huge outdoor festive market, a skating rink in the middle AND a temporary restaurant called 'Celsius'. This restaurant was described as being a "Canadian Lounge". It was a pretty cool-looking restaurant, which is a huge feat: to look cool in the middle of Manhattan! Made me proud to be Canadian. What was on the menu, you ask? Well, Canadian Cheese Fondue, British Columbia salmon, and much more (but I've forgotten).

We also walked through Little Italy (had a slice of pizza there) and China Town. Found out that China Town is THE place for cheap deals. Wish I could buy all my Christmas gifts there! We also walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, which was recommended to us. It was pretty cool. It took us about 15mins, stopping three times to ask for directions and doing a full circle before we figured out how to get ON to the bridge. But hey, if you ever want to walk over the bridge, we can show you the way. Oh, we also saw the Courthouse, you know, the one that is always in Law and Order. We were so excited for some reason. It doesn't take much I guess.

Oh Dreary Day!

Today is grey and rainy outside and all I want to do is stay inside. But, I can't. I need to make a 45-min excursion back to IKEA. I bought a bed from them yesterday and then we found out at 10pm that there was a piece missing, so we couldn't sleep on our new bed. So frustrating!

Today is the perfect day to read a book and drink hot chocolate. After talking to friends and family (and seeing pictures of snowy landscapes on a friend's blog), I am actually missing snow. I put my Christmas decorations up yesterday and now I feel that I need a little cold weather to go along with it. I hope to get my fill of snow when we go back to Canada for Christmas.

I finally did it. I have been meaning to do something meaningful with my time and I have had good intentions to do some volunteering for the last few weeks (but it's taken some time to work up the courage). Yesterday, I finally went in to the hospital to drop off my application. I have applied to volunteer at a hospital that I would like to work at in the future. AND- they have a volunteer position that deals with educating cardiac patients. That would be perfect for me and help me make those all important connections with cardiology staff. I won't be starting until the end of January, but I would be thrilled if that worked out. Am I crazy for making myself spend more time in a hospital than I have already (and not get paid for it)?

December 1st- only 3 weeks until we fly home for Christmas! I've got some major shopping to do! Don't think that we are going to buy a Christmas tree this year. Does that seem Scrooge-like? I may just buy an artificial tree at the post-Christmas sales. That seems like the financially smart thing to do.

Thanksgiving in Boston

We have just got back from enjoying our Thanksgiving in Boston. We had a great time with our friends, Chris and Tara. We spent a lot of time visiting and eating! They showed us around Cambridge (Harvard and all the cool shops near their home). And we also spent a day in Boston, seeing the sights and walking Freedom Trail. Boston is a beautiful city. We were lucky and had nice, sunny weather for the weekend. Here's some pictures of our trip.

Chris and Tara in the kitchen, preparing the turkey dinner. Mmmm, it was good! Especially Tara's pumpkin pie!

Jason getting ready to eat.

Walking around Harvard.

Outside one of Harvard's library (dedicated to a boy who drowned with Titanic).

Boston's skyline.

Jason and I on Beacon Hill.

The Other Cambridge

We are going to Cambridge MA, tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving. It will be fun to see the "other Cambridge" after living in the first. We are going to be staying with some friends that we met in England. It will be fun to catch up and EAT!! They are preparing the WHOLE meal, so Jason and I just have to show up with ourselves and eat. That's very nice. Besides eating, we are hoping to tour Harvard and Boston.

We are taking a ferry that leaves from one of the most easternly points of Long Island and goes to Connecticut. I haven't been on a ferry since I lived on Thetis Island.

Happy Birthday to Matt and Papa Olfert. They just celebrated their birthdays together in Lethbridge. We would have loved to have been there to share in the celebrations. But only four weeks and we will be in Lethbridge to celebrate Christmas! Here are some pictures of the birthday boys.


I have joined up with a few girls on another blog. It's called "Ladies of Leisure". Can you guess what it's about? It's a blog for people (well, women in this blog) who are in a situation that allows them to have plenty of time to focus on things other than work. We decide that it would be fun to share our projects and our "leisure activities" with each other. I'd like to think that shopping is my project but I do have other talents as well.

Home Sweet Home

I've promised that I would post some pictures of our new little home. So here they are. I took most of the pictures the day I cleaned the house before my friend, Lisa came. (I thought the place actually looked presentable).

Here's the outside of our apartment building, this is the front. Our place is on the back.

This view looks into our kitchen.

This is the living room. Notice, no tv. Still waiting for new tv to be delivered.

This is the entrance. We live on the first floor. I love my orchid. I hope I can keep it alive. Although, I have managed to have a new bud flower since owning it.

The "work area".

Here's the view we get from our windows. This is the "Misty Pond".

This is my favorite picture of the pond. Fall is pretty gorgeous out here.

This is a sad little picture of the defective tv that was delivered to us this week. We are now waiting for a new one to be delivered. (This looks like Judge Judy was on at that moment).

The green lady and a charging bull

My new tv arrived today, but after getting it set-up (with the delivery man supervising), I discovered that the screen was all messed up. So, I had to send back our tv and wait for another one to get sent. Too bad. We did get a tv lent to us by one of Jason's co-workers, so we are not completely in the the dark.

My friend Lisa was here last week. We had a great time. We went shopping alot! She needed some new maternity clothes and I just needed clothes. Here are some pictures of our adventures...

Here's two small-city girls in the BIG city. We went to New York on Friday. Spent the day shopping, drinking pumpkin spice lattes (thanks to Lisa, I have a new addiction supplied by Starbucks), and enjoying a show on Broadway. We went to the show "Hairspray". We really enjoyed it. The cast was super-talented and the story-line is really entertaining. I went to the Macy's on 34th Street. They were setting up the Santa's Corner and there was a sign saying "Miracle on 34th Street". So, my little brain finally connected all of that and then I realized that I haven't even seen the movie "Miracle on 34th Street", so I guess now I'll have to watch it.


Here is us at the beach near our place. We went for a run in the morning-ish (we had a late night in New York). Lisa still kicks my butt and she's 5 1/2 months pregnant.



We went back into New York on Sunday (this time we took Jason with us). This is a picture of us eating some famous NYC food. Hot dogs and pretzels from a street vendor. Just getting our energy before touring the Statue of Liberty.






This is a picture of the view you get driving into Manhattan.

Lisa, in front of the charging bull, near Wall Street. This picture turned out so much better than I expected because there was actually a lot of people around the bull and I didn't think we would get a chance to get in.


Jason and I in Central Park. You might not guess it in this picture but the ING New York Marathon was still going on and the finish line was only a few hundred feet from where we were. Mind you, it was going on 7 hours from the starting gun, so the place was pretty cleared out. No Lance Armstrong around. But there was still a pretty steady stream of people coming in. I don't think anybody would want to do a marathon after seeing people coming in after being out running/walking for seven hours. It just doesn't look fun. 'Course, some people would stay that even running for half an hour doesn't look fun either!

New Home

We are settling into our new apartment now. I am still busy trying to find the perfect spot for my various candles, pictures and other useless artifacts. But it is slowly starting to feel like our own place, which is a nice feeling to have since we have been living without any of our belongings while in England. I am living in the sheer bliss of having my own washer, dryer AND dish washer! Our apartment faces a pond and lots of trees, that are turning all the brilliant colors of fall. I'll post some pics when I get our place all organized.

Last Thursday was a bad day in sports for us. We went to an Islanders hockey game, which they lost (but in overtime, so they got a point) and the Mets lost and missed their chance for the World Series. Too bad. We are still hard-core Oilers fans but due to locality, we are now forced to cheer for another team. At least we get to watch hockey, we were deprived of that while in England.

Speaking of deprivation, our tv died after we had just had our cable hooked up. Now, the tv is from 1984 and the screen is smaller that our computer's. So, we don't mind buying a new tv but we will have to wait for Jason's next paycheck. So, that means having to live for over a week without a tv!! I don't really mind, most of the shows I enjoy I can't get over the internet and it does mean that I do MUCH more reading.

Lights out.

There I was, watching a movie on my computer, when bam! Lights out. Power failure. So, I sat there, in the dark, wondering when the lights would go back on. After a few moments I: a) noted that my peripheral vision was better in the dark than when I looked straight and b) I was a little freaked out that there were no lights coming back on. Now I am not exactly afraid of the dark but when you live on a government laboratory, in the middle of a forest, all sorts of strange things start going through your mind. Some sort of terrorist plan to shut all the lights off so they could break in and steal important documents, that sort of thing. But mostly I was concerned that some one might take this opportunity to break in (and steal what? Our computer- the only thing of value in the house). So, finally, I got enough courage to feel my way to our bedroom, where Jason was asleep. After I laid down, I realized that I hadn't brushed my teeth, but since the lights hadn't come on yet, I was feeling too chicken to get out of bed again. It's funny how you can still be slightly afraid of the dark even as an adult. It's not just the dark, but the knowledge that there is no light to be found anywhere (except if I could have found our flashlight).

It made me think of a passage I read in Madeleine L'Engle's book, 'A Circle of Quiet'.

"I'm afraid of the dark- not afraid to go up the stairs in the physical darkness of the night, but afraid of the shadows of another kind of dark, the darkness of nothingness, of hate, of evil. So we rush around trying to light candles. Some are real: books are candles for me; so is music; so is friendship. Others blow up in our faces, like too much alcohol and too many sleeping pills or pep pills. Or hard drugs. Or sex where there isn't any love."

We only have 3 more sleeps and we move into our new apartment, I can't wait. I was just thinking of the luxury it will be of having my own washer and dryer in our new place after I trudge down to the laudromat today.

Happy Columbus Day (or Thanksgiving Day)

It's Columbus day here, but to those in the North, Happy Thanksgiving. I think this is the first Thanksgiving that I haven't really celebrated. In England, we managed to hook up with other Canadians or force our UK friends to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. But this year, we are putting our turkey cravings on hold until the end of November, when we will celebrate with our American friends.

Today, I went to the beach. It was one of those things that make me think, "Wow, I can't believe I'm going to the beach in October". And it's not just that I was going to the beach, but I was going to the beach, wearing capris and a t-shirt, with sunglasses and a book in hand. In October. I remember feeling the same way when I went camping at the beginning of February on Vancouver Island. I guess the girl from the Prairies has a hard time forgetting that winter doesn't always have to start of November and end sometime in April.

So as we slowly make our way into fall, Jason and I enjoyed the nice weather in New York on Saturday. There was an Open House of New York event, featuring numerous buildings throughout the five boroughs of New York. We went to two buildings, one built in 1855 next to Central Park and the other was built in 1911 by a grand-daughter of one of the Vanderbilts. It was a great way to see some of the unique buildings in New York.

Here is one of the houses we toured.



Tonight, we are meeting a friend from the UK who is here for a week. Back in July, when we were packing up to move from England to Canada (and realizing quickly that we weren't not going to be able to bring much back with 2o kgs baggage limit each), Jonathan volunteered to bring a bag of our belongings with him on this trip. We took him up on the offer and we now excitedly wait for our winter clothes to arrive.

Here's a picture of Jason at the Metropolitan museum.

It's the little things...

You know, it's just the little things that make me happy. Like the sun shining. Like sleeping in. Like cuddling up to the person you love. Like text-messaging with friends far away. That kind of thing.

I think I've cracked the case of the missing letters. I have been waiting for this organization (no name will be mentioned) to complete my credential verifications. They have mailed out TWO letters requesting transcripts from the University of Alberta.
Do you think they ever arrived? Do you think they would fax the request to the U of A? Do you think they would tell me the address that they have been mailing these letters to? NO. So, thanks to the help of a nice lady at the Alberta nursing licensing body, I was able to figure out that this organization has probably been mailing the letters to the U of A HOSPITAL. Easily done. But, when I call them, again, do you think they would tell me that- no. They suggested that I write them a letter, giving them the address that they should be using if I think they are using the wrong address. And I am paying them to do this kind of work! Great. I probably wouldn't mind so much if I wasn't already in New York, ready and able to work! So, I am hoping and praying that things will start to move ahead.

Not that I'm bored. I'm not. I can easily find things for myself to do. Especially since the weather is still really nice and New York is so close by! I think, maybe, my night-time TV watching has increased slightly... but I'm not addicted!! I need to go now, Grey's Anatomy is on.

New York on a Tuesday

Hmm... I had a great day today. I met up with an old (not age-wise, just length of time-wise) nursing friend. He didn't know that I was in NY until I emailed him after I received an email from him saying how he was loving celebrating his birthday in NY. So long story, but we ended up making plans, texting each other at 9:00pm, Monday night. Having the flexible schedule that comes with not working, I jumped on a train and headed into Manhattan today. We ended up in Brooklyn, visiting over perogies and clubhouse sandwiches. It was great to catch up and have a laugh. It was so fun to meet up in such an exciting city, so far removed from the places and circumstances that we knew each other from.

After our lunch, my friend caught his plane and I went to wander NY by myself. The day was sunny and warm and I didn't really have a specific plan, which ended up being the best thing. I did manage to get in some shopping, but I also just wandered through some of the streets, just looking at the buildings and the people. I felt like it was a great way to experience NY. I really wish that we could live right in the city but I guess I will just have to make many more trips like this one.

Another great thing- we have found an apartment to rent!! We don't get it until October 21st, which is fine because they are putting in new everything. And we have a great view of the woods and a pond.

Waiting for my floor to dry.

I am currently stranded in my living room as I wait for my kitchen floor to dry. We got a new Apple computer this week (yaah!) We are loving it. It has this program called photo booth, where it takes crazy pictures of you. Here are a few samples.






Jason and I were practically crying after we first tried it out.

We have been attending a Congregational church here. We have been enjoying the pastor's sermons a lot. He was a microbiologist for 30 years, then had a career change to being a pastor. So, we particularly like his approach to his sermons. The only problem with the church is the lack of people our age. When I say lack, I mean that there is absolutely no one even remotely close to our age. I think there is probably a 10 years gap (either way) between us and the rest of the people. So, while we enjoy it, we may check out another church as well, maybe just so I could meet a few people my age.

Last weekend, we went to Southampton for the day. It's the town where the rich people of New York have their summer homes. These houses are pretty amazing, especially considering that no one lives in them for half the year. The ones we looked at faced the Atlantic, were right on the beach and were massive! We walked along the beach there, had lunch in town and did a bit of window shopping. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday.

Sunday, we went mountain biking. I was a bit nervous because I haven't mountain biked for 3 years. But the trail we found was pretty manageable and I felt quite comfortable (it's just like riding a bike...). Nice to know that there a some great trails so close by.

This weekend, we are going to look at some places to rent. I would like to move out of these temporary accommodations and find something more permanent. Perhaps the smell of urine on our green carpet is motivating me as well...

This picture is of a cool insect sitting on the side of our apartment.