Another year? What the heck!?

On a snowy walk.



snowy sunset in the Dawson Creek park.

Snowy view from our building.

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is that last day of the year. They say time seems to go by faster the older you get, which I think is true so far. It's hard to believe it's been a year since Mike went away to Depot, or that it's been a year since I started my practicum, or that I've already lived in D.C for 6 months!

Despite having no family here, our Christmas was really awesome. On Christmas Eve, I went to church, and Mike stopped by in uniform near the end. Then, I was invited to Matt's parents house where they were playing games and eating food. On Christmas morning, I made waffles just as Mike was getting home from work, and then we ate at 5:30 am and opened our gifts before going back to sleep. We were delighted to receive a CD from Mike's mom and Dave with video of them going around to mine and Mike's family members. We cried watching all our relatives say Merry Christmas and sing us songs. The best was when our nieces sang us "I want a hippopotomus for Christmas...". So cute. So that was a great surprise, and then we also got spoiled by everyone. Some of our gifts included, new comfy pj's from Mike, a new board game, a really cool digital camera (so I can finally post pics once I figure it out), a cookbook, a book on home reno's (which we are going to need!), some french books from my sister in Quebec...all in all I was very spoiled. Thanks everyone!

Christmas dinner brought us to Matt and Lindsey's house, where my carrot dish (thanks Granny), cheesecake and good pudding were a hit. We ate early so that Mike could be there, even though he was sooo tired and heading off to work for another night. Then, we played Cranium, where the girls kicked the boys butts, and some card games (I now know how to play poker). Mike surprised us by returning in his uniform to hang out and then drove me home later on in the cruiser, which is always fun. Either the people in the building think I get picked up by the police a lot, or they now know where the police live...oops.

Boxing day is always fun as no one I know was hospitalized like last year, and neither of us had to work! So, instead we had another turkey dinner with two other members, and played games until 2 am.


Mike and I at our boxing day dinner.

We're getting so excited to move into the house now, only 25 days. I better start packing. My wallet is definitely shrinking from all the things that have to be paid for though. We did get a 50% couch, loveseat and chair set thanks to the Brick's boxing day sale, so that was exciting. We can now almost furnish both living rooms in the house.

Mike is back to work for 4 days now, but I can't wait until he's off again, because it just snowed a lot, so we are going to go sledding on friday or saturday!


Happy New Year everyone!

Spoiled teacher, gingerbread, and Christmas music

Friday was my last day of school, so I'd planned a Christmas party for the kids. It went really well, although a little crazy as all the sugar and icing (we decorated cookies) made them extra hyper. But, what can you do? It's Christmas and I was happy to be able to make them so excited for it. I was also incredibly spoiled by my class--there were 19 of them in class on the last day, and 16 of them brought me gifts. I'll take a picture of them once I open the camera I know I'm getting for Christmas...teehee. But they included about 10 Christmas ornaments, candles, chocolates, and many decorated Christmas cards. Including the one that was labelled "M.Happy" for Madame Happy, from a little boy who calls me that as he has difficulty saying my last name! Haha..so cute. Although I would not have said the same thing if a high school boy was calling me that. Grade one is fine though.

But, I now have this enormous gingerbread woman that I decorated but I'm so sick of sweets that I can barely eat it. I know, I know, me sick of dessert. But yes, I just feel like eating tons of veggies and fruits, how strange is that?

The best part of today was receiving a CD from my friend here, Kim, who recorded a Christmas CD with a friend of hers. I'd listened to it at her house and told her I loved it, so she wrapped up a copy and gave it to me at Church this morning. It is so amazing, I wish I could play it for you, but I will be listening to it until Christmas that's for sure.

Although we have no family coming, and Mike is working over Christmas, I was invited to a gathering on Christmas eve, after the church service, so I'm excited for that. And then Mike and I are having an afternoon dinner on Christmas day with Matt and Lindsey and their family, and then on boxing day, we've planned a dinner with another RCMP member and his wife, who are also new and have no family coming. So, it should be a lot of fun.

I am disappointed, however, as Mike was supposed to have New Year's Eve off and most of the next day, so I was actually planning on going out for once this year, as usually we both opened the stores we worked at on the 1st. But, it turns out he now has to work night shift on New year's eve, which means that we can't do anything. I was really mad at first, because he's alreaday working Christmas, and it seemed to me that they should ask someone who has Christmas off to work New Years. He's not even the new guy on the watch anymore, he actually has seniority over about 4 other new members. But, I think I've gotten over it now, as really it's flattering to him that when they needed an extra member on one of the busiest night shifts of the year, he was the one they asked. Or maybe I'm just forcing myself to look at it that way. It's Christmas, right, so I shouldn't complain. Plus, most exciting of all is that we got our house! Everything went well with our other inspections, and we take possession on the 25th of January. I'm already decorating in my head all day!

Well, there is 1 day and about 8 hours until Christmas. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas and that you remember the reason we all celebrate on this day. No matter how materialzed it has become, and no matter how many people call Christmas the "holidays", it will always be Christmas to me.

God Bless.

9 days till Christmas!

I can't believe how quickly the Christmas season is coming and how quickly it will soon be over. It still makes me sad on boxing day morning every year. This week was one of the busiest since we moved up to D.C. Not only did I have my school Christmas concert, my bible study Christmas party, Mike's work party and my work party, but we also decided to buy a house!

It's not finalized yet, but we put in an offer on Monday that was accepted. We had the bank approve our financing, and then we had the house inspection done on Thursday. Unfortunately, it turns out that there are a few things that might need repairing soon, so we have extended our deadline until Thursday to try and sort out the cost of the repairs, and then we may change our offer depending on that.

I really hope it works out though, as I still love the house, but so far we haven't gotten a hold of any electricians who can give us an estimate on what it will cost to repair the electrical mast on the house. I was told a few thousand dollars, but then a woman at work said she had hers replaced for 500$. It's hard to know, but let's just pray that it is all sorted out in time on Thursday and that we still get the house. My biggest worry is whether we will be able to resell it when we leave Dawson Creek. I'm not worried about making money on it, I just don't want to lose any.

Buying a house is so risky, especially one that needs work when you live in a city with limited resources.

Now that all the Christmas parties are over, I'm not sure what I will do this week. I finished my presents, mailed off all the gifts and cards, wrapped the ones for Mike and now it's just a matter of waiting! I'm enjoying the constant play of Christmas shows on CBC--right now it's Rudolph, but later they're playing the Polar Express, which I loved.

Oh, and I forgot to mention it was also my 8 year anniversary (not of marriage, just of being together) on tuesday. So, we had our traditional Christmas date which wasn't the same without the Butchart gardens, but we went to the old fashioned Christmas at the pioneer village for free food, including chestnuts roasted over a real live open fire...haha. I've never tasted them before, but they actually are quite good. The best part, however, was taking a sleigh ride through the snowy dark fields pulled by horses with bells! Seriously, it was a lot of fun. There were so many kids from the school I teach at. On our way over to the sleigh, the horse-drawn wagon passed us and I heard a chorus of girls yell out "Bonjour, Mme L'Heureux"! It was so cute, I couldn't help but laugh, as it was dark and they had recognized me by the gray knit tuque with the pompom I always wear.

So, a lot of Christmas fun has been had this month, and I am looking forward to reading some books, playing board games with Mike, and a Christmas dinner at our friend Lindsay and Matt's house in the afternoon before Mike heads off to work. We are hoping to spend two weeks on the island for March break, but it all depends on whether he can get his schedule changed--he had booked it off already, but then they decided to shuffle the watches around, which means that he's on a completely different schedule as of January. Hopefully it doesn't ruin our plans. Fingers crossed, because I am already dreaming of breakfast at Rebar, Pagliacci's, and the Blue Fox.

Merry 9 days till Christmas everyone!

Buying a house

After looking for months, and checking out about 7 possibilities in person, Mike and I have decided to put an offer in on a house in our neighbourhood. It's listed on mls.ca if you want to have a look at it and tell me what you think! Or try this link.

If that didn't work it's number 6779. It's a sort of 50s retro style house, built in 1957 by a mayor of Dawson Creek. It's had some renovations, and we love the huge family/entertainment room they've added on through the french doors at the back of the house. It has a fireplace and is super cozy. We'll definitely be needing some new furniture for it though!

I'm nervous as to whether we'll get it or not, as we are meeting to put an offer in tomorrow. It's so hard to decide what to offer though, as I don't want to start too high or too low. Also, we will need to buy a washer and dryer and eventually a new stove and fridge. I also want to do new flooring as it is pretty mis-matched at the moment. The kitchen definitely needs new floors.

I'm so happy to think that this summer I could be barbequeing and lying out in the sun instead of stuck in an apartment. The one downfall though is the flat roof, which Mike may have to shovel every once in a while if there is too much snow. It's been super warm though today--only -1 compared to about -32 at the start of the week.

Well, I'd love to hear what other people think of the house. I need to go finish wrapping the last of my presents to mail off tomorrow. Feel free to offer thoughts on decorating ideas, colours etc...!

More poetry

I found out this morning that I won first prize in a Canadian poetry contest. The contest required a poem written within the theme of Canadian Landscape. Mine was chosen as first place winner, tied with another writer from Abbotsford. Please check out the website, where I am also currently a "featured writer".

Winter is definitely here although the calendar says it's not so for another 20 days. Every day is a new cold record for me. Yesterday it was about -20. I also attended my first Christmas party of the season with my church last night. Afterwards the girls and I watched "Love Actually" and broke my no junk diet by eating lots of chips and brownies. Well worth it though.

Today is a lazy day as I slept in until noon, but I think I should go do some Christmas shopping and finish making my Christmas cards. There's not much time before I have to mail them off!

Happy December!