Life as it happens: Our Journey East

Our crazy amazing friends!

Our journey begins in January of 2008, well I guess in reality it begins the day I met Ted, but I really won’t go that far back (it’s already been 7 years!!). I just want to give a brief history and then I will share the current part of our journey. While living in Sooke we received a phone call from someone on base about moving to Nanaimo (Nanoose Bay) and we were given 24 hours to decide. We wrote out the pros and cons, prayed about it and felt in our hearts it would be a wise move. 6 months later we were on our way to Nanaimo. Once there and settled we were doing what we do best – looking for a new vehicle. We knew we wanted to start a family and we knew our ford Ranger would not hold more than the 2 of us. A salesman saw our fish sticker and asked which church we attended, we told him our story and he invited us to his church. As most of you know, that was a God thing because we ended up with some awesome friendships and felt at home instantly. We knew from the start (as we know with every posting) that it will not be our forever home and even though we were well aware (as were our new friends) that it was a temporary stay leaving certainly wasn’t any easier.

As the time came for posting season, I asked God that He send us somewhere where as a family we could grow closer to Him and find a good church. When we first heard we were going to Borden, ON we were both shocked and a little upset as we did not ask for this place. But I remembered what I prayed and I have to believe God has put us here for a reason, though I’m still a little upset about it – perhaps God can turn down the heat in the summer??

The moving truck

My 30th Birthday

So our journey continues, on Friday July 13 – my 30^th birthday! – We had to say good bye to our friends. We had them all over to our empty house to have pizza and ice cream cake with us. We had some wonderful people who showed up to help us clean and I am ever so grateful for that help!

I had said good bye to our friend Craig as he had to leave early, and after saying bye I told everyone I was done with good byes and people needed to just leave while I wasn’t looking. No one listened. It was definitely the worst part of my birthday.

Partying with our friends in our backyard

Saturday morning at 5:30 we went back to the house to get Neeko and as we drove off I watched the house disappear in the rear view mirror. That’s when the tears came for me. But since Malachi was in the car with me I didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it, so I sucked it up and we boarded the ferry one last time. And even the ferry, the reason I always said I would never move back to the island for was a sad departure, knowing I wasn’t coming back on for a very long time! I might actually miss it. Malachi had joined Ted in the truck at this point and my tears flowed freely. Driving away from the Island, where Malachi was born, where I’ve felt more at home in years!! Leaving Surrey wasn’t even this hard!

Breakfast at Denny's with Family

My Family

We arrived in Langley and met up with a bunch of my family members at Denny’s for breakfast. It was nice seeing them all there and though saying bye to them wasn’t as hard at the time, once we left and got on the road, the tears came back (I think one of the reasons it wasn’t as hard is because we’ve said our good byes when I moved to Alberta). And to be honest, they came back off and on for the next several days - Leaving the lower mainland, leaving the province and just periodically thinking about it. I had to catch myself a few times as I would think “Oh on our way home…” or “When we get back to Nanaimo I’ll have to do….” That makes me sad.

So our first stop was in Revelstoke, BC. On the way a few “exciting” things happened. My purse went for a ride on the back of the tailgate! And while driving through Kamloops I noticed a familiar car driving, spotted the “Mexico Outreach” bumper sticker and knew it had to be a couple from my church in Surrey, sure enough it was!! We finally arrived in Revelstoke and I was exhausted!

Day two - When we got up the next morning it was hot and sunny. As we continued driving the rain began and did not stop till the middle of Manitoba! I needed gas somewhere around Banff, so I drove in to the town and what a gong show it was in there. Because of the craziness and the pouring rain, Ted said “I’ll meet you in Morely” and drove off. No problem, right? Wrong! I looked on the map but couldn’t find a “Morely” or anything that resembled the name, so I figured he must have said Canmore. So I searched Canmore for him but no luck. Decided to keep going and that’s when I noticed on the map, off the #1 was a Morely. So after missing the exit and turning around I found the little hole of a town called Morely. Only there was no Ted to be seen. Since I already had headed off the trans Canada hwy, I continued on this back road and figured if I don’t find him, I’ll head to Olds, where we were spending the night at his moms. The road took me to Cochrane, AB and because hwy 1 was really close to where I came out I figured I’d go take a peek and see if he was waiting. As I drove I noticed his truck in a gas station! I found him! Finally! We continued North and had a visit with his mom until the following morning when we hit the road again.

Day three - We took a detour and went to Drumheller – God’s Sense of Humor. I won’t get into it but I enjoy believing that God put bones in the earth to mess with our heads. Tell me where they fit into the Bible? But that is a discussion for another day. We enjoyed our little stay there and then continued on to Swift Current, SK.

Malachi and I in Drumheller, AB

Day four – We left Swift Current and arrived in Regina around 10:45 am and visited with our friends Scott and Julie who we met in Nanaimo (they moved back to Regina a year ago). They have a boy who is 18 months older than Malachi and they both had a blast together! It was a much needed break for Malachi! They even have a dog that Neeko was scared of, but just as we were leaving they played for a bit! It was sad to say good bye to them but we had to be off to reach our next destination – Brandon, MB. However after we left their house I realized something terrible, we left Malachi’s stuffed monkey “Ah-Ah” at our hotel. This monkey is not only special to Malachi but to me as well as it was the very first gift given to us when we found out we were pregnant! We called the hotel and they said they would mail it to us!

Asher, Malachi and Loganne

Day five – With no one left to visit we headed towards Kenora, ON. We arrived around 3:30 and enjoyed being able to move around and not have to go straight to bed!

Day six – We continued our journey, entered our last time zone change and headed for Nipigon, ON. It was a small little place and there wasn’t much to look at. But we had a room with a bed and that’s what mattered most.

Day Seven – We continued onward and headed to Sault Ste. Marie.

Day Eight – though we could have made it to Barrie, I was so tired of driving and the thought of doing another 6 hour drive exhausted me. So we cut it in half since we were still a day ahead of schedule. So we made one last stop in Sudbury for the night.

Day Nine – Finally we arrived in Barrie, ON! No more driving, I was ecstatic to finally be done but sad that it meant we were there in our new hometown and we were not turning around to go back to Nanaimo.

Our time since we have arrived

On the 23rd of July we had our house viewing, Malachi was very excited to finally see the house. We put Neeko in the backyard while we looked around the place inside. One thing I should mention is that Barrie is HOT! And not just hot, but humid as well. The humidity tends to make the temperature a good 10 more degrees hotter then it actually is, so we have gone from a cold BC summer to a sticky hot 40+ degree weather here in Ontario. So we put Neeko out and about 30 minutes later I am trying to find something I can get her water in. That's when I noticed our pool cover was all messed up. I stepped outside to see a soaking wet dog come running up to me. Someone went swimming! She was very lucky she got back out!! Crazy dog! I am happy to say that was her only jump into the pool.

Our stuff arrived on July 25th and we were finally done with hotels. Malachi was very glad to have his stuff back.
We have been settling in slowly - I did paint Malachi's bedroom so it took a little longer to get his room ready, but now that it is, I think it looks great!

Malachi's room before

And after!

Last week half my tooth broke off, so we went and found a dentist for me, this Thursday they will be fixing it. Later that day I noticed some marks on Malachi and my first thought was "ringworm." Turned out I was right.

A few things we are getting used to - the humidity! The traffic lights - here a flashing green means the right away to turn left. Huh!? And the weirdest to me is the bagged milk. It's like seriously stepping back into the 80's! I don't know why they have them and I can't wait to be back in the land of jugs again! :)

So that's where we are right now, trying to fit in to our new life, checking out the area and finding a new church. It hasn't been easy and we are missing our friends back in Nanaimo and our life there. Malachi constantly asks for his friends, he has asked me how we make new friends. If we will find a "new Everett" or a "new Jack." etc. But even now he seems to slowly be adjusting to this new life.

Anyway, thanks for reading my mini novel! :) We'd love to hear from you!