A New Paradise and New Prayer Needed!

Don't get me wrong - I loved living in the Caymans - beach, sun, sand, hot weather all year round, best friends - but there really is no place like our Canada!


I have the perfect job in a great city where you can go shopping at ten an night and actually find what you are looking for. A far cry from having to stock up on shampoo and conditioner and food and clothes in the two weeks you come home for Christmas every year because the stores down there only get stock in twice a year. Anyways, I do have the best job - my school is great, with awesome teachers, parents, and kids. This school is a rare find, so rare that I think I might push back having kids 5 more years just so I can work there!

However, our school is under some sprititual warfare - last weekend one of our colleagues was killed in a car accident. She has two little girls and a husband that need lots of prayer. Also, one of our middle school students was hit by a car yesterday and is in critical condition in the ICU. We are praying hard as a school, and would appreciate any outside prayer for these families.

Anyways, Kelly says his job is okay. He has to ride the C-Train for 35 minutes there and back everyday, so that can't be too fun. The only benefit to that is I finally have a vehicle! So if I need to go somewhere after school I can do that! It's been two years since I've had that kind of freedom, and it's pretty nice.

And I'm loving Calgary - having the mountains as a backdrop is awesome, and the skiing and hiking and camping options are wonderful. We live right on the south edge of the city, so a one minute drive and we're in the country. Doesn't feel like we live in a giant city of over a million people.

I can't believe I actually missed snow - I woke up today and there was tons of snow on the ground - and I got really excited . . . until it came time to brush the 4 inches of snow off my SUV.

Sorry for the long wait for a post - hope you are all well!

New Home Sweet Home

We made it! We are safe and sound in Calgary, Alberta. Although we miss Cayman and all our friends, it is great to be back in Canada!

Our new condo is awesome - it has a skylight that lets in tons of light without a lot of hot sunshine! We have a fair size deck and the floor plan is very open, which I like. Here's a couple photos, but it's hard to get the full picture. It has it's own entrance, and we're on the second floor with no one above us, and it has two bedrooms (one that fits our king size bed!!). The outside is also really nice with rock walls and tan panelling.

We've already purchased a bed, couch, loveseat, TV (free with furniture!) and TV stand, cell phones, chest of drawers, and my favorite - our new Chevy Equinox!! It's a smaller SUV, but it does just about as good on gas as a car, with lots of room, and it handles much better than our old Hyundai Accent!! It's a contest between Kelly and I to see who gets to drive it each time! The biggest difference here is we can get things right away - all our stuff was delivered within a couple days!! Yeah for efficiency and customer service again!

Best of all, I'm only a ten minute drive from school, which is incredible for Calgary!! And even if Kelly works downtown, we've discovered it only takes 30 minutes in rush hour, so that's not bad either! Kel has had lots of interviews, and he's looking for the right one. He says he might want to wait until December to make a choice, but I said he only has until the end of September! :o)

Our trip to Quebec was really great - we got some tours of old Quebec (which is apparently 400 years old!), had a river boat cruise on the St. Lawrence river, and had a carnaval dress up night where we all dressed up in awesome costumes (I was a geisha (if you know what that is you'll get a kick out of it!) and Kelly wore a dress - which was supposed to be a caveman outfit but ended up looking like a spotted leopardskin dress - we had a great time laughing over it!). Rick Mercer was our surprise guest speaker, and was totally awesome! I haven't laughed so hard for so long ever! We also got to listen to Randy Bauchman and Burton Cummings live (from the Guess Who and BTO), and they totally rocked! They sing songs like Taking Care of Business and American Woman. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and the Tim Horton's franchise did a great job organizing everything - things started on time and were finished on time. And they had a big job to do - there were 2,400 people at this thing! We had to take 57 chartered buses to the river boat cruise! That's a pic of me with the Chateau Frontenac (not sure I spelled that right!) in the background - the most beautiful hotel in Quebec - looks like an old castle!

But that's a lot for now - hope all your summers are going great!

Leaving Cayman

We leave on Tuesday for Montreal, Quebec, where we will stay overnight and take a train to Quebec City on Wednesday. We will spend 5 days at a Tim Horton's Convention, eating great food, staying in a super nice hotel, and exploring the city.

We will then fly, on July 30, to Calgary, which will become our new home. I have such mixed feelings - so excited for the changes about to happen, yet sad to be leaving everything my life has been these last two years. However, all the wonderful friends, memories, and pictures I have will stay with me forever. Some of the memorable things about this strange little island are:

Island Motto: "If it can be done tomorrow, it can wait 'till next week." - Things take FOREVER to happen in the Cayman Islands. Our internet and phone got hooked up a month after applying for it. Driving down the road and seeing 10 men sitting around watching one man do all the work makes me laugh, as well as seeing the guy who is cutting the grass in the ditches leaning back over his riding lawnmower sleeping away at any time of the day. Getting any kind of government form means standing in line for 2 hours, only to find out that you need to stand in yet another line after that for another hour, then you need to go get another form and fill it out and return the next day . . . and on it goes. You just simply have to learn to relax and become laid back if you want to survive here and not become eternally frustrated.

Cultural Division- there are so many different cultures on this island, and it's so strange to see the majority of people sticking with their own groups. There are the few exceptions of course, but the majority of Jamaicans stick with Jamaicans, the Philipinos with Philipinos, and so on. What an amazing opportunity to learn about other cultures and people, yet we often stay in our own comfort zone, with people from our own culture.

Weather - I've never seen so many green an lush things live in a place that goes 6 months with no rain. Our dry season lasts about 6 months with maybe the occasional spitting of rain. The weather is slightly cooler at this time (4 to 5 degrees F). Then comes the rainy season of summer. Never have I seen so much rain fall, witness the rapid growth of plants (so fast that you can see it day to day), or felt such unbelievable heat that you sweat uncontrollably whenever you are outside, even for 10 seconds. I'm looking forward to the seasons - even winter!

Scenery - It is impossible to describe the beauty that you can find on this island. 7 mile beach - really only 5, so someone must have measured wrong :o) - just seems to go on forever with the softest sand ever and the most brilliant shades of ocean blue I've ever imagined. Everywhere you look there are green plants with budding flowers all year long. Giant palm trees stick up everywhere, and you can pretty much find an iquana just by looking up a tree.

Odds and Ends - driving on the left side of the road in a car that has the steering wheel on the right side was a super fun challenge (your signal switch and windshield wipers are also switched around) , trying to walk somewhere when there are no sidewalks and you're almost getting hit by traffic, driving slow because there are 2 guys trying to ride one bike and they are swerving all over the road, taking twice as long to get to work simply because it's raining out (equate it with ice in Canada), having A/C in your house but no heater, hearing 10 different accents as you go shopping, eating outside at restaurants 365 days a year, wearing your bathing suit more than your clothes, and the packs of wild dogs and groups of chickens that aimlessly wander around everywhere (try sleeping in when there is a rooster cock-a-doodle-doing outside your window!)

I'll miss this place - but I know God has great plans for us in Calgary!

Enjoying the summer. That's what I've been trying to do. While it's been sad to say goodbye to everyone these past few weeks, I've been having fun with my last weeks here in Cayman. My sister Kori has been down for a couple weeks, and we've been living the no-work summer life of teachers. We wake up every morning and work out for an hour or two, then swim and sit by the pool for another few hours. Last week in the evenings we did an Upward Basketball Camp with kids from church. This week we're doing more touristy things, like going to Stingray City, horseback riding on the beach, and SCUBA diving.

Thanks to God's goodness, we have found a wonderful place to live in Calgary only 10 minutes away from my school!! That was my biggest concern moving to Calgary - having an hour long commute to work. Who wants to waste two hours a day driving to and from work? Not I. Also, it's only a year old, and the rent is much cheaper than a lot of other places we've been looking at (plus it includes a washer, dryer, and dishwasher, which are in short supply). We are very blessed!

Before we move home - in 19 days :( - we are going to a Tim Horton's convention in Quebec City for 5 days. That will hopefully take the sting off of moving home a little bit - kind of like a little vacation before reality sets in. We get to go on tours of the city, stay at a fabulous hotel, eat all the free food we want (which isn't necessarily a good thing), go on a boat ride down the river, and lots of other fun stuff. I've never even been out east before, least of all to the French speaking part of Canada. Should be a fun experience, although I hardly remember anything of my 12 years of French education (well worth it, obviously!).

Not much else is up down here, but I'll post when we get settled in Calgary and hopefully get internet quickly (which ended up taking a month to get hooked up down here - no kidding!). Also, I've made a Facebook page, so if you're into that kind of thing (and even know what that means!!) check me out. Au revoir!!

Saying Goodbye

Well, it's about that time. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says: "There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven." This has been and will be particularly applicable to our lives this month. God has made a special time for everything, and our time down here is almost over. We are saying goodbye to many of our friends, which is very hard, since they have been our family down here. Everybody who comes to live down here leaves all family behind, so your friends become your new family. You spend a lot of time together and learn so much about each other.

We said goodbye to a couple last weekend, Barend and Annami, that were the mature, wise, God-centered couple that you could go to for prayer, guidance, advice, or help of any kind. I worked with both of them at school, and will greatly miss our conversations, as they had a way of turning any moment into a laughable one. They are off to Panang, in Malaysia, to work at a Christian boarding school.

On Monday, we will say goodbye to a great couple, Richard and Tamryn, who have been the "opposite" couple; he is very outgoing, sporty, and adventurous. She is shy, sweet, caring, gentle, and loving (basically what you think of when you think of a great Christian woman), but they have something great in common; they are both fiercely devoted to God. She is also pregnant, so there is added sadness at the thought that we will not see their up-coming baby. They are off, back home to South Africa, where she can become the amazing mother we all know she will be, and he will be a sports coach (mostly tennis, although he excels at others, such as golf), which is a huge passion and gift for him.

We say goodbye to another wonderful couple on Wednesday, Alan and Cristal. They are going away for the next few months, but will be returning to the Cayman Islands. However, we must say goodbye to them now, as we will be gone by the time they come back. They are the cuddle couple, who love to spend almost all their time together. They are kind, considerate, and accommodating. They are also great listeners, which is a rare gift to have, and are always there when you need someone to talk to. I worked with Cristal at school and Kelly worked with Alan. In fact, Cristal and I worked right across the hall from each other, so we were able to see each other a lot, or on busy days we at least got to pop in and say hi. That will be a hard thing to get used to next year.

Our friend, Marius, will also be staying in Cayman. He is our super runner of the group, participating in all the runs on the island, where he always manages to win first place. We see him running or biking on the side of the road more often than we see him hanging out for the weekend. He is also an avid cliff jumper, loving to jump off one of the highest points of the island (30 - 40 feet), climb back up, and do it again. He has a straightforward personality, and will tell it like it is. You never have to guess what he is thinking, because he will tell you. Good to have around! He is also from South Africa, and we will miss his health centered (except for the binges where he eats a whole bag of family size Cheetos by himself) outlook on life.


And we will say goodbye to Josh and Rebecca last, at the end of the month. They, too, will be staying on Cayman. They are an energetic, outgoing couple who also happen to be having a baby in November. They are our "double couple." Kelly and Josh have very similar personalities, and Rebecca and I have very similar personalities. It is so fun to listen to Rebecca tell me a story about Josh (how he hates any leftover condiment, like dressing, not eaten off a plate), and it is exactly the same as something Kelly has done (why did you take more ketchup than you needed?). We have quite the good laugh over these though. And the boys have similar tales to tell about us. Like the way we always forget something in the house (I forgot my sweater, wait just a second!) or do silly, inefficient things (having to backtrack when shopping, or waiting until getting to the front door before getting our keys out of our purses). I'm sure a lot of husbands and wives can relate to these kinds of things.


So this month is a month for goodbyes. We just hope that we will all be able to stay in touch over the next few years, and hopefully see each other again sometime in our lives. But as this season is growing to a close, a new season is beginning. We will be starting new jobs in a big new city, looking for new places to live, new vehicles, starting new friendships, and finding a new church to call home. And most importantly, we will be closer to our families, which will be another good change. We just need to remember to trust God for our growing list of needs in the next month. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." says Proverbs 3:5. A lot of things will be changing, and we need to make sure to trust in God's plan for us, and not on what we understand to be the best things for us. Your prayers would be appreciated as we start this new journey in our lives! Blessings!

Learning to Laugh

These last few weeks have been a blur of activity! School is winding down (only 6 days left!) and we had two graduation ceremonies for our graduating class of 40 (the largest the school has ever seen). We had a Baccalaureate (good-bye from the church) and a Graduation ceremony two nights in a row, not to mention I was sick during one of them, which made the 2 hour and 45 minute ceremony almost unbearable. But they went really well, and now the school is turning its eyes towards finding new students and new staff for the next year. The school desperately needs high school math and biology teachers, so if you know any Christian teachers that match the description, let them know the Cayman Islands might be the place for them to move next!

I've also been busy organizing a surprise baby shower for one of our pregnant friends. She isn't expecting until November, buy many of us will not be here when the baby is born, so we wanted to celebrate when we could all be together. Those of you who know me know it's hard for me to keep an exciting secret like a baby shower, but I did it! She had no idea, and was so shocked when she walked in to my house, expecting to come work out, and here there are a bunch of people, gifts, and decorations waiting for her. She had to wear an adult diaper and a soother and bottle around her neck. We also had name tags for everyone, and she was 'nipple,' so we enjoyed calling her that all afternoon. Plus, she is one of the hardest people I know to embarrass, but her face was definitely red while she was climbing into her huge diaper! We played some fun games like Baby Food Testing (you have to try different kinds of baby food and guess what they are), Dough-tionary (like pictionary but instead of drawing you make it out of play-doh), and Diaper Food Testing (edible food put into a diaper, and you need to taste it and guess what it is), and trust me, eating melted chocolate out of a diaper definitely warps you mind as to what you are eating! Also, try eating oatmeal, mustard, mushed carrots, crushed beans, and strawberry yogurt out of a diaper! It was very fun, and thank goodness I didn't have to do any of it!

Living down here and hanging out with our great friends has taught me a valuable lesson - laugh at yourself every chance you get. I used to sometimes get upset or really embarrassed when people would point out or laugh at the MANY stupid things I did, but since living here and having such good friends, I've been able to put aside my ego and laugh at the dumb things I do (which happen to be very numerous). For example, running through a parking lot at night and tripping over a speed-bump, which skinned my shoulder and gouged my toe open, had me laughing so hard I had tears coming out of my eyes. Not to mention my friend had, just two nights earlier, stepped onto a moving treadmill and skinned her shoulder in the exact same spot as me. We had a great laugh looking at our matching patches of missing skin. So learn to laugh at yourself every chance you get and not take things so seriously - your life will be much happier!

Unworthy

Working at a Christian school, going to church every week, having a faith-filled husband, and hanging out with Christian friends has led me to examine faith and the growth of faith. A certain problem has been put on my heart lately. As Christians we are constantly examining our faith and looking for ways to improve our lives for Christ. Lately, I've been thinking about the way people compare themselves to one another. The subject has been popping up in several areas (devotions, Bible scripture, talks, even in my class at school), and God has been laying it on my heart during prayer.

I recently heard a great message about pride and how it often relates to comparing ourselves to others. As humans, it's natural to compare ourselves to one another, in all areas of our lives. "He has a bigger house, she's happier, I'm smarter, they're making more money, their sins are worse than mine," are just a few ways we can compare ourselves. Pride is often the leader of these thoughts, the promoter of, "I want to be the wealthiest, happiest, smartest, most liked, and best at this or that." Especially in the area of sinning, I am often temped to say, "Hey, I know someone who is doing something worse than my sin, so mines not so bad." These are not the right kinds of thoughts to have in my head, but I'm able to find them in there, especially if I go searching for them.

However, when we compare ourselves to the one true God, we realize how short we fall. Any sin, no matter how small, separates us from our God. And it is only by the grace and love of that God that He chose to close the gap that separates us from Him, by sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for us. So when I start to compare myself to others, I've started to try and think about how loving, humble, gracious, and amazing our God is, and how that should be my comparison. To be more like Him, more Christ-like in my behavior, not comparing myself to other humans. We listened to our friend preach this last Sunday about love (which he did an excellent job of!) - and how the greatest virtue is love and how we can show this love to others through the gifts God gave us. Jesus is the perfect example of love, and there can be no comparison between Him and us; but we should strive to be like Him, although we know we will never attain it. So one word, unworthy, can describe our lives here on earth, and some people despair in that knowledge, thinking they can never be good enough for God or that God does not love them. However, once you know the amazing grace of God, you are set free to follow Him and do the best you can during your short time on earth.

On a lighter note, I went on a night-dive last night and it was pretty fun. We saw a scorpion fish, and I found out after the dive that their venom can possibly kill a human, so it was a good thing I didn't explore it further or try to get close enough to take a picture. I also saw a few different kinds of fish that I haven't seen before; bright blue ones with black stripes and rainbow colored ones. We saw a huge lobster and tons of orange, blue, purple, red and yellow coral, so it was beautiful. The creepy part is only being able to see what your flashlight is shining at. I struggled a bit trying to manage my flashlight and my camera at the same time - each one is connected to your wrist via a string, and I kept getting the two twisted - so there I am, 80 feet down, with my hands tied together in almost absolute darkness. I started to panic, then realized I just needed to take the strings off my wrist and untie them, which was still a challenge with such little light. And I had to make sure I didn't shine the flashlight in my face (or anyone else's) while I was trying to untie the strings, since it temporarily blinds you, and to not let go of one of the strings, as the camera or flashlight would shoot to the surface and be lost. Needless to say it was a little bit of a struggle, but I reminded myself that as long as I could breath I would be okay - even if my hands were tied together and I was blind. I still want to see a shark, so more diving is on the list of to do things before I leave in a couple months.

On a funnier note, I've got to share what one of my kids said to another kid at school. It's pretty funny, something you'd hear in a movie - the kid said, "You're so ugly that if you were in a monster movie you wouldn't have to wear a mask." I had to stiffly my laughter when I heard about it. But these are the things you remember as a teacher - the funny moments that remind you that the kids are just that, kids, and most just want some one on one attention to let them know they are special and loved.

Hope you've had a couple of great weeks and that something made you smile today!

Blessed Beyond Measure

We have been blessed beyond measure. As I sit here reflecting on all the great things that have happened over the past two years, I feel a little over-emotional. If you're a guy, you probably don't want to read much more. If you're a , well, you know where I'm coming from.

Recently, we had the wonderful news that 3 of our friends are expecting their first child, and 3 of our other friends have recently given birth to healthy, beautiful children (one was named Jennifer - nice to know the name hasn't gone out of style). This is all such exciting news, as 3 years ago everyone was getting engaged and married, and now everyone is starting to have children. All of these couples are strong Christian believers who have given control of their pregnancies over to God. It is so fun to hear about that first pair of pants that won't fit anymore, the crazy food cravings (or foods they can no longer even stand the smell of!), and the first baby gift. What's even funnier is the way the husbands turn to mush when they talk about their wives and future child.

One of our good South African friends has had her art work displayed at the Ritz hotel, which is quite a big deal down here! We went to the grand opening last Tuesday night, and all the big artists were there, and it was so fun to see our friend with them now that she is one too! Her husband is also the one who just finished his Masters Study. So we are all so proud of them! They will be leaving the Caymans this summer as well, as they are heading off to Malaysia.

So there are only 31 days of school left . . . it makes me sad and happy at the same time. It's been so fun teaching my first two years down here - I have so many good memories, and so many interesting memories . . . I've survived six throw-ups, 4 "bathroom s," 3 cuts that needed immediate attention, 8 field trips (one to the beach - tell me that's not scary!), 1 missing child, countless disagreements, and what makes it all worthwhile? The million hugs, the "light-bulb" moments, making a kid believe they can do better next time (and they do), being a comforter to a crying child, having a box full of drawings and colorings with the words, "To Mrs. Fher" (because none of them can spell my name!), and being the first and most important person in the world to tell that they lost a tooth, got a haircut, caught a frog, scraped their leg, fell off their bed and hit their head, or scored a goal over the weekend. The blessings continue on, as I have had such a supportive and Christ-centered staff to rely on through my first two years of teaching, which are supposed to be the hardest ones. It will be hard to say goodbye to all these wonderful people!

Even as we think about my job situation, truly that was God's blessing as well. When I went home for Christmas last year, I dropped of resumes at several schools. I thoroughly enjoyed all the schools I visited, but one school really stood out in my mind, and low and behold, it was the only school to contact me back for an interview. So I had the interview, and it apparently went well because they offered me the job! So, what are the chances that the one school I had a great feeling about is the one I get offered a job at? Totally God's planning! Kelly is looking for a job, but there are no shortage of CA jobs (another blessing!) in Calgary, so we are not worried. We know the right job will pop up eventually.

I've also been very blessed to have such a great husband that is able to take care of all the things that I'm not good at . . . booking plane tickets, rental cars, planning a trip, thinking about all the things we need when we move back (VISA's, car, house, drivers licenses, insurance, transferring our money back to Canada, etc). I am completely hopeless when it comes to that kind of stuff, so I am grateful that my husband is not only great at that stuff, but he actually enjoys it (must be an accountant thing - organizing and pre-planning). So for those couples who are complete opposites (as we are), there is hope that it is all for the best. Also, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary last weekend at a fancy Italian restaurant named Ragazzi (the date was actually a Monday, but who wants to celebrate on a Monday?) and I'm marveled at how fast they have gone by and how enjoyable they've been. I've learned so many things about marriage, friendship, love, and of course, Kelly, and it's only been two years! I am looking forward to the rest!

Anyways, that's about enough for now - it's been a while since I posted, so what can you expect? Have a great weekend!

Visitors!

So Kelly's Uncle and Aunt were down visiting the last week. It's been super fun going out for fancy dinners and telling them all about our home here, but I wish I could have had a few days off during the week to go with them on all their adventures. They did and saw almost all there is to see here, including Stingray City, Rum Point, a Helicopter Tour, the Atlantis Submarine, snorkeling at the reef, visiting the beaches, and walking through the Queen Elizabeth Botanic Park, which inhabits the endangered Blue Iguana, only found in Cayman! Before we leave I'd like to do everything again and make sure I have pictures of it all!

Our visitors said the best thing they did was Stingray City, where you get to stand is waist deep water in the middle of the ocean, while wild, 5 feet wide southern stingrays swim around you searching for food. It is definitely a must-do while visiting here. You then get to go to the reef and snorkel while interacting with hundreds of different fish and seeing tons of colorful coral and sea fans.

The activity I'll remember most is diving. There is nothing more relaxing and exhilarating that swimming 100 feet deep while staring at fish, coral, crabs, octopus, lobsters, eels, and turtles. Being weightless and the sound of your breathing makes you feel like your in space. Breathing through your regulator even sounds like your an astronaut (or Darth Vader!). That's a picture of me on the left, and the one on the right is an angelfish, which are my favorite kind of fish to find!

Last night a bunch of us celebrated our friend's graduation from his Masters study in Education. God is so good and saw him and his wife through these last two years as he studied and she took care of him. He worked full time while completing it, so it is a huge load off his shoulders knowing it's finished! They will be moving to Malaysia this summer to take up new teaching jobs there, so we are sad to say goodbye, but they are following God's calling and we are glad for that!

So it was a very good week! Kelly's aunt took a few pictures of Kelly and I at some beautiful places - it's nice to be able to have pictures of both Kelly and I in them! I hope you had a good week too, and don't forget to leave a comment so we know you visited!

Easter Holiday

Well, my Easter break was fabulous! I had the whole week off, and spent most of it working out, sitting by the pool, swimming, and reading outside in the shade. I have to get as much of this stuff in as possible, as our countdown to leaving has been shortened. We are now planning on leaving at the beginning of July instead of the end, since we will need to buy a vehicle, find a place to live, and move all of our stuff up there, which could take a while!

Kelly's Aunt and Uncle are planning on joining us this Saturday for a week, which will be exciting. I'm starting to wish more people would have been able to come and visit, but the invitation is still open until the end of June! Kelly's family came down 3 times (except for Landon, who only came once!) and mine made it down once.

The lifestyle down here is very laidback - people ride their bikes as slow as people walk. In fact, it's so laidback that it takes a month to get your phone and internet hooked up! The main motto is, "If it can be done tomorrow, why do it today?" So if you want a relaxing vacation, this is the place to come. It is definitely different than our North American lifestyle, which I have actually come to enjoy very much. There is no rush to do things down here, most places aren't open on Sundays, and the biggest question I have to ask myself on the weekend is, "Beach or pool?" I know this will all change when I get back to Canada, but I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends again, as well as being able to go to a WAL-MART whenever I want!! I've only been to 2 since moving down here (since there isn't one here!). I also can't wait to eat McDonald's food again (fries and a McFlurry will make up most of my meals the first two weeks!).

So, needless to say, I am excited about moving back, especially near the mountains where we can go camping and hiking and skiing as often as I can convince Kelly to go. But I should get back to sitting by the pool and enjoying the beautiful weather, so so long for now!

What's a Blog?

I remember the day Kelly asked me if I wanted to make our own blog . . . and I looked at him like he was speaking Latin. "Blog? What's a blog? Are you making that word up? Are you trying to joke on me?" (I am often the brunt of many jokes at my own expense, many of them deserved). I was soon informed that most of the world knew what a blog was, and some of our friends even had their own blog. I tried to blame it on the fact that we are on a little island with little knowledge of the rest of the world, but low and behold, some of our friends who live here, the Bloms, have their very own blog! So I had to claim mere ignorance, and succumbed to the fact that I am sometimes slow in the ways of the world. So here I am now, creating our own blog, and acting like I always knew what a blog was. Who doesn't?

Anyways, the creation of our blog at this time is bittersweet. We are living a fairy tale life down here in the Cayman Islands, but our time is now drawing to a close. I have accepted a job teaching second grade at Trinity Christian School in Calgary, AB. We will be moving sometime this summer, and leaving behind our amazing friends, beautiful beaches, and sweat-inducing hot weather. People keep telling me we are crazy for moving away, but the job at Trinity was truly a gift from God, and we are not about to pass up on the opportunity to follow Him.

I hope to stay faithful to this whole blog thing, and I was able to figure out how to add a picture, so I'm feeling pretty smart!

Blessings!