What a Week...!

Hi family and friends,


        Well, if you follow me on facebook at all, then you already know some of how our week has been... ARGH! But more on that in a minute...
        Our week started out pretty average. We enjoyed a great service at New City Church just two blocks away from our house and then had Matt's brother Jason and his fiance Breanne over.  It was a good visit!
       Monday Matt was busy at school all day while I drove around the city running some errands and dropping off resumes. I then packed up a picnic dinner, picked Matt up from school and we headed down to the Bayfront Park in Hamilton. It was a GORGEOUS day and the park was busy with people enjoying what little remains of the summer weather. It was a great break and we both enjoyed it!

The change to fall colours has begun at the Bayfront Park.

 Enjoying the Beautiful Day and Yummy Picnic

 Hamilton Harbour Lakefront

 He's a goof... But he's my goof! :)

 Such a great view!

 Enjoying the evening out.

        Tuesday wasn't too busy of a day. I kept busy around the house and Matt kept busy working on his book report that is due tomorrow. He had a 200 page book to read and then review in a little over a week so he worked on it most of this week. Tuesday evening we headed out to a little pub that's close by to watch my brother and his band "Bruekke" play. It's been great to be in the same city as my brothers and having the opportunity to be a part of what they're doing out here. 

Here's the Band:

       We headed home shortly after and stopped to grab Matt's bike out of the back of our truck so that we would have the space we needed to pick up his desk the next day. 

        Wednesday morning started the same as most of our other mornings with us getting up, getting ready and heading out to drive Matt to school. But it wasn't meant to be this morning. We got outside to the side walk in front of our house and looked both ways and then looked both ways again, and then looked both ways one more time before realizing that our truck was NOT where we had parked it the night before. We walked around dumbfounded for a bit before actually admitting to ourselves that our truck must have been STOLEN! So not what we expected to have happen! I mean, it's a good truck, get's us from A to B and all that, but it's OLD! We called the police immediately who told us to come down to the station to make a statement. Which we did right away. At the station we were told that our truck was likely gone for good.... Ummmm WHAT? So not good news! We then came home and got on the phone with insurance, Matt's parents, my parents, etc. trying to figure out what to do! We realized there wasn't really alot we could do until we heard back from insurance so we just kind of hung tight until they called us back the NEXT DAY! We were a little frustrated by that point but once we talked to them and got the ball rolling, it seemed like it would all work okay. We were coming to the realization that we should probably start shopping for a new vehicle, albeit a little bit earlier than we planned. Insurance set us up with a sweet little SUV rental to drive around while the search for our truck continued. We were told to drive it around for 7 days, and then if our truck was not found, we would be offered a settlement and then be shopping for a new car. We made peace with this realization and started looking on Kijiji and the like for a new vehicle. Imagine our surprise then, when on Friday afternoon, we received a phone call that our truck had been found just 3 blocks from our house! We had mixed emotions at this point because we had accepted it was gone and were getting excited about some possible options for a new car. We met the police at our truck where it had been left with the lock on the drivers side damaged, and missing our stereo, GPS, Tim's I-Pod (sorry Tim!), and 300 of Matt's C.D.'s. Not quite the news we hoped for. The police also discovered that the ignition was now so loose that you could start the truck without a key... Not very encouraging!

        Well, we called insurance back on Friday afternoon and were told where we have to bring the truck for repairs. We brought in there on Friday and it is hopefully getting worked on tomorrow and Tuesday. We have been blessed in that insurance is allowing us to keep the rental vehicle until ours is repaired so at least we haven't been stranded. We now have to wait and see what ends up happening with the repairs before hopefully trying to actually sell the truck now. It's just not a practical vehicle for us to be driving around in the city. Insurance explained to us that only things that aren't "removables" from the truck will be covered. This means that while the stereo is covered, unfortunately we have no coverage for the GPS, I-Pod or any of Matt's C.D.'s. Definitely not good news, but thankfully just "things" and a lesson learned. 

        Thursday night we had a break and an opportunity to go out for dinner with my Uncle Jan and Auntie Veronica as well as their son Derek and his girlfriend for dinner. Uncle Jan & Aunt Veronica are here visiting for a week from B.C. So it was nice to see some friendly faces from far away! 

Here's some dinner pictures:

        Friday night I decided that I really wanted to get out of the city and convinced Eric and Joy to come with me. (No amount of convincing would get my sad/grumpy/frustrated hubby to come with us! :P ) We headed out for dinner and then to watch the fireworks that happen every Friday night at Niagara Falls. We met up with my cousins as well as my Aunt & Uncle. It was great to escape for even a couple of hours.

        Last night, Matt and I hit up the "Super Crawl" here in Hamilton. It's this big arts festival with booths and music and arts, etc. Tim's band was also "busking" on the street so we listened to them for a while as well. It was a nice end to a somewhat crazy week!

        Well, we are headed into a new week now. I had two job interviews mixed in with all the chaos of this past week and I hope to hear back on either Monday or Tuesday so prayers for that would be appreciated. Thank you to all our friends and family who are praying for and encouraging us. You guys are awesome and your presence is felt, all the way out here in Ontario! :)

Much Love, 

Matt & Jacquie

What We've Been Doing to Keep Busy...

        Well, this post will have substantially less pictures and a lot more words then the one from last night! :) I'll just give you an update of what we've been up to!
        Monday morning I dropped Matt off for class and then headed back home to look up some salons that might be hiring. I found some right away but unfortunately most of them are closed Mondays. I did get one call back right away and had an interview right away Monday night. Crazy! I got my resume ready and just kind of explored some options before heading to school to pick up Matt at 5:30. There is another family here from Lethbridge that just started this year as well and Matt met up with the husband (Jeremy) in Lethbridge before making his decision to come to Hamilton. Well, since coming to Hamilton we've been trying to get together and Monday was the night. So I picked up Jeremy and Matt from school at the same time and we headed right to there house. We had a great meal and enjoyed spending some time with them and their little 3-year old boy. We weren't able to stay too long as I had the job interview at 8:00 in Burlington (about a 20-30 minute drive from Hamilton). Matt came with me to Burlington and wandered the mall while I had my interview. The interview went okay, but I left knowing that I didn't want to work at that salon as they were more of a product supply store with a tiny salon at the back, instead of being a full-size salon that sold a bit of product. I'm not super comfortable with pushing product sales so I knew it wouldn't be a good match. I dropped off one more resume in the mall that night and we headed home. 
        I drove Matt to school again on Tuesday and then headed out to a cool little orchard about a 20 minute drive from here. We had made a connection with a family and the wife is a hairdresser so she invited me to come out and meet up with her and some other moms and kids and then she helped me out with which salons I should and should not check out in the area. It was great and helpful and it was nice to make a couple connections, even if it made me feel REALLY young. :) Later on in the day I got 2 call-backs for interviews, the first being the same day at 5 and the other one being on Thursday afternoon. I picked Matt up from school and then headed back to the Burlington Mall for another interview. The interview went great and I have been offered the job but I have to decide in the next couple of days if I want to take the job or not. Burlington is about 20-30 minutes away but it really depends on the traffic. In order to get there I have to head on the 403 to Toronto which is a BUSY highway and I really don't enjoy driving the truck on it... :P The hours also aren't the greatest, with having to work every other Sunday as well as working two nights until 9. So Matt and I are still discussing and praying about this option.
        Wednesday I dropped Matt of again and then a girl from the area named Caryn came and picked me up to head out with her for the morning. Her and her husband are the ones from Calgary and she grew up in Coaldale so we had a lot in common right away! We headed back to the orchard I had been at the day before and each picked around 9-10 pounds of apples. She then took me to an area in the city that is really forested in and has tons of walking trails. We hiked through the area for about 2 hours and it was GREAT! I came home and then we had Tim over for dinner and then Matty B came for a visit and haircut. Busy times!

Here's a picture from the park we hiked through:

       Thursday I dropped Matt of AGAIN :). We have bought a bike for him but he is taking full advantage of me being around, at least for the time being. Plus, it was pouring on Thursday so it would've been sucky to walk anyways. :) I made my way to the nice big mall here in Hamilton and did a bit of shopping and hanging out before heading back to pick up Matthew from school. I got home in time to get ready for my next interview. This one was for a salon only 2 blocks from our house but unfortunately she could only give me 16 hours a week so I had to turn that one down. Oh well, at least I know there are quite a few options out there! Once home I baked two different kinds of muffins. One was a pumpkin chocolate spice muffin that Matthew LOVES! It works out great for me because I really don't eat pumpkin so I'm not super tempted to eat them. I also made some apple spice crumble muffins. I have enjoyed them for breakfast the last couple days and they're great! Thursday night we headed to a "Navigators" service. Navigators is one of the campus ministries on the McMaster campus and Matthew is doing his first practicum with them so we went and checked it out. It was great with dinner being served and then a really good speaker. I think Matt will enjoy working with them. I'm not sure if I'll keep going with him, it'll kind of depend on my work situation too. We'll see!
        Yesterday Matt and I headed out and I dropped off a few more resumes, we did some banking, and we went and changed our cell phone plans to ones that will suit our needs best here in Hamilton. We were gone for quite a while but I got a call back right away from a salon. Unfortunately, they only wanted me to work Sundays, which just isn't something I was interested in. So the search continues. The rest of the day was spent around the house and then Matt got busy with his homework. I made an apple pie with the apples picked at the orchard and it turned out great (if I'm allowed to say so myself?) I hope to make one more in the next couple days. Look at me being all domesticated! :)
        Well, now it's Saturday. Matt was gone for a couple hours to the library and has been working on homework for the past few hours. They sure don't believe in easing you in when it comes to seminary! :) I have gotten through 4 loads of laundry and done some other wifely things. It's been a good day. 
        I would just like to ask those of you who are praying to keep on praying for Matthew and I for wisdom when it comes to what job I take. We are trying to make the decision that is best for the family and I am a little worried about being able to take care of the house and everything if I'm working 6 days a week in Burlington. There is a position for a secretary that just opened up so I'm going to apply right away on Monday. I would really like to get this job as it would leave the weekends free for hair styling and for some "family time" but we will see! Thanks everyone!
        Well, I'm off to make dinner and then get ready for Eric and Joy to come over for the evening. I hope you are all having an enjoyable weekend!


With Much Love, 
       Matt & Jacquie

Welcome to Our Home

Hi Everyone,
The time has come to show you some pictures of our place! I will hopefully update tomorrow with all that we've been up to this week (3 job interviews, 9 pounds of apples resulting in me attempting some baking, 3 job offers, 0 jobs accepted yet, campus meetings for Matthew, etc.). But tonight, since I have finally taken pictures of our place, I want to get them posted! So come with me on a quick little tour of our place... Well, it might not be that quick... Sorry, I don't know how to put all my pictures together in to a video so enjoy them one by one. :)


Here we go!

This is the house we live in. We live on the very top floor. 

The windows at the top of the house are our bedroom windows. 

So, we go up the little pathway to our stairway. Our stairway = great exercise!

These stairs take you up to our deck and then to the door for our place. 

The gate on the fence leads to the back yard which is where the entrance for the laundry facilities are. 

This is our main deck from the top of the stairs. 

 It's a great space and we've hosted a couple B.B.Q's already. 

Come on in!

This is what you see looking off to the left after coming in our door. We have lots of storage under the stairs as well as a large closet to the left.

This is what you see looking straight on once coming in the door. Up some more stairs we go...:)

This the view right at the top of the stairs. Our living room/sitting area.

This is directly to the left of the stairs. Our WONDERFUL air conditioning unit,

as well as the door out to our second, tiny little deck

Aforementioned second little deck. 

Looking down from the second deck, onto our main deck and then down into the landlords back yard. 

Another view of the living room.

Our entertainment unit. It's technically meant to be a tall bookcase type

 but not very many of our walls are tall enough. :)

This is the opposite side of the living room. You can see the stairs there on the right.

We aren't entirely sure what to use this space for yet... it's a bit odd!

But for now it is functioning as storage for some things that haven't found a home yet.

My ladder shelf all decorated! :) Some of you might remember how much 

I wanted to make sure it came with us. :P

This is our cool lil loft space. This is the wall opposite from the stairs in the living room

and we thought it functions well as a free bookcase. Matt wanted to make sure to use the bookends we got for our wedding in a prominent place. :)

 The access into the loft is on the other side, in our bedroom. 

You can see the entrance to the kitchen on the right. 

Welcome to our small but functional kitchen! 

My parents gave us a cabinet that functions very well as a pantry/extra cupboard space for us.

This is the "dining area" space in the kitchen. It's directly to the right of the picture above. 

The extent of my counter space!

 A challenge to keep organized and clean, especially since we don't have a dishwasher and the dishes pile up FAST! But we're making it work.

Standing at the door to the bedroom. Nice big windows. Our closet is behind the curtain on the left.  

The ladder up to the loft is directly behind where I'm standing. 

The area to the right of the door. Waiting for Matt's desk to come in from Sears.

 It should be a great space for him to study! We're loving the sky slights!

The area to the left of the bedroom door. You can see the closet on the right and our dresser straight ahead. Matt has been so kind as to allow me to take over the dresser as my "vanity" area. 

The door to the left that you see takes you in to the bathroom... 

That's right, the only way into the bathroom is through the bedroom. :P

Standing at the door to the bathroom.

Self-Explanatory?? :P

Sink area. It actually functions very well as my mini "salon". I've done quite a few haircuts in here already. 

Bathroom storage. Looking back into the bedroom.

Looking back through the apartment from the bedroom door. 

Laundry facilities down in the very dingy basement of the house.

 But we are so grateful to have found a place that has laundry on-site! Those stairs really are great exercise. :)

Well, if you're still paying attention, this is the end of the tour! :) Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the loft area up between our bedroom and living room. Matt has put the ladder away and I'm not strong enough to get it down to climb up and take a picture. :P But it's a great little space where we plan to sleep whenever we have company. (Ex. Matt's parents are coming for a visit in the middle of October.) When we first began apartment hunting we were pretty set on a 2 bedroom, but we couldn't be happier with how big this one bedroom place is! It's suiting our needs just fine and it is really starting to feel like home!

Well, that's all for now! Hope you are all enjoying the beginning of the weekend! Feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you think of our place. 

Much Love, 

Matt & Jacquie

Happy Sunday

Hello friends and fam, 
     Well, our first official full week in Hamilton has come to a close and we are headed right into the crazy and busy-ness that comes with Matt starting a new semester of school. In some ways it feels like we have been gone from Lethbridge for months already and in other ways it feels like we just left yesterday... But mostly, with all that we have done and accomplished in the past week and half it feels like we've been in Hamilton for much longer than we actually have. We are continuing to finish settling in and just about have the apartment at a state where I would feel okay about taking and posting some pictures. :P I promise, they're coming soon! 
      We had a busy end to our week and an equally busy weekend.  Friday we were out and about together pretty much all day. (Matt doesn't have classes on Fridays which is kind of nice!) We went and got a lot of things done and it felt great. We were able to get a really good deal on a bike for Matt so he will now be biking to school as often as the weather allows. Whenever he can't bike, he will try catch the bus. Hopefully it works out okay!  We were home by 4:30 in time for me to get ready for some company. My cousin D.J. and his girlfriend Rose came over for a B.B.Q. which was great. It's really nice to have some people here in Hamilton that we know already! We haven't felt too lonely having family and friends close by. D.J. and Rose drove us "up the mountain" (a.k.a., fairly average size hill that everyone in Hamilton calls the mountain) and we went to a look out over the city. It was a really cool view of the city and lake and there's a nice park and walk way there as well. 

View from the Hamilton lookout

       Saturday we got up on time and were headed out by around 10:30 to drive to a church in Burlington for Matthew's school kick-off retreat. Spouses were invited so off we went, not really knowing what to expect. What we experienced was a really enjoyable day filled with 2 worship services, 2 meal times, some free time and game time and a couple activities as well as time to meet other people in the program. It was really cool because it  wasn't only first year students there, but rather all the students in any program from MacDiv were invited. We met lots of cool people and we actually met a couple from Alberta who have been in Hamilton now for two years. The wife, Caryn, was actually raised in Coaldale and knows all about Lethbridge. Her and her husband moved here from Calgary 2 years ago and he is entering the third year of the MDiv program. They are super nice and we exchanged phone numbers and I am going out with Caryn sometime this week. It was really great to be able to start making some connections. Matt also met and talked with a couple guys in the program he is starting which was really good and encouraging for him.  We were also introduced to a guy whose wife is a hairstylist in the city and he gave me her card to contact her about any connections she might have with salons in the city so that was helpful on the job front! We really enjoyed the day but were ready to come home at 8 last night. 
       This morning we slept in a bit and then we headed out at noon to drive to a city north of Toronto called Bowmanville. Matt's brother Jason got engaged this summer to his wonderful girlfriend Breanne and her parents were throwing an engagement party at their house today. We made the 1.5 hour drive and spent some time there getting to know Breanne's family and also meeting other people from the area. Everyone was super friendly which was really great! Now we are back home again and ready to take on a new week. 
      Matthew's busiest days of the week are Mondays when he is at school from about 10-5:30 so I will be on my own for a while tomorrow. We are going to dinner at the house of one of the families in the MDiv program. They are actually from Lethbridge as well and the husband played a role in convincing Matt to come out to Hamilton. I'm looking forward to meeting some more people and making some more connections in the city. 
       Well, that's all folks. I hope you all had a blessed and enjoyable weekend. Talk soon!


Much Love!

Hi Everyone! 

        Well, it's been another interesting week so far as we continue to get used to and settle in to life here in Hamilton.  The apartment is really starting to come together in a way that Matthew and I are both happy with. Every day we get a little bit more done and a little closer to the apartment being our home. I will be taking pictures and posting them in the next few days hopefully (once we get it a bit more cleaned up and the last things unpacked! :) )  

         Monday was a bit of a relaxed day.  Hamilton pretty much closes down on holidays so many of the grocery stores were closed and the little street we live by with all the shops was pretty dead all day. We stayed in for most of the day and just tackled more things in the apartment.  Tim came for dinner and a hair cut on Monday as well. 

        Tuesday morning I got up on time for the first time in quite a while and I walked over to Tim's house so that he could show me the way to the downtown Hamilton farmer's market.  It's in a mall in Jackson Square and you could find pretty much everything you need to live there!  It was my first time at a farmers market and I loved it! I stocked up on fruits, vegetables and cheeses and then wished that I had taken Matt along so he could function as a sort of pack mule... :P The market is about a half hour walk from home so I had to make sure I would be able to carry whatever I bought back to the apartment. I will definitely be going back to the farmers market! When we got back from the market I had one of Tim's friends over for a hair cut and then Matt and my brothers moved in our wonderful free couch! We had to rearrange the living area a bit to be able to fit the couch in but it is really nice to have a comfortable place to relax at the end of the day!

        Wednesday was Matthew's orientation day at MacDiv.  I drove him there at 9:30 and he was there until 4:00. He said it went really well and he came home much more excited about the program then when he left. While he was gone I headed off to do some shopping. I headed to Wal-Mart first to get some more household items and then I tackled my first official big grocery shopping trip. It was interesting as they don't have any of the same grocery stores here and I didn't even know where to start! I ended up at a supermarket called "Fortino's" and was able to get us stocked up for the next couple weeks! I'm actually starting to feel like a real wife now. :) I also found out about a little market from Tim that sells JUGS OF MILK for the same price as bags!!! Yay! It's within walking distance of our place so no more milk bags for us! :) After I picked up Matthew we headed out to the town of Grimsby to take a look at a dresser we had found out about on Kijiji. $50 later and we have a beautiful 6 drawer dresser with a mirror. YAY!

        This morning started out similar to yesterday. I drove Matthew to school for his first class at 10:30 and I will be leaving in a bit to go meet him after class. We are then heading off to the bookstore to get his textbooks for the semester. And then it's off to the bank and some more errands. 

        My resume is done and I have sent out a couple e-mails. Matt will be hooking up the printer later on and then I will be printing of resumes and hitting the streets looking for work first thing next week. Your prayers for employment for me would be great! 

        Well, I'm off to finish up the laundry and then pick up my hubby. Before I sign off, here are some pictures from our trip out here. Have a great day everyone!

Mackinaw Bridge Michigan

The water here was BEAUTIFUL!!

Matt enjoying the water!

Ummm.... not sure of the name of this bridge! But it's the one that is the border crossing from Michigan into Sarnia, ON

Hello from Herkimer Street in Hamilton, Ontario

       Well hello everyone! It's been a couple days since our last post and those days have been filled to the brim busy! We arrived in Hamilton at around 4:00 on Wednesday (Sept. 1) and headed straight to Eric and Tim's place. Tim was there to greet us and we hung out with him for a bit. I then called our potential landlord and, shortly after, Tim, Matt and I were walking to check out our hopeful apartment. We met with the landlords and took a quick peek at the apartment and it was settled! We got the place! Tim then took us to a little pub on the main street right by our house and we had an early dinner. 
       A little info about our home/area. (Pictures to come once we're a wee bit more settled!) We live on a one way street called Herkimer, right off of Locke Street in Downtown Hamilton. We live right across the street from a gorgeous cathedral complete with church bells that ring on the hour (cool at first, now getting a wee bit annoying...:P ). We live about 5 blocks away from my brothers and one block from the New City PCA church. We walked over there for church this evening and it took us less than 5 minutes. The location of our house is quite central and great! Matthew can walk up the street 2 blocks and catch a bus to the main street where all the buses from there then head to McMaster. Locke Street is a great street with lots of little local boutiques and shops and salons and the like. Its a really cool neighborhood! Matt is a little bit more hesitant about living right in the heart of the city... He said he would much prefer the suburbs, but I think he is getting a bit more used to it and he definitely enjoys how close we are to everything.
          We got the keys to our place on Thursday morning at 10 and by 11:30 with the help of Tim and Eric, as well as Eric's girlfriend Joy, we were moved in! We took the crew out for lunch at a little local home grown pizza place as a thank you and then were off to ditch the U-Haul that had been trailing us for far to long! We shopped for a couple essentials and stopped by MacDiv to ask a few questions before coming back to begin the unpacking process. 
          Friday we drove with Eric out to Redeemer and checked out the campus there and then headed to Wal-Mart to take a huge dent out of our furnishing and decorating list. We went and took care of a couple more errands before again tackling more things at our place. 
          Saturday was a pretty low key day spent organizing and unpacking and doing a bit of groceries before having Eric and Joy over for a B.B.Q and some card games. It sure is nice to have some friendly familiar faces in the city. It is helping to make our transition a bit easier! 
          Today we slept in a little bit and then went for a drive down to the Waterfront in Burlington. I was hoping to just take a nice stroll along the waterfront but there was this crazy Ribfest going on and there were crowds of people EVERYWHERE! So we just did a quick stroll and checked out a couple places along the waterfront before heading back home. We went to church at 5:00 and then came back here for some tacos. Eric and Matt are now enjoying some playstation while I catch up on the internet world!
          When Matt and I decided to move to Ontario I think we somewhat expected it would just be the same as home but there sure are some things we've had to adjust to! The heat and humidity here the first couple days was INSANE! It was almost bad enough for us to consider turning around and heading right on back to Alberta... :P Matt kept on making comments like "Whose idea was this anyways???" Ummm... that would be YOURS dear! :) It has since cooled off quite a bit and people tell us fall is on the way. Let's sure hope so cause if we get another heat wave, I might just get on the first flight up north! Another thing we are having to get used to here is the way they sort their garbage. We moved in and were shown the 4 different bins that our garbage go into, depending on what they contain. There is one blue bin for recycling paper, one blue bin for recycling plastic, one green bin for recycling all things organic and then we are allowed one regular sized bag of garbage per week. Our landlords gave us a little chart to hang on our fridge that shows the different classifications for things but it is sure taking some getting used to! I have also been warned to empty the green "organic" bin at least twice a week so as not to encourage maggots to take residence under my sink! GROSS!! One last thing that we find a little odd is that everyone here drinks milk from bags... not jugs or jars or cartons... just a weird plastic bag that gets shoved into an odd shaped jug and then you snip the corner and voila! Milk! I wasn't too impressed with this option so Tim told us about a market that sold milk in jugs but when we got there we found out that they charge the same price for 2L of milk in a jug as they do for 4L in bags... Guess we're getting used to the bags! :)
          This next week will likely be pretty busy as Matt has orientation for his program all day Wednesday, starts classes on Thursday and then we have a retreat that includes the spouses all day Saturday. In between those things we will be finishing up resumes and seeing about me/him/either of us getting a job. Please pray for us in this area as people haven't spoken too highly of the job market here!
          Well folks, I believe that about catches you up with what we've been up to here... In fact it's probably more information then you want or need... but it is what it is! :) We hope you are all having a great Sunday wherever you are and we will talk soon!


Much love, 
Matt & Jacquie