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

Hello from Davison, MI

Hi Everyone!
       Well today was a pretty good day! We slept in until around 9 or so and then weren't on the road until 10:30! Matt enjoyed some preservative filled packaged food from the continental "breakfast" (seriously, pancakes from frozen??? Ummm... not so much my taste! :)) and after checking out we filled up the truck and organized the cooler. We felt kind of lazy but only planned on going 7 or 8 hours today so it was okay! :)
       Most of the morning and early afternoon was spent driving along the beautiful Lake Michigan.  Several times along the drive we saw people enjoying the hot sunny day and the waves of the lake. I was tempted to ask Matt to stop so I could jump in but figured I'd be pretty uncomfortable in my wet clothes for the rest of the drive! 
       We drove pretty much straight through except for gas and food breaks until the Mackinaw Bridge. And let me tell you... It is cool! I took quite a few pictures (will post as soon as we can get them off the camera) and then we stopped in Mackinaw City and walked in a park right along the lake for about a half hour.  We waded in to the lake a little bit and it was so WARM and so CLEAR! It was a pretty windy day so the waves were pretty high. We both enjoyed the break from driving but found it really hot and humid so we got back on our way. 
       After that, we drove through to Davison, Michigan. We arrived here at about 8:30 (we're in the Eastern Time Zone now). We checked in to the hotel and then took off in search of some dinner.  We decided to walk and found ourselves a McDonalds (you don't even want to know how often we have eaten here during our trip) But don't judge! It's the one restaurant that is pretty much everywhere... and they have free wireless internet across the states so we've made use of that a couple times to check for hotels and such along the way.  We then kept on strolling and saw our first TIM HORTONS since leaving Lethbridge.  It's a tiny little one but it was exciting for me either way. We also found our way to a pharmacy and replaced a few more items from our M.I.A. toiletry cases. 
       We are now back in our WONDERFUL hotel room... King size bed, huge flat screen T.V., and air conditioning... Oh, and it doesn't smell like smoke, body odor, or chlorine. You learn to not take these things for granted when you are paying an average of $55/night for a hotel! We were both very relieved to find this hotel online!
        Well, according to the ever trustworthy "Google Maps", we have about 3.5 hours left until we arrive in Hamilton.  We plan to sleep in tomorrow morning, go try out the continental breakfast here, and then get on the road at about 11 or so. We are going to just take our time and might stop to do a bit of shopping along the way. We are really hoping and praying that we will have as easy of a time getting back in to Canada as we did when we came into the states on Sunday. If all goes well, we hope to arrive in Hamilton around dinner time. 
        We have really enjoyed the trip but are both a little hesitant for it to end. We are worried about what it's going to feel like when we realize that we aren't going to turn around and just head back to Lethbridge. Please pray for us both as we arrive in Hamilton and begin to settle in there. 
     
      Well, before I go, here are the quick stats for the day:
# of Miles Traveled: ~450
$ Spent on Gas: $88.49
# of Hours on the Road: ~10, including our lovely scenic stops


       Thank you again for all who are praying for us as we take on this last leg of our journey. We appreciate you all. Good night! :)


Much Love, 
Matt & Jacquie

Hello from Marinette, WI

Hi Everyone!

        Well we just arrived in Marinette, WI and are settling in to the hotel. We were originally planning on stopping in Wausau, but when we got there at around 6:30, we decided to keep on going. We're really tired now but I'm sure we'll be glad tomorrow that we are that much closer to Hamilton! According to "Google Maps" we have only 11.5 hours left to go! We decided that we are going to just take it nice and easy and still take the planned to more days to get there. We plan to stop and maybe take in some touristy things along Lake Michigan. 

        Today was fairly uneventful. We got up at around 7 and were on the road by 8. I had a really crappy sleep so crawled in to the back of the truck pretty much right away and slept a couple more hours while Matt drove. After that I was good to go and I was able to drive at two different points to give Matt a break. I drove the last stretch while Matt read "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" by the light of his head lamp... I'm kind of married to a DORK! :) 

         There really isn't too much to report about the drive today. One thing that amused me a little bit is that we were driving through this tiny little hick town called Oconto Falls, WI when we drove past a store called "Piggly Wiggly". I had watched a movie not to long ago that featured a store called "Piggly Wiggly" and I thought they had just made it up for the movie to be ridiculous... Yah, not so much. It's actually a real grocery store. 

        Yup, that's about the most excitement we had today... Don't judge. We've been on the road for way to long now and small things amuse me/us. 

        Well, here's some stats from today (these are especially for our dads who care about things like gas mileage).

# of Miles Traveled: ~725
$ Spent on Gas: $173.93
# of Hours on the Road: ~13


        Ok, it's 10:15 here in Wisconsin so we are going to call it a night.  Tomorrow morning we will have a very short drive until we are in Michigan and then we will be driving around Lake Michigan for a lot of the day. I will hopefully update again tomorrow to let you know where we've made it to on our journey! 
        Right now, Matt and I both kind of just feel like we're on an adventure and it hasn't really hit us that this isn't just a vacation, but we are actually moving across the country. Just this morning Matt was looking at his watch and saying he wasn't going to update it to Central time because he would just have to change it back when we got home... and then he realized that we aren't heading back to Lethbridge. I have a feeling we will be having little realizations like this quite often in the coming days and weeks!
       Well thanks again for your thoughts and prayers everyone! They help us keep on trucking! :)


With Much Love,


Matt & Jacquie

Hello from Bismark, North Dakota!

         Well, we've been in Bismark for about an hour and a half now and are settling into our room for the night. We are both kind of wishing we had maybe spent a bit for a room that we could be confidant that we won't catch diseases in, but hey, it's all part of the adventure right? :) We are just both hoping to get a decent enough sleep and to be back on the road early(ish) tomorrow morning. 

         Today started out bright and early with us getting up at 6 am. My mom woke up and made us tea and hot chocolate to go along with our breakfasts and then we packed up the last of our things. By 6:55 we were saying the dreaded "good"-byes to my family. We were on the road at our planned time of 7 am. Yay us! We headed out right away and were at the border by 8:15. (That was also about the time my tears finally let up a bit... :P) There was a short line-up and the border guard seemed a little unsure about whether or not he should let us through with our truck and trailer packed full, but by 8:30 we were saying a quick prayer of thanks and were back on the road! We stopped in Shelby, MT at 9 for gas and got right back on our way. At around noon I was thinking about how nice it was going to feel to wash my hair tonight when I thought back to the early morning hours and realized we had forgotten both of our toiletry cases! Oops! A quick text to mom, and they will be on their way to Hamilton tomorrow. Thanks mom! :) 

        We were about 10 miles out of Glasgow, MT at around 1:30 when Matt realized that the gas gauge was dipping dangerously low... and then the little orange indicator line disappeared altogether! That caused a moment of stress, but thankfully a gas station came into sight not to shortly after and we filled the tank right up again and promised to fill up much more often! :) We stopped once more for gas a little later in the afternoon and then kept on going, right through the state of Montana and into North Dakota. I was saying to Matt how, during this journey, we are going to be going through all these states I just never thought I'd be in... and never really had a desire to visit... :P But hey, it's not too bad. I drove for a bit, from Glendive, MT until our final destination for tonight to give my hubby a much needed brake. Towing a trailer isn't actually as scary as I thought so I'll probably start out driving tomorrow morning.

         Matt stocked the truck with movies and books and my Nintendo DS as well as his

I-Pod full of crazy philosophical talks, so we haven't been bored at all while we drive. 

         We got in to Bismark at about 8:30 Central Time and found ourselves a K-Mart to buy some much needed toiletries! We then checked into our hotel and then found a Pizza Hut to fill our very hungry stomachs! 

          So far the trip has gone very well, better than both of us had hoped, and we are praying for much more of the same tomorrow. Thank you so much to all of you who are praying and journeying along with us. We love and appreciate you all!

Some fun stats from the day before I sign off:

# of miles traveled: ~780

$ spent on gas: $142.05 (US)

# of hours on the road: 12.5

# of hours of DVD watching: way too many! :)

        Well, Matt's saying I should get to bed so we can head out on time tomorrow so off I go! :) 

Much Love, 

Matt & Jacquie

Overwhelmed!

          Well, it's the week we've been waiting for... In 6 sleeps we will be on our way to Hamilton, ON. It seems crazy that in such a short time we need to have our lives boxed up and ready to go! I finished work last Thursday so I have a bit more time to get things organized and Matt's last day is tomorrow. Wednesday-Saturday will be BUSY with organizing and packing and saying our good-byes before we leave bright and early Sunday morning. We are trying to plan/time it so that we get to Hamilton right around September 1st or 2nd as that is when housing will become available. We haven't secured a place to live yet but we are waiting to hear back from a few to see where we will end up living! My brother Tim has been a HUGE help to us in this area, going to check out apartments and taking pictures and the like... Thanks Tim! We are really hoping to know before we leave if we have a place or not, but if worse comes to worse, we will spend a couple days in Hamilton searching once we get there. 
          Right now, we are in the process of organizing our stuff into piles... The "absolutely, these things have to come!" pile, the "hopefully we will have room for this stuff, if not Jacquie might cry" pile, and the "there is no way we are carting this junk across Canada" pile! So far it's been interesting with Matt feeling very free to add MY things to the "we'll see" pile, while of course making sure I have no doubt about the fact that his one million one hundred and twenty two thousand books are coming! :P These next couple days are sure to be interesting... :)
          I am beginning to feel slightly stressed/overwhelmed at all that we need to figure out in the next couple days/weeks but am doing my best to trust in God's plan for us. Matt is much more of a "take it all in stride" kind of person, while I tend to let things get to me a lot easier... Usually this makes us a good team, but this time I kinda wish I could pass of a bit of stress to him. :P 
          Some items for prayer for those of you who have been and will be praying for us this week include:
1. A place to live! For me, this is probably one of the hugest stresses... If I knew we'd have a place to go once we get to Hamilton that'd be great, but YIKES, we're cutting it close!
2. Finances. Because Matt applied late to McMaster, he received his acceptance letter late. Now, unfortunately, you aren't able to apply for student loans until you have been accepted to go to school (go figure... :P ) so we just sent the application in last week and are waiting to hear how much help we will be getting. 
3. Moving. We have rented a U-Haul trailer to tow behind our truck, but when I went to talk to the U-Haul lady today she said there is a huge shortage of trailers for rent in Southern Alberta and we might end up having to drive somewhere to pick one up... We're not exactly sure what that means but please just pray that he details for our move will fall in to place and that we don't need to drive to far to get a trailer!
4. Young Love. That Matt and I will continue to grow in our young married life and that we will work together to get everything done in the next couple days. 
          Well, this is getting long enough. I should really probably stop procrastinating and get to the packing. 


Much love, 


Matt &/or Jacquie