Home Sweet Home

The story of how we came to own 914 Gazley Circle...

We had been looking on MLS for many moons, and disregarded the houses that seemed overpriced. This happened for a certain period, until we were like "let's just look at these houses that have been on the market for a long time - no one is buying them, so maybe they will take our offer?". So we did. And we looked at identical houses back to back. One had upgrades, one did not. We went for the one that did not, hoping we could get a lower price if we used the upgrades of the other house to get a lower price. (They were priced the same).

So, we started low, did 2 other offers, and our last offer they accepted! I don't think either of us believed they would, and neither of us emotionally invested in the house. We knew we needed to hold it with an open hand.

Best feature - an already painted baby's room. :) don't worry, it'll be our guest room for a while.

I'm looking forward to setting up shop! We get the house June 4th. I never thought at the age of 24 I'd have a mortgage, but it's quite exciting! We are hoping to stay there until God calls us elsewhere. The house is His, everything we own, really is His, and so we are thanking God for this place.
It is a gift.

Confessions of a Small Town Girl

I never thought I'd say this...but I'm going to. Here is my confession "I am going to miss the city".
Being a northern girl, growing up the city was always "bad", full of smog, scary unfriendly people, and materialism.
I never wanted to live here.

It wasn't until I decided to make the campus a mission field after University that I saw the benefits of going to a multi-cultural place. If I wanted to share Jesus with the nations, what a better place than Toronto?

It was here that I learned to embrace others, enjoyed random moments on the subway cars, walked with large buildings engulfing me while getting lost, found friends at Grace Toronto and on my staff team, and lived beside a McDonald's.

God taught me to depend on him through rough times like when my car got towed (twice) and I dealt with parking tickets. But even still, Toronto has charm. I enjoyed bike rides on Toronto Island, a Raptors game, concerts, an abundance of coffee shops and independent shops to explore and enjoy.

The best part however, were the people, the students I got to interact with and love. They taught me so much - how to live out the gospel, how to love my neighbour, how to seek God for who He was. For that I am forever grateful. They will be missed.
Mooooving (get it?) to the University of Guelph will be a new adventure, and though I "hate" change, I know God is already there, and that life with Him always requires faith.

And though Guelph isn't a large city, and Milton is a cross between small town and suburbia, I know I will come to love it, and the people there just as I did come to love Toronto, and that God can do big things still.

Some pics from my walk downtown yesterday:

Bustles and Smiles. :)

So, they say the last 2 months before a wedding are the most busy. Looks like my life is going to get a bit insane. I can understand it, as I try and figure out the little details, like what type of teeth whitener to buy, do I even get it...etc.

BUT my dress has been hemmed, and it is fitted to my body, and the bustle is wonderful! Who knew bustles could make ones backside look so good! :) the only potential mishap was me feeling quite nauseated while standing there with my legs locked and nothing in my stomach. I hear vomit and wedding dresses don't go well together. Luckily I got some water and sat down in time to prevent anything from going down.

I can't wait to show G what I look like in that dress. And though it won't be when I walk down the aisle (we are taking pics beforehand)...I still know it will be special.

Speaking of photos, we also just got our engagement shots done with our main photographer. Let's just say we had a lot of fun. He and G had a similar sense of humour throughout the shoot. You can check our photographer out at enlightenedimages.blogspot.com. Best thing-he had Laurell Hubick playing when we got to his studio. Amazing.

Our other photographer is going to be my cousin Stephanie - can't wait! check her out at stephiophotography.com/blog/" she's very creative and fun.