Raining cats and dogs

Is listening to the wind howl and the rain pour... What an awesome fall night. Now we just need to lose power to make it Ontario perfect!! Today I had my first driving in the "big" city experience. Thankfully it went well despite the fact that it was night ( and rural Ontario doesn't have street lights) and it was pouring rain! Thanks to "Tilly" our Gps unit it was great.... AND I got to go to Michaels! I have a great idea for Thanksgiving seating tags. I also bought some sketching pencils cause I'd like to start sketching again.
Poor Mona! Tonight we were talking about rewiring her 160 yr old house. She must wonder of we are ever going to get sick of making her house a project! Oh well maybe next year! Mwahahaha!


Signing off

N

fall is falling

in the form of rain, wind or leaves...at least here in Ontario. It has been rather blustery and chilly here as of late. We turned the heat on today and Bill and I had to put our electric blanket on our airbed last night. Yay for no more ice pack bedding:) It was a beautiful sleep last night.

The weather has brought the end to much of the crops around us. Tobacco appears to be done. The only real crop growing is what the locals refer to it as "cow corn". (Corn grown for livestock etc). There are fields of beautiful purple wild asters and yellow goldenrod. Truly a sight to see. Not too many trees are changing color yet but I'm sure after this cold snap that will change. Oh yeah.. Timmins, Ont received snow last night.. wow hey? Glad I don't live up there! Snow in September...no thanks!

What's new what's new... well we have been attending a new church in a city called Caledonia. It's called Gateway Alliance church and so far we are really enjoying it. The people are very friendly, the worship is modern, well led and usually upbeat and the sermons have been VERY good. We have started attending the Alpha course there every monday night. For those of you who don't know Alpha is a worldwide course that is presented by a large variety of churches, denominations, universities and organizations that is pretty much Christianity 101. Bill has been wanting to attend but our previous church hadn't offered the course. This one did so we jumped on the bandwagon. I am going for a refresher and to meet new people. So far our small group seems really friendly. I think we'll have lots of fun at this course. (plus did I mention dinner is included every week...score!)

Other than that there hasn't been too much new. We have ventured into Hamilton a few times for "big city" shopping(new pants, a new computer, shoes, gelato..etc).

Mona is still busy working on the house. Bill helps out where he can but her work is on the exterior trim and brickwork. She's redoing some mortar around the brick and painting the trim and fixing eaves-troughs. We have a large scaffolding out around the house that Bill is called to help move when she's done a section. We are praying for nicer weather so she can actually get some work done. It has been so cold, windy and wet it's not safe or very much fun to be outside at all let alone on a scaffolding.

In other news we are awaiting news on Nicole's Opa. He had a heart attack a couple days ago and is awaiting a bed opening in Victoria for an angioplasty. We are praying everything goes quickly and smoothly so he can rest up and get better. It is hard being so far away from that side of the family. If you're a praying person please add him to your list :)

Well that's the latest update. We are both healthy and welcoming in the cooler weather that is conducive to sweaters, socks, warm soups and a good book.

Talk to you all soon!

N

cotton candy and potato chip swirls

Well hello there! It's been awhile. It's been awhile mainly because there hasn't been too much new to report. We've been keeping busy with projects and everyday tasks. Bill can now add patio demolition to his list of accomplishments here at Mona's. I can add incredible spare rib maker to mine.
We have gone to the Paris Fair and rode the rides, sampled the hot dogs, hamburgers, taffy, potato chip swirls and cotton candy. Watched the Demo Derby (my first one....what a hoot) and checked out the biggest and best flower arrangements and cheerio creations at the exhibitions. We even managed to catch the high dive clowns which was highly amusing. All in all it was fun.

Since then we have managed to finally arrange our stuff in boxes so that the things we need to get to (winter clothes, shoes, bathroom supplies etc) are in reaching distance and so the extra furniture clutt... er decorating Mona's upstairs foyer is in the room also. We now all have lots more space!

Today we went to a new church called Gateway Alliance Church in Caledonia (about 20 min away). It was pretty good. We're going to go back next week and check out an actual service as this week was their Kickoff. There was a talent show and before we got there lots of games, pie eating contests and a dunk tank. The people seem younger and peppy and we really enjoyed both the message and the talents today.

Other than that things are good. I got my first EI check this week so money is finally coming back in. I also got news that there will be a VW dealership opening up in the town Simcoe near us. I might see if they have any work for me on monday.

Well that's all folks. Have a great week! Feel free to email us anytime with news about you :D

Signing off,

N

Lazy Summer Days

Well the last 10 days or so have been rather uneventful. We have been sleeping in, eating whenever we are hungry and going to bed late. Bill has been looking for jobs and doing a variety of projects around Mona's house. They include fixing a leaking toilet in the bathroom upstairs(it was actually leaking into the downstairs bathroom), fixing the tonneau cover on our car (it broke right when we arrived in Jarvis), hanging some solar lights for Mona, and whatever else he can do to keep busy.

The toilet job was a big one. It involved ripping the ceiling off in the downstairs bathroom, (a beautiful copper ceiling with crown moulding), then ripping the floor up around the toilet in the upstairs bathroom, Then fixing the leak, pulling off and replacing some flange, then buying a new toilet, replacing the flooring with new flooring and the tiles, then putting on the new toilet. They decided after all this they were going to get rid of the toilet downstairs as well and put the one that was upstairs downstairs. So they installed a 2nd toilet. Now we have two working toilets and all that still needs to be done is the ceiling.

My days have consisted of walking to get the mail or going to the library for books, and watching tv, napping and playing the sims 3. It's been good so far but it has been a bit uneventful so far.
Last night we went out for delicious wings in Simcoe and we'll see what today holds.


Talk to you all soon! Miss you all in Kelowna!



Nicole

Cornfest and Tonsillitis...yummy!

So this is the Cornfest weekend in Jarvis. A pretty big shindig that happens around here. I think most of the small towns have a "fest" of sorts throughout the summer and/or fall. This one centers around corn. They have a small fair company come and put up some rides mainly for the smaller kids. They have food, (cotton candy, old fashioned root beer, freshly squeezed lemonade, hotdogs, pulled pork or roast beef on a bun and a beer garden) Most evenings and throughout the day they even have live music. Last night was a band who did a tribute to the Eagles. This afternoon is a band doing a tribute to U2 and tonight is David Wilcox. ( I had never heard of him but people here are pretty excited). There is corn on the cob they submerge in butter that you can buy for $1.00. And there are events all weekend and booths people can stop in and see what's happening. This afternoon Bill and I are helping Mona supervise a portion of a silent auction for a couple of hours.

So a couple nights ago Bill started complaining about a sore throat. We looked down his throat to see what was up. (cause that's what you do of course!). His tonsils were very swollen and speckled with white dots. Yup... tonsillitis. He is very susceptible to it and he usually gets these scary high fevers with it too. So yup that's what followed. A very high fever. Finally the night before last we convinced him to go to the doctor to get antibiotics for it. The closest "clinic" here is the emergency room at the Hagarsville Hospital. So that's where we went. 3 hrs later he was out of there prescription in hand. We had to drive to Caledonia to fill it but we got home just after 10:30 that night. He is now starting to feel better and no more scary fevers.

Aside from that sort of thing we are getting our affairs in order (getting Ontario medical, transferring bank info etc etc). Tomorrow is a big BBQ here at Mona's. We'll see Neil, Wendy and Sam & Maggie, John and probably Michael (bill's cousin) plus a bunch of others. Mona has added a unique twist to the bbq saying that there will be a talent show and that everyone needs to display their talent. I think we will be having everything from applying makeup really quickly while standing on one leg to juggling.

Well that's all!

Signing off,

Nicole

A Day in Dover

So the last couple of days have given me a better sense of what the weather can be like here in Ontario.
We have had humidity, tornado like winds, torrential rain, loud thunder, lightening all around you, heat and sunshine....yup that about covers it. All in 2 or 3 days.

There have been some awesome storm systems moving through the area. Two days ago around 1pm there was a BIG storm that came through. It blew the rain all over. The thunder boomed and the lightening cracked above. The power flickered and we got soaked as we ran to rescue a couple things that shouldn't have been getting wet (our big floor fan and Mona's vacuum). It was awesome to watch. That was the night that Melody & Marvin arrived in Southern Ontario on their way through to Cape Breton. We went later to pick them up and bring them to Mona's (the threat of wind and rain was still pretty high and a motorbike is just not so much fun that way). As we went through Selkirk there were roads closed because of power lines out, VERY large trees knocked out by their roots and even part of a barn roof that was missing. Almost a tornado was what the weather people said after it was all over. I thought it was pretty neat actually. The lightening lasted all night although most of it stayed up in the clouds. It lit up the sky as bright as day all around us. Since that afternoon we have had rising humidity then a small storm on and off for a few days now. I must say I really don't mind the humidity. It bothers Bill a bit but I myself don't really dislike it at all.



Yesterday we hung around with Melody & Marvin in Port Dover. It is a little town (about 5,000 pple) on the coast of Lake Erie. It is a very popular tourist spot and a great place for swimming and trinkets. I must say my mom would love all the lighthouses and beachy stuff you could find everywhere! We spent the day there starting it off with a famous Port Dover foot long hotdog. It was really really good.

We then finished lunch off with some ice cream. We wandered up and down the streets looking in the stores. Bill and I refrained from buying anything mainly cause we have nowhere to put anything right now. There was lots to see. We ended the day eating dinner right on the lake on the restaurants patio and dipping our feet in Lake Erie (really warm actually). The weather was perfect and so was the day.

Today was spent sleeping in and running some errands. I say sleeping in because at about quarter to 6 this morning Bill woke up and found that our bed had a mind of its own. We've been sleeping on the queen inflatable bed we had that we had used for camping etc. It was quite comfortable and it would easily fit in the room we're staying. Well sometime in the middle of the night it started coming apart inside. The corridors that separate the air and give the mattress support and keep it flat started coming apart. So Bill woke up with a huge "mountain" of bulberous mattress under him. It was very uncomfortable and pretty much useless.

Good thing we had got lots of use out of it previously. Needless to say, we tossed that and headed to Walmart in Simcoe as soon as it opened. We bought ourselves a new inflatable bed that would rival any "real" mattress. It has a air coil spring top on it. Very nice. Which is good cause it will be our bed for a few more months most likely.
We went to Simcoe to run some errands in the afternoon to do with our EI and besides vegging out (without power cause we lost it in the rainstorm earlier today), today has been a bit uneventful.
We are looking forward to this weekend as we have another BBQ here at Monas and Cornfest! (it's a yearly festival here in Jarvis). I'll tell you more later.

Signing off,

N

Ontariario...

So we arrived at our destination...(do i hear applause?). We even arrived without mishap or any problems. Last night we unloaded the uhaul and used our stuff to entirely redecorate Mona's house. The boxes are a nice touch... especially in the kitchen.

The first day of being in Jarvis was a great one. (That was Thursday). We explored the area and went down to Port Dover which was about 10 min away. It was a very cute little town full of touristy shops, a beautiful sandy beach on a freshwater lake that looks a bit like something out of a tropical vacation advertisement, and lots of people enjoying the sun. We then headed to a little town north east of Jarvis and Port Dover called Paris. Seriously one of the cutest little towns ever. I loved all the old architecture and the small town feel of it. There are probably about 10,000 people that live there and so as far as small towns go it actually has quite a bit to offer. The housing prices there are pretty good too so if Bill gets a job nearby we might try and find one there. Cool fact about Paris: It is the site that received the first long distance phone call that Alexander Graham Bell sent. We saw the plaque and the building that it was sent to. Very cool. In a nearby town (probably 10 min away) called Brantford is the location of the Bell homestead and the site from which he sent that transmission. We are going to check that out soon. There is so much history here to check out. We walked through a tiny little shop on the main street of Jarvis called " Good old stuff". It was pretty much an antique shop with SO much stuff. They also carried a variety of neat older stuff, kids games, china, books and jewelery. I can see what type of places my money will be going once I have a job!

So yesterday was moving day. The uhaul had to be returned today so yesterday we had to unload it. There were only 3 of us for the first bit (Bill, Mona and myself) and then a couple hours later one of Bills' old friends from Paris, John, came to help too. We couldn't have done it without him. By the time he came we were so tired. We have to walk up a long flight of stairs to the room where we are storing stuff. Plus our furniture, especially the heavy stuff found a spot downstairs amongst Mona's stuff. Needless to say we redecorated for her :) As time went on the stairs became too much of a challenge and so we have boxes all over the place waiting to make their way upstairs to the room. After the move we said that we are going to stay at Mona's until we find a house to buy. Not only will we be able to save up money faster that way but then we only have to move things once more. I think we are all done with uhauls, moving and boxes for awhile. Now we just have to get onto jobs and such so we can start saving that money!!!

So here are a few pictures from the last leg of our trip. (actually I tried to upload pictures and it wasn't working. Check out facebook. We'll post them there today) We did end up passing through the outskirts of Barrie, Toronto, Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton before getting to Jarvis. Jarvis is a charming little town with a pizza parlor, a couple good diners, a car wash and gas station and a bunch of antique shops. It's located in the middle of corn crops and farmland.

Well I'll be signing off. We are expecting a huge storm tonight and if the weather holds off we are going to a pig roast and maybe a festival in Hamilton. Then tomorrow we should be able to experience some of this humidity and heat we've heard so much about.

Have a great one!!!


Nicole

Counting Sheep

Well what can I say about the last few days besides I am SO tired of that truck. That cab is getting way to small and we are starting to annoy each other. I have definitely been rather grumpy lately. Yesterday went well as far as driving went. Except I keep missing the provincial signs as we enter the province. Or the camera acts up. It means Bill has been a dear and has found a way to turn around and go backwards and get me another chance. Today I caught Ontario's alright so that's good. :S


Manitoba yesterday was great. I actually really liked it (now we were traveling it in the summertime so I can imagine my opinion would change in the winter months). It smelled really good and was easy to navigate and our hotel was great. Bill even got a swim in the pool and we ended our anniversary evening with takeout dinner from Dominos and a sleep in a king sized bed.

The morning started off a bit earlier and turned out to be a long day. We crossed the border to Ontario today as well as crossed to the Eastern Time Zone. We crossed north through Kenora, Dryden, Ignace and then Thunder Bay. Beautiful wooded country. It rained a bunch of the trip but the worst part of it was we had no cell service for 8 hrs and it was single lane each way with a 90km speed limit. It was long going.

I did see a bear, deer and a moose! I've never seen a moose and this area is known for them. You have to be really careful if you travel the road by night because of the accidents with moose (or meece?).

Well I really have to go cause I am exhausted and tomorrow is supposed to be an 11h30min day (by google maps) which means more like 13 hrs our time before we have to navigate the city for a hotel.

We are thinking of extending our trip one more day just to keep the days from being so long.

Talk to you soon!

Signing off

B&N

No Room at the Inn

So after another LONG day on the road we finally got to Regina.
We went through
Brooks, AB
Medicine Hat, AB
Swift Current, SK
Caronport, SK
Moose Jaw,SK
Rouleau (aka Dog River), SK
and Regina, SK.

The trip today was uneventful but it felt very long. We passed many Canola fields, Wheat fields, Haybales, Potash stacks, Wind Turbines and grain elevators. I think the longest train we saw was over 105 cars long.

After Swift Current was the longest haul. We weren't making very great time and it took us a long time to get to Moose Jaw. Once there we were looking for gas and once again most of the gas stations were out of gas. I guess some friendly resident of Moose Jaw saw us circling the downtown area looking for the Petro Can that apparently no longer existed. He stopped us and asked us if he could help. Once he found out we were looking for a Petro Can he said follow him and he led us straight to one with gas! What a blessing. He then told us how to get back to hwy 1. Man! The streets of Moose Jaw were narrow...a Uhaul with a trailer it was not made for..that's for sure!




After leaving Moose Jaw we were headed south towards a little town called Rouleau. It is also better known as Dog River, SK. Home of the Canadian TV Show Corner Gas. We really wish we had got there in the daytime instead of at dusk. The few buildings that had souvenirs were long closed and everything was a bit hard to see. We did get some pictures which we'll include. It was neat to see. We were about 30 min from the outskirts of Regina at that point.




It was just after 9 local time when we arrived in Regina. My eyes and head hurt so bad and Bill was getting VERY tired after driving all day. We really wanted to just find a hotel, grab some food and crash...but that was not to be.
We didn't book a room ahead of time because we weren't sure if we were going to be going as far as Regina and most of them didn't list if they had truck parking (VERY IMPORTANT). When we got here EVERY room was booked. We phoned every hotel except a few downtown because downtown was so hard to navigate in the truck. After 11:30 we decided to just grab some food at Denny's and think of plan B (sleeping in the truck and traveling all night to Winnipeg). We seriously would've taken a single bed and shared we wanted to sleep horizontal SO badly. Bill decided to try the Ramada downtown and ask if they had parking for the truck cause we didn't see any when we were there. Thankfully they had a room and parking so we took it. A Queen size bed has never EVER felt so good. Thank God we found a place. Now we are getting ready to pack up and get a later start towards Winnipeg. Hopefully our truck and car are fine and still parked where we left them.

We'll I better help get things ready to go! Keep praying for us...it is helping!

Talk to you all soon

Signing off

B&N

What a stampede

Well today was the first day on the road. The weather was great and aside from getting out a bit later than we planned things went relatively well. We did however hit ALL the RV's, fifth wheelers, Trucks and trailers and semi's that could be found in Western Canada. It was as if you compared it to a stampeded of vehicles heading out of BC and into the Rockies and Praries for their long weekend adventures. We arrived at our destination in Carseland, AB around 8pm (local time) just in time for a wonderful steak dinner.
We had a couple adventures pulling the truck and trailer. Like navigating the massive amount of vehicles all stopping in Revelstoke for lunch. (there was also 250 baseball teams in town for a tournament), traveling through miles of construction speed zones, and circling through Banff to get to the Petro Can (without backing up) and then ending up having to buy Premium gas when we finally got there. (oh yeah...did we mention that Alberta and Saskatchewan are having a major gas shortage??) Well let you know more on that front tomorrow after trying to fill up somewhere in the middle of the praries.
There hasn't really been any issues with the trailer..or at least we don't think so seeing as our car arrived in Carseland when we did. The truck has a strange problem... or we think it is a problem. The floor of the cab heats up so much that it's too hot to put your bare feet on. On the drivers side it actually gets uncomfortably hot around the pedals. Poor Bill's right foot. I think it is more than well done tonight. We are praying that this doesn't indicate that something is wrong and that tomorrow with less stress on the engine and a lower temperature that this won't be as big of a problem. If you are a praying person please add this one.
Other than that things have been smooth. The truck had lots of power up the hills, the trailer is attached(with the car) and the trip was only a bit long.

After a bit of catching up and wireless internet troubleshooting we are sitting in bed ready to buckle down for another night's sleep. We'll talk to you again tomorrow!

In the meantime enjoy these pics.

Signing off

B&N

855 cubic feet packed up and ready to go

so...today was the day...the one we've been preparing for so hard. It was moving day (well technically it was moving day number 1. We still have a least 6 days of actually traveling and at least one of unpacking the truck...) We'll call it moving day number 1.
The day started around 10:30 when we went to pick up the truck. I must say it was a major answer to prayer because our truck was available at the same location we made our reservation. When we saw it we though...man...that's 17 feet? That's small.... that shows you how much stuff we really had!

So we got the truck and trailer and headed to our apartment to get our furniture ready.
After several rolls of stretch wrap and 2 dozen moving blankets we were finally ready for our help to arrive. While waiting we had a nap on our couches that were wrapped in plastic...fun!

Eventually our help started arriving...in droves!! We had 16 people there!! Isn't that amazing... I was amazed. Needless to say it didn't take long to empty the apartment and then we yelled out encouragements to my dad who was painstakingly playing the game of tetris with our boxes. He won the game and our truck got packed... all 855 cubic feet of it. There was just enough room for the cleaning supplies and mop when we were done. The walk through with our landlord went relatively smoothly and by 7:30 we were at my parents for a BBQ. It was a great evening with lots of help, food and goodbyes.

Now we are off to get some sleep so we can be up just before 6 to say more goodbyes and hit the road... with a timmies in hand of course.

Signing off

B&N

If I ever see another unpacked box it will be too soon

Well I for one (and I know I speak for the both of us here) am tired of packing. It just never seems to end. Just when I think I have a room done I look around to double check and there in the back corner behind a blanket or a dresser is something else needing a cardboard home. It's frustrating. Thankfully with only about 3 days left before takeoff...the packing will soon be done. We will enjoy our trip and not think about boxes until we see Mona's house.
Today I was doing what I deemed "our last laundry". Now it's not actually our last laundry cause that would be well...gross... but it is our last laundry here in our apartment building. I looked high and low to make sure I got all the laundry so that we didn't need to haul dirty laundry around with us... hmm..there's a joke here somewhere....
So anyway, as I was just finishing up the last load, folded it and packed it in the correct suitcase I noticed something red poking out of a partially packed box... AHHH it was...DIRTY LAUNDRY. Then I also found a sock under a blanket... grrrr! Guess we will be taking along some dirty laundry (ha ha)

So the final days are here. Work is done, boxes are almost packed..most of the food is eaten (anyone want some frozen chicken breasts? :D) and we are awaiting go time. Cleaning is starting and thankfully we found a company who will pick up our blinds, clean them, and return them the same day and thus saving my mom and I an entire days work.

We have one last dinner/games night with family on Tuesday and then as of that evening we are living with our parents again. Funny how that works. The countdown has begun...;)

Well that's about all so far...
signing off

N

Last day of work

First off i want to apologize to my brother in law for all of my blog posts, it will be full of incorrect punctuation, spelling errors, incorrect tense, and just plain bad english. It isn't my fault you majored in English!

well here I go, blogging...

Today was my last day at work and yesterday was the last day for Nicole.
It was bitter sweet leaving my job today. Lots of well wishes and word of encouragement usually followed the question "why Ontario?" I have worked there for four years and it is a weird concept that I will not be going back on Monday. It was a great job and I had a lot of fun learning and meeting lots of solid people, I wish it could of lasted for ever.

Apparently I need to get back to packing now so I will cut this off here.

bye for now talk to you all on the trip

B

You want boxes...I'll give you boxes

45... 46...47... Yeah that's about where we are with boxes right now. We are making headway... but there is still a long way to go!

updates... I have passed my "N" test for my drivers license and I am an official driver now, Bill has received his official notice from his work. His last day is the 24th, and we have got rid of several pieces of furniture including a bunch of stuff to go to share (thanks to our friends Jared & Erika). We have about 3 weeks till we will be on the road and thankfully it looks like things are coming together.

9 days of work for me and 10 for Bill....then we are FREE!!!! I am excited for a bit of "vacation"... ha!

here are some pics of our apartment in it's state of disarray.

Signing off

N

Ahhh...!! boxes boxes everywhere!

There are boxes everywhere. On the floor, on the table, even on our bed (when we're not sleeping). We are stepping over them, stepping on them and thinking of hiding in them. That and the bubble wrap. There is nothing more scary than walking across your living room and then unknowingly walking on bubble wrap. The loud, snap, Snap, SNAP can take a few years off ones life.
So... as most of you are aware, Bill and I are packing up our apartment and crazily stepping off a cliff to a place called Ontario. We are moving there without jobs, an apartment or even all of our stuff. Everything we own will be in the back of a 17" U haul that is towing our Ford Focus. We are looking forward to this adventure, however, it is quickly also driving us a bit crazy.
Our house resembles a town after a WWII bombing spree. We are eating off of Tupperware plates and bowls and using strange devices for cups. We have downsized by getting rid of bookshelves, a futon, a motorcycle, a scooter, an aquarium and many others. By the way..if you want an Ikea computer desk, double lazy-boy recliner couch, a snowboard or other bookshelves ...look us up... we have some and they are free. Thankfully, our garage sale was successful in that we got rid of a lot of extra stuff and even made a bit of money.
Surprisingly, we are also looking forward to this crazy adventure of ours. It means starting a life of our own, making friends that the two of us make together instead of one joining previous friends of the other and finding new jobs that will allow us to eventually settle down with a family and house of our own.
We have 23 days till the big move and I have 14 till I'm done work. Bill is hoping for that or less of work himself.... and then we're off!
You'll definitely be hearing from us again as we'll try and keep you updated about our trip and life in Ontario. We hope to be hearing from you too!

Signing off.

N