Matt at History Maker!

Check it out!!!

This is an awesome video created by Summit Pacific College of Matt and the Summit Band 'Resonate' at History Maker this year!

I'm so proud! :)

Summer? Is it really you?

I think it's finally summer! Please don't get me wrong, when I say summer I am sad to say i'm not talking about the weather; it appears that the typical rain drizzle and fog of May 2-4 weekend is not exclusive to Newfoundland. When I think of summer, not only do I think of the beautiful sunshine, a hot day at the beach and terrifying encounters with wasps, I also think of relaxation...rest...a well needed, well deserved break.

What a crazy, busy, wonderful life we lead.

Obviously if you look over our blog history, it is very sporadic, inconsistent, and tiny. This is a result of little time we find to ourselves during each term. Please do not take offense, family and friends, but the time we do find to ourselves, I just can't bring myself to use for recapping the craziness from which we just emerged. However, I now find myself, still in my PJ's during mid-afternoon on Victoria Day Holiday, with nothing to do for the rest of the day but write this blog. I want to tell you about the awesome month we just had!

At the end of April, we finished the term well. Exams went smoothly and we both received really good grades. The day after our last exam, Matt's parents came for a visit! It was so wonderful to have them here with us. We realized, however, that it was the first time that we had any family out to visit us since we moved here 3 years ago. It's a sad reality that we live in the same country, yet it is cheaper and quicker to go to Europe than it is to get to BC. I'd probably choose Europe any day!


We cleared out our little office and Colleen and Joe settled in, unconcerned with their small living quarters and simply overjoyed to see us! How wonderful it was to have family with us! We had a full list of things we wanted to do while they were here, but first on the list was Matt's graduation!



Graduation took place over two nights. First, there was Grad Banquet. All the graduates, family, friends and students and staff of the college filed into the beautifully decorated gymnasium for great food, amazing music and a night of fun! Matt was asked to sing and consequently made me cry by singing the song he wrote for our wedding day- obviously my favorite song.              

It was a great night!



The next night was the Grad Ceremony!

Cameras were flashing, friends cheering and proud parents were crying.

Again, of course, Matt was asked to sing. He rocked his beautiful red Gretsch electric guitar with his square hat, tassel and gown. Now that's a rock star!

All his hard work paid off and he proudly walked across stage when they called his name, followed by the Latin words!!
(Latin words= cum laude  means "with honor")

Next thing on our list, a day trip to Seattle, WA. 

This was a very special day for myself and Matt. You see, every time we have gone to Seattle, the gas it takes us to get there soaks up our budget and so we eat our homemade sandwiches and dream about having money to make the adventure fun. We were quickly reminded that the best way to vacation, is with your parents! What a blessing they were to us! We had coffee from Pike Place Public Market (the first ever Starbucks!), we bought souvenirs, fudge from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and actually ate from a restaurant!!

 Pike Place Market, Starbucks

                                                       

 Apparently, the cool thing to do in Seattle is
to stick your gum to the wall.
Consequently, this is known as...the gum wall. 

   

Dinner at 'The Pike'

                                                                  

Mowing the lawn (Matt)

Unfortunately, throughout the week, Matt and I had to continue work. We both were blessed by jobs at the school. With the crazy summer we have ahead of us, it was unlikely that any other business would hire us for the summer when we are asking for 6-8 weeks off. But the school, knowing our situation, took us under their wing. Matt is working maintenance and I am doing any odd job they find for me, particularly cleaning. While it's not always easy, we are very thankful for the work. We made sure to take the evenings, however, and show them around town a little more. We visited the historic village of Fort Langley, introduced them to the Olive Garden, and invited friends over for a good ol' cooked dinner!

Fort Langley Town Hall

Olive Garden

Friends!

Exploring Campus

A stay in BC wouldn't be complete without a trip to Vancouver and the Island!

First on the list was to bring Joe to his heaven on earth, MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). This is a store that has everything outdoors! We were excited to go there as well because Matt was given quite a bit of money for his graduation from both sets of parents, other family and friends. While we put the majority of it towards our summer trips, it was important to us that we spend some of it furthering our camping gear, especially since all we had was the tent.

Thank- you!!!

Stanley Park- Vancouver

While the boys explored yet more outdoors stores, the gals went shopping downtown Vancouver! Unfortunately, we didn't find anything super exciting, but girl time is always welcomed! Since Abbotsford (our home) is a little over an hour away, and because we had plans in the morning to catch the ferry to the Island, we got a hotel room in Vancouver for the night and finished the evening off with a walk through Stanley Park and a relaxing dinner out.

A trip to the island is always a a beautiful adventure!

The ferry ride is one of the most beautiful experiences!

We explored China town and visited the Parliament building,

Spicy Peanut Chicken noodle box

And finally, no trip to the island is complete without dinner at The Noodle Box... one of our favorite restaurants!!

It was a fast two weeks, and we were very sad to see them go, but it makes it so much easier to say goodbye when you know you'll see each other again real soon. June 14!!!

After another busy weeks work, we piled all Matt's music gear in to the car early Friday morning and we and some of his band members headed East 8 hours to Castlegar for a weekend conference with their youth and the youth of the surrounding area. 

"It was one of the best trips of the year and Castlegar was one of those examples of God moving gradually throughout a weekend. Friday night was a little rough, the youth were very emotionless, but by Sunday morning, we not only witnessed the youth praising God with all their hearts, but they joined together with the entire congregation, literally. They had their arms stretched out to God, holding hands worshiping God. It was an incredible picture. "-Matt 

Castlegar was also one of the most beautiful places we have been in BC. Nestled in a valley, surrounded by mountains, lakes and waterfalls. 

Finally, to top off our month of non-stop adventure, this past weekend, May long weekend, we were at History Maker. This is a youth conference for the entire BC/ Yukon district of the PAOC (Pentecostal Assemblies Of Canada). Matt and his band from the college were asked to play Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon. 

"It was amazing to see so many of the youth my band has ministered to over the past 3 years all in one place. Out of the 2500 people, I was surprised how many of the youth I knew... and how many knew me!" -Matt

I volunteered all weekend as an extra hand where ever needed. Most of my weekend consisted of selling merchandise for the various bands at the conference and the rest was spent being proud of my hubby! They did such a great job and it was so fun to see his face on the big screen! God is using him in incredible ways!!!

It has been an incredible, yet insanely busy month! I realized this weekend that I hadn't had a day to sleep past 7:30am in over a month! This morning was my first sleep-in day, and of course I didn't discover it was a holiday until I was dressed and ready for work. 

But, I made the most of it! Look at this deliciousness:

Homemade, whole grain bread
The first batch to ever turn out good!

Alas! Summer break has arrived!! It's been crazy, but it's been fun!


Now, bring on the adventure!

Marriage.

A Successful Marriage requires falling in love many times,

always with the same person.

-Mignon McLaughlin

This weekend we went to a little marriage seminar held here at the school for all the married students. The focus was on marriage in ministry. What does that look like? How do we balance ministry, our marriage and future family and give each aspect every bit of love and attention it deserves? We walked away from the day determined to set our selves up for success, not failure.

But what qualifies a marriage a successful? Simply that you've not divorced? Hardly. What if you're both old and have been married for 50 years, does that qualify as a successful marriage? I'm convinced that success, in many fields, adds up to quality, not quantity and inevitably, if you have good quality, quantity usually flows. In 50 years time, when I look at my hubby, white haired, wrinkled and pathetically cracking jokes trying to make his grand kids laugh, I want to not only be proud of the many years we have behind us, but of the many times we've fallen in love. The many years of amazing memories, adventures and journeys. The many years of giving our marriage to God and living to see each others dreams come true. We want to look back on our marriage and be proud of who we've become.

I believe this means putting your marriage above all else. Above your career, above your kids, above your social life, and even above your ministry. Please understand that I am not implying that we neglect those things, by no means! ByI do believe that marriage should be the center. If your marriage and relationships with God are not strong and well nurtured, it will infiltrate into every aspect of your life. My goal is that our kids (future kids) will view our marriage as a model for their own. I want them to be constantly aware of how much we love and value each other.

There's nothing like being sick that shows your true colors. Since we've been married, I've not been sick. Sure, I've had some unfortunate bug bites and infections but nothing like the flu. The flu just takes over your life. When I had an IV in my hand for 4 days, and both feet swollen to twice their size, I was still determined to be independent. "Matt, It's fine! I got this." was my catch phrase. But there's just something about having a head the size of a hot air balloon, a nose that no longer works and a body temperature that changes from one extreme to the other in less than 5 seconds that completely sends all determination and independence out the window. The other thing that goes out the window is your desire to be attractive and cute. My mother would love me no matter what I look like. That's what mothers are supposed to do. But when your husband rolls over in bed to see your un-showered self propped up with a million pillows, breathing through your mouth, dressed in your favorite tattered and worn sweater with blood shot eyes wads of tissue shoved up your dry cracked nose, and still loves you.... that's love. When he goes to Wal-mart just to get you more DayQuil and gets out of bed at 4am to get you more water---there's just something about that unconditional love of someone who chose to love you that makes you fall in love again.

A successful marriage requires work, much work and much sacrifice. Laying down your life for the other person. For their needs and their dreams. It's common, before you get married to hear " but, you'll never fall in love again."...

I guess they've never been in love.