Suck It Up, Princess...Duane's Fav. Phrase

It's been a solid month now since I've been without work, and while it's sorta been nice to just adjust to our new lives in Fernie, I'm starting to feel the pressure.
It's hard when I've sorta been floating through life (or so it seems) for the last 27 years and then all of a sudden I'm in a small town and have to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life! I've been resisting getting just any job because I want to find "the" job...the "right" job. If you know me, you know that I absolutely hate the job searching process! It seems to have been accented now that I'm in a small town and there's not all that much out there that I'm interested in! There are lot of "whatever" jobs, but nothing long term, career type, full time jobs that I could be proud of myself for attaining. I'm on EI for the first time in my life (partially because I also hate, despise and resist filling out forms!), and while I haven't even received my first cheque, it's about time for me to be done with EI...though I suppose it isn't such a bad thing...meh.
Anyway...I've decided that all I really want to do is work with kids, and there are definitely kids here in the valley! However, my desire to help special needs kids may not be utilized as much as it would be in Calgary...but I've got to take what I can get, I guess!
In order for me to get into the school system here in Fernie I need a piece of paper to say that I'm "qualified" education-wise...soooo...that means, my friends, I'm going back to school!! This is slightly more than daunting. Like, a lot. This Education Assistant program is demanding and intense. Apparently this program used to be a 2 year program and they've compacted it into TEN MONTHS!! Yeah, I'd say intensive. Yikes. Being that I'm not a huge study-crazy super student, this is pretty freaky for me to wrap my mind around. I didn't even finish Bible college for Pete's sake! It was recommended to me that I extend the 10 months into a year or so in order to have a life outside of school work, but we'll see. At the same time I plan to have my name on the unqualified substitute ed. assistant list at the school board so I can earn some money during the time I'm in school. It seems strange to me that they'd allow uncertified people work in the school system here, but it benefits me at the moment...so all power to them! :) I figure if I'm doing the college program at the same time as I'm working in the schools, I can immediately apply what I've been learning to my job! Convenient, I say!
So here I am scared about returning to school at 27, but excited at the same time because of the opportunity to get into a long term career helping children :)
This next year is going to be CRAZY!! Never mind moving to a new place, finding a new church, making new friends and attempting to integrate myself into the community by joining a soccer team and whatever else might come my way, but how's about I return to school at the same time?? Special. Way to make your life hectic, Karyn. Oh well...what's that phrase...C'est la vie??

That's life..so suck it up, Princess!

~K~

A Few More Pics To Make Friends Jealous...

Actually, that would be mean...but I do so enjoy posting pictures for all y'all to drool over :)

These were taken last week when Duane and I were about to leave town for Calgary...the sun was rising over the mountains and it was just so pretty!

The 3 Sisters
Mt. HosmerWe arrived in Calgary around lunch time and ran a few errands while we waited for Sherri to be dropped off. After spending a couple hours cleaning and then eating dinner in our very empty house on folding chairs, Sherri arrived and we gladly left our place to head up to Airdrie to stay the night at Kevan and Leah's condo...however, theirs is about as empty as ours...just less echo-y 'cause they have carpet! Sherri and I sat around on the floor and looked at pictures and scrapbooks and chatted. We both recently had our hair cut and it turned out to be a very similar style!!I took this picture last night after we lit a fire in the fireplace. Our living room looks just like a cozy mountain home should look, I think! However, we are still missing photos on the walls...We now have a couple new additions to our cozy home; Kevan and Leah's cats joined us this past weekend. Ivy is on the left and Hermione is on the right. I quite enjoy having pets around again!
I took this picture last week when the first snow fell...and this is essentially all we can see when the snow is falling...the mountains disappear behind the clouds.
I'll continue to post pictures here as I take them! Today Leah and I went for an hour long hike through our backyard up into the trail system...it was kind of surreal to me that this is going to be "the norm" now! No planning hikes in advance and packing a day pack for our hikes...just off into the hills whenever we want! I'm pretty sure I'll be okay with that once the reality sinks in :)

~K~

Our New Home in Fernie, BC!

I think this post will consist mostly of pictures. The pictures I have were taken when the house was in disarray with boxes all over. I plan on taking more pics of the set up and decorated house once we make it that far. We are lacking in wall hangings as of now but, don't worry, the boys will remedy that as soon as our canvasses make it here from Calgary! We've got tons of pictures framed but, when you live in a house with 2 couples, things need to be kept fairly generic...as opposed to wedding pictures or kissing pictures, or pictures of us with non-mutual friends...stuff like that :) That's not to say that we won't get to put up whatever pictures downstairs or in our room that we'd like, but we should probably keep things minimal.
After this weekend we should have a few more things set up and organized, as we hope to bring the rest of our things from Calgary, excluding our bed...which is still being dealt with thru King Koil. They're kinda dropping the ball with this whole thing, and I'm getting tired of sleeping on the lumpy futon mattress on the floor!
Anywhoo..we now have a phone number, and our internet is being set up on Friday so we can stop stealing it from our neighbours :)

~~~~I interrupt this blog post to head outside to my snowy deck and enjoy the hot tub!!~~~~ ;)

Sorry for the interruption :) That was lovely..my first jaunt to our hot tub since we moved in. The guys have attempted each night, but the first night it was only lukewarm so they didn't stay long, the second night it was scalding hot at 120 or something so they had to wait it out for awhile, and tonight it was holding steady at 104 and I figured it was early enough in the evening that I was awake enough to enjoy it. I've been SO tired lately! I am, however, more motivated to walk to and from town...so that will be good for my energy levels and my health all around! We're looking forward to not driving quite as much here, however the driving to and from Calgary will probably level things off...especially when wedding season hits!
Speaking of driving to Calgary...my sister is coming through Calgary on Friday!! She's heading out to the Lower Mainland to visit my parents for a week and is coming into the city with some friends. We weren't originally going to be moved yet, and now we are! It kind of threw a wrench into those plans a bit, but Leah will just head out to Fernie for the weekend, and now we can use their condo in Airdrie as a base while Sherri is visiting :) I'm excitedly awaiting the weekend so I can hang out with my sister! Yay!
Anyway...enough of that...here are the pictures for now!

Our downstairs bedroom...the window is sorta blown out in this pic, but we can see the mountains from our room each morning!
The basement entryway...it's pretty big, which is good since it's going to be the main entrance for the house since it's off the carport
The guest room downstairsThe downstairs living room, which is pretty dark since the only window looks out under the deck! This is where Duane and I are currently sleeping while we wait for our bed, and for the windows in our room to get new curtainsOur downstairs bathroom. It's a bit small, but it is a full bath and has lot of counter space and storage!The laundry room...obviouslyLooking down into the entryway from the front doorThe main living space upstairs...quite spacious! Kitchen is off to the left, straight ahead is the dining nook, and the living room is on the right. The deck is through the set of doors on the right.
The yummy view from our dining nook! Since this picture, those mountains are snow-capped and so pretty!These next 3 pictures are kind of a set...imagine them together left to right, starting with the top picture.
And last, but most certainly not least, is the amazing view we have from our deck! Mt. Fernie, Three Sisters, and Mt. Procter. We can actually see all the ranges around the valley from our house, but my wee little camera can't see that far :)

We most certainly are beyond blessed and quite spoiled in this lovely home. God has provided, there's no arguing that!

~K~