Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Beautiful Autumn

I'm starting to like Autumn more and more. The colors are so beautiful, and the weather begins to dip, which means another excuse for more snuggling with Shawn. Not to mention the yummy warm comfort food and being able to pick apples from our apple tree:)

I'm now an official Canadian Permanent Resident, which means I can work here without restrictions and hassle. This is good news for the Evans' budget. Shawn started school about a month ago, so we have some how gotten by on his income of only working 2 days a week plus one to two drum lessons per week.. And in case your wondering, we have not used any credit cards. They are not our friends, and we will be happy never to use them as long as we live. We've been happy to learn to live with less, which relative to the rest of the world, doesn't mean much, and to be honest, we haven't really felt pinched or worried for money. God's walked with us through this before, so we were confident that he would take us through again...and He has! We are still blessed with so much, and more than material blessings, we've been blessed with the opportunity to trust and rely on God who gives us the ability to make a living. Also, having to detach from all the "things" that we think we "have" to have is a blessing in and of itself. It's really our relationship with God and others that makes us the happiest, and these don't cost any money!

Case in point, here is some pictures of my wonderful husband and I on one of our weekly dates.


Last weekend we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. I really like that concept of setting a day apart to remember all we have to be thankful for. We have so much to be thankful for this year, so it was an especially special Thanksgiving for us. We had Thanksgiving dinner with Shawn's parents, his cousin Stacey and her husband John, Shawn's sister, and our neighbor Mandy. I made one of my mom's typical Thanksgiving rice casserole to share. Not bad for my first attempt.
I'm a good multi-tasker; that's how I can make a casserole and role my hair at the same time:)

Speaking of things to be thankful for, we are very grateful that this week I was offered two jobs, one of which I was very happy to accept! I have just this week finalized my permanent residency and other requirements to be able to work in Canada, so the timing of the job offers was literally perfect:) I will be the new Resource Development Manager for Sonshine Community Services-a womens' counseling center and residential program offering support from a Christian perspective to victims of domestic abuse. I will be in charge of their fundraising and marketing initiatives, and although I'm a little intimidated by all the responsibility I will have, I'm excited and ready for this challenge and the opportunity to learn and serve this organization. And a nice little perk is that my commuting will be almost none-it's that close!!

Although I was getting a little anxious to start working, I realize what a blessing it has been to be able to devote the majority of my time these past five months to my home, my husband, and our marriage. It has really helped me learn the importance of making my home and marriage a priority...the fruit of doing that is so sweet!!!

Shawn is well into his semester at Ambrose University. He's still loving it (despite those late late nights of writing papers and studying)! I'm his official study buddy.

I'll leave with some pictures of a little trip we took to the mountains in Banff, Alberta a few weeks ago.