Another Smorgasborg

It's been months since I've posted much of anything so I figure it's about time to take you through another smorgasborg of pictures.  Sorry to make you look at snow again but this brings us all the way back to January!  

 Living in the same town as my sister and her family has been AMAZING.  I haven't lived in the same place as her in over 16 years so we're enjoying this.  

This is a common sight in our area and although I can imagine it's not too warm inside, I always think it looks so picturesque.  It's cute when the little kids stick their heads out the back window. 

 I got the opportunity to help process a butchered pig this year with good friends Martin & Ginger Witzke and Shane & Karen Whatley.  That was a first for me...which was obvious by my handiwork!

Mixing spices into the meat for sausages.  We did 5 or 6 different varieties including Honey Garlic, Chorizo and Breakfast. 

Ginger, Luke and I working some sausage magic.  I can't recall how many hundreds of sausages we made but I'm still enjoying the rewards of our labor.

This is where you'll find me most days at the New Tribes Mission of Canada head office.  The next time you call in you might just get me on the other end.     

I've been so thankful for this group of missionary ladies who meet together once a month.  We've all experienced big transitions in our ministries in recent years and it's been a big encouragement to get together and be a support to one another.

In April I got to cross an item off my bucket list by going to Quebec over the Easter weekend!  It was a "working" vacation at an organic farm where we got to help do everything from milking cows to processing maple syrup.   

 Anna-Spring's family owns the farm and she was an awesome host.  Here we were checking the vacuum lines that collect the maple sap.   

 This was a section collected by hand and horse.

 A highlight of the past few months was when my Mom came to visit from B.C. in April.  It was so good to see her again!

 Her and my sister, Nicki, and I took a fun trip down to Toronto before she flew back West.

I've really been enjoying the two-acre property that my building sits on...and having good friends to enjoy it with.  Matt and Joan Gunther and their daughter, Lilith, came to enjoy a warm weather favorite, Roll Kuchen and watermelon.

 I've been taking advantage of the river and walkway that run behind my house.  My place is to the left of where the path goes out of sight.

 Pete & Lesley Doerksen and Drew & Bobbi Scholl are great friends who I worked with in Papua New Guinea.  The Doerksens now live just a block away from me, and the Scholls are down in Indiana which is still close enough for visits!  It was awesome to see them again up our way just a few weeks ago.

Yard Saling in Ontario is pretty fun.  'Tis the season and I'm making up for lost time!

Myself, Nicki, Ryan and Sydney (sister and family) goof off at the New Tribes Mission Academy Graduation in May.  

Just can't get enough of my niece and nephew (Joseph and Sydney).  

A Little Fish

It's past midnight and I'm sitting here rubbing my eyes and trying to think of creative ways to introduce something new I've been toying with lately.  Inspiration is lacking in a big way at 12:06am so I'll just come out and say I have a new blog!  For a few years now I've wanted to start something with a different angle than my bugs and bananas blog (which has been mostly pictures and stories about life), but the blogging trend these days has held me off.  I usually like to wait till trends have died down a bit before joining the crowd, but here I go: another small fish in the huge sea of bloggers sharing what's on their mind.  

Keep checking back at bugs and bananas for photos and stories as inspiration hits, or take a look, if you'd like, at something new at A Steady Anchor.

There's No Place Like Home

Anyone whose life consists of being constantly on the move can agree that we hold the term "home" loosely.  I even have a sticky note on my laptop that reminds me each day to "be a tent dweller" in this world where God often has plans that differ from our own!

In November I found myself in Ontario with two weeks to find a new house-to-become-home and God was so gracious to place this stone beauty in my path.  It's old and has some quirks but I have a thing for quirks so we go well together. :)  Many have asked to see pictures once I settled in, but that's a work in progress so here is "home" as it looks at the moment. 

    

 I live in one of three apartments here...mine is the grey door with the four windows to the left, and the apartment goes into the two stories on the right with a basement (in warmer November days).

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 Entry way out the door on the left, dining room in the middle and living room to the right.

 One of two bedrooms...it looks better in this "before" picture than it does at the moment!

 Two acres out back...a winter wonderland (taken this morning)!  I'm so grateful for Art in the apartment next to me who takes care of all the snow blowing.  

My parents bought me a Keurig as a house warming gift and it's been a good friend on many a cold Ontario winter day.  

I've already been enjoying getting to know my neighbours a bit as well as reconnecting with many old friends in the area who have made this transition wonderful.  Some great friends and co-workers from Papua New Guinea are just on the next block (closer than when we lived together at Interface!) and my sister and her family are only a few minutes drive away so I'm super grateful for so many special people in my life so close by.  

Here's to another home and more memories to be made!  

Arrival

After five days and over 50 hours on the road, my Dad and I arrived in Durham, Ontario.  My brave little Jetta survived the trek across country but is now letting me know she wasn't very happy about it.   She did her job well, though, and I'm thankful God allowed me to squeeze this one last (safe!) trip out before laying her to rest.

Back on day two Dad and I enjoyed coffee with friends in Calgary before heading towards Saskatchewan and two days of amazingly clear roads.  We hit Manitoba's big blue skies on our third day. 

It's a pretty big deal when you find a corner in Manitoba.  We had to laugh at the warning signs (for drivers dozing in cruise control?).

We had a great time catching up with old friends, Sam & Becky Uyaivato and family, along the way (I  graduated high school with Sam in Papua New Guinea and Dad hadn't seen him in 14 years).  

After a lot of flat, it was beautiful to see the waves and coastline of Lake Superior.   

Thank you, Ontario, for my very first speeding ticket.

42 years ago my Dad was making his way across Canada after hitchhiking through Europe when he spent a night sleeping under Sudbury's Big Nickel.  It was fun going to see it together knowing the memories it held for him.  

The day after arriving in Durham I was on the road again with Pete & Lesley Doerksen and family (Jessica, Josh, Micah and Kelsey) heading to Warsaw, Indiana, for a Thanksgiving Interface reunion with Drew & Bobbi Scholl (Gracie, Malachi, Annie and Levi).  When we all left Papua New Guinea we had no idea when we'd see each other again so this was a big blessing.  A lot of laughs, a few tears, and some new memories to add to the collection of old ones.

Our mouths were watering after we saw this mammoth BBQ gear during our tour of the Sportula factory (check out the link if you need some good Christmas gift ideas!).

A whole lotta good Thanksgiving cooking.

Bobbi's parents, Brent & Karen Wildman (Karen below left), hosted a huge Thanksgiving dinner and welcomed us outsiders.  We'd gotten to know them during their occasional visits to the Scholls in Papua New Guinea so it was like being with family.  

We got to know EJ and Peggy (below next to me) Underwood, a couple from the Scholl's home church, during their visit to PNG earlier this year. They were a gift from the Lord during our painful transition out of Interface and they hold a special place in my heart.

We also got to catch up with Drew's mom (Rose, below) and dad who'd also made a visit to PNG last year.  It was pretty special to get Rose hugs in PNG while missing my own family.  

For now I'm back in Durham and have enjoyed doing some apartment hunting in the area and catching up with more old friends from my missionary training days.  I look forward to getting back here after the holidays in British Columbia and am happy to have "settling in" as part of my vocabulary again.   

On Our Way

Two days into our trip across Canada and my dad and I have left British Columbia, passed through Alberta and are now on our way through Saskatchewan.  Except for a few sketchy sections of highway along the way we've had great roads and haven't seen any accidents (except for a truck that slid into a ditch).  Thank you, Lord, for clear roads and a healthy car so far!

As we got closer to Jasper, Mt. Robson came into view and took our breath away.  You can't even see the top of it in the clouds!

This one, below, looked like something out of a magical world.

This is called the "point and run" pose.

We saw several flocks of small birds eating off the highway at one point, and one flock wasn't quite quick enough to get out of the way.  We must have had about 8 or 9 of them hit our windshield and we noticed this unfortunate guy later.

We were trying to find the town of Jasper and instead found ourselves on this road.  No, we didn't obey the sign.  We live life on the edge, and "the edge" in this case happened to be a dead-end CN Railroad yard. Better excitement next time, maybe.

It was pretty comical to see a whole herd of big-horned sheep refusing to get off the highway.  Semi's were honking their horns and vehicles were driving all around them and they wouldn't budge.

We made a stop in Olds, Alberta, to visit a good friend of mine (and her family) who I went to High School with in Papua New Guinea.  

And then came the prairies.  Beautiful in their own way.

Here's dad trying to prove how warm it was this afternoon.  

 

We'd planned on spending the night in Regina, but apparently it's impossible to find a hotel the same weekend as the Grey Cup.  Had we any knowledge of sports whatsoever we may have been tipped off about this a whole lot earlier than this morning.  So, we change our plans!  What fun would this trip be if we can't make a few memories along the way, right?