Hey guys,
It is finally Friday, It has just been the slowest week at work. We all really want it to be Friday and all we talk about is everything we are going to do on the holidays. My evenings however fly by. We are sort of ready to go. I have the big suitcase packed with all of my clothes. and all the presents are by the door. My apartment is clean too!!!
We have decided to wait until tomorrow morning to leave since it is nicer to travel during the day. So that is all good and I have another night to sleep in my own bed.... yipee! the only bummer is that I am missing a girls night. My friends figured out that tonight is the only night that will work to get together... And I just dont think I can make it... so thats too bad. Life goes on though.
Anyway, I have to go to work I just wanted to leave a note in case anyone wandered by. Have a great day and I love you all so much. Have a Merry Christmas and Ill talk to you soon
Love Amanda

Wednesday WOW!

It is already Wednesday! I say that like my week is going fast...but really it is not! What a slow week and work has been alright but a little more frustrating than usual. Las tnight Matt and I got one more present that we kinda forgot about and we got our present for each other since we are going to exchange before we go to PEI. I couldnt find ANYTHING for that guy. So I will be going again after work today, He even tried to help me at the end and we still couldnt find anything. The plus side is that he took me out for supper to Mikes. I didnt even have to cook when I got home, that was really nice!
Other than that, I am sitting here and I really should be getting ready for work and I am driving myself today SO I have to drive slow and I wanted to pick up the pictures from Wal-Mart. I dont even know if the photo place is open but Wal-Mart is open 24hrs during the week, which I think is alittle ridiculous, I would really like to go there at 3:00 in the morning and see how much money they are losing. They would have to have quite a few staff just to be there in their little stations. haha... anyway that is Wal_marts loss.
Anyway I really should get going. I hope you guys have an awesome day. I just wanted to touch base with you guys because I am not quite sure when I will be posting again! It's quite busy around here and I can only imagine that you are all hustling and bustling to get ready for the coming week. Dont forget to go grocery shopping early... you really dont want to stand in a reallly long line up with a cart of groceries or find that they dont even have any cranberry sauce left. As you can also tell I am really procrastinaing today.
It is really cold out too... going to be -25. yep..cold. Hopefully that means an inside day at daycare. Although it is quite cold inside too so I am wearing my tights under my jeans and I am also wearin my hot chilly socks... so I am prepared, thank goodness for thermal socks!
Alright I am really leaving. I may post again soon and then again... I might not! So Merry Christmas and love you all!
Love Amanda and snoozy Matt (but he deserves a good sleep in day) LOVE YA!

PS Matt is really happy with how all the exams went.... ALLL! yipeeeeeeeeeeee!

More Snow!

I think we got a lot more snow again. I'm not really sure how much since I havent actually been outside since I got home from church. You will be happy to know that I completed my entire list except for one little thing that didnt really matter anyway. My apartment is so nice and clean and tidy. All my laundry is done, my fridge is clean and my floor is very clean. It is such a nice feeling.
Today I spent the day watching Christmas movies on the womens network and now I am watching the season finale.
Even though it has been a lonely week for me, I actually learned to be ok with the solitude. I did have the TV playing Christmas movies the whole time but I think that is all part of the adjustment time. I was also able to get a lot done since I was at home anyway. So all in all it was a good time but I will tell you one thing I am going to be really glad when i have Matt all to myself again. :D :D :D.
He writes the last one tomorrow at 2:00. Then he is going to pick me up from work and we are going to his Uncle Jim's for supper. I think that will be a lot of fun for us and I dont have to cook either. Tuesday is my Christmas Party at work, santa is going to come and bring all the kids a present. So that should be a lot of fun and work is generally quite amusing for me, it is the place where I can be really silly with other people. . . hehe.
I know that I have been all over the place tonight and I apologize for the rough read. But I hope you have a really great week and that you dont forget what Christmas is really about Jesus and Family... not about the presents.... well... kinda hehe. Love you guys all so much
Amanda and Matt too...

PS I really miss reading all your blogs... hint hint... and you can pass the hint onto caleb and damaris too! Still love you :D HEHE

Saturday!

I could have written last night and you would have had something a little more interesting to read, but I just didnt feel like it. I played text twist and some mouse clicking game instead and just made horrible use of my time. Matt was busy studying until well after I went to bed and he is leaving to go study again now with Barret and Alex. It will probably be late agian tonight. Its ok though since i have to babysit a few houses down and that should keep me busy. Plus I have a whole "to do" list... I even typed it up and it has little check mark boxes beside each thing. It sort of ended up being a wish list, but if I actually work hard I think I can make a large dent in the list and it will keep me so busy I will hardly notice that I am here all by myself :(
Other than that our lives have been very boring... haha. Im glad that Matt is studying so hard. He thinks he did well so far and hes hoping to do really well on his last one on Monday. Then he is planning to enjoy some solid down time. I think a lot of skiing is in the plans... which means I am being dropped off at work really early. :) Thats ok though and on thursday night I am going skiing with the girls from work. Melissa doesnt know how to ski so Denise and I are planning to teach her. then Friday it is homeward bound.
Alright... time for me to get on this list. Love you all lots and hope you have a productive day.
Love Amanda

You guys are TOO funny!

Hello Friends (as we like to say in daycare)
I have to stick up for Matt a bit and tell you that I did put the picture of the classyest decoration on the blog. :D I have a snowman candle think and snowmen ornaments all over the place and angel ornaments hanging off the flower pot. :) I even think it looks a little tacky. But I love the balls in the vase. :D hehe and I think the other things add an element of christmas. :)
I had a pretty good day at work today. We were outside a lot and it was so nice. We had about another 5cm of snow last night so it was fun to have some fresh snow.
Anyway. That was my day! I should go and get ready I am planning on going with some friends out for hlaf price appetizers and I dont have to babysit tomorrow after all... so hey... why not. Plus Matt is studying and I shouldnt interupt him so what better way to leave him alone to get his work done. Although if it were me I would really like it If he stayed home just to be there. But since I just generally despise being home alone... I think he wont mind. Have a good night and I love you all lots.
Amanda

Hello!

It was so nice to hear from you all! It was a nice surprise to have 6 comments! :O) things here are going very well. Matt has another exam tomorrow and then on Thursday and his last one next monday! It should keep him quite busy. its ok though. I have to babysit on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday night. So I wont miss him as much.

Sorry for alarming you by not posting last night. I cooked supper and then ate it and then washed the dishes while Matt studied and then I made stew to put in the slow cooker for todays supper. It turned out to be really yummy and a lot less dishes since I am going to put the crock pot in the fridge with the leftovers. hehe.

I had a pretty good day at work. I got my days off at Christmas confirmed and I will be home for New Years too! yay!

After I write I am planning on making some cards... christmas and thank-yous. I got a christmas present from a daycare parent yesterday. It was a gift certificate for shoppers. I thought it was very thoughtful and useful!

Oh! and last night I pulled out my box of christmas decorations and just put them around the apartment. Matt thought it was starting to look a little tacky, but I put my christmas balls in the vase and I am the most happy with how that turned out. I even took a picture of it so that you could visualize what I did. Other than that I just put some of the other ornaments around the room. It looks pretty good. A little more christmassy. I dont really feel like I am missing out that I dont have a tree though. I have one at work and there will be one on PEI too. :) well I am going to enjoy what is left of my evening. Love you all lots.

Matt and Amanda

Its already 5:30 here and I have a little mess beside me that I have to get cleaned up really soon. I was making bags for our yankee swap. I didnt want to spend money on a bag and I leftover wrapping paper since I didnt end up needing any for pakje night. I thought I would become resourceful. I am showing the better of the two. I think it will do the job. haha. Now I have a little mess beside me to clean up too. :) I thought I would put a little update on here for my faithful readers. I couldnt let you down!

I wasnt feeling too good yesterday. I am not too sure what was wrong but I was feeling pretty nauseated

it was about 3;30 before I was feeling any better. So that really sucked because I was planning to get so much done and I really didnt feel like it. I did manage to get the house clean before Matt and I went to town. He went to study with Barret and I went because I had to babysit at 8. Matt came with me babysitting and we rolled bak in the door at 3;20AM. Who's great idea was this babysitting thing anyway??? Anyway, it was all good and I have a lot more energy today than I did yesterday so that is good. Matt is really busy studying again today with Barret. We picked Barret up after Church and they have been here studying since then. They are working very hard... and I feel a little bad for them so I keep feeding them stuff... hehe. I even got a nice action shot of the two and they were so into things that they didnt even notice that I took the picture. The whole table is covered in books, Binders, and papers. It will be nice when they are finally done. Matt has almost a week before we go to PEI to really relax and destress. He is planning to spend a few of those days at Crabbe.
We had a really good church service today. We had the pastor come from Milford CRC, he was really good. His sermon was about how we can only have real Joy through Christ. He was a really great speaker and he was so easy to understand and follow. I hope that the church can find someone like that for our church. That would be just so awesome. A lot of our friends werent at Church or they left right after because they are all in the middle of exams so I guess I am a little left out of the whole loop. But I have still never written an exam. In Holland College they are called tests and I studied with my friends half an hour before and maybe the afternoon before. It was mostly based on in class learning and I was a good listener. hehe. Well I think I will see what I should clean up yet and then I think I will wrap the presents in the bags and have another thing checked off my list. Have a splendid day and I will see all of you in like two weeks.
Love Matt and Amanda

It is really quite late and I must get to bed but I thought that I would take advantage of this actually working today. This is what everything looked like after the snow.

This is what my walkway looked like. I was walking out the door ready to leave for work and Matt had just made a path to the car. But good news... I wasnt even late. :) I love you all and hope you have a really great day! Love Amanda and MAtt

I was really excited about sharing some if the pictures from our big storm with you. But for some reason blogger wont let me upload them. That is a little dissapointing. I had a pretty good day at work. We decorated for christmas and the daycare looks really great. the kids had a lot of fun decorating the tree and now we are working on making our own decorations for the tree at craft time everyday. Th ekids and I are also loving the snow, Denise and I shoveled a sledding hill for the kids. It cant even compare to the ones that Dad has made for us in the past. I hope there is a good one there by the time we go home so that I can show the kids what a real hill looks like. :D.
I decorated a cake for the bazaar tonight since i had GEMS tomorrow night and the Bazaar is on Friday night. it should be a lot of fun. I will let you know what kinds of exciting things there are to do there. The Young Adults are going to auction themselves off for a day of work. The money is going to go towards the renovations the church is having. Since we arent regular tithers we thought it would be a good way to help catch us up a little.
Well I should go to bed. please pray that Matt will have the ambition to study and retain what he is learning and reading. We would both really appreciate the prayers a lot. love you all and i hope that you all have a really great day!
Love
Matt and Amanda

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

It started little snowing this afternoon and the kids were so excited. We took them outside but in no time they were all shivering and cold since the snow was wet and the wind was blowing and it was still snowing. Matt drove me to work today since our winter tires are still in PEI. We do have good all season tires though and Matt went slow and steady all the way home. I still have to work tomorrow morning no matter what and It is still supposed to be snowing and the wind is supposed to pick up too. So hopefully we get there and back in one peice.
I was supposed to be at a Training workshop tonight about infant development and how to encourage that development. The course was going to be 15 of the 30 hours that I need to retain my early childhood staff certificate. It was cancelled due to the storm and they are planning to reschedule the whole course for the new year. That was a big relief in a way because I just really wasnt up to the busyness right before Christmas, and obviously they werent either since they were so willing to push all the way to 2008.
Matt and I ended up having a really good night though. He studied while I cooked. I made homeade pizza but I had to wait for the dough to thaw out. I get the bakery dough from the superstore and it is really quite yummy, thanks to Tante Alice I know all about it. I really like my homeade pizza's. matt and I put everything on it... well that we have. green pepper, onion, salami, pepperoni, ham, pinapple, tomato and sauce and cheese. yummy! I was also going make lasagna and I had the sauce made and realized that I had forgotten to buy Lasagna noodles. SO I made spaghetti instead and then I mixed it altogether and topped it with cheese and put it in the oven. It looks really delicious, it is for our lunch tomorrow.
So that is our evening in a nutshell. I really enjoyed my evening and I am so tired that I think I will just plop myself into bed and sleep away all my tiredness. Love you all and have a super night
Love Matt and Amanda

Our Hiking Adventure

Our day started out really great. We actually got up in time. Last week we overslept and were 5 minutes for church. Thiss week we made it nice and early, I think we were even fifteen minutes early, mostly because we had to do the advent and we wanted a good seat. When we arrived we were strongly ecouraged to leave on our winter jackets because the church was out of furnace oil. whoops, I thought it was pretty funny because everyone was sitting there hunched in their winter coats. Scarves around there necks and if you were lucky, mittens on your hands. Our Advent reading went well and it was all good.

Last night we had a really good biblestudy and the question came up of how we are growing spritually in our church and we really admitted to each other that we never share our own personal failings and really encourage and pray for each other. So today we were going to encourage each other to listen in church and really focus on what the sermon is about and such. So that was really encouraging. So I was sitting in church really trying hard to listen but it is amazing t how easy your mind travels along when you are trying to focus. The minister was talking about the painting of the last supper in Italy, and how the colours are fading and they are spending a lot of money to try and restore it and then I was sitting there thinking about the art gallery that we went to and where they store paintings at the Confederation center. Suddenly I was just like... Where.. did THAT come from. It was kind of funny how distractable I really am.
After church we went to Joas and Lisa VanOord's for a hike and supper. we went to a really nice water fall. We drove to the snowmoblie trail and took that all the way to the waterfall. When we got there we made a nice campfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The waterfall looked really neat. It was freezing everywhere. Then there is water running over the frozen part. I know that is a horrible description but maybe if you click on the picture you will be able to see the real thing a little better. So that was our day. We had so much fun. It was a little cold but once we got going we warmed right up. The people here are really great. I just love hanging out with them. We can be serious but we can have a lot of fun too. We are about to go to "cards" we really just go and play games. I think it is going to be an early night though because Matt and I are both tuckered out. We had a busy weekend, but we have all our christmas shopping done and the presents are wrapped. I met a new family that I am going to babysit for and things could not be going better if I wanted it too. If God thought of ways to make it better... that I just cant even imagine. I would totally be up for that though. I just wouldnt want Him to think I have had enough if He was planning even more. Anyway. Enough of this rambling. Hope you enjoyed the rare illustrations. Have a super awesome week and I love you all oodles.
Love Matt and Amanda
PS there are a lot more pictures on facebook.

Quick Post

Just thought I would leave a quick note so that you wouldnt get all worried about me! Can you belive that it is already Saturday? Time is going by so fast, it is really scary sometime. I was sitting at work eating my lunch thinking that pretty soon I will be eighty and I will be wondering where in the world my life went. So I sat there and really enjoyed everthing about the moment I was in. But then I remembered I still had to clean my whole room and then I was rushing again. haha
Matt was hired on at Crabbe Mountain teaching skiing. He is pretty excited about the season pass. A requirement for his employment is that he does an hour session to work on his own techniques and keep up what he already knows and maybe even learn some new stuff. He is happy about that too, he said it will give him a nice chance to really focus on his own skiing. He is busy studying right now and I am about to clean the house and then I am going to call Mary. I already talked to Dianna today too. It should be really fun to be all together in like three weeks. But dont worry, I am planning on enjoying my time until then and not rushing anything.
Other than that things are so awesome. I cant even describe how happy I am and just hearing from all of you really makes my day... so keep commenting.
Alright. Matt needs the computer and I should get some stuff done too. I love you all SO much and I really hope you just have a wonderful day!
A dumptruck load of love,
Matt and Amanda

Im Back

I know I didnt write yesterday...but I was busy wrapping presents. Matt and I went shopping and we got all our Christmas presents! Then I was left with getting Matt a present. But we decided that we are getting enough that the things we get for each other will just kind of be put in a pile and since diesel is 1.23 a litre we can get that for each other. It is crazy how much it has gone up in the last couple of months. We're really hoping that it doesnt go up too much more.
GEMS went really well tonight. Our lesson was about friends and how Jesus wants to be our friend, but how willin are we to take time to be his friend and really spend time with Him. One of the girls was having problems with her friends at school making fun of her. So that was kind of hard to deal with in the sense that I didnt really know what to do. The head counselor ended up talking to her later on that night so that was all good.
Sunday is our first week of advent and we are lighting the candle of hope. Someone from our Biblestudy was asked to share a personal experience of hope. So I thought Matt and I would have a good one. This is what I have written so far:
"When Matt and I were getting ready to move to Fredericton we really hoped and prayed that God would lead us to a church where we would feel at home. God gave us more than we ever hoped for. He exceeded our expectations and gave us a place where we feel at home and part of it. From the moment we walked in the door we were welcome."
So what do you think? Do you have another word for "part of it"
Other than that things here are really great. We are both doing really well and I hope that you had a really great day! Have you all decorated for christmas yet? I know it is still early. But I would love to hear about it. Love you all muchly
Love Matt and Amanda

Good Morning!

I dont usually write on my blog in the morning before I go to work, but I have five minutes and I didnt write last night. So...here I am. Last night Matt and I went to see the movie August Rush. It was such a great movie. I was a little bit dissapointed with the ending, but when I thought about it I couldnt think of a better one either. Anyway... It was really good and I would highly recommend it!
Other than that Matt and I have a pretty busy day. I think Matt is planning to study and I am planning to go to work any second now. Matt has a meeting with the head manager person at Crabbe. I think it is more of an interview than anything. So hopefully that goes well. I have to meet with the people I am going to babysit in a couple of weeks. She really wanted me to meet her kids before I babysat them. Hopefully they are good kids and I wont dread the next couple of weeks. haha.
Well I should head off to work. I hope you have a really great day. Lots of Love
Amanda and Sleeping Beauty!

SMILE!

What a busy weekend! We went to the Pastor's farewell on Friday night, it was so neat to see how much impact the Pastor had on all the people and how the people in the church can really pull together to make a fun night. Every family in the church made a page for a scrapbook and it was beautiful. That would be an amazing tangible memory to have as a pastor. There was no place for us to sit when we got there and we almost just sat with people we didnt know but then the young adults made room at their table for us. That was really nice and I was so glad that they did too. We went to the Superstore after that because they had no tax from 9-12 so we got all the stuff that we normally pay tax on and got some Christmas presents while we were at it. I didnt really get Micaiah any toys but I dont think he will care to much. Anyway... by the time we got home it was late and I went strait to bed.
On Saturday morning I got up really early and started cleaning. Our place was very tidy, but since I didnt clean the apartment while I was in BC the dust and the dirt everywhere just collected. It was so nice to have everything REALLy clean. While I was cleaning Matt made Taco Dip for when we had Biblestudy here. After we had everything made and cleaned up we went to UNB for a clothing sale. A lot of things were half price and Matt got a really nice pair of Jeans that were long overdue. He was down to one pair of pants that didnt have a hole in them. Then we went to the Mall and there was a big sale at the Garage. I got a sweater and a t-shirt for $15 dollars and some Christmas presents too! So I have a good chunk of my Christmas shopping was done this weekend. Matts Mom came for a nice visit for a bit in the afternoon. and then at 7:30 everyone showed up for Biblestudy. We had such a great time and a really great study. I love this group that we study with. We really get in depth about what God expects from us as Christians in this world. Its neat.
This morning we went to church. Afterward we went to Opa and Oma Versloots for lunch again and we had a great time talking an laighing together and then Matt and I came home at 4 and just relaxed. We are going to go play cards in half an hour or so, so that should be a lot of fun too. Tomorrow is monday and then we can relax again. haha. I love the way my life works. Oh and guess what.... Matt and I are going to be in PEI from Dec. 21-Dec.30 Arent you SO excited?!!?
Love you all and have a super week!
Love Matt and Amanda

GEMS cancelled = First Thursday Blog :)

Hello all,
Unfortunately GEMS was cancelled today due to freezing rain. Really though... I am kind of glad. I am sitting in a comfy office chair at UNB while Matt studies. Barrett is going to be here soon too. We are at the Engineering library at head hall (just in case you were wondering) Today we did a little bit of Christmas shopping. I can honestly say that I am not having as much fun with it this year as I did last year. I think it was because I spent more last year. But this year I really don't have any good ideas. I finished shopping for Mary, but thats it. I never know what to get anyone. So if you know that I have your name ideas need to be forthcoming. .. You will get something you really waaant (said in my sweet "im really trying to convince you" kind of voice)
Other than that things are going really well. I had a good day with the kids today and I was reminded again of how much I love my kids. I was talking with Denise (the girl I work with) and we both agreed that we cant think of a job that you would laugh more than we do. :) I see so many picture perfect moments, but I cant really take pictures because I could never put them on my blog and there is no really good way to give them to the parents. So I think when I retire I am going to take photography... or when I dont have the energy to deal with kids all day. Isnt that a great idea?
Matt and I went to Walmart last night and I really wanted to get a Christmas tree.. but then we looked at it logically... and we arent even going to be home for Christmas... so we decided not to get one. I was a little dissapointed, but at the same time it didnt really make sense and we dont really have "the perfect spot" and honestly... nothing could compare to the way it is decorated at home and I just dont think mine would quite measure up. So maybe next year?
I cant wait to go home for Christmas. The way it is looking right now I will have that whole week of Christmas off. I cant wait to go home and see the tree all decorated and all the candles in the windows and all the garland things over the windows, on the mantle, and up the stairs. I cant wait to have pinapple punch and open presents. I just love Christmas so much and I cant wait for it to come again. So tell me... what are you looking forward to the most? I get to hold my nephew for the first time too... I think that will be so special.
Well ... I think I will go read my book. I havent really shared anything significant and maybe I got you a little excited for Christmas. Have fun decorating and Mom... I will really miss making centerpeices with you this year... maybe you could make one for me. WOW that is a great idea. haha. I love you all and I hope you have a super week. I probably wont write till sunday or monday because we have a farewell to the pastor tomorrow night at the church. Saturday Matts mom is coming for a visit and Saturday night we have biblestudy at our place and then sunday is church and whatever happens after that. Love you all lots!!!
Love Amanda and Matt

Thank you all for you warm welcome home. I really loved it. Getting back into the routine here at home has been really nice. Matt and I have been really rushed in the morning as we really tend to oversleep and not got to bed on time the night before because we just arent that tired haha. But my days are so good. It is so good to be back at daycare with my kids. I love them all so much and they still love me... isnt that just great for my self esteeem, haha. A lot of kids at the daycare all have the flu or a really bad cold. So there have less kids and it has been really the perfect week to get back into things. I am really sorry to cut this short. But I dont really have anything else to say and I talked to Mom and Dianna on the phone so I have that much less to talk about. So I am sorry if I dissapointed you but guess what? I still love you!
Love Matt and Amanda

So this is one of my lovely purchases from IKEA. (the duvet cover) Doesn't it just look so beautiful? It certainly added character to my room, I think i am in love with it. Just in case you wanted to know, Tante Jetty also has the same one in her house across the road. She bought it at the same time as me :)
We had such a wonderful trip and I think that I love to fly, but I dont love jetlag. There was just something about Westjet that we really loved, they say it is like being part of a family, we didnt really get it until we saw this: Isnt that just priceless! Matt loved it! We went to Vancouver on saturday, and I didnt have my camera but I used my cell phone so that you could see a little tiny bit of what we saw. we parked our car on one end of Vancouver and took the sky train to the other side. It was a great way too see the cityscape. The sky train isnt driven by anyone it just goes and automatically stops at all the stations through Vancouver. It was a fun way to see the city.
I dont have any pictures of Phil and Karina's wedding. I was at Karina's parents house before the wedding and their camera card wasnt working in their camera and we both had the same card so we switched and it worked. Now Karina's dad is going to put the pictures I took on a CD and send me my card back. So I am looking forward to sharing those pictures with you on another day.
Our flight home was a lot easier because it was during the day and when we were in the airport stuff was actually open. And we were so happy to be home in our own warm place. Phil has to pay for his own heat so he doesnt see the point in having the place nice and warm hehe. So I am nice and warm here watching TV, Matt and I had some salsa and I am feeling good. :) We got home at like 1:00 last night but it was a lot earlier in BC so we handled that pretty well. It wasnt so good this morning though. I still felt like it was the middle of the night at 9:00. I made myself get up though cause I didnt want it to be even worse tomorrow. We made it through church without falling asleep but we nicely came home and had such a nice afternoon together. So that was my day. Hope yours was great too! love you all oodles! Sweet Dreams!
Love Matt and Amanda

Home Alone!

I just thought I would leave a little note to let you know I am alive. I am home alone right now as the boys are on the Stag. I hope they come home soon, but I think I am going to crash anyway. I am pretty beat. I had such a busy afternoon. But the morning was great. Phil, Matt and Rinse went to a VW place here and I stayed with Marcel and cleaned up the house and polished four pairs of shoes and cooked some dinner. Dinner actually turned out really well and I was really happy about that. After lunch I hung out with Karina and we organized and got stuff ready for the wedding. We also picked up a friend of Phil's in Surrey. I am really tired and I think all of you havent read today anyway so you probably still have to read the IKEA blog which is way more fun. Alright. Love you all, have a super day and I will talk to you all soon. love you!

Today's Mission: Attack IKEA!

So I was pretty excited to go to IKEA today. I went with Tante Jetty and Janneke. They were supposed to pick me up at 9:00 but they were a litte bit late. We also went with Emma and Sophie and quite honestly I was really missing the kids at this point so hanging out with Sophie and Emma was pretty fun! I even got to push Sophie's stroller. She especially loved the kids area there, I took her out of the stroller and she started playing with another kid there. It was so fun. Janneke and Tante Jetty are such a blast, we just had a hoot of a time hanging out and shopping. Good Times for sure. I did manage to buy a few things at IKEA. I was planning on getting some things as Christmas presents for people... but I kinda forgot about that. I ended up having my eyes peeled only for Mom and I didnt even see anything. But I did find a nice duvet cover, some heat pads for the table, wrapping paper, ribbon, bag clips, and some nice cards. I couls have gotten so much more, but I had to think about room in my suitcase. I love the stuff I got and I am glad I had a chance to get there, the people that I went with definately made it worth so much. So that was really my whole day. I got home and Marcel, Matt and I made some supper and now we are just hanging around watching TV and stuff. I think I am going shopping again tomorrow and tomorrow night we are doing something for Karina and matt is going to Phil's Bachelor party.
I think matt mostly ran errands with Marcel today. They picked up the rentals from Moores, got some shoe polish, they got stuff for Phils BBQ/Bachelor party, He doesnt really want to tell me what else he did, not because it is top secret, I think he just doesnt feel like talking about all the boring little details... plus he said that he doesnt remember. He was ok with all the stuff I got at IKEA too... very functional stuff. hehe. So if you ever have a chane to go to that place.. You SHOULD!!! Love you all and talk to you soon... dont know when. but sometime.
Love Amanda

Happy Long Weekend...

I unfortunately do not take after my father in the picture taking catergory. I forgot my camera when we took our big excursion to Vancouver on Saturday. We parked our car in Surrey (just so you can at least look on a map Dad) and took the sky train right into Vancouver. IT was such a neat thing, There were all these little stations everywhere to get off and on and no one drives it. It is all electric. We purchased a day pass for $8 each and then we could ride the seabus, skytrain and the bus in Vancouver. We met up with Karina's Parents, Willem, Angela, Peter, Ella and Karina's other sister Sherri. We are just kind of Phil's tag a longs so we go to everything. haha. Albert, Karina's dad paid for all of us to go see "Sea Creatures" in the IMAX theatre. It was so nice of him to include us in the family things. After that Marcel, Phil, Karina, Matt and I went out for dinner/supper at a pub and we went SHOPPING. Rebecca would totally go nuts in this place. Their mall was like a whole street and everything is so big. It is so crazy. Karina and I had a lot of fun just looking at everything. The only thing I actually got was a pair of shoes at the ALDO outlet. So that was fun. I was getting so tired though. Jet Lag is a horrible thing. I just feel really tired all the time. I dont think that I am meant to be a big traveller. haha. We had a nice relaxing evening after that. I think I feel asleep on the couch. :)
Church was good too. Colleen and Grace were there for the believe in it girls tour. I guess it finally made it to BC. haha. So that was fun, we also saw Pastor Bart this church. So that was also interesting.
We went to Karina's Parents house after church for some soup. that was fun too. After that we went hiking up some mountain with a waterfall. It was a lot of fun. We went with Steph and Jordan... Phil and Karina's friends here. They are really nice and we had such a nice time with them. We went to their house after the hike so the boys could play some play station 3. They had a lot of fun. We came back to phils house then and put the stove and fridge back into place so that we could cook some egg mcmuffins for supper. They turned out to be very delicious. So that was a good thing. The rest of the night we just vegetated.. .and I fell asleep. hehe.
And now it is Monday afternoon. Phils parents came for coffee today and now they are gone visiting and PHil and Matt are cleaning the garage. We have a list of things that we are trying to get some things done before the wedding. Marcel is sitting here arranging a bachelor party for Phil and I am cleaning and blog writing. I loved all your comments and we will have to see if I can get the model number for the air mattress. It is really comfortable. I am not even waking up sore and the only thing keeping me from my beauty sleep is the time change stuff. bla! But all and all we are having a really great time here. I should have brought my winter jacket.. .but I am using Karina's so it is all good. anyway. I am going to head out. love you all
Amanda

We MADE IT! WOHOO!

Just wanted to let all you faithful readers know that we made it here. I think the best part about actually flying was the take-off, what an exhilarating feeking. IT was cloudy and overcast when we left and when you get about clouds... what amazing beauty. The sun was just setting and the clouds weere so white. It just gives you such an amazing feeling. IT brings to mind the words of a song... "the splender of the king, robed in majesty, let all the earth rejoice." It was kinda like that feeling, if you know what I mean.
So I seats were kind of first come first serve. On the way to calgary we were in seat 20e and f. We were righ behind the left wing of the plane. We had a stop in Hamilton but Matt and I did not get off the plane. We didnt want to get anything lost or mixed up. The plane we were on was going strait to Vancouver but we had to get off and wait two hours to catch another flight that was going to Vancouver. We made it though at about 3.00AM our time and I was so tired and so awake at the same time. We still had an hour and a half drive to Abbotsford. But good news... our luggage wasnt lost! Yipee!! When we finally made it to Phils he was giving us the grand tour and then I went to bed at 6:15 our time. So while you are sitting there eating your lunch, I still have the whole day ahead of me. It is 7:30 and I feel like I just got home from superbowl haha.
Its fun to be all together again with everyone, it is a lot of fun, and we just got started.
Other than that things here are going really great.. We are sleeping on an air mattress that stayed inflated all night and I am not even sore, which is a huge bonus. I slept well and I guess it is a good thing to get used to the time here right away. Ill let you know how it goes and I can't post any pictures because I dont have my cord. But I will when we get back to Fredericton. Love you all and cant wait to hear all your comments. Love you All!
Matt and Amanda

Busy Busy Busy

Matt and I have had a busy evening getting everything done. We picked up his suit in town. We got it dry cleaned AND the pocket fixed at Moores for free! Yipee! He also got a garment bag so that we can transport the suit without it getting all wrinkly. I am also putting some of my stuff in it too and I think we will carry it onto the plane with us. Hopefully it all works out well. I hope so. We also got some shampoo and wrapping paper.
My apartment is dusted but it needs a thourough vacuuming yet and I want to wash my bedsheets yet... dont know if that will actually happen. Other than that there are a lot of things laying around that have to be packed but I dont want to put everything in quite yet, but i need to keep things close by so I dont forget to take them.
So I have a lot to do yet when I come home from GEMS tomorrow, but I hope that it goes well and that I wont feel rushed, I also switched shifts with Denise on friday so she doesnt have to work longer because I am not there. So that should make things easier.
So that is what is going on here. I need to go finish up some stuff and I have to make sure I write out a forget me not list too. Love you all a bunch and I will post when I can get to a computer again, which might not be until we get home...just to warn you. haha. I love you all and I hope you have a super day!
Love Amanda
PS Tante Tetcy.. Matt got your card and LOVED it. So thoughtful. Thanks!

Rainy Tuesday

Hello All,
I just came home from babysitting. It was fun... but I am glad I dont have to do it everyday. It makes you a little more tired. Once I got home I perked right up though. I should keep it short because I need to get to bed soon.
Matt spent the day cleaning things up... he cleaned out the freezer and hung the picture of fall trees along a country road. He hung it on the wall above the shelf he made. It looks really good where he put it, he also made some time to study too... :)
I had a pretty great day. Me and my coworkers laughed about a lot of things.. those days are just so great. Tomorrow should be a really great day too. I have to start cleaning toys and stuff for when I go to BC. We already have a suitcase in the living room. It only has a few things in it. Mostly so that we arent really rushed to quickly get it done and forget everything.
Other than that things here are going really well. There isnt really any other news to share, things are going really well. It was really nice to go home and see all of you. Much Love,
Matt and Amanda

Under the Sheet!

Alright. Picture #1
The present looked a lot bigger on the shelf that Matt made but I was still happy to open it. We had just gotten back from PEI. We had no power and it seemed like it had been out for a long time since all the stuff inour freezer was dethawed and the stuff in the fridge was semi warm. I was looking forward to curling up on the couch watching TV and eating salsa. All my cozy plans were dashed in one flick of the switch. So that brings us back to the present under the sheet..now that you have the background. haha. What do you think it turned out to be?

Alright here is the picture of the box! I thought it was an exercise bike when it was up on the shelf. But I knew that it was a little too small to fit that picture so I opened it and it was a lamp for our living room. You have no idea how much I wanted one of these. It can be so bright with the big light on and so dark with the light off... so I was pretty syked for a lamp. but... there was no power. Matt put it all together but I didnt actually get to see it in action until three thirty this morning. haha. I love it.
This is my lamp in action this evening. I love the ambience it creates in my space! It was such a great present and I never would have thought of it. So today was great. We went to bead early last night because we didnt have the energy to play a game or do the things we usually do when the power is out. We talked about fun things under layers of blankets. It was fun. So with all that sleep I woke up earlier a lot happier and got ready for the day. It was a really great day. when I got home I had to cook all the stuff int he freezer otherwise it would have had to go in the garbage. So I coooked sausages, 7 pork chops, a whole chicken and some potatoes to go with it. So all our food is gone... the only thing left in the freezer is a melted Ice Cream cake and gross looking melted/frozen ice cream that Matt insisted we keep... I think I will stay away. I have to check out the fridge yet and see what went bad. It is a little easier to tell when fresh food goes bad. haha. All in all though I had a memorable birthday. haha.
So I guess that is it for today. I hope that you fared better in the the storm than we did. But o well. We will just have to do some major grocery shopping when we get home from BC I think it will work out alright. Tomorrow night I am going to babysit one of my daycare kids. So that should be fun too.
I am going to go to bed now. I will talk to all of you later and I am sorry you had to wait so long to hear from me... but I just couldnt help it. I love you all.
Love Amanda and Matt

Happy Halloween!

Dear All! It was so good to hear from all of you. I thought I would add a few pictures since it has been awhile since I have added any. I took this picture yesterday at work. We actually got quite a bit of snow here, Matt had to brush a good layer off the car. It was so beautiful! This kids all loved the snow too, they didnt really know what snow was either. It was neat! The kids had so much fun with all of the Halloweeny things. We had candy, decorated cookies and had a blast. The kids are so cute all dressed up and I think the grown ups did pretty well too. The bottom picture is my in my nurse outfit and Denise in her personal trainer outfit her slogan was, Come see me if you want a hot body like mine. It was SO funny. Melissa (the one on the far right) is a roman goddess, she switched to an angel later though because people just werent getting it! haha. It was oodles of fun! As I am writing

I am constantly being interrupted by our doorbell. The kids coming here are so cute! I am also giving the parents a little business card to let them know I am up for babysitting anytime. It isnt the perfect weekend since we will be gone for the next three weekends, but hopefully there will be a few calls as the extra money would come in handy! Other than that, things are going pretty well.

I am on the countdown for my birthday... 3 MORE SLEEPS! I am so excited. tomorrow will go by fast and then Friday we go home yipee! It should be a lot of fun. hehe. I am still curious about what is under the sheet, but I am hoping that it is a good present!!
Well I am going to watch Transformers with Matt and get a few other things done. I love you all so much and I hope that you have a really super day. How many trick or treaters did you get???
Love Matt and Amanda

Post 50! yea baby!

I cant believe that I am already at Post 50! Im so glad that all of you faithful readers are here to share in this monumental moment! So I did notice that none if you have been by... thats ok, but you all know how curious I am and I am trying to picture what you are all doing. Maybe you are all shopping a birthday present for me... speaking of which Matt got me mine today. My present is big.. too nig to take home for my birthday.. I get to open it Sunday night. I dont think that I asked for anything big.. so it is really puzzling me. Im so curious, but I will NOT peek! It is on the shelf that Matt made over the stairs, it has a green sheet over it. I have no idea. Arent you curious now to? And dont you go asking Matt behind by back. :D
Other than that I didnt have anything really out of the ordinary happen at work today, the kids were SO excited about the snow. It was so fun to watch them experience it and figure out what it was. The kids were also pumped that it is Halloween tomorrow.
We had Chicken Alfredo for supper. It turned out really well and actually tasted great. We are having leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Anyway. It is time for me to get to bed. I have to be a nurse tomorrow hehe. It should be a lot of fun! I hope you all have a really super day! And dont forget to comment. I really missed you guys today. But I still love you!
Love Amanda and Matt!

Happy Monday!

Hello Friends!
Things here are going quite well. I had a very good day...between kids eating the paint and the toilet overflowing made for an interesting day! It was all good and we were able to laugh about it all at the end of the day.
I made Pizza for supper and it was quite delish! I got the homeade frozen dough from the superstore and it was frozen at the time and I put it in the fridge and when I looked at it today it had already rise quite a bit. I was worried but it all worked out good. I put everything on the Pizza and boy was it delicious. I was also working on folding some laundry but I got tired of that so there are still three shirts that need to be folded. hehe.
Tonight I am working on some thank you cards for the people that organize our GEMS program. We are doing the etiquette badge with the girls and we are going to be learning about how it is important to be thankful. :D it should be a lot of fun.
Other than that I had a pretty routine eventful day. The kids definately had thier cute moments today and I got along really well with my coworkers. What else can a person ask for. Matt had a good day too... he isnt really chatty so I think he is tired. He is studying right now and when he is done we are going to settle down and watch a House rerun. It should be a nice relaxing evening.
Love you all and hope that you have a super evening. Dianna I would love a call anytime. I am free all week.... so far.
Love you all!
Matt and Amanda

Im going to explode!

I am sitting here on the couch and I do belive I am going to explode. Last night we had a good time at Biblestudy, Barret came too so that was a lot of fun. We talked about how free grace is and what God expects from us in order to recive His grace... It is so overwhelming to be reminded that our price for Grace and eternal live is our love and belief. So that was fun. And then we played a fun acting Game. we had a lot of fun.
We got to church on time this morning and as we were walking out of church Aarons grandfather Opa Versloot asked me if I thought it was Soup, Meatball or horseshoe weather. I told him all three sounded fine and then he said Good! Come over and invite all your friends. I invited Aaron, but he couldnt come. All my other friends could though. It was a lot of fun we talked and laughed with all the people there and ate and ate and ate, which brings me to the part where I am exploding.
Matt is reading the rules to risk for me right now so I should go play with him otherwise I will have no idea what is going on. I loved all your comments and I actually did get all my list done yesterday. I couldnt find a toothfairy costume so I am going to be a nurse in scrubs instead. haha. It should be fun! Ill try to remember to take a picture for you and post it. Also, sadly Matt did not sell his ski boots... maybe next year. And one more week and I will be in PEI. I love you all and dont forget to comment!
Love Always,
Matt and Amanda

Super Saturday!

Alright Dad, I changed the time.. I hope it worked. Things here are going well, I was going to update last night but it wouldnt allow me to sign in and Matt thought it was a sign since we were watching the movie I got him for his birthday and it is much nicer when all my attention is on that and im not clicking away. haha. We had a nice night. Before we came home we got some Pizza Hut pizza for family night. That is what we now call friday nights, that is the day we have an easy supper and sit in front of the TV. It definately brought home memories for me having the pizza in my lap driving home to watch a movie. Matt was even there for some of our family nights and he had the same feeling haha. The Good Shephard was a good movie, I dont think I quite got it all so I might have to watch it all again. That is alright though since we dont have a lot of movies we will have to watch one again, it was really long though... I think it is just because the guy always has to think so long :)
So that brings us to this morning. I woke up to my alarm, it is set for the Christian radio station here. I just love waking up to it, it makes me feel so happy in the morning. So today it started with some really god songs so I didnt hit snooze and then a kids show came on for a half an hour. It was called paws and tails. Today they were acting out the story of Esther. So FUN! I really enjoyed it and I think I will listen for it again next saturday. I got up had a shower and now I am here! I have a lot of things to get done today.
1..I have to get a halloween costume for work. I think that I am going to be a tooth fairy. So fun!
2. I have to get groceries. We are out of a lot so i am anticipating an expensive day, so no junk today.
3. We have to pick up some money from the ski swap, We are trying to sell Matt's old ski boots, so hopefully they go. We are going to have a nice look around too
4. Bring money in the bank to pay for things
5. Clean my house
6. Do laundry
7. Cook some Turnip stumpot for lunch
8. Go to Biblestudy tonight
9. Relax? Maybe?

So I should get moving, Matt is still in bed so I think Ill do a little cleaning before we leave but I was hoping to leave soon... So I might have to rush his sleeping in. Have a super saturday and I loved all your comments that was so encouraging for Matt too to hear that from you. Please really continue to pray for him that he will be able to understand and retain the knowledge. I love you all and am looking forward to seeing most (as in the ones I will not see) of you next week when we come home.
Love Always
Matt and Amanda

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'm back!

Hello all,
I missed writing last night. I tried to find a computer that worked last night but it couldnt find its server treee thing whenever I was trying to log on. I wasn't sure if it was me or the computer, but no one else was using them either because they all had laptops. I was wishing I had brought mine. It was fun people watching though. And I was reading "The Healer" by Dee Henderson. IT was so sad though... I cried in front of Matt and Barrett. How embarrasing is that. Barrett just looked at me rolled his eyes and said " girls" and kept studying. I even stopped reading my book when i felt teary so it wouldnt happen but Matt looked at me and I started bawling and laughingat the same time.
Matt got his mid term results on the other one I talked about he got 94% I'm so proud of that guy. He has been working so hard...so GOOD for him!!
We home home from studying in time to watch House last night, so that was all good and interesting. Then quick as a wink it was morning again. I didnt want to get up, but once I made it things were great. :)
Both of our days went pretty well. Things are pretty normal and we came home and had a nice supper and did a lot of dishes. Now we are just sitting here relaxing and I am going to get my GEMS lesson ready. So sorry to cut things short again, but I really should go. It was nice to give you an update again and I hope you havea super day tomorrow. I will probably write again on Friday. Love you all so much,
Matt and Amanda

Happy Monday!

Today has been just such a great day! I think Matt had a good birthday. We saved presents for after supper because we didnt want to be too rushed in the morning before I went to work. I had a good day at work today. It was such a slow day, not in the sense that it was dragging, but we were so efficient we had so much time to just sit around and chat. It was wierd but so nice and relaxing. It was fun!
After work I was sneaky and I went and got a DQ Ice Cream cake for Matt cause they are his favourite. I hid it right by the vent and put the air conditioning on. I left the parking lot but I was too close to the intersection and I couldnt get past the two lanes to get in the turning lane..so I went strait... on the highway. ooops. So I kept driving and took the first exit and safely got myself turned around. I was late picking matt up but he didnt really seem to notice. Then I snuck it into the freezer and he didnt even notice. Then I cooked some chicken alfredo. When I opened the jar it smelled like baby food... yuck. I was a little worried that Matt's specialy supper would not taste good at all. But the end result was definately tasty. haha
He liked his presents too.. I got him a snowscraper for the car, some body wash, chocolate and a previously viewed movie from blockbuster. I wasnt allowed to spend a lot since we already got speakers for both of our birthday. So it was all good and just a few things to make it special, because it doesnt really FEEL like your birthday if you dont have presents to open. He especially liked the cake. It was all good!
I just finished making some cookies. We are watching TV right now and just relaxing. So I hope that you all have a great evening. I wont be posting tomorrow because Matt is studying until after 10 tomorrow night. But I should be back on wednesday. I still look forward to your comments. Love you!
Love
Matt and Amanda

I can type until tyler and jefta get here to pick us up for cards. We go to Rob and Erica Browns every sunday night after church time and play games. It is usually a lot of fun. I had such a great weekend I got everything I wanted to get done yesterday minus a few cookies.. o well. Everything turned out well and it was so nice to have my place clean again. I also chatted with Dianna on the phone while I was cleaning. It helped my stick to my cleaning, but I did lose my pledge like three times. How frusterating that was! Matt and I had lunch at 2 because that is when he came home from studying. so by the time everything was done it was 3. Then we lounged and watched "what not to wear" and "say yes to the dress" TLC specials. Then I got ready for a small evening of Christmas shopping. I already have a little dent in things and it is going well. I enjoy shopping for people I love. But I am really trying not to go overboard this year, but still find fun things to give my family. :D So don't expect last years bounty. :) haha
We finished off the evening with a movie and salsa. it was very nice to just relax.
Today we went to church and Tyler, Jefta and Rhoda came over after for some cake. I put candles on it and we sang happy birthday to Matt. I am planning on sneaking to Dairy Queen to get him a little ice cream one after work tomorrow. It should be fun.
Later on I called home and had such a nice chat with Mom and Dad on the phone. It was great to catch up and hear first hand how things are going and share how things are going here... although most of it is on the blog. Good news... I am going to go to pilates with Jefta if everything works out. So I am looking forward to that and I think that it would be really good for my knees. So that is my weekend in a nutshell and I should go get ready so that I am set when Tyler and Jefta are here. I love you all and I hope that you have a really super week. I love you all so much and... 14 days till my birthday AND 12 Days till I come home. hehe
Love
Amanda and Matt

Ahhh a relaxing saturday morning!

I sitting here on my couch in my comfy pants. I think they are made from elastic and I think three people could actually fit in these... well in the legs anyway. Im wearing one of Matt's sweaters... they are always warmer and comfier than mine too. I have quite a big day planned. I already have a chicken for our lunch in the oven, I have to make lasagna for church tomorrow (it is for a Dairy Dinner, I have to help serve to food on Tuesday. I was supposed to drop it off on monday night at the church... but that was a little too far away just to bring a lasagna. I was supposed to make a dessert too, but somehow my name dissapeared off the list. ) I am also planning on making some cookies and cleaning my messy house. It is not a disaster but it needs to be cleaned! Then I have to find something to wrap Matt's presents with, usually I have oodles of newspaper... but our lack of newspaper makes that impossible. I am toying with the idea of asking my landlords... we'll see how it goes.
I really hope Matt wants to do something tonight. I really want to spend time with people and do something fun!!!! So I think I will call Jefta, Tyler is here, but so is her little sister... so she may not be up for anything.
Matt is gone right now to study with his buddy Barret. He has an enviro Exam on wednesday. So hopefully he does well, he had an exam yesterday and his verdict was that it was either really easy or he got everything wrong... I hoping that it was easy :) but he seemed to feel pretty good about it and it was supposed to be really hard. Its all good.
GEMS went really well on Thursday. It is always such a short time that we have with those girls and I always wish we had more time. I never know if my lesson gets to the girls, but it is getting to the point where they are starting to respect me and listen to the lesson and know that I am serious about it.
Also my boss finally had her baby too.. his name is Sam, but I already knew all that before he was born... haha.
The rest of the week at work just got better everyday and I am so glad of that. I am back to loving my job and not wanting to quit!
Other than that there isnt a lot of news to share. I have a lot of work to do and unfortunately it isnt getting done while I sit here. I hope you al have a fantastic weekend and Ill chat with you again soon!
Love Amanda
PS... my chicken is starting to smell great! I just love that smell!

I'm A Theif... :|

I am not proud of myself.... Should I even admit to you my thefty nature? You might never want to be around me again. Maybe you wouldn't even love me anymore. No I cant tell you. Sorry I just can't taint your view of me. So on to other things.
I am preparing my lesson for GEMS (not its NOT about stealing) It is about how we are Heirs of God. How we gain so much by knowing God as our personal saviour. It starting by me giving them a cupcake with a little lit birthday candle and we have to make a wish. Then we have to talk about what we wished for. Then we talk about how the things we wished for are all good and we dont wish for bad. But the lesson goes on to explain how bad things are part of being a christian and that if the world was easy and comfotable we would love the world, but since life is not always easy we look to God for comfort and strength and therefore we love God more than the world.
If you were on your way to New York or Toronto to recieve 10 million dollars and one mile before you arrived at the city you broke down, how would you react? You would probably think "No big deal! Ill just walk the last mile" The reward waiting for you would make your trouble seem very minor.
I just thought that was so neat. It really puts into perspective bad days at work, people getting hurt or dying or not getting the presents that I want. Because these are just things that are so completely temporary that after all this heaven is such a great reward.
So I think I will have fun sharing that lesson tomorrow. I usually have a lot of fun at GEMS and the girls that I have definatly have a lot worse things going on in their lives than I do and it sort of makes it hard to teach God;s love for any situation when my childhood was so great. I feel like I should be able to provve it, but I have to be ok with the fact that I cant.
Anyway, that is my sermon for the day. On another note I had a really awesome day, as I am trying to write this Matt is playing peek a boo with and trying to annoy me. His basic purpose is to get me to say its annoying and I made the mistake of telling him that he would get tired of it before I would say that I was annoyed. He is so funny. I just love how he can make me laugh. hahah
Anway I am going now and by the way, I stole a few extra bags when I was at Sobeys today cause they just work so much better. I know... BAD but o well thay are awesome garbage bags, way better than Superstore. I love you all and I hope you have a super day and an awesome reward to look forward to in heaven!
Love Always,
Matt and Amanda

Much Better!

Today was a lot better than yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am happy again. I like Christmas... but its so secretive I hate keeping secrets, especailly for me since I tend to tell Matt about everything, even the most mundane details and then when I got him a movie for his birthday I couldnt tell him that it was cheaper at the cash. We are totally into buying previoulsy viewed movies now. Yay for us! And it just sucks. I am getting dad something totally cool for Christmas and I cant even write about how I am getting it and stuff. And Dad, dont even try to guess... its not at all what you would expect. so you see. I am horrible at this. Matt is quite amused by it though. And sometimes I even ruin his present because he is so convincing that he knows and then I break down and tell him. haha
Anyway. I went out for supper with a friend this evening, we treated ourselves to boston pizza and shared a BBQ Chicken Pizza. Matt went next door to DQ... since it was a girl thing and I suggested he treat himself so that he would have something good for supper.
My next task is to do my GEMS lesson and there was also something else that I was supposed to do.. I just cant seem to remember what that was though. Oh No. Hopefully it wasnt important.
Other than that I have absolutely no news to tell or share or anything. Well I could tell you lots of stories about the kids today. But that wouldnt be very confidential and I signed one of those papers that said that I wouldnt. You never know who reads this or who would stretch a story. I loved reading all your comments though. I usually read the comments to Matt and we laugh and appreciate you together. He's glad that you like the shelf and He thinks the pencil comments are very funny. Well Im off, much love to you all and thanks for chatting.
Love Matt and Amanda
PS Sharon, did you get my email about the health card?? (Im going to keep writing this until I get a response. haha. I am not allowed to get a health card here. But I am not sure if it a misunderstanding here or if I continue to have PEI health care.) Well have a nice day!

You're Alive!!!

It was so nice to hear from all of you again.
Today wasnt the greatest day at work and it left me feeling quite frusterated. Ill leave that at work though. Matt and I just had left over spaghetti for supper today, so that was a nice easy meal and really easy to clean up after. Then I did some tidying and laundry.
Matt had some studying to do so he needed the computer and was sitting on the couch... so I wandered into the bedroom and started reading a book. I was saving it for our trip out to BC for Phil and Karina's wedding, but I guess I can find another one for that trip.
So now we are both settled on the couch listening to third day and Matt is just really enjoying the down time.
Other than that I have nothing really to write about. I am planning on going to bed really early tonight and try and catch up on some lost sleep. It is getting harder to get up in the morning too. It is so dark! I am sure you are all feeling my pain in this situation.
It was good to hear your concern for Matt and his pencil, that is a great birthday present. He thought your comments were quite funny, but he also said the only reason he has that pencil is because I always give it to him. (Because it is always in his tool box...it still is I just checked) But it is a neat pencil so dont get too worried Tante Tetcy. hehe.
Well have a good night everyone. It was so nice to hear from all of you again...
Dont forget to comment and I love you all
Have a Super Day,
Love, Matt and Amanda
Sharon did you get my email about the health card???

Beautiful Weekend

I finally put a headline on again. It is always so annoying to think of one and I think that the date is kinda neat too. But those words seem to put things into perspective nicely.
It was a nice day yesterday, Matt and I went into town yesterday he got some building supplies to build a little shelf before you go into the door. It is a great place to keep things that we use often, like Matt's ski bag, the air mattress, car cleaning things and tools. Things that we dont have to keep in the apartment. Yipee! Matt did a really great job making it too. The first picture is of Matt's tools while he is getting ready. He has the nice furry green pencil, it is really mine but somehow it keeps ending up in his tool box. it is kinda funny. Anyway. The next picture is the bottom view of the shelf. and the other picture is of the finished product.
We had a nice visit with Pete and the boys. First they came here for some spaghetti then they went shopping and I proceeded to clean my place and have a little nap. Then I got ready for biblestudy. It was a good night of learning and fellowship. When we got home we had some chips and ice cream with the boys and nicely watched the wedding date. It was good.
They left right after church today and we headed to Gerry Blom's house for lunch. It was quite delicious. He also gave Matt a free box of hagelslaag.. Matt felt pretty special. Other than that we are watching a movie on TV and are planning on staying home tonight and have a relaxing evening. It was a long week and I am still trying to get on top of it. It doesnt help that it is so dark in the morning. I am past ready for the time change!
Anyway... before I bore you too much I am going to head out. It was nice to chat with you again and I will probably write again tomorrow night. Dont forget to comment. You are all lagging behind... I still love you though
All the Best
Amanda and Matt

Sorry I didnt write last night. I know you were all so dissapointed when there was nothing for you to read. I was so tired when I came home from GEMS last night. GEMS went well and I think the girls enjoyed themselves. I wrote out each word of our theme verse on separate peices of cardstock. I used two colours and taped all the different words underneath the pews and the girls had to race to find the words in the right order, they really liked that game and I think that it worked out well. I hope it helps them learn the verse really well. We'll see what happens.
All in all I am really glad it is friday, it might have been a short week but it still feels like a long one and I am really tired. So I am ready to relax. It was a bit of a dark and dreary day today and it poured here. We stayed inside at the daycare so that made it a lazy day, it was fun, I even made up a song with the kids. They really like to sing with me. I enjoy that a lot.
Matt ended up having to study tonight, so that was good. I really like his study buddy. He was homeschooled as well and it turns out that we both went to Barry Stebbings art class. haha. He is a really good guy and is also a Christian... but not just that... it is so hard to describe what kind of guy he is, but he is really smart and he is always thinking about everything and making sure that his opinions are based on something and not just a whim or a feeling. I really like that about him. Matt says that he really likes studying with him too so that just works out dandy.
Other than that we dont have much planned for the weekend. ..I am so happy about that. I can get my house cleaned and a few errands done and Pete, Klaas and Feije are coming for a visit tomorrow until Sunday. That should be fun.
Well thats it for today. I love you all and I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Love Amanda and Matt

Im finally sitting down here at 8:00 matt and I just finished doing the dishes and cleaning up. Supper was a little late because we didnt get home until 6 and then we had to cook yet. We had Chicken from yesterday, potatoes and beans. It was quite tasty. The laundry is also on the go as we speak. It is wierd that I only have to do laundry once a week or so and even then I only have like two half loads. It is really nice. I also made some potato soup for matt to eat for supper tomorrow. I will also take some for my lunch tomorrow and maybe friday. It tastes pretty delicious though... I might even sneak a bowl tonight.
Matt had a pretty good day I think, He usually doesnt share a lot about his day. But he usually says that it is pretty good. ?? I dont know either... I have pages to write about my day and he can do it in two words. Must be nice.
I was talking to my co worker today and she is willing to switch New Years Eve and Christmas Eve with me. Arent you so happy. It is still not 100% but my other co worker seems confident that none of us will have to work and she even thinks we may get a few extra days. So start praying now that the parents will have a sense of family and want to take some time over Christmas to spend with their families or at least grandparents. haha.
Other than that, I am planning a relaxing evening, I gt a headache at work today and I am tired so the rest will be nice.
Thanks for your comments, especially you Nanny.. so nice to hear from you. I hope you are all having a fantastic day and that tomorrow is even better. Love you all!
Love Amanda

Alright, I have had a lot of questions to what my snowsuit looks like. so here is a picture. (if you click it it will look bigger) I know my eyes are closed but really... its the snowsuit we are looking at here!

So I am not wearing it until after Christmas... well... i think. But I am for sure wearing my old one at daycare until there is actual snow. Ok now that you all know I can move on with the REALLY exciting stuff! I went for a walk outside on our really nice trails here. It is cool here today but perfect for a walk. Matt couldn't come because somehow the car was just a little more appealing than a walk. Thats ok, I know he doesnt like walks... but he missed a great one. Here I was walking along and I saw a deer jumping around on the trail in front of me, Isnt that crazy?!?!?! So I pulled out my camera phone as quick as I could and the deer was even looking at me while I was doing it and as soon as I pointed it at hime he ran away. I followed him into the woods and heard lots of rustling and I thought I saw his white tail, but it turned out to be a wood pecker. So I kept on walking, camera phone in hand ready to get another shot of that thing if it came back. I kept on walking and finally I found him... or he found me, he was staring at me from the path parallel to me I lifted up my phone and took a shot. (The last picture on the page... If you look really hard you can see the deer) With dismay I realized you couldnt even see it on the phone... So I tried to zoom it in and just when I was going to take another picture he ran away.. AGAIN! So i ran after and then my phone was ringing and it was Dianna. So I chatted with her in my pursuit of the deer... After a few minutes I realized it was pointless since he could run faster than me especially through the brush so I kept on walking on the trail and chatting with Dianna. I only encountered him twice more on my walk... but I didnt bother running after since it was getting dark and he knew the surrounding better than I. So, that was my exciting adventure. It was fun.

I had a really great day and work went great. It is especially exciting since it is already tuesday which makes tomorrow half way the week. So really it is almost the weekend and Pete and his buddies are coming for a visit too. So I am looking forward to that. Anyway, Matt has the car shiny looking and he is watching a show about David Blaine... wierd the things he can do... what is your take on the guy??

Anyway... love you alll so much and when I said I had a nice visit with most of you I did mean the ones I saw. Dont forget t comment. Just click on comment, then click other and just write your name, you can leave the webpage blank and write your comment in the comment box. love yas!

Amanda and Matt

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things here are good. Matt and I just got home from our weekend away. The calendar is already magnatized to the fridge and I am already writing stuff on it. Matt doesnt have school tomorrow and he told me that he would write his exams on it tomorrow, I think that will work better.
We got home on friday night at around 8:30 and spent until 12:30 catching up and chatting with Mom and Dad, It is so nice to sit and chat over a bag of chips and a glass of water. Matt had a bit of a stiffer drink, haha. We got up earlyish and went to see a few of the daycare kids, it was so nice to see them and chat with them about how school is going for them. They seem to have adjusted well and I really think they like going to see Mom during the week. I think that she enjoys having them around too.
Then we went shopping and I tried on some long shirts that you are supposed to wear with tights. I have the tights to wear under my pants because the winters are cold here and I dont like being cold. Anyway, it looked well enough but it felt like I was wearing pajamas and it just wasnt me. After we discovered that we went to Matts house for Thanksgiving dinner we arrived a little early, about 11:45 or so. And it didnt really seem like dinner was ready, turns out dinner wasnt until 5. haha. it was funny. Matt and I spent the afternoon shopping and he got me a new snowsuit for Christmas. I know it is early but we justified it for many reasons, like they never have my size after a while and this time they did so we decided that we should get it now, but I will wear my old one until christmas so it is still special.
Turkey dinner was really tasty and filling and we spent the night with Our buddies and the rest of the weekend kinda went like that.
I would keep writing but Matt is waiting for me to watch Raising Helen with him and it is such a good movie and I dont know how often he will be willing to wait for me. hehe.
So I will continue to write tomorrow night. I love you all and it was so nice to see most of you.
Dont forget to leave your comments and have a super day!
love Amanda and Matt

I am so getting ready for my weekend at home... and i am really busy getting everything straitened out for my weekend away. I am so excited! Well I will let you know how things go and I hope you who normally read my blog dont miss me too much. Love you all.
Love Amanda

Its only wednesday!

It was kind of a long morning. My memory was horrible which was slightly amusing, but not really. I kept forgetting what day it was... most of the time it was friday and then it was Tuesday. So wierd. All things considered though it was a great day.
That picture is of a road that is really close to where I work, I work on Bradshaw Drive. I said to Matt we should have found a place to live after I got a job, maybe we could have lived on our road then. Wouldnt that be so exciting?? Anyway, I do get to drive by it everyday. When I took the picture A lady walking was looking at me funny, so I said "its not too often that you find a street name with your last name on it" she was surprised that it was my last name but she didnt think she would ever find one with her name on it. Its funny the little conversations that you can have with people in passing.
We had leftover pizza for supper. I was going to make a big meal, but I thought that it would be better to utilize our leftovers and since I wont be home tomorrow night all the leftovers should be gone by tomorrow. We will probably eat on the road on friday.
After supper I went for a walk to further explore all the little trails behind our house. They were so interesting. There were so many too. I think I will explore agian next week and see where others lead off too. Matt couldnt go because he had an online test to write, Maybe you could all pray for him that things go well with his studying and that he will do well. He is doing really great so far, but your prayers help for the things that we have no control over ie: professors, test material, study partners etc. Thanks so much everyone. I love you all lots.
I am going to grab some chips cuddle up in a blanket and watch some show where they figure out why people are dying/getting killed. I hope that digging is going well too and that you at home aren't too lonely. love ya all
love manda

Today was another great day. Through the day it isnt always a blast but by the time I get home I think about the good things. I cleaning the daycare bathroom today and one of the little girls came up to me and said "manda i luvs you" I could just imagine a little smiley facce being drawn on my heart. I can't even explain how great it feels. I can only imagine how much my heart will fill for my own children. :D just not yet, hehe.
Today was good! I have no real reason to be, but I am. I am so blessed. it reminds me of SERVE when they said and God is good all the time and all the time God is good. He is giving me challenges with kids lately, but those challenges are so rewarding and every earned hug and smile is worth so much more then. I love it.
I cam home from work and make pizza for supper (homeade) and cookies for the week, I am going to take some to work tomorrow. My bosses son really likes my cookies and I think it would be nice to spread some cheer. My boss is due to have her baby any time now and her uncle died and she has t miss the funeral. So that it hard for her. So i am bringing cookies to cheer up everyone and who doesnt love a oatmeal chocolate chip cookie... right Dad (Matt's) ? We'll see how it goes.
Matt and I went for a nice walk after supper. He wasn't thrilled about it. But I needed to get some exercise, I do get a lot at work but it is nice to just walk and it is s nice outside and the leaves are such a beautiful colour right now.
Then I called Dianna for her birthday.. it was nice to talk to her for a few minutes we are planning a better chat for tomorrow night since she was going out for a big dinner date with the family. So now MAtt and I are watching bones and this is where I leave you behind. So have a good night and you bettter believe that I am excited to see most of you on the weekend. love you all,
Amanda