A Small Window Into Our Lives

A Whirlwind of Activity

2009-07-16T13:30:00.002-03:00

Things have been good an busy here. I am mentally getting ready for the GEMS conference. I am a little intimidated that I am leading a group of nine women though the theme badge.. so that is a little crazy. But I think it will be ok, It is about Prayer... so I should get on that. haha
We sold our camera on Kijiji recently. I never liked how it worked and Matt originally got it so that he could learn how to use all the settings of the camera and upgrade to a DSLR in a few years. Well he upgraded early and when I suggested that I wanted to take it to convention because I don't like the pictures the Sony takes he immediately started shopping for another one for me. He said it was my anniversary present. I'm so cool with that as long as we still do something special. Anyway... The lady who bought it was quite hilarious, she came with her two kids and I could hear them in the stairway,
"Is there rats down there"
"Come on kids, Hurry up" Says the Mom.
They all pile into the kitchen. And the both kids eyes get really big.
"WOW! This is amazing, It's so neat and clean in here". At this point I was thinking... someone actually appreciates that I cleaned up!
'YOU EVEN HAVE A TV???" I said, "Yep, I know, crazy huh?"
"Well, we have Three TV's" pipes up the little girl.
Matt is trying to describe to the lady how the camera works, while her kids are roaming through the apratment telling us how her kids come from Hell.
Then they found their mother's keys with a light on it and look under my stairs and tell me I should start cleaning up under there.
It was funny.
But I need to get to work here.
Love ya all!
Amanda

A Lovely Lady Day...

2009-06-29T19:33:00.006-03:00

Hi All,

I thought I would share some pictures from the Garden Party that I went to on Sunday. Matt spent the day at our friend Josh's house and I went to this ladies only party. It was Moms and Daughters, so I took Annelie as my mother figure. Maybe next time you can come Mom. I think that you would have had a really good time. We wore dresses and hats, played bocce ball and croquet, ate heart-shaped cucumber sandwiches, potato salad, and lots more yummy things.. I thought I would include a picture of that too. The last picture is of all the ladies who went to the garden party, most of them go to my church. We had such a fantastic time together.

Matt and I also went to a BBQ on saturday afternoon/evening. We had a lot of fun there too. The rain stopped long enough for all these festivities to go through without a hitch.

I love you all and I hope that you have a great day and that you enjoy the week and do something fun for Canada Day. I hope you liked the pictures, I like posting a lot better when I have some good pictures with it. Julia actually took this pictures and I copied them off of facebook, so if you have facebook you could see the whole album. :)

Love Amanda

the promised pictures

2009-06-26T20:57:00.002-03:00

Matt and I finally had a few minutes to get some pictures of the flowers. I took these pictures using a different lense than I am used to so some of the pictures aren't really in focus, so sorry about that.

I don't really have much to talk about. Matt and I are enjoying a nice quiet evening at home and I was actaully able to steal the computer from Matt because he is making me a treat... 1 sec, I'll take a picture. ok...Matt is taking the picture... looks yummy huh?

I went grocery shopping yesterday and I got two tubs of ice cream for $5.25 YAY! (french vanilla and mocha fudge) As you can see I also got strawberries, chocolate hardening sauce and cool whip. M M good. Hope you all have a good weekend.!

Love Matt and Amanda

rain rain go away...

2009-06-22T13:33:00.002-03:00

I sure do not love this dreary weather. It just makes me feel so sleepy. Things are a little slow here at work today. Quite a few kids didnt come beause of holiday or sickness... so it has been a nice slow day. I don't really have any news to share... we had a nice quiet weekend.
We went to see Audio Adreneline last night at a local church and it was SO good. It was really uplifting and encouraging to go to and we definitley enjoyed ourselves. We went with Rudi and Amy and they come over afterwards for some fresh cinnamon rolls and potato salad. :)
good times were had by all.
On another note.. my planter has been doing really well again this year and I am planning on posting some pictures soon.
That is all I have to say for now... I just didnt want too much time to go by until I posted again.
Love ya!
Amanda

2009-06-16T13:50:00.002-03:00

hello all,
I thought I would take some time to post again. Things are pretty good out this way. Forever busy is what we are but we are enjoying it a lot. Nothing is new... unless you call having nasi for supper new... I don't have that very often. I have been working a lot this week. I think it this point I already have 40 hours and i still have a full day to work (I get pd thursday) So that is interesting.. I guess being a farmer is much worse.
Also on the new information list would be my tan. I look like I have a skin disease. When we went to the VW show I asked pete to do my back... I should have asked Matt because then I wouldn't have a 1 cm burn line around where my shirt was... that has turned into a really nice dark tan.. and then the lines where my shirt was are white and then a colour in between covers the rest of me... ugh. I would post a picture.. but i don't have one.. plus it would be embarrasing.
My friend Sherilyn tagged me in some facebook thing and I decided to actually do it on my blog since she tagged my blog address.
It is titled "No Title"
I will now share with you six unimportant things that make me happy, not in order of importantance.

1. Laundry fresh out of the dryer that I washed with Tide. I just hug the whole load and sit on my laundry chair and smell it. MMM

2. Eating cookie dough... especially when i have that kind of craving. I don't enjoy then nearly as much baked.

3. Dad's silly grin

4. Coming home to a clean apartment. where everything is neatly put away.

5. Good hair days

6. Blog comments

Some People I would like to know more about (see side banner for link to their blog)

Tante Tetcy

Tante Karen

Dianna

Mary

Mom

Dad

There... another blog, another day!
Hope yours was a good one. Matt is a VERY important thing on a list that makes me happy... just in case you are wondering why he wasn't on the list. :) Especially since he gave me a back massage last night. :)
Love ya!
Amanda

the TRIP

2009-06-09T20:01:00.002-03:00

It all started with the rally....

Matt took this picture of a Porsche that was there.

I was mostly excited to see Pete. We even got free Red Bull.

This is a VW Caddy that belongs to Pete's new friend Francois. He got to drive it. It was fast!

Then we went to Halifax, Checked in and toured the beautiful city of Halifax. It took a lot of patience to get the perfect shot, but it was worth it!

I was really tired at this point... and hungry. Matt was looking for a good shot and I was looking for any place that sold a bag of Old Dutch BBQ chips.

2009-06-09T19:50:00.002-03:00

Then it was time for sleep... but I was still hungry! I was eyeing those pringles, and I dont even like pringles. We looked everywhere for a price list, we couldnt find it. So MAtt called front dest and it was $5 for a can of pringles. We decided to get room service pizza instead. MMMM... the luxury!

The bed was a king size and SOOO comfy! I even loved the pillows! When Matt and I slept on it it didnt even feel like we were sleeping on the same beds. It was ok though, we still cuddled :)

The Morning... We got all pretty and ready to see.... ALLEGRIA!

We couldnt take pictures during the show, but we got this shot. It was an amazing show. It was so worth it. I can't even describe how good it was!

We weren't ready to get in the car and drive for 5 hours yet, so we strolled Halifax in the beautiful weather! You will also notice I am wearing my glasses. Matt thoughtfully packed them for me and I didnt miss any details during the show.

We got back in the car and My final thought before leaving Halifax would be wether David Losey would win or lose.

Love ya!

Another regular day!

2009-06-09T13:32:00.002-03:00

I wrote this title a long time ago and now I dont have a lot of time left anymore. All the distractions here are crazy. Anyway. Matt and I had a FANTASTIC weekend in halifax and I have such a funny picture story to share with you. I already tried to put them on, but I couldnt do it... Matt offered. But I had other things to do on the computer and when Matt has to do something for me on the computer but I usually lose it. He does what he needs to do for me and then all of what I needed needs a lot of work so he needs to do it. Then when he is done I have usually moved on... so we'll see when my picture story gets up. Long story short.
Love you all and now it is time for me to work and i am hoping that I can get them up by tomorrow and hopefully you'll check back.
Amanda

Three more Sleeps...

2009-06-03T13:44:00.003-03:00

... Until our weekend away. It starts off in Moncton where we will attend the car show all day. I was planning to go shopping with my girl friends while the guys went to the show. But some things came up in their lives and they aren't able to come anymore. It is ok though, I asked Matt if we could leave the show a little early so we could still catch the mall in Halifax. I would rather shop there anyway. Plus Pete will be at the show. I miss him and whenever I am in PEI he is always busy with his friends, so now I can force my company on him at the show... hehe. He has no clue... muahahaha.
Then we are spending the night in the delta on the sixth floor overlooking the harbour so Matt can get some sweet shots with the camera. :). Then we will sleep in, relax and get ready for the cirque du soliel. I am really pumped to really spend some quality time with Matt. And when the show is over we are going to Freddy and trying to catch night church. The sermon is about the origins of the Bible, We both think that sounds intriguing.
I am hoping that I am not sick for this special weekend.. . so far we have sent three kids home puking this week, not to mention the poor little guy who barely caught me on Sunday. Poor kids... its always sad when they are sick.
Anyway... I need to get back to work. Hope you have a day that is great. Love yoU!
Amanda

A quiet weekend at home...

2009-06-01T13:50:00.002-03:00

Well as quiet as my weekends ever are. I was a little mopey on Friday night.. SO, Matt said we could get a pizza from Sobeys and buy a movie. We didnt really find one that we wanted to see, But I so appreciated the thought. On saturday we went to Church. We hosted a love your neighbour carwash and BBQ. It was free to get any of the food and get your car washed. God was very involved in the process too. We had A LOT of food donated and also I think He was in charge of the prewash. It was raining about 5 minutes after we started setting up and It cleared completly right when we started to clean up. BUT we got a dozen people I think. My theory is that we spent more time talking and getting to know the few people who did come than we would have if it didnt rain. I could be completely off the mark, but I do know it was intentional.. I mean look at the start and finish of the times of the rain.
Anyway... Saturday afternoon I had a bath.. I decided I dont like them.. because our bathtub is TOO small... remind me to NEVER do that again. then I layed on the couch read a book and had a little nap. In the evening we went out for supper with Pat and Ashley, went to their house for a movie and ice cream cake.. YUMMY! Matt and I finished off the evening strolling downtown and Matt took some pictures. It was a good night. we are also planning on going to Halifax next weekend after the VW show.. we are getting a hotel and touring Halifax and then on sunday we are going to see Cirque du Soleil. i'm so excited... and the best part? It was all Matt's idea, he planned it, organized it. yay!
Love you!
anyway.. it is getting towards the end of my shift..so i should be going.

Another 'Ol Day

2009-05-27T13:43:00.002-03:00

Well.. .I know that the pictures in the last post are not centered the greatest, please know that Matt picked and placed them there with Love... AWWHHH. Don't you feel special now? The picnic table one is his favourite but the other one is my favourite. It is our friend Brian sitting in front of the fire playing guitar. Which one is your favourite? We should definitley have a poll.
Tonight Matt and I are going out for dinner with a whole bunch of our friends tonight to celebrate the graduation of our friend Renata.. She is graduating with her BED (Bachelor of Education that is ... and not her sleeping bed) I think that should be fun. I just talked to Mary via Gmail Chat and after getting her completely confused she told me the correct way to spell it. I guess it is spelled B.A. ed. .. although I think BED is a lot more funny.. which is why I left it.
I amuse myself often and keep myself laughing and I do believe Matt has the same sense of humour although I'm not sure he would agree, Stacy says it is.. and she is always right.
Other than that I have no news to share. This way you can catch up on the reading cause I bet you're surprised there are three new posts in like 3 days. I amaze myself sometimes.
Have a good one!
Love Amanda

the gym

2009-05-26T20:44:00.004-03:00

So I joined the Gym last week. It is the one that is in the upper level of the Superstore. Matt talked me into it and my Friend Ashley has one at the same gym. We go to some of the group exercise classes together and it has really proven not only to me, but the poor unfortunate people who ended up standing near me how uncorrdinated I really am. I am hoping that coordination is something that can be learned and is not just something you are born with. I should add however that working with children all day I really do see that coordination is something you are definitley born with. The gym has been good... I think. I can't remember when I have ever been this sore in my entire life... seriously. I told Matt that I would need a cane, he said I should ask the neighbours since he wasn't using it the last time we saw him :) I think it is good though. I am really trying to work the muscles in my body while I am still young and have the energy... and apparently working out gives you more energy which is what I need.

Matt was surveying at work today and He found a dollar on the side of the road. Now can you imagine throwing a loonie out the window? it was on the side of the highway... random, but more lucky than a penny I think.

Other than that things are just their usual busyness... Matt is washing the dishes as I blog. I feel slightly guilty, but I cooked... so it seems fair.

ANyway. I thought I would leave you with a few pictures from Matt's weekend.

a long time ago...

2009-05-25T14:17:00.004-03:00

I wrote on my blog. I was home this past weekend and I heard some sad stories about how my blog was missed. Since I have to get back to work in exactly 3 minutes and I actaully spent most of my break reading a book you wont be getting much.
Matt and I are enjoying the weather immesely and this past weekend I was in PEI for one night for a ladies rally. Matt hung out with his friends and did some crazy things which included burning the entire inside portion of the top of his pinkie finger.. .OUCH. Meanwhile I got him a signed book from Mike Holmes in PEI :)
Anyway... that is what I can post in three minutes. It's better than nothing :) hehe
Love you All!
Love Amanda

A New Author

2009-02-19T19:39:00.002-04:00

I am a new author :) I was so tired of being signed in and out of my email and blog because you are supposed to have one with the other, well at least it works better. I dont think it is the most efficient way to post but... O WELL! At least i will always be signed in.
We are currently having a doozy of a storm, it was labeled light flurries. I went to pick Matt up at UNB and the roads weren't great but everyone was taking their time and going slow, so that is usually better. I got to UNB and I couldnt get up the hill. I'm sitting there trying to remember everything everyone has tried to teach me ( I would name names but there are far too many.) i finally made it into the parking lot and I tild matt about 5 times how glad I was that I didnt have to drive anymore.
We had some chicken fingers and watched Madagascar 2 It was a lot of fun and good time with Matt. He was supposed to have an exam tonight but it was cancelled along with GEMS. So he is spending the night studying, he has a lot going on, so I am trying not to be disruptive. I took down the curtains and dusted them off and then everything fell of the ledge "amanda" style. Then I broke a light in the string of lights that are still above my window... yeah... I still have a garland up. I was going to put it in the closet but Matt likes it up and thinks it looks to bare without it and there really is NO room in the closet anyway, so up it stayed. Then I really nicely asked Matt with a smile and everything to lift up the staircase where I keep the spare stuff and get me something... and he did. I was so good at not distracting him.
Now I am slightly bored. I have a few cards that I should make but I like watching TV while I do that, but that would be just plain distracting. so I decided that you guys might like an update.
Other than that though, the excitement is limited to me falling asleep on the couch every night and Matt studying until he can't keep his eyes open anymore. Not very exciting, belive me, im living in it.
BUT I am happy. Matt said we could go try out our new skates tomorrow night after work, so i am pumped about that. Then Saturday I am going (while Matt studies) to a church sledding party thing then Matt and I are going out for supper in the evening. So lots of nice time for us :)
Anyway. I am talking to bec on MSN so I should go!
Lub you all!
Amanda

Wow... I should never have doubted you.....

2009-02-11T21:56:00.004-04:00

O you faithful readers you... all this checking has finally paid off!
Since I had so many comments I thought I should write again. It is already almost 10 and I just finished making Matt's valentime's card. I think he will love it and I am looking forward to our date on saturday night. We are going to a random church that we heard about on the radio and we are going there to see a movie called "Fireproof" You can youtube it to see a trailer if you so desire. :) I looks like a good movie. Dad might also wander over this way, so we got an extra ticket just in case he does make it. Wouldnt want him to come only to leave him all alone. hehe. He is also coming out for supper with us... if he comes. He really inst sure yet. He has things that he needs to do on the mainland, but he isnt sure if this is the weekend that he will make it over. otherwise in March, which would be just as great. I think that I am going to ask him to bring my violin.. and the books that went with it. I think I will give it another go so that I can play for the praise team at church. BUT I am not sure if I actaully will or not. I mean, I do live in an apartment and I wouldnt want to be evicted either. It might be small, but it is way cozier than outside. So we'll see what happens.
Matt and I went grocery shopping tonight, we havent gone since Jan.5. His lunch supplies were getting down to the bare minimum, although last week I dont think he had anything for his lunches because I didnt have time to cook suppers with leftovers. So on Sunday I made sweet and sour meatballs (with tante karens awesome recipe with teriyaki sauce instead of beef broth... MMMMM) and it was enough to make 9 meals... hehe. So there are still two in the freezer. We ate it for lunch and supper on sunday and we both ate it for supper on Tuesday and the other ones he had for lunch. Then last night I made spaghettii, with enough leftovers for the rest of the week. So we were so hungry shopping that we bought lots of yummy yummy food. We bought fish cakes and ice cream and chippys and I just could decide what I wanted to eat first. We had chicken burgers for supper with lettuce that I bought last time we went grocery shopping (which you can note bove was jan 5) and it was fresh crispy and delish! topped with fresh off the red vine tomatos (it said so on the sign at sobeys) Then we had chocolate chip cookie dough brownie ice cream.
Now Matt is studying for a test that is worth thirty percent. So I have to be really quite and not help the wrong things get into his brain.
Other than that, I had a pretty good day at work. Nothing too out of the ordinary except for some exceptionally cooked talapia fish. I like that kind because it tends to have less of a fishy taste.
Anyway.. I am really rambling here and i should get to bed since I have GEMS tomorrow night and then babysitting after... which I will also be doing on Friday night.
Alright. Lub you all, hope things are great in your lives and it was relly great to hear from all of you!
Love Matt and Amanda

to those of you who wondered at my existance

2009-02-08T15:08:00.004-04:00

I wonder how long it will take people to find this? I would have stopped checking by now. Everyone seems to have written as many as five posts in my absence so I do feel the need to catch up. I am about to leave to go see my friend Ashley in the hospital.She has ulcerative colitis, right now she is on an IV in the hospital and she is not allowed to eat anything for 7-10 days. Hopefully it will help her. She has had a rough go of it this year and your prayers would be appreciated.
Matt has been really busy studying lately. I think mid-terms are coming up and a lot of assignments are due. He is working really hard though and I think he is really staying on top of his work. So that is good. We dont get to spend a lot of time togehter. But the time we do spend together is really great.
Yesterday I went to a Ladie's day out with some of the ladies in our church and we scrapbooked the day away. I was intrduced to a variety of gadgets like the cricut... that cuts out letters, words and patterns for you. And then another thing that you put your stuff in and then you turn a knob and it puts glue on it for you... so many fun toys and gadgets. hehe. I really enjoyed it, and then we had to a "crop" we had a design a week before we went and we all had to do the same design and the prize was a package of paper. and I won... I think it was because they thought I needed the extra encouragement. haha. it was sucha good time though and I think I would go again. :)
Other than that... I can't think of anything super duper exciting to share. There is a lot of snow here like everywhere else and our car has been starting better. We got a new battery that is still not in the car since the old one has a siezed rusty bolt... so who knows if the new one will ever be in the car :)
Anway, Matt needs the computer to do some studying so i might write again sometime:) love you and thanks for reading and mostly for actually checkiong, it means a lot to know that you care.
Love MAtt and AManda

2008-12-15T20:45:00.002-04:00

WEll this is my one hundred and fifty first post right now... I think the first one hundred went faster than the last fifty, but who's counting right?
I am at Head Hall which is the Engineering hub of UNB and Im in the Engineering library.... yep they have their own library, although I have never seen anyone take a book off these shelves. I think the shelves allow for there to be a divider between all the tables full of students studying for exams. Matt is studying for his final exam on Wednesday afternoon which happens coincidentally at the same time as I am going to be getting my eyebrows waxed. Good timing, this way I will remember to pray. I like to pray right at the beginging that his nerves will be calmed and that he will have the confidence and courage that he does know what he is doing and not be overwhemled with the black and white staring at him in the face.
Today was a great day. My phone began ringing at 6:33. I ran for my purse, finally dug my phone out in the darkness and said "hello" ... dial tone. SHOOT I missed it. Thanks to caller ID I knew it was Stacy so i called her right back. But lately MY reception has been horrible... any tips on what I should do about that? I havent been able to have one clear phone conversation in the last 3 weeks. It is terribly annoying. Anyway... I got sidetracked, back to the story. I called her back on Matt's phone since it actually works. She explained that the roads were horrible and that her husband wasnt going to let her leave the house and she was going to call our Boss. I turned on the radio and it was call after call of accidents. So it was finally decided to delay opening until 12. WOW a whole morning to myself. I could CLEAN!!!!! I got so much done. I finished laundry, amde Matt breakfast, cleaned the rest of the apt. Wrapped the last of the presents, dug out the suitcases for our trip which by the way begins on Friday when we head to PEI until dec. 28. I have that whole week off and we dont have to come back here so that I can work. I was SO happy and excited. I even called Dad and told him the good news.
Matt and I are going to exchange presents when we get to PEI. I cant wait for him to finally open it. I think the anticipation has almost killed him. hehe.
Anyway... I think that is all I feel like writing right now. I will talk to you all soon. Much love and caring.
AManda
PS MERRY CHRISTMAS... and HAPPY NEW YEAR
I probly wont be back til after then. :)

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2008-12-07T23:46:00.008-04:00

I thought I would share some pictures of my Christmas decorations... I thought you might enjoy them. We decided that we didn't have enough room for the tree, so we made a garland over the window and Ashley came over and we made the centerpiece together. We had some much fun gathering all the stuff and putting it all together.
Its hard to believe that it is only two weeks until Matt and I go home for the first part of Christmas... we're so excited to go home and see everyone and open presents he he.
Anyway.. we'll see you all soon..hope you like the pictures!
Love Amanda

Ahhh... Christmas

2008-11-22T16:28:00.003-04:00

I have to cay that I am completely in the christmas mood. I am listening to the Josh Groban CD Dad and Sharon gace us last Christmas and I have a pumkin spice candle bravely trying to pretend it is a fireplace going and I am so realxed. This is not how my day was supposed to go. It was supposed to be a crazy hectic day... until I fainted at the table at Cora's Restaurant.... oops. There were some nurses at the next table that kindly cared for me and patted me with wet paper towels. haha... I got free orange juice and taost though.... Anyway. Matt was in the middle of trying to change the tires himslef which wasnt going to well either so he gave up and was on his was to our mechanic to get the tires changed. I told him to keep going..who knows when we'll have time to do that again. So I enjoyed the comapny and the breakfast at Cora's and I was feeling a lot better. Meanwhile Matt stopped off at Walmart to get some cash and he was in such a hurry that he forgot his cash.. thanksfully a nice Matt ran after him and caought up to Matt just as he was getting in the car and gave him his money. We just seem to run into the nicest people. I mean really. Anyway. Once Matt was done all of us girls had made it to Wilmont church where a 10,000 Viallages trade fair thingy was ahppening. We perused for awhile I couldnt find anything that really fit into the budget and I was getting tired.. thankfully Matt came in time. Then he took me home and I cleaned up a bit so I could actually relax. Matt cooked some lunch and then he went to Rudi's birthday party alone. I thought I should just stay home and relax. I am really enjoying it...it has been such a long time. I'm reading.. snacking... puttering a bit but enjoying myself immensely. Sometimes not feeling well is a great ooportunity to relax. :)
Anyway. Work has been going really well. I have been working a lot! Which is good because then I dont miss Matt so much. I think that this is his busyest semester yet and I think it is a tough one. He is working hard and doing his best so that is great! Other than having something to go to or do every night we are having a great time. I hope yyou are all enjoying your time preparing for Christmas I wish someone would just come here and surprise me by decorating my apartment for Christmas... I am all thumbs when it somes to that stuff. anyway... my candle is working for now and I think I might turn it into a centerpeice.. I just have to pick up some supplies and time :)
Have fun decorating and I love you all!
Amanda and Matt

2008-10-29T21:13:00.002-03:00

Hey Guys,
Thought I would spare some time to write a little bit about how things are going. Things at work have been going really well despite my working a lot of hours. We had quite a windstorm last night and it blew our gazebo over (it was a piece of junk ie: thin metal, canvas and a really windy location) It also blew our play structure apart. Which is one of those heavy plastic little tykes type things. SO our playground went from pretty fun to really boring. Outside time is no longer my favourite. But apparently someone is going to build us a gazebo. I am totally pumped for that.
This morning I was walking into the daycare and I usually give the door an extra tug since it is heavy. So i turned the knob and pulled and almost fell over and found the doorknob in my hand. I tried to fit it in but it wouldn't work so i knocked until someone opened the door. haha. Then I saw my picture on the wall (a very bad one i need to add) That I am employee of the month. haha. I'm not sure what that is supposed to mean but it felt good to have my overtime hours and doing the laundry every weekend appreciated.
Matt finally finished his mid-terms and I am so happy. I think they went OK. He had a few late nights and he is still really busy with school stuff!
Wednesday was his birthday and Annelie asked what we were doing.
I said "Nothing!"
"Nothing???" Annelie exclaimed
"Nope, he said that he has to study and he doesn't have time to do anything" I sadly explained.
"WELL, you have to do SOMETHING" she replied
"He said no, and plus I already told someone I could babysit"
"Well I talked to Harry and we said that since you dont have any family here we should have you over for dinner or something."
"OK" I said, always willing to eat her food for free
"AND we should do it on his birthday. I understand that he has to study, but ONE hour!"
"I think I can manage that" I said
"Oh, and you should invite all his friends.
"REALLY???" I said, because inwardly I dreamed and schemed how I could pull something like that off and every time my apartment was just too small!
"It should be a surprise!" she said just as excited as I was
"What an awesome idea" I told her "I will email everyone right now"
So the plan was set Wednesday at 6:30 I would be there
Two Days Later...
we had had a nice day. I woke up early and made Matt some breakfast and dropped him off at school. He had a lot of studying to do and I had told him that we had to go to Annelie's for supper. He doesn't really like going there when Harry is not home because he says there is too much talking. But I was supposed to go there for supper on Monday and because of matt studyng i couldn't. So I told him she would be really upset if we didn't come
I picked him up at 5:30 and told him that I wanted to change first. I really went as slow as possible, but it just doesn't take me very long to get ready. I was ready by 5:45. He said, Alright lets go! I said... umm I need to use the bathroom soon. Just wait a bit longer. At 6:00 he wanted to leave again. SO I went to the bathroom and locked myself in there, filed my nails, did my hair, my make-up, did my hair again. FINALLY it was time to go. Matt found his fast walking feet, RUSHED to the car and he drove quite quickly to annelies, pulled right up to the door (usually he parks father away so the kids dont get near the car. walked really fast to the house and then we heard a lot of noise. Annelie could barely contain herself she was laughing so hard (because they had just gotten everyone in the basement in time, and she threw all the coats and stuff in the bathroom and I think she managed to get one in the toilet) Then she kept cooking supper and the boys asked Matt if he wanted to play air hockey. So they went downstairs and when he got there everyone shouted SURPRISE!!!!! IT was such a nice evening. It was SOOO fun. She made nasi with really yummy sweet n sour meatballs and peanut sauce. She bought him an ice cream cake too. Everything his favourite and a real nice change to get a break from studying. IT was SOO nice of her and so fun!
Anyway... I have a chapter and I could write more yet too. Making 150 pies on the weekend with GEMS, Having a party for MAtt and I with RUdi and Amy at the chalet and hot tubbing there along with relaxing by the wood stove. Singing in church and totally feeling an overwhemling sense of God's presence, relaxing with Matt on Sunday and cooking a thrown together meal. Good Times. Anyway... love you all oodles!
Love Amanda

2008-10-18T07:48:00.002-03:00

DEar Friends, Family and any Readers I may have left...
It is hard to think that this time last yeat I was writing a blog everyday letting you know how I was doing and telling you about every day. Now you are lucky if you get a five minute update. I dont know how I became so busy...it kinda creeped up on me. So far this week I am gone every evening! Matt has mid-terms this week so we wont be seeing a whole lot of each other either.
On MOnday I have a worship Commitee meeting. These meetings are quite interesting because you really get to know people in your church family, their thoughts and views and you have to decide some pretty important things together. I am on the commmitee with Annelie too. She usually cooks supper for me and drives me there and back. It is good time to spend with her since I dont get to see her nearly as much..and I get to eat some yummy food.
Tuesday II have trining for work. In New Brunswick they have a new mandatory curriculum so all the ECE's in New Brunswick have to learn how to implement this values based curriculum. It is very disorganized and I dread every meeting. We are already doing everything that this curriculum requires so the 36 hours training it really boring plus it suts into my already busy life. I have one meeting this morning and then I have to leave early to go to Jeff and Andrea's wedding. I am not supposed to leave early so I am going for an extended bathroom break, but I already ok'd it with my boss.
On wednesday I have to babysit at 8:15, so I will have time to go home after work and cook supper and either bring some to MAtt or he will come home with me. It is also Matt's birthday that day. I already got him a bike and I made a binder with dreams. Someday we are going to build a house and when MAtt thinks of something he likes we put it in the binder. It turned out really well. He already saw it because our apartment is not very large and I had to know what he wanted. hehe. I still have a movie and some Lindor chocolates for him.
Thursday I have GEMS and I am getting my eyebrows done too!
Fruday night I have to babysit and then saturday we are at church all day making apple pies for GEMS. I was asked to babysit that night too.... but i said NO! :) Instead we are going to have a big party with all our friends for both of our birthdays. Now we just have to find a place that is big enough.
SO that is my week at a glance and somehow every week ends up just like it. Matt and I still find time to sit on the courch and cuddle and enjoy each other. He cooks for himself a little more often now but he is becoming very profficient in making fried potatoes. Anyway i have to get ready to go. Registration is from 8-9 and I still have to do my hair and get Matt up to bring me. I am also hoping to convince him that a tim hortons breakfast sandwich is a good idea.
I hope you all have an awesome time until i manage to write again...just dont forget i love you..and so does matt

technology!?!?!?!

2008-10-01T13:39:00.002-03:00

I just have a few minutes to let you all know that i am still alive. I would write down everything that is happening here but I just dont have time. OUr internet is COMPLETELY down at home and I cant use the computer at work as often because the computer I use is in the same room as the college classes. Things are going REALLY well. So dont worry. But I miss the link to reading your blogs and catching up with things that are going on with you. I love you all and i will try to write more when I have an internet or computer. Love you all!
Amanda

my NEW haircut.

2008-09-21T19:49:00.002-03:00

Matt and I have had a terrible time with our internet connection and I dont want to go on and on for fear of losing it. Things here are going well. I had a pamper day on Friday and I got my eyebrows done and my hair cut. What do you think????
Love ya!

Its a Beautiful Day!

2008-09-10T14:33:00.003-03:00

I thought I would write a little note while I was sitting here on my break. Things here are going pretty well. I have something again every night this week. Monday I had a nice visit with Annelie and then I went to go see Steph and Jefta and plan something for us to do at Christine's wedding.
Last night I had Praise Band practice. It didnt start until 6:30 so Matt and I had supper at Wendy's and then since we had time to kill we went and searched for a desk for Matt. He has decided to buy one because the design that he wanted to do he didnt end up liking and we found a nice one at KENT and it has nice rounded corners. That is so perfect for our small apartment, if you have been around me for any amout of time you will know that I always run into things with my hips. I havent gotten really used to my body yet..hehe. So the rounded corners will be pure bliss for my hips. :) So then we started looking at things we want to put in our house to see if we agreed on prince range. heheheh.... that should be an interesting "discussion" when the time comes. hehe. I think we will be able to come together in the middle.
Then tonight Matt is going biking with Rudi. His Wife Amy is coming to our apartment to have supper and a nice visit with me. I am looking forward to that, a nice chance to relax and enjoy each other's company.
Tomorrow night Matt and i are going to babysit and make some money for GAS for PEI on FRIDAY!!! I am starting work at 7:00 so I can get off at 3:30. Then I will go to the university and wait for Matt to be done...I hope he is done early. I also have a blood test at 1:30 to see if I have celiac... please pray. I would really like to not have it. Pray that I dont have it. We can pray about the other stuff later.... hehe.
Anyway, I have to get back to work and eat some blueberry muffins. YUMMM!
Love you all!!!!!!!
Amanda

busy as a beaver

2008-09-07T20:13:00.002-03:00

Hello All,
I think I just got myself caught up on everyone's blogs. It was nice to catch up on what everyone os doing. Things here have been really crazy, Matt and I stayed home this afternoon because we were both so worn out and I have a bad cold. So we are relaxing and getting rested up.
Matt is sitting beside be desining a desk. We are getting a new computer because our laptop is starting to get a little lazy and that would never do when Matt has to study and make sure things get done. It will be nice to have a dependable way to manage my social life and keep in touch with all of you.
We speant this last weekend well. Friday evening we went to Julia vanOord's house warming party. It was a really good time, I felt a little bad that Matt was the only guy there. But a good time was had by all. In the morning we met Rudi and Amy and went to a massive yardsale. It was like 3 streets and all the connecting streets. It was so much fun and I even found a few bargains.
>I got a sandwich/pizza pocket maker and a small george forman grill I offered $5 for both and the lady accepted te deal.
>I got 10 chocolate moulds for 75c (they will be perfect for GEMS)
>I got the book "My Utmost for His Highest" for 25c
>I made a bargain with a lady for a nice truck puzzle .25c
>2 dvds for $6
We made out pretty well.
After that we met up with Amy's dad Kevin. We all went out for lunch to the Hilltop. Then we went to Rusagonis (rush-a-gorn-ish) and looked at the lots that Kevin is selling there. He is making a whole sub-division there and there are other ones going up. Matt and I are thinking about buying one of the lots there. It was a beautiful peice of land.. no extraordinary views, but there are trees and a little brook. It was perfect and I think all the houses going up will be a good daycare market too. We'll see. Thats far away yet the land wont be ready for another two years. It is so fun to dream though.
Then we went to Rudi and Amy's chalet We sat on the deck that overlooks the river on a round couch thingy. Amy and I both started reading a book while Matt and Rudi puttered around with the hot tub. Then Amy and I both fell asleep and we woke up in time to leave for biblestudy.
Then we went to church today and had lunch there afterwards because our missionarys were here for a visit. It was a really good lunch even though I didnt even talk to the Steele's. :)
This week is already looking like another busy week we are going to PEI next weekend. I am so excited. The visit is long overdue. We havent been there since Canada day. I really need to see my family.. and we actually get to see everyone when we go there. Matt's Dad made time for us on Friday and then I am having brunch with Mom and Bec and I'm going to have a good chat with Dad in there too. Caleb and Damaris will get me in the early morning while I wait for the ladies to wake up. and then I am going to Christine's wedding in the afternoon. I am excited!!!
Anyway.. Matt said this is getting really long and he is wondering who is going to read it anyway. I realize that I have lost everyday readers with my unpredictable posting... Maybe it will get better once Matt is in school full time. But he has a lot of days where he has a lot of time to study while he waits for me to finish work.
Love you all and see you soon!

I climbed Sugarloaf Mountain!!! YAY ME!

2008-08-25T19:46:00.003-03:00

Matt and I went to visit our friends Aaron and Cheryl in Cambelton. We went with Pat and Ashely. We had such a ball. We got there late friday night and then we got up Saturday Morning and Cheryl and Aaron made French Toast on their camp grill. Then we all set out to climb Sugarlaof Mountain. It was great until we actually got to the steep incline. It was hard for me but Matt pushed me and I actually made it to the top. Once we got there, A man was taking pictures and video clips for a brochure and also a TV show that Rogers in doing. So I am going to be on TV this fall. While we were getting our pictures taken the manager was telling us about all the work they had just finished on their mountain biking trail. They had people come from Whistler to create the trails and they attached bike holders to the ski lift. Matt thought it looked cool. But none of them brought their bikes. Pat asked if he had any and I told him that he would make their day if he could get them some. He said it would be no problem. We met them back at the lodge after lunch and then we all got tickets to ride the lift for the rest of the day and we got five bikes for 6 people. SO we had to share a little. The bike that Matt drove was worth $4500. It was really fun and extremely exciting. After all our photo shoots were done we all headed back for a much needed shower and had hobo pies for supper. We were all in bed by 10:00. We were so wiped out. Then we went to church sunday and afterwards visited Aaron's work. He works for a playground designing company and they also design steel bumpers for ATV's. It was pretty interesting. Then we set out for the 3.5hr drive home. We stopped in Grand Falls on the way and visited the gorge and then we got home. I went to bed early so that I would be up in time. Stacy is on her vacation and I am opening the daycare for the rest of the week. SO I have to be there at 7:00am. hehe. I actually dont mind at all. I had a lot of fun at work today.... its been awhile. Anyway. I think that is enough. Enjoy the slideshow. Luv you all!
Amanda

I climbed up Sugarloaf Mountain

2008-08-25T13:49:00.003-03:00

Another day

2008-08-13T15:34:00.002-03:00

This is going to be a short post because I have to get back to work shortly. THings here are going pretty well. Matt and I are planning a big grocery shopping adventure tonight because we have absolutely no food. Last night we had leftovers and salsa, so that wasnt too bad. It was really hard to make my menu because we dont have any potatoes left :( it is the saddest thing ever and it would be way to wierd to buy some so we have other things on our menu hehe.
Plus Mom and Dad are coming over on the weekend so we need somethng to be able to feed them too. I am so excited for the weekend and my boss gave me Monday off and paid since things are going so well with me working here. That made me feel really great.
I will try to write again, but I really should get back to work.
I love you all and I really hope you have an excellent week. Have fun watching the olympics.
Love Amanda

ok... ok

2008-08-08T13:54:00.002-03:00

I think it has been quite awhile since I have posted. But things are going well. Normal summer time stuff happening here. It has been a really chilly rainy week and kind of dismal. But all in all things have been going pretty good.
Matt was on call on Tuesday due to the high rivers and they had to be on call to take pictures and measurments of any washed out culverts. He was one of the only teams that did not get called out so he stayed home and emptyed our bag of rotten fruit fly infested potatoes. yay! I was wondering what smelled in there.
Tomorrow Matt and I are celebrating our second anniversary. Its not really until Monday but we thought it might be easier this way. Can you believe that it has already been two years ago?? Matt said that he is going to make eggs and toast for breakfast. Im excited already.
I still have to make him a card. It has been so hard since he is always home I cant just sit there and make a card while he is there .. haha
Anyway. I should get back to work I just wanted to give you all a little update. Love ya!
Amanda

Happy Monday!

2008-07-28T14:10:00.004-03:00

and a great one it really is too. I am sitting here with my buddy woodstock and we are having a grand old time while I am on break. I couldnt get one of the kids to sleep, but as I was trying to get one asleep, the one on the other side of me started scratching my back.... ahhh.... I love my job. But then I couldn't get the little back scratcher to sleep and now Stacy is valiantly trying.... What a hero.
They have all been pretty good considering that it is a rainy monday. We still managed to go outside for a little bit and the sun really did try to pop out for a little while.
Friday night Rinse and Jenn came over from PEI, they didn't make it until around 10:30 but they were still able to join in the party. We had a bunch of people over for supper and dessert to celebrate Jefta's birthday. Matt got a black forest cake with real whip cream from sobeys and then Jefta came bearing a tasty ice cream cake from DQ... yummy! and Then Ashley came with a marble chocolate truffle cake. That is the nice thing with these friends is that everyone needs to bring something and then there is always more than enough and no one is hungry. haha. Saturday morning we got up early to see Rinse and Jenn to continue their trip to BC. At 10:00 Matt and I were at Rudi and Amy's Apt. The men made waffles for breakfast and Matt wore my John Deere apron... Amy even has it on her camera... haha. Then we helped them move to their chalet in the woods that belongs to their grandmother. They are going to live there while they build their own house down the river a piece. It is just a small random river, but it is really cute. We are going back to their apartment tonight to have a pool party and they are taking us out for Wendy's beforehand... yay! haha
Sunday we went to church and then went for a BBQ at Jeff and Andrea's and then played the adult version of Scene it... talk about way harder than the kids one. For the rest of the day I read Redemption(i think that is the title) by Karen Kingsbury.... talk about a book.... it was good.. It was an afternoon read and next week I am getting the other 4 from the church library. In the evening Matt and I got cozy on the couch and watched driven.
Tomorrow evening I finally have an appointment with the Dr... can someone tell mom that???? Thanks! It is to see if I have Celiac Disease... Mom said we should get tested because it may be in her side of the family... so prayers for a test resulting in me NOT having it would be greatly appreciated. But I am going to be ok with what God decides. Well Love you all. Have a super day!
Love Amanda

PS on another great news note... Matt is done working up north... YIPEEE!!!! he is home all week!

Delish!

2008-07-23T13:17:00.007-03:00

Alright... for starters my camera has been having a few issues. Annoying? YES! But at least you can see the picture of what I made :)

I was talking to Dianna on the phone last night and we were telling each other about really great recipes. I am going to send her this one. They are really called "Cheese Danish" But they have since been dubbed "Eskimo Nachos" I think I like that name better.

Things this way are going really well. I am excited for my Mom and Dad to come visit on the 16-18. I also am getting a day off on that monday since I have to close up the daycare a few days. I am looking forward to that a lot. We are going to go visit the waterfall.. fall brook falls It is such a nice place to go and enjoy the waterfall. i think Dad is excited too... I always remember family vacations including a waterfall whenever possible.

Matt is up in Cambelton this week staying at a Super 8 Hotel. He is also spending time with our friend Aaron while he is up there. Aaron has an engineering job up there.

Tonight I am going to Annelie's house. I got her a plnt for her birthday and I am going to take some eskimo nachos too. And I think I might even have some candles laying around that I could put one in the thing.

Other than that it is work as usual. We havent had too many kids so they reallly only need one staff, so Stacy and I are taking advantage of the extra time and really getting some things done and put together.

Last Sunday Matt and I went to the lake with Pat, Ashley, Rudi and Amy. Rudi's Uncle has a Jet Ski and they pulled us around in the tube behind it... well not me... I was more than content to take the canoe for a paddle whenever i could convince someone else to go :)

Anyway, I will leave you with that. I am going to hopefully catch up on some other blogs. Have a great day!

Love yOU!

Amanda

Plug Your Nose!!!

2008-07-15T08:00:00.004-03:00

Last week when I went to Annelie's they had a skunk underneath their deck. Henk Jan had to go underneath it and get it out. First the neighbour shot it and then Henk Jan took his gun and gave it an extra shot just in case. wouldnt want to run into that thing while it was still alive.

The men discovered the skunk while they were on the deck finishing their supper. Unfortunately the skunk must have felt intimidated. We werent sure if it was from the dog or the squirrel Either way the stench managed to permeate through the entire house and even my purse which was on the opposite end of the house. Annelie said it was because I got to close to the Camera. But Harry said the house still smelled when he got home form trucking on friday. The whole incident happened on a Monday. So I really dont think that I got to close. And I think having the pictures was well worth it. I might as well make Henk jan look a little bit like a hero. He willingly did the job when asked and did it well!

I also thought I would include an updated picture of my flowers. They really turned out well.

I was going to write more about my flowers, but I dont really remember what I was going to write since My keyboard got unplugged and I couldnt type anything and then I had to restart the computer.

Tonight I am going to hang out with Cheryl, last night we went for a nice nature walk, then we played Ticket to Ride. That was such a fun game. And I actually won. I played it on Saturday night too with Matt, Aaron and Cheryl. Matt is doing well. Another team went up to Bathurst this week so now Matt thinks that with their help they will be done up there in another week or two. YAY! I think he is getting tired of being on the road all the time and driving that sunfire. It is a good way to appreciate what you have I guess. Anyway. I really should get back to work. Thanks for reading and I love you all!
Amanda

Another day!

2008-07-08T13:58:00.003-03:00

Hello everyone!!!
As we speak I am on my break and working with my not so little friend "woodstock" who is my computer for those of you who may not remember.
Things are going really well. Matt is in Bathurst until thursday evening at 5. He finished his route around Fredericton and got all the culverts checked. Now all the teams swtich routes and make sure everything was done correctly. matt asked for the other side of Fredericton, but instead he got Bathurst.. :( we'll live though. He will be home by thursday evening every week. So it is manageable. I am busy every night while he is gone, hanging out with friends mostly. So that is fun and I'm not alone either.
other than that work is going fantastic and I couldnt be happier!!! I will write again soon but I am finished of my break so i should head out. Lub you all!!
Amanda

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-02T13:52:00.002-03:00

Alright, I am not dead or MIA I have just returned back to the wonderful city of fredericton after a lovely vacation on PEI.
Matt and I both took monday off and went to PEI for a very long weekend. It was so relaxing and so much fun. I packed all my shorts and t shirts and then it turned out to be a lot colder than I had anticipated so I ended up borrowing a lot of clothes. As long as I follow the rules it works out good. Ask before you borrow and return them to the person whom you are borrowing the clothes from before the next day. Those are the rules. If you dont follow them you lose your borrowing priveliges. If you ever lived in my house you know these rules.
right now I am on my break at work. We dont have a lot of kids today so we have been doing a lot of cleaning. It's been alright. Matt is gone to bathurst for the rest of the week and comes home again on Friday night. I think I will cope ok this week because I have to unpack from vacation, do lots of laundry clean and cook for me. Next week however...when he is gone for the whole week, I think that I will really miss that guy. But I will be ok. Maybe I will actaully post more??? WHo knows. Anyway, I have to get back to work. Love you all!
Amanda

Quick Post`!

2008-06-23T18:17:00.003-03:00

i am sitting at Annelie's house and she is cooking supper while i quickly write you all a quick note. I had a really good day at work today. It feels like things might finally be settling a little bit and more into a routine. Matt is gone to St. John for the night for work and there is so many things that I should be doing.
Annelie and I are going to pick up a dresser tonight that she got a really good deal on and then we are going to go and work on the old house again.
Alright... I should go. But I wanted to let you all know that I am alive and doing well. I will post more deatails about our exciting weekend on another day when I have pictures. We went hiking to a really nice waterfall yesterday. I thought of you Dad :)
Love you all,
Amanda

another week... almost time for PEI!

2008-06-21T11:47:00.003-03:00

Has it really been 10 days? It seems like I have written pretty recently. I always plan to do it on my break, but I either forget or I end up only getting a few minutes for my break if the kids dont go to sleep very quickly.
I just looked at my last post and I think mentally I wrote another post in between. I told you about going with our friends Pat and Ashley to someone's "camp" which is really a cottage. We met a lot of new people there and they were a lot of fun. We went for a walk and looked for a bunch of waterfall's and then we played games for the rest of the night. It was so much fun!
Then I sang with praise band in church on sunday. It was a lot of fun to do that again. But I was surprised at how different it is here than it was in PEI.
The rest of the week was pretty routine. Matt was supposed to go away for the night on Wednesday and then when I got home from work he was actually sitting on the couch. I was SO surprised. But the wierd thing was is that I had a feeling he was going to be home that night, i almost went to his work to double check that he wasnt there, but i figured that he would have called me at work if he needed to get a hold of me.
Thursday night I got my eyebrows done here and I was so happy with how the girl did them. I like them even better than when I got them done at Really You. Last night Matt and I babysat some girls from my old daycare. We had a lot of fun, the girls love Matt and they think he is the sillyest person ever. Then when they were in bed we played Nintendo Wii. HAHAHAHA thats all I have to say about that. I was not given talents to exceed in sports OR Nintendo.
Tonight we are having a going away party for Renata and Brian who are leaving really soon to go on Sea to Sea. Where Brian is going to Bike across the US and Renata is going to be part of the support team. She is going to be the grocery shopper and book keeper. All the bikers had to raise $10,000 and all of the money they raise goes directly to eliminate world hunger. The organizers already had corporate sponsors to cover the costs of feeding and getting the bikers across the states. The tour Ends in New jersey... so Dianna could go and see them... haha.
Anyway. I have to make some food for tonight yet. I hope you all have a really great week and I will post again soon. Love you all!
Matt and Amanda

Am I Becoming a Workaholic?

2008-06-11T14:04:00.002-03:00

I thought I would write a little bit while I am on my break. I am sitting at work on "my" computer, her name is woodstock (it says so right on the desk, some are named, Oromocto,Pabineau, Bouctouche. Those are all the names that I can actually read sitting here without glasses. That is kind of terrible) Anyway... on with things.
I know that since it is summer time a lot of us would actually rather be outside enjoying the warm sunshine instead of reading or posting on a blog. I totally understand and really do appreciate the people that are taking time out of their sunshiny day to hear about my day.
Things have been slightly crazily busy for Matt and I. I am working a lot more than I used to. I think it is because I have the option to actaully make more money. Plus they actually need me too. I really do like working here but I am so tired at the end of the day. I have never been with a bunch of kids that take so much energy. But honestly I have seen an amazing growth in them already that it is so worth it.
So other than that Matt and I have mastered completely the technique of flopping on the couch with our supper. I know it is a really bad habit.. especially when the dishes dont really get done until the next day. But we have been so wiped out. haha... I havent even convinced myself yet. Maybe next week we will do better. We are going to a birthday party tonight and then tomorrow I am going to Annelie's to work on the old house and then Friday Matt and I are babysitting. So... things are a little hectic.
Anyway, i feel as though I have babbled enough. I love you all and I hope that you have a really super day!
Love Amanda

The slowest ship on the ocean!

2008-06-06T18:40:00.002-03:00

HEy!
I thought I would put a short post on here and give you a little update. Mostly because I don't know when I will be able to post again. I thought I would also add some pictures of my new work and the piece of the floor we painted for our "ocean" this week.
We had two ships. in our ocean one even had a sail. hehe.

This picture is taken in the back of the daycare. I really like it there and I had a really awesome day today. It was a great Friday.
Anyway, Love you all and talk to you soon.
Matt and I are going to MVOC tomorrow. It should be fun... Maybe the obsession will rub off a little and I will understand it more. Love you all!
Amanda and Matt

2008-06-04T21:11:00.003-03:00

Rainy Day! Oh so rainy!!! That made for a really long pent up inside day at work. I got so frusterated today and there were times when I just didnt know how to handle the kids. That in itself bothers me the most and is the biggest challenge in my new job. In the end though it is fun to look at the fun parts of the day. We are learning about boats and earlier in the week we made boats out of large cardboard boxes. Today we painted a section of the floor blue. It was such a hoot. in the end some kids were covered in paint, right up to their diapers. :) They thought it was the coolest thing to be able to paint the floor. It was also funny because Stacy (the girl I work with) was telling me how cool it would be to have some rocks to go in our water. An hour later Matt called and said he was in a river and wanted to know if I wanted some rocks. Isnt that neat???
When i got home I had a large intake of sugar, which energized me a lot. Last night I fell asleep on the couch at 8:30 till 9:30 dragged myself to bed. Matt was laughing at me because it was so light outside. I slept till 7:30 and left for work again at 7:45. So when I got home today I really didnt want a repeat. I found a candy necklace and ate the whole thing. Then I made brownies. hehe.
I think Matt is having a lot of fun at work. Everyday I get to hear about where he went for lunch with his lovely dinner allowance. We both eat so well at work that I have needled our grocery bill down to $100 for three weeks. I eat breakfast , lunch and snack at work and Matt never ate breakfast in the first place. instead of taking leftovers to school we now eat them the next day for supper. That works out well.
Anyway, I was talking about what matt eats. I will elaborate more on this since I know you all want to hear more about that guy. haha. He looked at culverts in Alma today and there were no reataurants open for the season or they werent open until 4. They finally found a little home cooking reataurant that served bacon and cheese hamburgers. According to matt these are much healthier. I havent quite seen the logic yet. That is all the news that I have on Matt. He is VERY excited for MVOC (Maritime Volkswagen Owners Club) on saturday. He asked me today if I was excited for it. I told him that is was only Wednesday. haha.
Anyway... this is getting really long. I think it is time to settle in beside Matt and watch the Hockey Game.
I love you all and I hope that you all have a really great week. Talk to you again soon.
Love Amanda and Matt

PS Please pray for me. Work is awesome, but please pray for patience for me. ThanKS!

MY FLOWERS!!!!!

2008-06-02T19:17:00.003-03:00

Matt is gone working away tonight and I went plant shopping. Since I have never really gone with mom but have talked about them lots I was a little lost with what to get. so MOM what do you think????

I am also planning to catch up on my cleaning and dishes. It should still be a pretty busy night.

On saturday Matt went Kayaking with some friends and I went shopping with the women since we werent invited to go kayaking. haha. It rained anyway and I dont think Matt loved it, when I suggested we do it some time he really wasnt keen on the idea. HAHA. I had such a good time. Later we met up with the guys and played some lazer tag. Then we came back here and had cake while we watched the movie SWAT.

Sunday we went to church, afterwards we went to Pat's house for a graduation celebration for him and his girlfriend Ashley. It was so fun!!!! Then we were on our way home and we ended up going to some open- houses. We saw some really nice houses and definitely some stuff we can afford when matt is done school. :) It was so fun to look and talk about what people should and should not do with their house. I think we watch too many home make over shows. \

I also repotted my valentine's tree. Can you notice that it was growing towards the light from the window. I turned it around though... do you think that will work?

Anyway. I think that is all the news for now.

OH, and the pictures are from the house that Annelie and I are cleaning out. REMEMBER???? :) love you too!

Love Amanda

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-29T08:10:00.001-03:00

material value....

2008-05-29T07:52:00.002-03:00

I thought I would write a quick note before I go to work. Matt is in St. John for his overnight trip. I hope he didnt have too much fun without me. :) I actually got a lot accomplished. I cleaned up our apartment. Made some dessert for my friends on saturday... and for Matt too. (Matt is going kayaking with the guys, and Im going shopping/walking with the girls) I got some laundry done and I relaxed.
Annelie came over after her sunday school meeting. We looked at all the wedding pictures and she thought that the pictures Mike and Tante Karen took were MUCH better than the actual photographers pictures. She was telling me everything that I could do with the pictures and I told her that it wasnt really worth my time or anything. SO now she is going to do it. hehehe. So if you could all burn a copy of your pictures and I could get them the next time I am home.
Thanks!
I woke up really early this morning, the sun was shining in my room and a moquito was buzzing around my ear. Ugh! I think I caught it but I never did see the body. I think it might still be in my bed somewhere... eww! Where ever it went it didnt bother me anymore.
Anyway, I should mosey on to work. I get to pick Matt up from work today and then we are going to Annelie's for supper and we are going to go and work on the house again. Here are a bunch of pictures of the place.

Im Back!

2008-05-26T18:44:00.002-03:00

What a wonderful time Matt and I had in PEI. The dirt is so beautiful there. I think when you live there you dont really notice. But the contrast of PEI soil to the really green grass was absolutely beautiful.
I think we almost got to say at least hi, to most people. We didnt get to visit Uncle Marten and Tante Karen this time... but hopefully next time!
We got home last night around 8. Matt found another VW buddy to cruise with. NO, he didnt know the guy. But we drove behind each other all the way from Moncton. They found each other on Custom Obsessions today and they both complimented each other's cars. Awhhh so cute. hehe. When we got home I hopped in the shower and Matt made some salsa for supper. And we watched what we thought was the last movie of Harry Potter. But apparently a new one is coming out in November.
Other than that, I cant think of anything else that would be interesting for you to hear about. We both had a great days at work. I had another new kid at work and he is the cutest little thing and really quite well behaved too. Hopefully that lasts. haha.
Anyway... love you all and have a super day!
Love matt and Amanda

Blogging Again... Finally!

2008-05-21T20:08:00.003-03:00

Matt and I are in the middle of watching the entire series of Harry Potter. It is interesting. That is all I really have to say. It is ficton and I know that so I am not going to go into wizardry or anything. I'm not watching it with the thought that any kids are going to watch it so I am not really thinking about whether or not it is suitable for young impresionable children. haha
Matt and I had a really nice long weekend. Monday was a holiday and it was going to be a good blog writing day since it was raining. I cleaned the entire apartment in the morning and it was so nice and clean and so relaxing. We went to Annelie's to bring back her dish and then we ended up staying for lunch. Then she took us to a house around her area that she is looking after. The couple that live there both have Alziemers and currently do not have the mental capacity to look after their own affairs and since they do not have any family everything they have goes to the government. Annelie was hired by the social worker to take all the junk out of the house and then the apraisers will go through and price everything.
It is really kind of sad to go through the house. We cleaned out the clothes closet and we found some really cute dresses from like 80 years ago. It just makes you wonder where the lady wore the dress and why she kept it.
When you really look at it thought. Annelie and I are strangers to these people and we dont know anything about them and yet we are the ones going through their things and deciding what is worthless and what we might be able to get some money from. There are some pretty valuable things there and there is no son or daughter to leave it all too. It's sad, but it definately puts things into perspective.
Anyway, Work is going extremely well for both Matt and I. Our work schedules work out pretty well with each other. Tonight we picked up supper from Annelie and went home and relaxed. It was SOOOO nice!!!
Anyway..... Matt is waiting to watch Harry Potter again! So I should go. Love you and we will seee some of you on the weekend! YAY!
Love Matt and Amanda

Update

2008-05-15T20:01:00.003-03:00

Hey Guys!
How are things going with all of you? I hope that you are all doing well. Things here are going well. Matt and I are started to get settled into a routine. I dont know how long it will last but it is a routine and we all know those are good.
Matt made supper tonight while I started on some much needed laundry. I seem to get a lot dirtier at the new place. I also started on the dusting. I think I will finsh tomorrow. I have to work late tomorrow and then I am going to get my eyebrows waxed. I have to admit I am looking forward to getting them done... it has been such a long time.
Other than that, there isnt much news to tell. Sad I know. But work is going really well and I am learning so much and I feel like I am contributing well too. It's all good. My doctoers medical form came today, which was so exciting since I was a little worried that I wouldnt get it or that it would be a lot more work than it was!!! I also got my first paycheck today. YAY! Matt is doing well too and is starting to travel around fredericton more and look at culverts.
Anyway... thats my news. Love you all!
Love Amanda

new beginnings

2008-05-12T19:55:00.004-03:00

Im sure you are are sitting there wondering how my first day at work went, but think I am so egotistical that I imagine you all sitting by the computer clicking the refresh button just hoping that I have updated. But I know you all care how it was... so here it goes.
My first day at work was EXCELLENT! They even feed me there and I dont have to take a lunch. I am working with a girl who is extremely talented in delivering the emergent curriculum. This way of teaching is totally child directed and is done my following the child's lead in what they want to learn about and then teaching it to the children through play. I honestly can't imagine a better person to really be learning how to do this well. It is really exciting. I think our personalities will mesh well. They are so happy to have me there.... and I am NEEDED! So far so great!!! At this job I can bank hours and take afternoons off... I can work more hours if I need money. I can be sick and have hours saved so I can still get paid. It's sweet!!!!
Matt got to drive his new work car around a little bit today. He has to drive a sunfire and after I picked him up he got behind the wheel and said... "ahhh... it feels so good to drive a real car" He is so cute and I think he is going to miss the Vdub this summer. haha. He had to go to the other side of the river with his partner (for the whole summer) Jared (so now you know who jared is for future reference) They had to look at culverts that have recently been replaced so they know what they look like and what a new one would look like if they recommend that they should be replaced. Matt said they havent actually been shown any that look in poor condition. But I am sure that will come. The rest of this week is going to be training and then I guess we'll find out how much traveling this job willr eally entail. I guess I am counting on matt being gone for the rest of the summer a little bit. But he should be home on weekends.
Our babysitting weekend was good. Matt and I had a good time and enjoyed it a lot. I think I can finally understand why Mom liked having her time for herself at night. I still like spending time with matt but It sure was nice when the kids finally went to bed so Matt and I could really talk about the day and stuff. The kids were really good though and I would definitely do it again but I am not really in a rush to have my own kids. hehe.
anyway.. .thats enough reading and I still have to catch up on your blogs. I feel like I havent touched a computer in forever. haha
Love you all!
Love Matt and Amanda

new beginings

2008-05-12T19:55:00.000-03:00

A Quick Note!

2008-05-05T22:38:00.002-03:00

Hey Guys
I just wanted to leave you a quick note and let you know that we are both doing pretty well. Matt's first day of work went pretty well. It was a lot of paperwork and the rest of this week is going to be training. He is on a Team with a guy named jarrod and Matt is the leader of the team. So that is neat. He has a work cell phone and some other cool toys and a bright orange vest. :) I think he will enjoy the job and I hope that it all works out well.
I am determined to have a good last week at work and I am positive about my new job. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Matt and I are babysitting starting Thursday night right until Sunday Evening. We are bringing the kids to a sitter Friday day. It will be like real life. yay! haha. It should be fun.
Other than that things are going well here. The Flood waters receeded dramtically before sunday again and Fredericton is almost back to normal. The bottom of the river is still quite flooded though I think.
Anyway. I hope you all have a really great week and I will write again soon.
Love you all so much,
Love Matt and Amanda

THE GREAT FLOOD OF 2008

2008-05-01T22:20:00.002-03:00

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-04-27T23:10:00.001-03:00

Some More Dam Pictures.

2008-04-27T22:50:00.003-03:00

We had such a nice day today. We went to Harry and Annelie's house for lunch. The first course was chicken soup and rolls. Second serving was Stir Fry, Baked Potatoes and Pork chops. Oh, and taco salad. And then we had pudding for dessert. What a filling day. Then we went for a really nice walk together. Matt and Harry are so alike. They have the same sense of humor. And as their son Henk-Jan said. You and my dad are so alike. You like the same cars for the same reasons. hehe. it was so funny.
Anyway, then we went back for some ice cream and after hanging out there all day we went to cards early and stopped at the Dam along the way and took some pictures.Here they are and have a super duper day!
Love yA!
I am going to make a slide show instead since the pics will upload faster.

The GREAT news!

2008-04-26T13:15:00.003-03:00

SO... I have a new job! I am employed by the UNBITI (Union of New Brunswick Indians Training Institute) They also offer post secondary education, One of the programs is Early Childhood Education. In this building they also have a small daycare (max kid spaces is 17) The pay is much better than where I am now, so that is definately a bonus. One of the reasons is because it is a non-profit daycare which means that all money that is paid for childcare is put back into the center to improve it. It should be fun and I will be working with quite diverse children. I start there on May 12.
Matt's exams went really well and we are still waiting to see what the actual marks will be. So we will hope for the best. Right now he is cleaning the car inside and out. I am supposed to be cleaning in the house. It has been awhile and I really need to declutter. I am watching Pride and Predjudice right now too. I LOVE that movie. I think it is my favourite right now.
This morning we went to a Funraiser Waffle breakfast to raise money for Brian. He is biking across the States this summer and any money that is raised goes directly to world hunger. The money for the actaul trip is already covered by corporate sponsors. So the riders are expected to raise $10,000 each. I think there is 150 bikers all together. So thats a nice drop in the bucket.
All right I should clean and make some lunch but I'll leave you with a few pictures we too this morning of our walk (yeah we went on a really nice walk across the river). Ok More later. Lub you all!

If you look really close at the pictures you will see how high the water is. You can almost kayak to the church. In the picture below you can see a little roof sticking out of the water.

The Juicy Details

2008-04-21T18:59:00.003-03:00

Guess What! I have a job interview at Footprints Early Childhood Development Center tomorrow at 1:00! I just did a little bit of research and they just opened up on April 1st. Working in a brand new center would be nice. Thteey have quite a large staff already so that shows that they have the right people in place from the very beginning. We'll see how it goes. I am excited about the job prospects. We were talking at work today about what kind of questions I should ask and Lisa said i should go in with the mentality that they are going to hire me because I am so good. Then I should look at if I actually want to work there.
If you wanted to google it to see where it would be in comparison to where I live and UNB.. here is the address..
30 Wilsey Rd, Fredericton (daycare)
127 Mooers Drive, Fredericton (home)
152 Bradshaw Drive (I am special )
College Hill Daycare (ust type that in for UNB)
Thought you might fond that interesting if you have nothing else to do... dont feel obligated. I like looking at all of this by satellite. Then you can actually see where the buildings are and stuff. :)

Matt and I had a really nice date on friday night. We made reservations for 7:30 at The Blue Door. I got all dressed up and Matt actually did too. He wore his nice shoes and his blue dress shirt. I wore my white pants and my new shirt from Dynamite. Matt suggested we leave early and walk around downtown. It was so fun. We went into all kinds of neat shops. Downtown Fredericton is so beautiful. It was nice just to be able to relax together and enjoy each others company. Then it was time to eat. We got there and it was a really classy place. We opened the menu and it was 20-30$ a plate... so we're like... ok... we're celebrating. We couldnt figure out what anything on the menu was. I said.. I dont really want to spend a whole days work on something I can't even pronounce. So I pretended to get a call on my cell phone and Matt told the waitress that we got a call and couldnt eat there anymore. LOL ... she was totally understanding. so we went down the street to our favourite pub.. definately still classy. But they were full, then we tried Jungle Jim's.. they were full too.. we even tried the steakhouse... everything was FULL! so we went to Sobeys and got a premade philly cheesesteak pizza.. so matt could still say he had steak. Went home and enjoyed a movie. Even though the going out for dinner didnt happen like we planned... we had SO much fun. We laughed so much about it all and just had a really fun and even romantic night. :)
It was really nice to have Mom and Dad come with Caleb and Damaris. They left at six in the morning so that they could make it to church. That meant a lot that they could meet our church family here and talk with them and really share in the joy that we experience here. I think they liked it and then they came over for lunch. It was such a nice day and so good to see them and talk with them.
After they left, Matt and I went and tried our tennis raquets out for the first time ever. We had a lot of fun... then we went home and watched a movie and relaxed. So NICE!
Anyway I should go get some things ready for my interview tomorrow and make sure that I am ready. Please pray for me and pray for Matt too at 7:00pm when he writes his last exam. yay!!!
LOVE YOU!
Matt and Amanda

Another Chapter.

2008-04-17T22:47:00.003-03:00

I am sitting in a really old classroom and it was probably really cool in mid 1800's when it was first built. The chalkboard is built into the wall and framed with wood molding... and nothing looks REALLY strait. What amazes me the most is the craftsmanship in the building. People just dont do that anymore. The doors are all tall and wooden and when you walk in the room you walk up two steps. The desks are really narrow and high. Definitely meant for taking notes and not typing on a laptop. Matt really likes this room for studying... I'm not sure why. But they are enjoying throwing the football around once in awhile when they cant quite figure out the solution. Whatever works to relieve the stress. Now that you can imagine my florescent lit surroundings I'll get on with the story of my life.
My job-less situation is a lot less stressful and daunting than it was on tuesday. It's kind of a joke at work. I make joke about what I will and will not have to do at my new job. haha I have applied for four jobs and have only been rejected by one (they were looking for a casual worker) I have three more possibilities and I hope that there is one that is perfect. I would love to get a job at College Hill... conveniently they were hiring... A God thing to be sure. I am really not crazy about their starting shift of 10-6. I just think it would be rough coming into town at 8:15 for Matt's first class and me not having to work for another two hours. THEN I lose a lot of my evening too. That's a big thing for me. I would get a new shift as soon as someone else quit and they had to hire again. That could be two months or two years. Not so much. The next one is pretty close by.. BUT I tried to find it today but couldnt ( I emailed my resume) and then the third one is a little farther away, the pay is great, they sound really good. SO the rest remains to be seen.
My boss said I could take some time at work to go to interviews and she will even pay me for that time... like YAY! haha so that is the job hunt. I will let you know if I actually get any interviews.... Because if I do I will look for a kid that looks like they need some special hugs and then I will know if it is the perfect job. :)
Matt said his Exam went alright for him today. Last saturday I forgot to pray for his first exam because I was so busy and it just slipped my mind. The second one I remembered and I really thought and prayed about it. The way it turned out, the first exam wasnt real great and the second one went really well. So today Matt said to me... dont forget to pray. I was SO pumped. I had a job to do and I was going to do it well. At 2:00 I was going to pray hardcore at work. 2:00 rolled around and I had to get the babies up, we were running late and I forgot and didnt remember until 5:00... just when the exam was over. I couldnt believe it.. .my one job and I blew it. I felt so bad. Then I couldnt even find matt and my cell phone was dead. So I just went to the church and hung out with Renata.. she told me that Jesus still knew what Matt needed.
I am not looking for sympathy here, but I did want to share.. Im not really sure why... Maybe to show all of you that I am not perfect.. but then again... you knew that... that was so silly (said in my kid voice)
Anyway, enough of that foolishness. I really need to thank you guys for your constant support during this stressful time. Matt and I are still holding up well and are still able to smile at the end of the day and you guys just make that difference. I will be sure to read Matt all the comments on the way home later tonight. I didnt want to embarrass him in front of his friends (you know how boys can be) or break his concentration.
Love you all oodles....
Amanda and Matt

PS... Tomorrow's exam is at 2:00... I WILL remember to pray... you too!

PSS... Matt is taking me out for supper tomorrow night... and NOT to wendys. A REAL life restaurant. YAY! Its a date! Ill give you the juicy details later.

The Good News and the Bad News....

2008-04-15T20:54:00.002-03:00

The Good News: Matt got 28/30 on his big paper that he was writing awhile ago. He did awesome and the professor was really impressed. It was really nice way to brighten the day while he is studying for exams. He has already had a few late nights. But on saturday after his exam we had such a nice evening. We sat there and had a nice bowl of ice cream. We had such a nice time sitting there talking and sharing... which was exactly what I needed.

The Bad News... I lost my job. I have work until the end of may and then I am hoping to have a new job because the prospect of being unemployed is really scary. I was already looking on the job bank and there are two GOOD daycares hiring right now. So now the mad scramble to get my resume in and try and convince them with a peice of paper that I am the one they should be hiring. My boss said that I could use her as a reference so that is good that I have someone here that can vouch for my reliability and hard work.
I am not looking forward to starting all over again at a new job. trying to build brand new realtionships with parents and co workers.. Meet new kids.. that is an easy part. It's just so hard. The unfairness of it all hurts too.. .but it makes sense that she keeps her niece instead of me. She just gets so many perks by keeping her and she is helping her sister too. It makes me feel good that family is coming first for her because it means that to some people in the world that is still so valued. Money is important too... and I am more expensive. I'm going to be ok. I really am. But I need your prayers, There are going to be so many choices and I desire with all my heart to choose the right one and go with God at my side.
Thanks for your thoughts, support and prayers. You have no idea of their value. I love you all so much and thanks for reading. Don't forget to pray for matt's exams too.
Love you all!
Amanda and Matt!

People Watching in the Library!

2008-04-11T20:39:00.002-03:00

I thought about a title for about two seconds and decided that I just don't have the energy to attempt at creativity. So I will update you with my life in a concise manner and will not be diving into every little thing and over describing it... as I have just done.
We are now in the heart of exam season and I am spending the first night in the library. That has to be a record. I spent the first couple of hours in a relatively comfy library chair in a secluded corner. I enjoyed it but I started to get warm and sleepy so I went back to Matt and convinced him to get me out a computer on loan. So I have an hour with this thing and then I am done whether I like it or not. I did try and take out the computer myself with Matt's card, but they said I was too beautiful to pass for Matt. Apparently it was the kind of beauty that doesnt get a computer... so Matt had to come.
This week really flew by. I just find it so hard to believe that it is Friday night. I am sitting here feeling sleepy and wondering how I am going to make it at work tomorrow.... then I feel happy when I realize it is Friday. I am going into town tomorrow with Matt early in the morning so that I can have the car. I have a nice date lined up with Jefta and Steph at the Farmer's Market. I am so looking forward to spending time together and I am also hoping that they might want to go shopping with me. I had a whole bunch of things that I wanted to buy, but as I am writing this I cant even remember what I was going to buy. haha. The time together will be enjoyable regardless.
Daycare went pretty well this week. We had quite a few kids out with fever and vomiting. So it was a slow but busy week trying to get outside and enjoy the warm weather but trying to trade wet clothes for dry between outside times. Then trying to eat and get them to sleep in between.
I got to work this morning and my usually rambunctious boy was quite subdued listening to a story on the couch. We sat him down for snack and I was CONVINCED that he was sick. He drank his juice and tried to eat his cracker, but as soon as he did... BLAH all over the floor. I cleaned him and the floor up, but the poor kid was crying and shaking and turned so white. poor little one. We sent him strait home only less than an hour after he got there. Home was a good place for him today.
Other than that things are going really well. Matt has been studying really hard so while we see eachother his mond is filled with formulas and other engineering stuff. He still finds a little bit of time for his custom obsession browsing and I am glad that he can sit and do that and relase some of the pressure for 15 minutes.
Anyway. I think I have shared everything...
Matt's exams
Tomorrow
9:00 AM
7:00 PM

Next Thursday

Next Friday

and then the last one is on April 22. Prayers for these times would be greatly appreciated. I love you all very much. Thanks for your constant prayer support and comments. I do share the comments with matt and I make sure that he knows how much you all care. Love you!
Love Amanda and Matt

2008-04-07T19:55:00.002-03:00

hey all,
I thought I would take a few minutes to write a really quick note between folding laundry and cleaning up.
I had a pretty good day at work. My highlight was changing diapers. The babies just started fake laughing which made them laugh until we were all laughing our heads off. Then I thought... I LOVE my job. It is moments like that, that make my life worth it. I love it!
Matt picked me up from work and we went strait home for supper and now matt is back in town to study with a group. I am so happy to be home instead of sitting on a hard library chair, able to get things done here. its nice.
Plus I need to practice being home alone when Matt has to go on his overnight trips for work. So far Im handling it extremly well... hehe.
He writes his first exam on saturday at 9:00 and then another one at 7:00 in the evening and they are both his hardest exams. So a lot of prayer on that day would be very much appreciated.
Other than a lot of studying this week there isnt too much else going on. Thanks for reading and thanks especially for the comments.
Love you all a lot and thanks so much for the support. It is greatly appreciated and needed. Love you!
Amanda and Matt

The Viewing Hole

2008-04-05T17:06:00.007-03:00

If this was the window into our lives you wouldn't be able to see a lot. :) The snow here is finally starting to melt, but as you can see it still has a long way to go. The Playground is still covered in wet snow and the kids love playing there. It is a battle to keep them out of the puddles. It's not that I am trying to be torturous, but they really aren't equipped for the puddles and then five minutes later they are wet. So that is the way it has been going. I am actually ok with the snow being there because I know once it really starts to melt it will be too big of a mess for us to even go outside for fear of permanently damaging the back yard. So we'll see how it goes. I hope it dries up quick!

Things here have been steadily busy. Matt got a Job with the Department of Transportation here so that is such awesome and relieving news. The lady that phoned him about the job is also putting his name in for a job where he wouldn't have to travel. But the job would be mostly office work. So he will go for the job that seems like it would be more enjoyable. We'll see what happens in the long run, but he is guaranteed that job with the D.O.T.

Right now Matt is really busy studying. So that is good but it is hard for me not to distract him. He finds enough distracting things to do himself. But he really is good at applying himself and setting study goals before he allows himself to truly get distracted.

This morning Matt and I went to Science East. One of our friends is in the education program and he had to do a science demo. We got in for free and we got to try out all the other cool experiments. It reminded me a lot of when Mom and Dad took us to the science place in Halifax. It was a lot of fun there and today just brought all those fun memories back. When you think of fun memories that you have from being a kid it makes you more determined to give those same experiences to my kids.... dont get your hopes up yet.... it wont be for a while.

Other than that nothing is new. Matt and I are going to biblestudy tonight. The first time in a while. I am so looking forward to that. Anyway. I am going to make some cookies. Matt is going to keep on studying... I even have proof of his hard work. :)

Chat with you later,

Love Amanda and Matt

ATTENTION NANNY & GRAMPY!!!

2008-04-01T18:35:00.007-03:00

hello dear friends and family,
I was in the middle of writing you on Sunday and I was going to upload some pictures but it just wouldnt work and the computer was having some major issues. So we brought it away to get fixed on Monday and Matt started the computer to show the guy what was wrong with our computer and it started working again. So that was awesome. I think the guy was a little dissapointed since he could have made some good money from us... he said he could reformat it ... but he didnt need to hehe.
Matt has also been busy studying. His exams are coming up and his last classes are Monday and Tuesday. After that it should be studying hardcore. Other than that he is ready for the snow to leave so that we can start playing tennis. We got some Tennis Raquets on sale at Sport Chek, they have an abundance of outdoor tennis courts here, so it would be a really inexpensive form of recreation and exercise for the both of us. I am really looking forward to it.
When we went home for Easter Grampy surprised us with a really nice cupboard. It was made with leftover wood from the shelf that Matt and Grampy made last summer. So I spent a lot of time last week staining it.. my work looks really great... from far away. If you look really closely you will notice that I should have spent a lot more time on it. I also forgot to do the knob... but it wanted to be different anyway. hehe Thanks so much for the cupboard Grampy, we LOVE it!!!!
I also included a picture of our sad little tree/plant.

You may also notice that our place is half decently clean too... thought I would throw that in there.
Dad, Matt and I just finished listening to Eragon last night. We went to Jumbo yesterday hoping to buy it.. but alas they did not have it for sale. Maybe another day. hehe. It was SO good. Did you know that the guy who wrote it is the same age as Dianna and that he wrote the first draft when he was 15. He was planning to make it a trilogy but I read that there were too many loose ends so there is acutally going to be 4 books. I thought that was really interesting to learn. Someone almost my age is writing something THIS good. I am really impressed.
Alright. I have to go and read my book. I'll leave you now with these lovely pictures and gladly accept any comments. Love you all,
OH, Matt had his interview today. He thought it went reasonably well. His job would be going around inspecting culverts. Since the Dept of Transportation includes all of NB, part of his job might include staying overnight in some parts of the province so that they dont drive back and forth. So it should be ok. Hopefully he gets the job so that the search is over and that he doesnt have to do Coop either, since he is hoping to get on full time with the D.O.T after graduation. It would be a good job since it is for the government. So we'll see. I will definately keep you posted.
Love to you all,
Love Matt and Amanda

Did Someone Say Car Trouble?

2008-03-25T18:08:00.002-03:00

We had to bring the car in for an oil change yesterday (Monday). They dropped us off at the hair dresser really early. Matt wanted to stay at the dealership but even after telling the person that he still said "Your car is ready to go" so we went. Matt took me out for a coffee at Tim Hortons while we were waiting. He had his hair cut by 2:30 and he called for someone to come pick us up at Tim Hortons again. At 3:00 we were still waiting so Matt called again. by 3:30 we were still waiting and Matt called again. It was 3:40 by the time we were finally picked up. I was SO annoyed because these people were making my arrival back here later and later. BUT we did get a free oil change... so i told Matt that the wait was worth the $130, because they changed the air filter too.
While Matt was there he talked to Clarence the experienced mechanic. Whenever Matt goes over 3000 RPM's the car loses power. He wanted to know what could be causing that, he told Matt that it was more than likely our turbo going. We got a quote on a rebuilt one and installed it is only $1123.00. So thats a BIG relief.... not really. But its not broken yet so Matt has some time to look for a cheaper one and we may not get it done at the dealership but at Gunthers (a VW Garage) He was already looking at some bigger and better Turbo's today for almost the same price as the rebuilt one. haha. oh welll... thats the way it goes. But I wouldnt reccomend a VW unless you really love them. Because quite honestly I really like the car too. But it isnt a cheap love... but I know that I can depend on my car. I saving the money on CAA. hahah.
Other than that I had a great day back at work and it was good to get back into the routine again. I could have used more time at home. But might as well be positive about it right? My time at home was SOOO nice and I really enjoyed it a lot. Work is good though and I just love those kids. :)
Yesterday the Dept of Transportation called Matt and asked if he was still interested in a job with them, He said that he was. So they are going to pass his name onto the Manager. I think they were just trying to make their big list a little bit smaller and not wasting the mangers time. So pray that he gets an interview. This is something that Matt is really interested in doing. If he gets on with them in the summer he would have a good chance of getting a permanent job with them. So pray for God's guidance and that if this isnt the one that God will direct him a clear path to take.
Anyway, I should get going Matt is cooking supper right now. He wanted me to get my computer stuff done because he is going to reformat the computer and that takes awhile. I love you all a lot. Mom, I hope that you are feeling a lot better and that you finally got to show Dad your new clothes.
Love you all lots,
Matt and Amanda

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T17:53:00.003-03:00

hello all,
Matt and I have been having a wonderful Easter weekend. We spent a lot of time with family which was really nice. It was good too see everyone and finally catch up on everything that is going on. Sometimes you miss a few links when you are depending on the information that other blogs provide. Hopefully I will be able to write a little more often. I had a lot of training workshops this past week,plus there was getting ready for our big four day trip to PEI. SO now we are just hanging out here relaxing and Matt is actually on the computer at the same time as me right now. How nice is that? Good way to hang out and catch up at the same time.
I got to go shopping with Mom and Rebecca yesterday. IT was so much fun. We tried on so many clothes and just had a balst. I managed to only spend what I had set aside for the shopping excursion until I got to Le Chateau. There was a really cute pair of shoes and since I was looking for a pair I thought I could stretch my budget.
Then we took Mom shopping and we found her some really cute clothes. It was so fun finding her different clothes to try on and wear. The most fun is just going together laughing and sharing in the fun of really cute clothes and really hideous ones. Its especially fun when the sales people tell you it looks gorgeous on you and really... it doesnt.
In the evening we had a really nice supper with Matt's Dad, Sharon and his sister Karen. It was really nice to catch up with them and hang out and eat a good meal.
Then it was pretty much Sunday. I made some egg McMuffins, quickly got ready for church., It was a bumpy drive, so Matt got a few more gray hairs I think. He says that his heart just drops to his stomach if we hit a big bump and it makes him really nervous. So the roads havent really been the greatest for his peace of mind. haha poor guy
After church we went to Matt's Uncle Bob and aunt Cathy's house. We had Easter dinner there and had a great time with them. Then we went and had a little visit with Nanny and Grampy and Grampy had made Matt and I a little cupboard with the leftover wood from the shelf they had made last summer. It is such a beautiful cupboard and such an unexpected surprise. We even found the stain that we used on the book shelf. That will be a nice little project for me in the next coming weeks :)
Anyway, I think that is enough reading for now. I will hopefully write more sometime this week. love you all,
MAtt and Amanda

hey hey hey what a wonderful day!

2008-03-17T17:28:00.003-03:00

I was told once that titles are really nice... so there it is. Remind you of anything????
Here I am again. Thank you all for your very supportive comments. I thought I would take this little opportunity to finally write. Matt has been working on a rather large essay so I havent really been on the computer. Not that I missed it too much. I do enjoy updating all of you and reading the replies... but I had a nice relaxing week last week. It was so relaxing that I dont even remember what I did. hehe.
So I guess we're on to the update. Things have been going pretty well over here, we still have a lot of snow but the weather has warmed up quite a bit and it makes it a lot more enjoyable to be out with the kids. Matt, Pete, Klaas, Fieje and I went skiing at Crabbe on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, it was the perfect day and it was fun to see what everyone thought of Crabbe in comparison to Brookvale. We had an awesome time there and we got home in time for me to quickly leave again and go babysit.
I thought today would be a good time to update. Matt is still working on his essay and he was nice enough to cook dinner so that I could have a little visit with all of you. Isnt that nice. I really appreciate it but I do feel a little bit guilty sitting here while he is cooking... I should at least clean or something. But it is so important to stay in touch, and I so love all your comments and thoughts. You guys are awesome and I love you all a lot.
Matt and I are going home for the weekend. I think we are leaving Friday afternoon after lunch. We are going to our church for Good Friday, because our friend Brian is doing his profession of faith. And we as the young adults are acting as his family and we are going to sing a song, and we got him a cake. It will just be really neat to be able to be there and support him in the decision that he is making.
So that is the news here. I hope that you are all doing well and I look forward to hearing from you.
Lots of Love,
Matt and Amanda

Alive and Well!

2008-03-09T20:18:00.002-03:00

I am here because Matt was checking his email and he got an email from his Dad wondering if were still alive. Since I am writing this we are obviously still alive. We are however weathering another "storm" Matt and I were scoffing it yesterday since it was such a beautiful day but I dont think it ended up starting until late last night. Matt had quite a layer of ice to get off the car this morning so that we could go to church. By Morning it was lightly snowing and drizzling. I think the weather plus the time change drastically affected church attendance, plus all the people absent for March break.
We had a really lazy day yesterday... our absence from the world wide web can be largely related to our current obsession with LOST Season 3... it is SOOO good. I cant wait until Dianna gets Season 4. I so love watching it this way at my own pace and however much I want minus the commercials. hehe. We have really been enjoying each other's company and really taking it easy and making sure we really get better. yay!
We did make it to the Mall yesterday and got some much needed bra shopping done. I know that is just too much info for a lot of you, but it was fun. I got a comfy new one that doesnt have wires poking into my ribcage... ok i'll stop. That really was too much info... but I needed to share with someone who understands... because Matt really doesnt. He trys and he willingly suggested the outing yesterday. Then Matt and I went to Jumbo and treated ourselves to some previoulsy viewed movies. We got the Heartbreak Kid... which I would seriously not reccomend to anyone... I am embarrased to own it. But the nice thing about Jumbo is that you can sell them movies back and then you still pay less than you would if you would have rented it. The other movie we got is the Jesse James one with Brad Pitt in it. It should be good. Matt wanted to watch it tonight but I suggested TV instead so that I can read my book a little longer and he can go on Custom Obsessions. This is matt's hobby/addiction. He loves to read about what other people do to their Volkswagens and what they want to do, what they are selling, and who knows what else. He is very thankful to have an aunt who understands hehe.... I am trying to understand and I'm getting there... this way I absorb myself in other things... like my book. He doesnt really love when that happens to me either. hehe.
anyway. I hope you all feel updated and I might write again soon. Who knows?
I do know that I love you all very much and greatly appreciate your prayers,
Love Matt and Amanda

2008-03-05T18:47:00.002-04:00

hello all,
I am writing while I am watching season three of LOST. So if my writing doesnt really make sense, thats why. We left PEI safely on Monday morning and I made it to work with time to spare. I still felt a little whoosy all day but now that it is Wednesday night I am almost feeling back to normal. Matt got sick Tuesday and we took him to the walk in clinic to make sure he wouldnt end up with pneumonia. It turned out that he was fine and that it just had to wear itself out. So he is feeling a lot better today too. Anyway. I hope that you guys had a good week so far and that the rest of the week goes well for you too. Love you lots!
Matt and Amanda

PS

2008-02-27T20:36:00.002-04:00

The plant in the picture is the one Matt got me for Valentine's Day... the leaves are curling... not a good sign in my opinion. But there is new growth and it does get enough water... not too much though.
Still love you!
Love Amanda

BIG... I mean BIG day!!!

2008-02-27T19:53:00.003-04:00

POST ONE HUNDRED BABY!!!!!!!! Isn't this so exciting? It means that I have sat here 100 times (well maybe not here EXACTLY) but I have been sharing my exciting days and my boring days one hundred times. YAY!

one sec, I just have to go and put some cream on my hands before I type this life changing post.

BACK! Alright I am ready to roll. Things have been really busy these last weeks with Matt's Mid-terms and my having to gallivant around this lovely city. I was supposed to be gone last night and tonight, but God intervened through the weather and now I am peacefully wrapped in a warm fluffy blanket with the laptop in my lap. All I need is a fireplace. Last night I nicely sat here and watched a movie with Matt after he finished writing his paper and while he wrote his paper I cuddled on the couch and read a book. So relaxing.

Work has been going fairly well. Last week a lot of our kids were sick. 5 out of 15 didn't actually get sick. So it was pretty bad. Most of the time we only had eight kids. One of the kids even ended up in the hospital with Pneumonia. He just got out today, but his family could really use your prayers. Another got bronchitis... so Thankfully none of the staff or Matt got sick. So this week most of the kids are still a little bleary eyed trying to get their energy back. I 've been giving lots of cuddles..which I dont mind a bit. :)

Matt writes his final mid-term tomorrow... so that will be nice too. and then friday is Home time!!!! I think it will be a really busy weekend, but I am so looking forward to it, especially going shopping with mom on saturday. Then there is Pete's birthday too... his present didnt come in the mail yet... I hope it comes in time otherwise I will just give hime a picture.

Anyway... I need to go. Enjoy our little I SPY game.

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE A.... VOLKSWAGEN

Love Matt and Amanda ... Love you guys!

finally...

2008-02-24T16:36:00.002-04:00

So I totally broke my promise and didnt write sooner. Things have been really busy around here with Matt studying for his mid-term. Brian and Barret are here studying with him right now and I am making spaghetti for him. Steph should be here soon too and we are going to have a little girl time before we head over to Pat's house for cards.
I also have a sad little peice of news. I will not be bringing home a wedding scrapbook. I sat down one day and realized that all my pictures are boring and all the same. It would just be boring to make and to look at. So I am going to do something different. I am going to make a scrapbook... the beginning of US and our wedding and where we are now. So much more exciting. So dont get too excited because all the pictures to do that are in PEI.
Other than that our lives are very interesting... work/school during the day and Matt studying at night or me gone somewhere. I have a course every wednesday night for the next month where they feed me and I learn things from sppech therapists.
Steph is here so I have to go. HAve a super duper week and I will talk to you soon.
Love Matt and Amanda

just a little note!

2008-02-18T21:34:00.001-04:00

Matt's exam went pretty well he thinks. He did a great job of cheering me up, we hung out a little bit and went for a nice walk in the mall, bought two previously viewed movies and now we are watching them. I just really needed to say thanks so much for praying. I had such a great day at work and after and it is such a blessing to have people close to you that are willing to pray... isnt it neat to see the prayers at work!?! Also... thanks for the cheering up words.. I loved them all! I cant wait to come home and see you all. I already have a full schedule for that exciting time. yay! love to you all and will write a better entry tomorrow... right now I get to cuddle!
Love Matt and Amanda

untitled

2008-02-16T17:00:00.002-04:00

Im am glad that it is Saturday. It was a bit of a rough week but I don't think a blog is a good place to share the bad things when everyone can read them. Work was rough for me this week so maybe you guys could pray that a new week will start fresh and good. Thanks.
I had a really lazy day today. Matt went to school early this morning and I went grocery shopping. It was then I realized how tired I really was. I think it was the slowest time ever! I am usually purposefully speed walking down the isles. Today I was slowly walking and looking at everything and deciding. I actually stayed to my list... but... it took awhile. I got home put the groceries away, cleaned a little and vegetated on the couch... hehe.
Tonight Matt and I are going babysitting again. I already have all my Saturdays booked for the month. haha. I like it, we go to someone else's house, play with their kids and then we hang out. A few Saturdays ago Matt and I played operation after we put the little girl to bed. Last week Matt loved where we went because they had playstation 3. haha. He told me that we can babysit there again sometime. haha
Valentine's Day was fun. Thursday is usually our early day because Matt has an eight thirty class. I got up and made him bacon and eggs. He really liked it and I gave him some hagelslaag and a winter hat. When he got the cookies out of the freezer he found the bottle of whiskey that I got for him. Over all he liked it. He got my present that day. He gave me a beautiful little tree. We hope that it gets enough sunlight here. I put it in the direction of the rays. But I am not sure if it should be watered from the bottom or the top. Any advice would be appreciated. He also got me a lamp for my nighttable.... pictures will follow on another day. It was a nice day... GEMS was cancelled because of the storm and so we had time to spend together in the evening too. We watched the apprentice and survivor.
MY other highlight of the week was definately making the valentine's day cards. Matt sat on the couch to study and I sat on the other side of the coffeetable on pillows and made the cards while we listened to music. We talked and laughed here and there and even though we were doing different things we were still able to enjoy each other's company.
Anyway... I think that is enough for today, the last thing I want to do is bore you to tears. Keep Matt in your prayers too... his exam is Monday morning. Love you all and I may not be back for awhile. I am going to a movie monday night and then on wednesday I have a workshop to go to. I think I will be able to get my required training hours this year. And at least they feed me at this one. yay! There is a PB sandwich on the menu for Matt though... poor guy. haha.
Anyway... I was going. Have a super sunday and I love you all a lot. Thanks for reading and even more... thanks for the comments. Especailly thanks for the prayers.
Love Amanda and Matt

2008-02-13T18:46:00.002-04:00

These are the cards that I made for my little cuties. I realized today though I still have to make some cardds for my boss, co-workers, afterschool kids AND Matt... last but NOT least. In fact I would normally put him at the very beginning. I think they turned out cute. I think the party should be a lot of fun tomorrow.

Today was a pretty good day. Most of the kids were gone by 4:30 since it was a storm day. I asked if I could leave then since there were only two kids and two of us working. It was nice to get home a little earlier. I made some yummy supper and now I am sitting here giving you all a little update on how things are going here before I go and make even more cards. yay! I hope you all had a super day. Matt is still busy studying, it is for his mid-term on Monday... it is worth 40% of his mark and the final is worth 60%. He has other assignments for this course but they arent worth anything, that seems a little lame, but oh well. Thats the way it goes. Hope you guys have a good day.

Love Matt and Amanda

more snow...

2008-02-11T19:33:00.000-04:00

We are surrounding by almost a foot more snow. The view out of our window is a powdery white wall. I have the candles on right now and the lights are dim... not too dim since Matt is laying on the couch beside me reading his text book. The TV or the radio aren't on all you can hear is the clicking of the keys and the hum of the dryer. It is really relaxing and everything is CLEAN... I finally got around to cleaning this place tonight while supper was cooking and finishing everything up after supper.
I had full intentions to do a lot of things last week while Matt was studying. But I didnt really factor in that I would be in town and all the work would be here. So I read a little bit (when I remembered to bring my book) and I peopl
We watched all the people studying. It wasn't too bad but it was tiring. So the point is that it was slowly getting a little messier everyday... especially my clothes pile. I was getting to bed later and later and it was so easy to just throw them on the floor. When I do it once... it's that much easier to just keep doing it!
Thursday at work my boss's best friend gave me tickets for the ECMA concert at the Playhouse that night! I called Matt right away and asked if he would attend this cultural event with me. He thought it sounded like fun, but he had class until 7:30. So I went to GEMS first and I dropped off the cardstock that I had to bring for making cards night. Renata was totally cool with me leaving and said for me to have fun. I really appreciated her!! Matt and I had a great time. It was just nice to spend time together. I mean I was with him while he was studying... but I was more like a pretty piece of furniture. It was real time together. It was good.
Friday and Saturday night we babysat so other people could enjoy the ECMA's so that was a lot of fun too. Saturday I went early with Matt to Crabbe. It was a lot of fun. Steph was there too, so we hung out and enjoyed eachother's company. Sunday Matt and I relaxed at home after church. We had salsa for lunch... hehe and I watched Kate and Leopold on TV. We went to cards sunday night. I didnt get home until 12:15 and Matt went with our friend Pat to the ECMA afterparty because VW owners got in for free and they were also going to get a free T-shirt. On the front the shirt says, "I'm Not Famous" on the back it says, "but I own a VW" hehe. Its a nice shirt especially since it is free.
Anyway... I have some valentine's day cards to make for some very special daycare kids... so have a good night and I look forward to hearing from you guys.
Love yoU!
Amanda and Matt

SNOWSTORM.

2008-02-05T18:47:00.000-04:00

It isnt really storming too much. It is definately a way bigger deal in PEI with all the wind and such. I like it here the snow just falls and keeps falling leaving an even depth across the landscape and it's really beautiful. The roads to tend to retain the snow quite well and it makes for slow driving... I dont mind as long as I dont get stuck, run in to anyone, or anything.
I had a good day at work to day. It was pretty run of the mill. Matt and I woke up late.
The alarm went off at 6:45 and we dont usually get up until 7:45 even though we aim for 7:30. So I snoozed the clock for 40 minutes figuring that I would have loads of time because I was tired. When I got home last night Fantastic Four was on and I was just going to watch a little of it with Matt... yeah... so that didnt happen. I dropped into bed at 11:00 and I was beat!! So when I woke up I knew I needed a solid snooze. I was nicely sleeping away enjoyin my dreams when suddenly, "Is that the eight o'clock news" drifted into lala land. Whoops... It really shouldnt be my job to be in charge of the alarm clock. Although some days the power is NICE!!! Anyway back to the voice. Then it said. It's eight o'clock we have to leave NOW! double whoops.
So we ot ourselves together in a rush, Matt barely made it to work on time and I was still twenty minutes early for work. So I was happy that i Slept in.
When I picked Matt up I asked if he was late. He told me he wasnt but that he wouldnt have wanted to be any later or he would have had to carry aaround the cement all day. There is some class where they learn about stregths and such ( I really dont know) Anyway, someone that was later than him had to carry around a cup of cement with foam on top with a thermometer in it. then he had to check the temperature every half an hour, so not fun.
anyhoo. That is as exciting as my day was. We went to Harvey's for supper, not my favourite. Tomorrow if Matt has to study I am going to go home cook supper and then come back here. It is cheaper than goiing out and SOOOO much yummier. hehe. Have a super day. Love you all!
Amanda

just another ordinary...ordinary day.

2008-02-04T21:08:00.000-04:00

are ya singin with me yet?
So to finish last time's story. I made the nice card and did not bring cookies or muffins... It just didnt seem like a great idea. but I did make a card. haha.
Matt drove me to the bank machine where I took out the money. I had to fold it so that it would actually fit into the card. The money worked out that there was an extra five dollars in the envelope. We met him at the Tim Hortons right near the bank smiled and nodded Matt shook his hand too and we both thanked him from the bottoms of our heart. That is where the story ended.
We picked Jefta up for Biblestudy and headed on our way to Pat's house. 7 minutes later my phone rang. It was the same guy. His name is Elwooj, by the way. I saw his name on my caller ID and I was really surprised. I picked up the phone hoping that I hadn't miscounted. he said " hi Amanda, thanks for the great card, but there was too much money in the card." Here I am thinking I overpaid him by twenty dollars and thinking... shoot. There went that money, then I remembered that I had re counted the money before putting it in the envelope and he was calling me because there was five dollars too much.
Talk about nice. And then he told me that he liked my card and that I really shouldnt have done any of it. Imagine if I would have made him cookies.
I thought you might enjoy the ending of that story. At least I think it ends there... who knows really.
Sorry Tante Tetcy, I missed your note and I went to the movies without you. I went with Jefta... she was the other only one that hadnt seen the movie and we had a two for one ticket. 27 dresses was definately a cute movie. You know it's good when you laugh and you cry and have that ushy gooshy feeling at the end where you just want to laugh and smile and say, "That was a good movie... then you laugh... and say, that was a REALLY good movie"
So what movie are we watching for girls night... I got my shift changed so that we could leave here at 4 on the day that we are going to PEI for a super duper visit. Aren't you so excited.
Anyway, my hubby needs the computer. Love you SOOOO much!
Matt and Amanda

after a long absence.... i AM back!

2008-02-02T16:02:00.000-04:00

Things have been hectic, I'll admit. Matt and I went babysitting last night and didnt manage to squeeze in our weekly pizza and a movie. We were missing some cheese. So Matt made us some grilled cheese sandwiches and watched bones.
Matt went to the hill today to so some teaching. He got a lift with Pat and Tyler. Tyler came to get Matt while Pat waited at the bottom of the hill. His car just couldn't make it up the slippery hill and he even had a VW! So I had the car which was totally new for me. It worked out well since we were in dire need of groceries. I wasnt so excited when I got outside. The car had a nice sheet of ice all over it. It didn't even look like I could actually penetrate it. After twenty minutes I finally had the car all cleaned off and I ventured out onto the crusty roads. I made it to the store in one piece and armed with my list I got everything I needed I even managed to get the last chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I found the checkout that had the shortest line, got everything through. I swiped my card to pay... it wouldnt work... it wouldn't work. So the supervisor suggested I try the bak machine. That didnt work either. At this point I felt like those groceries were MINE! I had driven there on the crusty roads. I had carefully had chosen everything. Ran back through the store for the things on my list I had missed (I know I had a list) got the LAST cookie dough ice cream. Then this lady is standing there telling ME that there is nothing that she could do... I could wait to see if my bank would come back online. But NOTHING. I was almost going to cry. This was horrible. Then this man came up... I think he was behind the guy who was behind me in the check out line. He asked if the machine worked and I said no. He said he would pay for the groceries and I could pay him back. Then I really almost cried, instead I said thanks like a billion times. I am going to pay him back tonight and I think I will make a nice thank you card. All I have is his phone number though. He doesnt have mine or anything, he doesnt even know what my name is... and he did that for me. I could walk away and he would never know. I thought that was pretty nice... even if he was a stranger.
Then I went home.. made it in one peice. Called Matt to tell him what happened and he thought I was calling because I was in an accident. whoops... another gray hair. Made some muffins and then Steph and Jefta came over for some pizza and some chatting. It was really nice to hang out.
At this point I have 24 muffins that are waiting to be individually wrapped and put in the freezer, my apartment hasnt been dusted yet... but Matt has mid terms this week so I have lots of time. So that was my week. I had another good story to tell but I think I already told one and I really should go. When I have nothing to write about this week, since I have no where to be I may do that. I really want to see the movie 27 dresses. But everyone here has already seen it or they have to study for mid terms. Im actually thinking of going by myself, but we'll see. Love ya lots. Ill be back soon.
Love Amanda and Matt

SMILE!

2008-01-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

Good Tuesday evening!!
I guess some of you would have been at GEMS and Coffeebreak tonight. I hope that it went well I still have an evening of rest before I am there too. We are supposed to have an evening of "bible fun" I think I will ask questions like. What happened to Mary in Luke 2. I think this game will help the girls to explore the Bible a little bit more and hopefully understand what happens in the Bible. So your job is to give me ideas of good places in the Bible to ask questions from. There is a catch. I need them by tomorrow night. Hehe. Well see how it goes.
I went to a course last night and yesterday night. It was for ECE's who work with infants and toddlers. It was quite interesting and the speaker talked about how children need to learn to trust in infancy, if they dont have an opportunity to do this in the begining they may never do it in life... That makes my job VERY important. I AM preventing school shootings... how does that make YOU feel? I know.. I'm a little intimidated too. But helping them to trust just means being someone they can trust, and loving them ooodles and oodles.... I love my job! :)
I am missing one of my babies. She is having some stay at home days with her mommy and I miss her. She is just getting to the age where she doesnt agree with everything and throws little tantrums. hehe.. its too cute! Dont worry I dont give in. I am not interesting in creating problems for myself.
So other than that, things are going good. My apartment is still as clean as it was on saturday. There are no clothes on the floor and everything is still in it's place. well I do have a few lunch dishes in the sink, but they can wait till tomorrow night. :)
Anyway. I lub you all and hope that your week is as super as mine. Talk to you soon. Thanks ever so much for those delightful comments and I look forward to reading the new ones.
Love Amanda and Matt!

2008-01-26T15:39:00.000-04:00

Hello all,
I was overwhelmed by the response! Thanks so much for all your comments, you know how much I appreciate it. My saturday has been so relaxing. I got up at eight and washed my bed sheets, did some laundry, cleaned my apartment and got everything straitened out for another week. It wasnt anything too interesting but it kept me busy. I was supposed to go skiing with Matt today but on Thursday as I was moaning and groaning about the ginormas cookies that I had to make for Valentine's Day Renata nicely reminded me that it wasn't a very good serving attitude for Jesus.
Our lesson was all about pride and how as followers of Jesus we need to be humble and have a serving attitude for Jesus in our daily lives. It really kinda hit home when Renata said that to me. It is so easy to preach it in GEMS, but as soon as you feel like you might have a good reason to not have a serving attitude you convince yourself that your pride is justified. Then it just goes on in that silly ol circle. So after Renata and I talked about that she kindly offered to come and make cookies with me. Steph also thought it would be fun. We made chocolate chip pancakes for lunch, ate chocolate chip coookies and made 40 large cookies. Then we all settled down on the couch and watched "A Good Year" It was fun and it made my saturday a lot less lonely.
Tonight I am going to babysit one of the kids from daycare. So that should be a lot of fun and hopefully Matt will make it home for supper. I think I am going to make pork chops, Potatoes and peas and carrots.
Other than that things here are going well. I had a really great week and I was even able to squeeze in some quality cranium time at quiet time at daycare. hhehe.. We are pretty competitive and have a lot of fun.
Anyway. I wont be back till wednesday probably because I have a workshop to go to on Monday and Tuesday night. Love you all and keep those comments coming.
Love Amanda!

My "nutritious" Evening

2008-01-23T19:15:00.000-04:00

It is wednesday...can you believe it!? I am glad to finally be home for an evening though. I just finished making spaghetti and Matt and I did the dishes together. I thought i would spend a few minutes sitting here and giving you a little update on what is going on.... pretty much nothing.

haha. I do have to tell you about the nutrition course I went to last night.

Denise and I were both going to go. So she called me at 6:30 at home while I was making supper and told me she was there and she was going to sit in her car and eat her supper. After she told me how to get there I told her to save me a seat and I would meet her there. So Matt and I leave at seven to gove us a lot of time to get there. When we got there she wasnt there, I reached for my phone to give her a quick call and remembered that I had left it on the kitchen counter... oops. Well... Denise didnt come and she didnt come. So I used the phone at the community center and called her Mom to get her cell phone number. She was across the street and couldnt figure out where the course was (The people had given us the wrong street address). So I hung up with her and tripped over the phone cord and sent the phone flying onto the floor (oh..did I mention that the phone was in the front of the room. Dont worry only like 50 people saw the whole thing happen) I quickly ran and picked up the phone looked at everyone, smiled and said "oops". Then I sat down and it started to get normal.... or so I thought.

I got to make cookies first. They separated Denise and I which is too bad because otherwise our cookies would have tasted better. Our cookies had the following ingredients (ill even include the recipe..aren't I SO nice?)
SUNFLOWER COOKIES (yeah...i know)
1/2 c. margerine
1/2c brown sugar
1/2c white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 LARGE flake oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 raisins
1/3 natural wheat bran
1/3 cup wheat germ (Matt didnt think that you should ever put germs in food)
1 tsp of salt

So I have to say I had one of these cookies and they actually werent too bad... but I would prefer to call them health circles. then I went on to make pizza. YOU GUESSED IT! it wasnt normal. So I sat across from the nursing student and the nursing professor. So we had three choices for the sauce 1. PREGO (not recommended since it had quite a bit of sodium.) 2.Tomato Sauce 3.Tomato Paste. I obviously chose option #1. I looked right at the two fine gentlemen across the table as a took a large spoonful of PREGO and said "someone's gotta eat it". I continued to pile spinach, shredded carrots, unsalted (likely fat free) hamburger, skim cheese and pizza spices onto my whole wheat pita. YUM...not really. Who would REALLY eat this??? Guess what though... the nursing student put prego on his second pita pizza. LOL!!! I also listened as they raved about how great a 3am snack this would be. oh puhleeeease! Denise and I nicely packed up our goodies to feed the daycare kids.
I know I know... you are feeling pity for those poor poor children. ou know whaat? They loved it!! most of them had seconds and wanted thirds. I even tried a piece... and it was actually quite good. I even liked the carrots. I think it really was the prego that made it. hehe
I know this is turning out to be really long but I thought you might enjoy the tale. I sure did. Denise and I talked about it all day. haha. hope your day was as good as mine.
Love Amanda and Matt

PS Matt is doing well by the way. He is currently studying. He also ordered new windsheild wipers for the car today and saved 20 cents off our cell phone bill. yay! Love you all!

snow, snow and more snow!

2008-01-22T18:25:00.000-04:00

Things here are snowy and slippery. I am quickly writing something while I wait for dinner to finish cooking. It was just easy (scalloped potatoes,beans and chicken fingers) it should be yummy though. Then Matt is going to bring me to a cookies and pizza workshop. It shows how to make healthy food for kids and it should be good for a few hours of my training. Next week I am going to take another course but I will tell about that at a later time.
I went with Renata, Andrea and Jefta to see JUNO. It was actually a really good movie. I liked it a lot. Anyway. I should get going I know this was short, but I wanted to keep my promise and give you a little update. I dont know if i will actually get that scrap book done... but at least i have good intentions. anyway, i have to go, i would stay but i just cann't wait to make supper for my awsome husband, its sooooo much fun. later.

ps. could you tell that I (Matt) finished this one?

SURPRISE!!!

2008-01-19T18:36:00.000-04:00

Guess What!?!?!?! I decided to check all 8 boxes in my closet to see if my wedding pictures actually were in there. AND THEY WERE! Aren't you super duper excited for me? I am. Now I can actually make that scrapbook. so fun!!!! Ill bring home the finished product when I come back for a break. Sound like a plan..? I thought so. Talk to you soon and have a nice visit.
Love Amanda and Matt
'

Already Saturday?

2008-01-19T08:38:00.001-04:00

I looked on my blog site and realized I haven't been here since Tuesday. oops... time went by really quickly this week and I was very glad. Wednesday was a good day. I had to get ready for my GEMS birthday party on Thursday night. I made the cake and while I was doing that I remembered that I had to make 12 birthday cards and I also had to write things for the girls to do in a game that we were going to play. So I had a lot to do yet. I am normally not a procrastinator unless it is something that doesn't really need to be done. So I was very busy that night and then I took all the cards to work the next day and wrote in them there. It worked out good because I had to be in baby room... which is OK. But I would have rather been in the other room with Denise playing operation. hehe. It was way past my turn to be in that room by myself anyway.
The birthday party went well and only 6 girls showed up. It was really quite strange because the week before we sent out cards to remind the girls that GEMS was going to start. So I made 6 cards all for nothing. I think Renata and I are hoping the girls will still come and we can still give it to them. she made little party bags for all of them too. All in all though it was a really fun night. In our lesson we talked about what Jesus did on earth to show his love to all the people. All they knew was that Jesus died on the cross. So I found miracles in the bible that Jesus did while he was on earth and they were so shocked to find out the things that Jesus did on earth. One girl said, "Man, I would love to be Jesus. He had cool powers." I thought... "ok... maybe not the track I was thinking on... but at least she has an idea" I take for granted so much that I have grown up with it and honestly...its normal. I think that is a little sad, but it was so cool to see their reaction to this side of Jesus. So I think Renata and I will focus more on using the bible as a reference and look at what Jesus did as much as we look at what he wants us to do.
Anyway, that brings us to Friday. Thats cleaning day at daycare, we still managed to sneak a game of operation in there though. hehe. I finished most of my cleaning on Thursday so I played with the kids tided up my room and chatted to the other girls while they were cleaning. It was fun. :) Anyways. Then Matt picked me up and we went to Jumbo video and sold them two movies that we had bought that were not good movies at all. Then we got some new ones.. .yipee! One of them was GridIron Gang. Matt put away the groceries and I made pizza for supper and he also washed the dishes. It worked out well and we nicely had a family night. hehe. It feels funny saying that since it should probably be called a "date" night. But it just is family night because it always has been.. and hopefully always will be.
So that brings us to today. I made Matt an eggMcMuffin for breakfast. It was very yummy!!! and then he showed me all the cool rims that he wants to get for the car. He knows he cant get anything else for the car until school is over, but he just loves to look.
Now he is gone to crabbe for the morning and I am going to clean and then he is going to be back in the afternoon and Tyler is going to come by to study with Matt. I hope Jefta comes too. She probably will since we have biblestudy tonight. I am also planning on making 2 kinds of chocolate chip cookies and blueberry muffins. It should be a good day. But I should get going and I will try to be a little more faithful next week. I love you all and thanks SO much for your comments. Love ya!
Love Amanda and Matt

hey guys!

2008-01-15T19:39:00.000-04:00

Thiings have been going pretty well. I can say today that WOW it is already Wednesday tomorrow. This week has been going really well. We had another snowstorm last night and we got 23 centimeters. So I didnt go to the movies as planned last night since we decided that we were better safe than sorry. I think it turned out to be a good idea. Today schools were cancelled. We still had the daycare kids, but somehow the roads werent busy at all. It was quite nice.
Dianna... the song goes with the slide show that I made from the Christmas pictures Dad gave us. I dont know why it doesnt work on your computer.. . ?
We played the game Operation at work today. It was a lot of fun. I always wanted that game when I was little so it was fun to finally be able to play that game. I even won! yay for me. That is about as unusual work got today.
I picked Matt up from school at the normal time and made I supper when we got home, did some laundry and made a cake for GEMS. Now Matt is studying and I am writing on the blog. I have a few more things that I need to get done yet before I can call it a day. So I will write again soon! Love you all so much!
Love Amanda

Its already Sunday!

2008-01-13T18:12:00.000-04:00

My how the weekend flew! I coulndt believe that I hadn't written since wednesday. Thursday night I had my GEMS meeting it was quite lengthy... I came out of it having to bake 40 ginormus cookies, they are at least four inches high and three inches wide... I couldnt believe it. I think I am going to make them a little smaller and then try what Mom and I talked about when I was home. I think I make the dough into a long roll and shape it as a heart and then cut the roll with a knife. I really hope that works. Otherwise I will borrow cookie cutters and playdough rollers from work. haha
On friday night Matt and I went and babysat one of the kids from the daycare and her sister. It was fun and the extra money came in handy too. Before Matt came he went to Brian's house and played settlers of catan. He said it was fun too.
I mostly spent saturday doing laundry and cleaning the house and I also baked some cookies. It was really quite boring and in all that I even forgot to call Caleb for his birthday. Whoops. I was glad I had remembered to send him a card. He liked the candy necklace and he told me on the phone today that he was going to send me a letter. I am looking forward to that.. The mail I usually get costs me money in the long run. :( haha
Marcel came last night and we went to biblestudy together and he slept here afterwards. It was a lot of fun. He is staying until tomorrow morning. We invited a bunch of people over after church and played BANG. It was so much fun We also had some really delicious homeade Pizza. yum yum
Tomorrow night I am going to go see the movie JUNO with the girls from church. I think it should be a lot of fun hanging out all together. So that is kinda where things are at.
Dad... I missed your call last night and I tried to call back, but I didnt call you on saturday ( you were trying to return my call?) Anyway. I am home Tuesday and Wednesday night otherwise you can call me during the day between 12 and 1:30. I know you are busy though... I just thought I would put that out there. Love you all lots and look forward to all your comments. Have an awesome day!
Love Amanda

Over Half Way the Week! Yipee!

2008-01-09T19:45:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone!
So glad to hear form all of you again. It was another smile that you added to my day! Thanks ever so much. Today was a much better day at work. My boss found out that minimum wage is actually $7.25 and has been that since last July. I have been getting paid $7.00 an hour... so guess what!! I am getting a "bonus" check. Whoopee! It's not a lot of money but it should buy groceries for at least two weeks. Plus minimum wage is going up again here in March to $7.75, so that will be nice too.
The weather here has been really mild, it was plus ten here today and combined with the rain we had it is making the snow disappear fast. That is not too exciting for Matt. I dont mind the warmer weather and it means that we can only go out with the kids once since it is so wet, I like that too... it is just a lot easier to be inside at the end of the day and we dont have to get all their outside clothes on or worry about the kids getting too cold.
Matt does not have any free weekdays this semester so saturdays are the official Crabbe days... I think. I may join him a couple of times. He managed to get me a free lift ticket last time, so that makes it a lot more fun if I dont have to pay for anything.
Matt usually has a morning class from 8:30-11:30 and then a lab every afternoon from 2:30-5:30, but he is usually ready to go by the time I get there to pick him up. So I think that he will be spending a little more time in the evenings studying. I think it will work out though. Last semester Matt passed every single course with really awesome marks. I was and still am so proud of him. He did so great!!!!
Other than that, I am planning on spending the rest of the evening curled up reading my book. It is called "The Price of Freedom" by Carol Umberger. it is the second in the series, but you dont have to read one for the second one to make sense.
Oh and Mom, I did remember it was Caleb's birthday. I send his card on Monday. Just tell him to give me a call when he gets it (its ok if he calls during the day).
I may not update tomorrow. I have a GEMS meeting tomorrow night and Matt wants to go shopping and just relax and walk around and not come strait home. I'll take it when I can get it. haha. Dont worry, its not a spending trip. Its called "window shopping" :)
Love you all lots and I hope you are just as glad as I am that this slowpoke week is getting closer to the end. Have a great day!
Love Amanda and Studious Matt

2008-01-08T18:21:00.000-04:00

Dear faithful readers... Dad I'm glad you made it back. I was starting to think I would have to call you and let you know that I was around cyberspace again. Matt is frying some potatoes for supper and I am in charge of the chicken and the beans. The beans almost burned... but matt called from the kitchen and asked if I was planning on turning the chicken. He also suggested very politely that I should check the veggies. I didnt tell him they almost burned. Hehe
Things are going ok. It is a long week at work. I have a bad cold which doesnt make me too keen on doing anything.
Tyler is coming over to study with Matt so that means a nice night where I read a book and amuse myself. I think that I will have some ice cream too. We have chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and it is almost the best ice cream I have ever had.
Other than that things are honkey dorry. My house is nice and clean. Work is work and school is school. Matt and I are still getting along fantastic and enjoying being together and taking care of each other. It works so well and we are both really happy. love you lots
love Matt and Amanda

P.S!

2008-01-07T20:43:00.000-04:00

I got an address book as a gift and I would love to have all your addresses and telephone numbers. You can just add it to your comment or you can email it to me at kastelle@hotmail.com. Love you all and thanks a bunch for your comments. If you missed it, dont forget to scroll down and look at my Christmas slideshow.

Happy Monday

2008-01-07T19:26:00.000-04:00

Hello all!
Matt went back to school today. He is in for an interesting semester, he has an extra course and the labs that go with all these courses seem to be more abundant than they were last semester. So a lot more work for Matt but he did really great last semester and he has really good study buddies for all his classes which I think would make it a lot more fun. all his classes start at 8:30 so that means that we have to get up a lot earlier than we were getting up, so that was a little tough.. but I made it through the day. Its all good.
Other than that things really arent that exciting... Its pretty low key, but i am enjoying things quite a lot. I would do a much better job of writing and write more but Matt really needs to study. So love you all lots... and please comment... I miss you.
Love Matt and Amanda

Wonderful Christmas Time!

2008-01-06T16:10:00.001-04:00

2008-01-05T08:51:00.000-04:00

Things here are going again in full swing. It is far from normal though. I was planning that Matt and I should get groceries this morning since we have no food, but he informed me that he needed to go to work at Crabbe... now Im really feeling the crunch of having to share a car. So that means a morning of cleaning and hopefully reading my new book. I am really liking my new book from christmas, but the most exciting thing is that I got the second book in the series too. yipee! so that will be my day.
Last night I went skiing with the girls from work. We were pretty excited to go. Of course the kids didnt leave until 5:30.. that is what usually happens when you want them to leave early. One of the girls had never skiied before so we were all really interested to see how that turned out. It actually went really well we only went on the bunny hill three times and then we graduated her to the big hill.. so fun! Then we kinds took turns staying with her and doing runs by ourselves. even matt took a turn. He was awfully handy to have around when trying to teach someone else to ski.
This afternoon Renata is going to come over and we are going to plan the rest of the year of GEMS together, I think that should actuallly be a lot of fun. I was going to make some cookies or something to have as a little snack... but I dont have any groceries. :( oh well. Hopefully she will still like me hehe.
I shoulld get going if I am planning on curling up and reading for awhile. So have a great saturday and I love you all!
Love Amanda and the ski bum

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T19:23:00.000-04:00

Hello all,

It seems like forever ago since I sat here and let you all know how things are going. Matt and i just arrived back home in fredericton about two hours ago and spent a good amount of time putting things away and finding new home for all the Christmas gifts. My scrapbook baskets are overflowing and just begging to be used, just not tonight.

We had such a nice time at home and it was just so good to see everyone too. I dont really know how to describe everything that we did. We learned a new game, BANG. It was quite a lot of fun and I got a little addicted. Whenever I wanted to play the game everyone laughed and rolled their eyes...but they played anyway.

We did have a nice new years eve. Matt got his hairs cut and then we spent the rest of the day inside and just relaxed. I read a book, the first in a series of three... but I couldnt read the other three that fast so Mom is going to read them before I get back and I get to borrow them after that. We rung in the new year as usual, well I do think it was aminute late. We spent the rest of last year trying to find CBC on the dish. Haha.. a memory to remember. Dad said that he was the last one in bed and that was at 12:08. I know...we really do know how to party.

It was good that we got home when we did. It was snowing when we went to bed last night and it was still snowing when we got up. We can hardly see out of our windows because of all the snow. I wish I had time to shovel it away. I really like looking outside and seeing what is going on, even when there isnt a whole lot going on. So everything here was cancelled, except of course where I work, so Matt got me to work and there was one child... we did have 5 kids by lunch time. So since all the workers made it to work we just had a really nice day hanging out and playing on Alex's new pinball machine and Taylor's Nintendo DS. She got the game are you smarter than a 5th grader. I made it to a millon and I AM smarter than a 5th grader, at tleast in that set of questions. Anyway. I have to go do laundry, clean the apartment and cook supper. love you lots.
Amanda

PS I started writing this when I got home yesterday and finished today after work... just so it make a little more sense

2007-12-21T08:09:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-12-19T07:53:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-12-16T22:26:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-12-15T08:26:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-12-12T19:48:00.001-04:00

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

2007-12-11T18:30:00.000-04:00

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

2007-12-09T17:23:00.000-04:00

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

2007-12-06T23:07:00.000-04:00

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

2007-12-05T21:56:00.000-04:00

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

2007-12-03T21:22:00.000-04:00

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

2007-12-02T19:34:00.000-04:00

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.