Friday, October 19, 2012

A Long Road Travelled!

It has been months since my last post...so much has filled the time!
In February 2012, my dear husband received a phone call from a former colleague wondering if he would be interested in a job at a college in Alberta. So for the last eight months we have been planning, packing, and moving across this beautiful country of ours.
Most of the family was very excited to be returning "home" to Alberta, some of us, okay mostly me, struggled to find the joy in the journey!
You see, New Brunswick was a wonderful dream for me.  I made extraordinary friends, I had a lovely piece of land to explore, my dear chickens to tend, Hogan to walk and the sea to fill my soul.  It was a time in my life that I will cherish always. 

But I have been told that change is good.  It allows us to get out of our comfort zones and learn new things about ourselves. So -Here's to growth!
I'm not one to shy away from adventure and discovery.  I am excited about this new journey we are on.  I plan to dive in and immerse myself in the...wait a minute, I'm in Alberta I don't know that diving and immersing are quite right.  Let see...I plan to swagger forward and rustle me up some discoveries and grand explorations. I crave to see and appreciate the joys that are right in front of me.  I am ready to change my focus and enjoy the journey!
I hope you will join us on our ventures!

Monday, February 20, 2012

So Happily Tired!!

I am feeling much better!  Thank you all for your well wishes and concern.

I am Exhausted and it has nothing to do with hitting my head on the ice!  I have just spent the week end with a van load of teenagers!  Friday afternoon we packed the van and headed to Hampton for a Super Saturday with other teens from all over the Maritimes.  Every time I do this I am amazed that there are really good young people out there.  Hope for the future and all of that!
Saturday morning I watched four or five kids in a group visiting, soon it was 6 or 7.  The circle just kept getting bigger and bigger.  It was wonderful to watch little groups join together to make a big happy circle.
They laughed, shared stories and there might have been some showing off too.  I was grateful that my darling children were part of it all. 
I couldn't help thinking back to when I was that age.  I am happy that my children have this opportunity.

Jacob and Colin stayed home this time.  Jacob was very excited to have some time with his dad.  I gave him strict instructions before leaving Not to give all of his hugs and snuggles away, but to save some for me.  And I got the big mischievous smile I always get when I tell him this.  They were heading to rent movies and grab some treats. Sometimes being left at home is a good thing!

I love these great people I call family and I am joyful for the time that we spend together.  Things change so quickly and before I know it the time will be gone.  So I feel happy for the exhaustion.  It means I have been building memories and spending time with some really amazing people on the greatest journey of all.

I hope you have a memorable day with the people you love, I plan to!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Trip to the Emergency Room?

I love to travel.  I get excited over packed suitcases, travel size shampoo and words like itinerary, journey and adventure.
But there are some trips that just aren't fun.  Last week a good friend of mine and I decided to take our dogs and go for a walk along the railway tracks (yes, another exciting word!) I had Hogan, my beautiful, sweet, yellow lab/retriever, on a very long rope that I could step on if he got too far a head.  He isn't very good at just staying around like his dear friend Rosy, who sweetly runs along beside us.  But I have discovered that if he feels a leash on his neck he doesn't go too far. We, my dear friend and I, were getting along quite nicely talking and laughing.  Until...at the end of the trail Hogan decided it was time to play and ran quickly a head before I could get a hold of the leash.  The further he away he got, the more I panicked.  We were not in my neighbourhood and I had visions of lost dog posters and a staple gun.  I wasn't in the mood.  So I took off running after that crazy animal and before I knew it, I was looking at a sheet of ice and thinking 'this can't be good', then I was looking at the sky!
Apparently it is not a good thing, after hitting your head on a very hard surface if you can't put a sentence together or remember what you've just said.  And people, even or maybe especially, family look at you funny when you repeat yourself too many times. So off to the emergency I went to see if the memory lapses and throbbing head was anything too serious.  Of course it was now hours later.  I had made a call to my husband, my mother and the tele-health nurse to get a second opinion to make sure I wasn't going to be wasting my time.  I know, I know...if it had been one of my children, I would have been there before we could check to see how dilated their pupils were!  But when it comes to myself, I tend to take the wait it out and see approach.
Well after 31/2 hours in the waiting room, an x-ray of my neck and correctly answering questions like, 'what is your name' and 'do you know what day it is', I was sent home with a diagnosis of a slight concussion and list of symptoms that would require a return visit to the doctor.
But wait, I did learn something through all of this.  If Hogan runs away again, all I have to do is fall down and he comes running right to my side!
Oh the joys in the journey!
I hope you have a great day and keep your feet securely under you.  I know I hope to.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A Fresh Start

For the past year I have been blogging about going T.V free on findingyouandyourfamily.blogspot.com  It has been a great year and now I am excited to move on to this new/old blog.  I started it when we first moved here and it didn't go far.  I sort of fizzled after a few posts.  I had changed the kids names, but now that you know us anyway, I will use their real names.
So what is this blog about?  It is about our travels, those we take in the van, on foot, over water, in our heads, but mostly in our lives.  Hopefully we are moving or travelling forward everyday.  This will be a place to share the itineraries and progress of these travels.
I hope you will join us on our adventures...it could be fun!