When Sarah and I started looking for a place to live in Vancouver, we hoped to find a place that was comparable in size to our quaint apartment back in Texas. This is rather ironic because I spend the MAJORITY of my existence in a 9x11 room reading books! I have always wanted to read more books and now I certainly have that privilege, even that responsibility. I imagine that in 3 years I will probably read as many books as I've read in my entire lifetime. So far the Regent experience has been pretty amazing. I am thrilled and privileged to pursue a life that I'm so passionate about. The summer term is unique, because you sign up for 3 credit hours that are compacted into 2 weeks. So you have class everyday for 2.5 hours for 2 weeks straight, then you have an additional 6 weeks to read and write an essay. The best part is that for the summer term, professors come from amazing institutions to teach: King's College, Yale, Oxford, Duke, and all kinds of other cool places.
The major news is still the same....we are looking for jobs. So although Canada is very familiar in many respects, it is still a foreign country and we are sojourners. As such, we are foreigners even though our home country is just 31 miles away. It is a challenge to find a job because we stick out as non-Canadians and we can't really hide it because all of our work experience shows we are recent transfers from Texas. Sarah is starting to get a lot of job interviews, so that is definitely an encouragement. Please continue to pray that we would find jobs soon. The LORD is amazing and knew that we would be in this situation, so things have been fine financially for us. Jehovah Jireh in all things.
In the meantime, Sarah has taken up a new hobby and become an amazing chef, or is it chefette? We don't eat out much, but honestly there's not much to miss right now....well, except for Vancouver has amazing sushi for cheap, cheap. 2 people could stuff their faces to the point where they would regret it for $20!
If Sarah's cooking was a stock, I'd be a majority shareholder. We've had anything from homemade blueberry muffins with a sugary crumble topping to the ultimate cheeseburger to homemade mexican rice and beans. Our kitchen is like Jack in the Box and Burger King combined--you can have it your way and it's made to order. Needless to say, we've had to start excercising more. What's more is that our entire kitchen counter space is only 24" by 24". I can't imagine what we could have with a normal sized kitchen. I've eaten better food at home in the past 2 months than I've had at most restaurants. Now, I know that is a huge statement...but, seriously judge for yourself. Sarah's cooking is the talk of town...or, at least the talk of this basement suite.
Well, this is the perfect city for that, too. We live 5 houses down from this huge forest with hiking, biking, and running trails. The forest runs along the edge of the beach here. So you can ride from our house to the beach and do some bald eagle watching or some people watching....but just not at Wreck Beach (that's the local clothing optional beach). And trust me, it is a wreck to see. Vancouver is surrounded by mountains as well. This is the first place we've been where you can sit at the beach, eat an ice cream (cookies n cream in a waffle cone in case you're wondering), watch a sunset, and see snow capped mountains at the same time. It's pretty unrealistic. I wish we could capture the brilliance in pictures, but it's like telling this incredible story only to realize halfway through that 'you just had to be there.' So, we will try to get some picture of it, but honestly...you just have to be here. So come visit people!
I'm going to start a little section here about things that you wouldn't expect to be different, but they are. I'll leave you with this section:
FOREIGN LAND
When we first signed up for a bank account here we thought it would be a pretty simple transition. We walked into a local bank and it was like jumping into a time machine and going back to 1990. Canadian banks do not have a combined debit card and ATM card. So you have a separate ATM card and another card for checking debits. There's no such thing as a check card that does debit, ATM withdrawals, and credit (Visa or Mastercard logo). Most of these cards don't even have your name on them. They are really generic cards...they look like the fake cards you get in the mail that come with credit card offers. Also you are limited in the number of transactions you can have per month. Most banks limit you to 10 transactions and then you have to pay for each additional transaction. Also, you still have to pay for checks here. Finally, if you want a credit card then is an entirely different concept here. If you want a $2,000 credit limit, then you are required to put $2,000 cash on hold with the bank until you surrender the credit card. That's not a credit card at all...that's a collateral card.
Hope all you kids are doing well. Write us and let us know how you are...we long to hear from you!!! We love you, we miss you.
Hallelujahs in the morning, hallelujahs in the night...I will wait for you
J&S
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