The Time

 Love it!

Groceries

We had heard from many sources that one of the only downfalls of island living is the cost of groceries. That kinda scared me a bit because our grocery bill is always high. I am celiac, which makes breads and pasta hard to find and 2 or 3 times more expensive than the wheat varieties. That added in with our desire to shop local and direct from suppliers pushed our Edmonton monthly groceries to about $500 (for the 2 of us...)
We made it through April in Victoria at $350, which includes staples for the pantry (condiments and spices) and about 90% locally sourced food.
I think that my penchant for shopping local is actually an advantage here- there are so many locals wanting to sell because they don't have to pay shipping! The growing season is also way longer so there is better access to fresh fruits and veggies (and better pricing because they aren't hard to find!) I am looking forward to a trip to the country with my cousin in June when the farmer's bring the crops to the end of their driveways and you walk from house to house to pick what you want!! Yum!

Question #10

Day 10. What is Jesus teaching you as a woman (sister, daughter, wife, mom or friend)?

To have faith and to know that if it's meant to be it will happen. This sounds right in line with the Easter spirit and weekend, but that's not why I'm focused on faith. I also don't think it has a ton to do with me being female (maybe i'm missing the point of this question....) But this is what has happened to cause me to have faith and believe even more. 

When I started university I said that when I graduated I would move to BC, but then life got crazy. Boyfriends didn't want to move to a new city and the job I had at my family's store seemed to plant me there. The dream was just not feasible. I constantly revisited the dream, thinking that I would go the next year. Every visit made me want it more and more. The smell of the ocean, the rain and the lush plant life called out to me more than the snow, dry air and big skies of Alberta. Don't get me wrong, I do love the city I grew up in and will miss it, but I love BC too. 

But suddenly the stars seemed to align. My dream was going to come true after all the wishes. I re-met and married Jonathan, who is used to living away from family and knows that it can be done while maintaining strong relationships. We moved in with his parents to save up money and decided that when we moved out of their place it would be to come to BC. We gave my work 3 months notice and hired and trained my replacement. One of my (distant) cousins lives in Victoria and helped us house hunt virtually. We flew down, looked at places, did job interviews and fell in love with the feel of the city. We found a beautiful condo that has everything we were looking for. We went back to Edmonton, packed everything up and drove a UHaul back 2 weeks later. We didn't stress, didn't panic, didn't worry. We just trusted in God and each other. Roadblocks popped up and were dealt with and passed by. We knew that it would work out in the end, and when all the voices around us started to break down the faith I read these:

Romans 1:17

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

Ephesians 2: 1-9

And you hath quickened. who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. (by grace you are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves is the gift of God.

Matthew 9:22

But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

And so we believe. I believe that no matter what happens, things will work out, life will go on and we will be standing strong. Each day is a blessing, enjoy them, live fully and know that if you believe in something strongly enough it will happen.

A gloomy Easter

Laying in bed last night I was thinking. This was the first holiday that Jon & I were on our own. No juggling both families to see who we could have dinner with. No scheduling egg hunts into our packed weekend. Just the two of us. I fell asleep thinking that the holiday would be fun, we would go to church, go for a nice walk and make our own Easter feast. We would start to make our own traditions.  I woke up even more homesick. Church was lovely but just not the same. It was rainy outside so we didn't go for a walk. Dinner was really good but I didn't make all of the things that make Easter dinner special. I was already a bit homesick, but today I am really missing everyone.

I hope you all had a great holiday and hope that you didn't get the gloomies like me. I miss you & I love you!

Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Here are a few things that made me smile!!

Our Move in Photo Form

So this past month has been a big whirlwind!!

We left snowy Edmonton:

Loaded all our stuff (and our kitties) into this:

Stopped in Revelstoke halfway there and watched our little acrobat explore the hotel room:

Drove through the mountains:

Stopped for photos along the way:

And arrived here:

Got the kitties settled into the new place: 

Unloaded the very full Uhaul:

And started enjoying our new home:

We both started work:

Explored the city on our weekend off.

Coolest bookstore ever:

Yummy sushi:

Visited the wharf:

Waited for Telus to set up our internet, stayed home for 3 appointments, got stood up 3 times and decided to go with Shaw instead:

Met some of the Victoria Twitter regulars at a birthday party for Foursquare:

Fell in love with the things we carry at Chintz & Company:

Unpacked, settled in and started our new routine. So far so good!

Internet Dependance

I need my internet! It is not an optional expense for me anymore, I depend on it too much! It is my entertainment, my source of news, my contact with friends and family and my research tool. Usually breakfast time is spent in front of the computer catching up on the news and responding to emails and messages. Before bed I am online posting my blog and reading the posts from the blogs I follow. If I need a phone number or an address I hop on quickly and get it. I am not from the generation that pulls out a copy of the Yellow Pages for a number! I am on Twitter throughout the day and check in with Foursquare whenever I remember to do it, but they don't allow the same level of communication that blogs do.  However, I was very thankful for them during the weeks of no connection. My iPhone is usually attached to me but for these last few weeks I don't think I've put it down except for when I was working.
I know I need my hookup so I booked the setup with Telus 2 weeks before we moved. I called them to update the phone number on record and confirm the appointment when we got here. I waited at home for 8 hours on a Sunday for the technician but nobody came. I called in, waited on hold for forever and rescheduled the appointment. The next time block came and went with no technician appearing. Another crazy hold time and another appointment booked. This time the escalations department was going to handle it for us, and they were throwing in some perks because of all the problems. Third appointment also no-showed. More hold time, more transfers and finally a helpful person on the other end of the phone. Too bad she came in so late in the game- she had to cancel the contract for us.
I am now connected via Shaw and am fine with paying more money per month to deal with a service provider that has short hold times and prompt service. I'm back!!!

Blogging on my iPhone

Hi!!! I just figured out I can pull up the blog editor in safari on my phone!!! I'm not why this didn't occur to me over the last two weeks of blogging withdrawal! The sad part is that the blogs are typed into my laptop....oh well, the other posts will appear when I get net access at home!
We are settling into our new city, have started our jobs and are getting back into a routine. I did get the job at Chintz & Company that I had blogged about last month and Jon is officially a Fedex driver. We are both working Monday to Friday so we have the weekends free to explore Victoria and meet new people. We went to a Victoria Tweetup yesterday to celebrate Foursquare's birthday. It was so much fun and let me put a face to the awesomely welcoming twitter community here!
I have some amazing photos saved up- this editor won't let me drop any of them in!
I will be back soon!!!!