Category Archives: Life

Working Vacation: Day 2

I’m sure you are all so interested in what we are doing with our vacation, and that is why I am doing this. Also, all the hotels have free wifi, so I have to do something with it!

Today we woke up and I went down to grab some breakfast. I also happened to grab part of our lunch, but they don’t need to know that. Tim had one meeting in the morning so Calvin and I hung out in the room before he came back and we checked out. It was quite a task trying to keep Calvin from dialling the front desk and asking for more toilet paper to shred.

Tim’s next meeting was in downtown Medicine Hat so I took Calvin on a little stroll down the street. Next was a picnic lunch and some playground time! He had so much energy to burn off!

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It was getting hot out so Tim dropped us off at Target and went for yet another meeting, then picked us up shortly after and we went to Medicine Hat’s main attraction, the Historic Clay District. Because this is a not-budgeted-for vacation, we didn’t pay to go in the museum, but we peeked around and it looked like it would be a interesting one, if you are passing through and want to do something.

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Medicine Hat seems like quite a lovely town. We drove around the residential areas a bit, and they are filled with cute old homes. Seems like a nice place to retire to.

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We returned to the highway and made our way back west, and Calvin finally had a decent nap.

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We are staying in Cochrane for the next two nights. Hopefully we can find some more fun things to do!

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Working Vacation: Day 1

A couple weeks ago Tim learned that he would probably have a business trip to go on. At first I was a little sad because it lined up right after we got possession of the house, so I would have been all alone for a week, organizing and tidying everything. But then we had the idea that Calvin and I could go along! Why not, right? It was just a bonus that part of the trip included Banff and Lake Louise.

I actually think this is a much needed break for me. If there was ever a time I would consider myself stressed, it would be the past two days. I was frequently getting annoyed at small things and frustrated with things that couldn’t be helped. I am glad I can leave behind the mess and disorganization and do nothing without feeling the least bit of guilt. Then I can tackle everything with a renewed energy and (somehow still not swollen) feet that don’t feel bruised when we return.

So this morning Tim popped into the office to grab some things then picked up the rental car, and we left the house at noon, headed towards Medicine Hat. The drive was of course uneventful, with the exception of driving through a thunder storm just outside of Calgary.

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We checked into our hotel, then headed to Montana’s for supper. It’s going to be fun using a per Diem that is meant for one person and letting it be our entire budget. Those thrifty Sevenhuysens!

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Tomorrow Tim has a few interviews lined up in Medicine Hat, and then we will head west toward Bragg Creek. We will see what Calvin and I get up to while Tim works. I’m especially interested in seeing how Calvin will nap when we are between hotels. What an adventure! If you are interested in what Tim is working on, his company has been hired by Tourism Alberta to check in to how the floods have affected the tourism industry. It’s a project of his that interests me a bit more than his usual stuff, coming out of that industry myself, so it’s fun that I get to tag along.

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Packing

Tomorrow we get possession of our new house! That means that we will be able to start moving our stuff over. I love packing, but if you were to come in to our place right now, it would look like we were maybe thinking of moving in a month or so. As much as I love packing and organizing, I equally love leaving things until the last minute. It’s because I have zero worries about things not getting done on time. I learned this about myself in highschool when I had yet to start homework when my friends had already completed it. But magically, everything always gets done!

Anyways…

It was only 10 months ago the last time we packed up a whole house. But it was a very different kind of packing. Last time we had to fit everything into a trailer, an SUV and a sedan, and make sure everything survived the jostling jaunt through the Rockies. I packed all my breakables so carefully. Each cardboard box got a layer of foam peanuts at the bottom, and I used lots and lots of packing paper, making sure nothing was touching. But at the same time, things had to be as condensed as possible. We ended up not being able to fit everything, but none of our stuff broke on the trip!

This time, packing is a lot more “loosey goosey” since we have a few days of overlap between houses and it’s only 10 minutes away. I am still packing the breakables carefully, but no peanuts this time. I don’t have to worry about everything fitting into boxes with lids for easy stacking in a truck. We can throw things in laundry baskets, bring the load over, and bring them back to refill. Random items don’t necessarily have to go in boxes at all, and can just be thrown into the backseat.

My one tip for packing, especially for longer hauls, is to label everything really clearly. I write the room it goes into, as well as the contents. And also “fragile” when applicable. If you packed weeks or months before your move, it is easy to know which boxes go where and what is in each box.

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Oh, and of course it is different this time because I have a toddler, and not a baby! Open-topped boxes can’t be left wherever. I can’t pack most of his things. And it just takes a little longer in general. But it will all still get done!

Our house is a pretty big mess, and I feel only a little bit bad for whoever is doing an inspection here tomorrow. If they were smart, maybe they could reschedule for Sunday when we will be done with this place for good!

And since the one photo I used here is kind of boring, here is one from when we moved in October.

Getting packed up for the big move.

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We Are Homeowners

So, we bought a house!

I’m just as surprised as you are! Two weeks ago we were in Manitoba, thinking we would start hitting up Kijiji to find a place to rent for August. However, before we got home on Monday night, we revisited the offer from a family member to help us buy. Having always been a very small single income family (mine for the first year of our marriage while Tim finished his Masters Degree, and his for the past year after Calvin came along), we weren’t in a position to do it on our own. But when we thought about it, it only made sense to get into the market now instead of paying rent for a few more years to come.

So on Tuesday, just shy of two weeks ago, I called a realtor and we set up a meeting for the following evening. We saw our first two homes on the Thursday night. After seeing those two, I was left feeling a little discouraged. One was too far gone for us to move into right away, and as you all know, we were wanted out of our current place at the end of the month. The second place was in good shape, but it was way on the north side of town and I felt somewhat isolated out there, away from the small handful of people I know, and the areas I am familiar with.

We booked an appointment to see more places on Sunday afternoon, one week ago. I had prayed that morning that we would feel more optimistic after seeing these homes than the last time we went out, and the sermon that morning was on God’s provision, which was a good reminder, although something I have never forgotten. We had about half a dozen homes scheduled to see. After leaving the first one, I felt better already. I remember saying to Tim, “I would be happy living here.” And none of the other places quite measured up to that one.

We called the realtor to book another appointment to see the house for a second time on Tuesday evening, then followed up with an offer after that! We had an accepted offer by Wednesday afternoon, and booked an inspection for this afternoon. We weren’t expecting any major surprises, since the house seemed well taken care of, and we were right.

One bonus of this house is that it is vacant, so we are able to have the really quick possession date of July 31! I don’t think we could be in a more perfect situation in regards to timing. The majority of the other houses had either a thirty day possession date or 90 days for the homes with tenants in them (because that is the right way to do things).

And that’s another thing…we could only afford a home if it had a suite, so we are not only becoming home owners, we are also becoming landlords!

We are very excited for this next adventure, and are so thankful to God for all he has provided us with in his perfect timing!

And if you don’t hear from me in the next two weeks, it’s because I got buried by boxes.

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