2019 was one of those years where time just wouldn't stand still. Seems as though that's just how life has been for the past while, and right when I'm beginning to feel settled and on top of things everything changes again!
We're closing 2019 in a different house, with different jobs, different goals and dreams, and with our family 1 person larger.
We are grateful for all the people, places, and experiences that were a part of this past year and we are super excited for all the changes coming in 2020!
Working through our year chronologically, here are our biggest events for the highlight real:
1. We bought a house!
We had been saving money and it didn't make sense to have it just sitting in a savings account, so we invested it into a rental house! Now we're building up equity and all that good stuff so that hopefully, one day, we can afford to buy a house for our family to live in.
From January-March we were hard at work filling out paperwork, sending emails, a day trip to fly and see the place, and making phone calls. So many phone calls! BUT we came out of that busy season as home owners!
The house is in Alberta, where places are MUCH cheaper, and we have been renting out to some amazing tenants who make being landlords very easy for us.
2. Road trip to Coaldale!
In the middle of March we took five days off of our regular craziness to drive across to Coaldale for Will's cousin's wedding. The journey was long, and the way back home was trying, but we did it! We had a wonderful time visiting with all of the Vanspronsen family that lives out that way and celebrating a wedding.
It was also nice to have a change of pace for a few days and just have a fun time together.
3. Started daycare!
In April I began doing daycare for two families. It's been a casual schedule. Some weeks I have no daycare and others I'll have up to three days. It's nice to get out of the house (I go to their homes) every so often and it's good for Delilah to have some playmates.
It's an ever changing schedule, with no two weeks being the same, but it fits perfectly with our lives right now.
4. Will started a company!
I didn't blog about this at the time because we wanted to wait until everything had fallen in place before we spread the word.
Will usually would work 7am-3pm at GTL, but then once or twice a week he would then head out again by 3:30/4pm to put in a handful of hours with a buddy. These few months from May-August were very busy and tiring, but we recognized it as a temporary season with lots of sacrifice and made the best of every day.
We had a whole lot of exciting plans made for our future but in August we felt led to sell it and put the idea to rest for the time being.
On the day Will came home with a cargo trailer I meant to take a picture of him driving in the driveway, but my camera was in selfie mode and I captured my, honest, accurate, first impression of the trailer!
5. Went away with Will for my birthday!
Will planned a surprise weekend vacation to Victoria for my birthday! We were only gone for one night, but it was my first time leaving Delilah, and I couldn't believe how freeing it was to be child-free!
We had such a wonderful carefree weekend and it was such a thoughtful thing for Will to plan for us!
6. Baby No.2!!!!
After a few weeks of ignorant denial (because I had gotten my hopes up before and been disappointed) we were ecstatic to have a positive pregnancy test! I am so grateful not to have been throwing up this pregnancy but the food aversion and exhaustion still hit me hard.
The day this post goes live there'll just be 2.5 months left before our due date!
Will and I are so extremely excited and feel so blessed to be looking forward to welcoming another sweet child into our family!
We'll be moving again in 2020 and, now that we've had some experience, hopefully that will be even easier!
8. Camping!
Just two weeks after moving we packed once again and headed to Vancouver Island to spend a week camping.
We enjoyed a week of mild temperatures, beach explorations, road trips, getting lost on a mountain, and just spending time together as a family.
9. Will got laid off.
Again, I didn't blog about this at the time because so many things were changing and we didn't even know what was going on!
From a Facebook post I wrote after the event:
I am the kind of person who likes to make plans and stick to them!
Last week NOTHING went according to plan! Out of the blue, the 'plans' that we thought we had made for the next week, month, year, two years, five years, ALL changed this week when Will was laid off!
·
My favourite Bible text is 1 Peter 5:6-7 which says, "Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand and in due time He will lift you up. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Although it's my favourite text it's still hard to practice 100%. This past week gave Will and I plenty of opportunities to work on humbling and casting.
·
Last week was rough.
Things were changing daily, we weren't sleeping well, and staying up late trying to figure out what to do.
We are thankful and ecstatic that God provides us with our daily bread, Will with a new job, and so many more blessings!
That was the end result but here's the story of 'The Most Stressful Week of Our Lives'
Before we left for camping Will was told by his shop foreman that the company was downsizing a bit and the employee under Will would be let go while Will was gone. Will was manager of the aluminum shop and was told not to worry. But on the Monday that he was back after summer holidays he was asked if he could work part-time.
On Monday night we discussed several options together and how maybe all this was working for the better considering Will was trying to get his own business to be profitable.
When he went back to work on Tuesday Will was told that, regardless of if he was willing to work part time or not, he could come in Wednesday morning to collect his tools and that would be the end of his time there.
Will mentioned in passing to someone else on Tuesday night that he'd been laid off, and was offered a job on the spot. He then had an interview/meeting on Friday morning and the following Monday was his first day of work there!
From Tuesday through Friday we continued to discuss how jumping full time into Will's own company would go and how it would impact our family. With the hours and demands of his new job Will would be unable to do evening work like he used to, and so in the end we reached the conclusion that with where we are in life right now it was not the right time.
10. Delilah turned one!
Man a life! I'm remembering now that I still need to blog about her birthday! Opps...
Our princess has grown up and we were so excited to celebrate her first birthday with her grandparents, and aunts and uncles!
Delilah was very excited by all the gifts she received and the whole cupcake I let her lick/smush/eat! 😊
A lot has gone on during her first year and Will and I love the comic relief and entertainment that she provides us with daily. She's a whole lotta fun and means the entire world to both of us!
We're closing 2019 in a different house, with different jobs, different goals and dreams, and with our family 1 person larger.
We are grateful for all the people, places, and experiences that were a part of this past year and we are super excited for all the changes coming in 2020!
Working through our year chronologically, here are our biggest events for the highlight real:
We had been saving money and it didn't make sense to have it just sitting in a savings account, so we invested it into a rental house! Now we're building up equity and all that good stuff so that hopefully, one day, we can afford to buy a house for our family to live in.
From January-March we were hard at work filling out paperwork, sending emails, a day trip to fly and see the place, and making phone calls. So many phone calls! BUT we came out of that busy season as home owners!
The house is in Alberta, where places are MUCH cheaper, and we have been renting out to some amazing tenants who make being landlords very easy for us.
In the middle of March we took five days off of our regular craziness to drive across to Coaldale for Will's cousin's wedding. The journey was long, and the way back home was trying, but we did it! We had a wonderful time visiting with all of the Vanspronsen family that lives out that way and celebrating a wedding.
It was also nice to have a change of pace for a few days and just have a fun time together.
In April I began doing daycare for two families. It's been a casual schedule. Some weeks I have no daycare and others I'll have up to three days. It's nice to get out of the house (I go to their homes) every so often and it's good for Delilah to have some playmates.
It's an ever changing schedule, with no two weeks being the same, but it fits perfectly with our lives right now.
I didn't blog about this at the time because we wanted to wait until everything had fallen in place before we spread the word.
Will usually would work 7am-3pm at GTL, but then once or twice a week he would then head out again by 3:30/4pm to put in a handful of hours with a buddy. These few months from May-August were very busy and tiring, but we recognized it as a temporary season with lots of sacrifice and made the best of every day.
We had a whole lot of exciting plans made for our future but in August we felt led to sell it and put the idea to rest for the time being.
On the day Will came home with a cargo trailer I meant to take a picture of him driving in the driveway, but my camera was in selfie mode and I captured my, honest, accurate, first impression of the trailer!
Will planned a surprise weekend vacation to Victoria for my birthday! We were only gone for one night, but it was my first time leaving Delilah, and I couldn't believe how freeing it was to be child-free!
We had such a wonderful carefree weekend and it was such a thoughtful thing for Will to plan for us!
After a few weeks of ignorant denial (because I had gotten my hopes up before and been disappointed) we were ecstatic to have a positive pregnancy test! I am so grateful not to have been throwing up this pregnancy but the food aversion and exhaustion still hit me hard.
The day this post goes live there'll just be 2.5 months left before our due date!
Will and I are so extremely excited and feel so blessed to be looking forward to welcoming another sweet child into our family!
7. We Moved!
In the middle of July we moved into a bright and spacious ground-level suite. Our home has lots of room for us and it truly does feel like home to us.
Moving is never fun but we were very surprised with how smoothly the whole process went for us and so grateful for all of our family who pitched in to help out!We'll be moving again in 2020 and, now that we've had some experience, hopefully that will be even easier!
Just two weeks after moving we packed once again and headed to Vancouver Island to spend a week camping.
We enjoyed a week of mild temperatures, beach explorations, road trips, getting lost on a mountain, and just spending time together as a family.
Again, I didn't blog about this at the time because so many things were changing and we didn't even know what was going on!
From a Facebook post I wrote after the event:
I am the kind of person who likes to make plans and stick to them!
Last week NOTHING went according to plan! Out of the blue, the 'plans' that we thought we had made for the next week, month, year, two years, five years, ALL changed this week when Will was laid off!
·
My favourite Bible text is 1 Peter 5:6-7 which says, "Humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand and in due time He will lift you up. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."
Although it's my favourite text it's still hard to practice 100%. This past week gave Will and I plenty of opportunities to work on humbling and casting.
·
Last week was rough.
Things were changing daily, we weren't sleeping well, and staying up late trying to figure out what to do.
We are thankful and ecstatic that God provides us with our daily bread, Will with a new job, and so many more blessings!
That was the end result but here's the story of 'The Most Stressful Week of Our Lives'
Before we left for camping Will was told by his shop foreman that the company was downsizing a bit and the employee under Will would be let go while Will was gone. Will was manager of the aluminum shop and was told not to worry. But on the Monday that he was back after summer holidays he was asked if he could work part-time.
On Monday night we discussed several options together and how maybe all this was working for the better considering Will was trying to get his own business to be profitable.
When he went back to work on Tuesday Will was told that, regardless of if he was willing to work part time or not, he could come in Wednesday morning to collect his tools and that would be the end of his time there.
Will mentioned in passing to someone else on Tuesday night that he'd been laid off, and was offered a job on the spot. He then had an interview/meeting on Friday morning and the following Monday was his first day of work there!
From Tuesday through Friday we continued to discuss how jumping full time into Will's own company would go and how it would impact our family. With the hours and demands of his new job Will would be unable to do evening work like he used to, and so in the end we reached the conclusion that with where we are in life right now it was not the right time.
Man a life! I'm remembering now that I still need to blog about her birthday! Opps...
Our princess has grown up and we were so excited to celebrate her first birthday with her grandparents, and aunts and uncles!
Delilah was very excited by all the gifts she received and the whole cupcake I let her lick/smush/eat! 😊
A lot has gone on during her first year and Will and I love the comic relief and entertainment that she provides us with daily. She's a whole lotta fun and means the entire world to both of us!
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