Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas! I am so fortunate to be close to my family again this year. Missing my sweet IMEC sisters, my German family,  and of course Mom in Ontario. Hopefully we’ll get to visit some of you in 2015. It’s on top of my list 🙂  Merry Christmas!!!

Last week I surprised my coworkers at Pooh Corner and SFU. It’s always strange to walk into familiar spaces after being gone for a while. At SFU, I was very fortunate to join the children, families, and educators for their Christmas party. The children put on a christmas concert for their parents and overall it was a very festive time to be there. I got lots of hugs from the children, had nice conversations with the families and my coworkers, and on the bus ride home I had some time to reflect on life.

It’s been 17 years since we moved to Canada. Who could have guessed that life would turn out so beautifully on that sad December morning at Hamburg airport? Now it’s been 17 years, half my life, and what was important then is no longer on my mind.

As we were getting ready for this big move, my friends compiled a book with farewell letters. There is so much love and heartache in that small book, so many memories of my life as a teenager. My first love, my best friend, my marching band, my classmates… a different life.

Jens Arne wrote about the close friends I was leaving behind, but that he was confident I would make new friends in Canada. He reminded me to think of my closest friends often and not to get distracted with those that weren’t important in my life, including him. Such good advice, even though it was harsh at the time. It turns out he knew my philosophy on life quite well, a few good friends are better than many acquaintances.

I’m going to be an instructor for another semester, I just heard back from the program coordinator.

Last week I found out that I can walk/hike to work in under an hour. The suspension bridge is part of my route. I know, I can’t believe it either. How did this end up becoming my life? So exciting!

I have another job interview this week. Same job, but a position for the Spring and Summer semester. Cross your fingers. Life has been so nice since I returned to this campus 🙂   

My favorite time of year!

Shiny chestnuts in my pocket.
Beautiful pumpkins just waiting for us.
Birthdays coming up.
Nice jobs to go to.
Colorful leaves.
Being married.

Good food.
Good friends.
Good everything.

Life is so precious when you get it back. We saw our friends, shopped for food, slept-in, went for a short hike, skyped with New Zealand, and had a real weekend.

Today I need to write a letter to the Dean to ask to be withdrawn from my PhD program (not even withdrawing is easy when you’re a PhD student). I can’t defer my courses, because I was so eager and took those 2 summer courses. They were the loveliest courses, so no regrets. I can reapply to a PhD program when I’m 40, 50, or 60.

I will also mark some papers today!!! I don’t know how to go about this yet, but I know there is only one way to find out. Doing it!

Evan is taking a course this week. He doesn’t like school and I hope it’s going to be fun for him.

We’ve finally managed to upload wedding photos this week, I took care of B and brought him to kindergarten, I slept in this morning and now I’m cooking dinner in our new slow-cooker. I even have time to write on my blog…

Where do I get all this free time you ask? I’ve decided to postpone school for a while. Difficult decision, but once it was made I felt like a million bucks! Evan and I sat down on Sunday and made a list of pros and cons, which resulted in our first big decision as a married couple. School has to wait.

Sunday morning, woke up early because I was worried about how and when I could get everything done. I am taking 2 courses at UVic, one of them is challenging and thought provoking, the other one is challenging and too difficult. It’s statistics + a programming language called R. I am having a hard time keeping up and it’s only September. Evan and I spent hours/days on homework! I just hope it gets easier once I get the hang of it. I think the only way to somewhat succeed will be to connect with my classmates and work with them on homework.

My new job on the other hand is the best, I am an instructor at the university here and teach one course on Thursday mornings. I am also doing practicum supervision for our students. I love everything about this job, my colleagues, the challenge, the atmosphere, the courses I’m teaching.

Bottom line of the story, I need an extra week every week to be be successful at what I am trying to do here. If you haven’t heard from me in a while, this is why…

Love you and miss you.