The Horie Family Year In Review (January to April)

January

In December of 2014 - handed back the leadership of the youth ministry at Colwood.  We had hired a youth pastor and although he was here in December, so that he could be oriented, I continued to work on the ministry until the end of December.   The 31st could come fast enough, I was tired.

 

Saying goodbye December 31, 2014

 

January started with a real low in this house.  Melissa and Jon went home to Saskatchewan on the 31st and Kent had been unemployed for 11 months and the weight of it all was grinding us down.  Kent was spending everyday applying at every job he could find.  At the very end of January he was hired at Black Apple Cellular, repairing phones.  He loved the people he worked with, but working with the public is not something Kent ever aspired to do.  He'd often shake his head at my stories of working with public.

January, Melissa was working on her BSc, Jonathan on his MBA and Max on his 2nd year Sciences.  They were all very busy.

I was working full time in Research and at home.  We had taken on the fullest amount of students and renters we could to stay afloat.  Kent and I were couponing, cooking and cleaning, and parenting, parenting, parenting!  Fortunately, for this house, we were able to stay afloat through 2014-2015.

We also decided that maybe it was time to look at downsizing our house.  We thought that if things didn't change, we should maybe consider moving.  So, I spent a weekend packing up the house and staging.  It looked amazing when I was done....

We decided Kent and I needed a break--we decided to go to Vancouver.  So, with my couponing and free ferry rides, a free hotel we were off.  We met with Jamie and Josh, had breakfast with Patrick and Scott.  Money was stupidly tight, but we managed the whole weekend to be free with the exception of food and gas.

 

 

February 

 

After 2 weeks  of working at Black Apple, Kent was hired to work with the Government on a contract basis.  He wondered if he should've applied, but the job description fit him so well, I encouragement him to take the 6 month contract.


So, he interviewed and got the job, then explained he needed time off in May....we'd been planning a trip to Scotland and they agreed!

I know what you're thinking, money is incredibly short and we're going to Europe....We decided to gift Kent this for his 50th birthday, Melissa graduating from her BSc and Jon from his MBA.  All would happen in 2015.

The 17th is  Melissa's 23 birthday.  It's hard for me to even write that.  During January and February Melissa and I spent a lot of time talking and emailing plans for our trip to Scotland.  It was great fun to plan with her.

March

March, Max turns 21.  He's legal everywhere now.  He's a joy to have in our house and I'm thankful for these times that he's still here with us.

I celebrated Beer Week and International Women's Day by doing a bike tour in Victoria with a friend.  I liked the idea of the biking, not the beer.  I'm not a beer drinker.  I had a great time, although part way through, my introvert kicked in and I wanted to find a corner and a good book.  I didn't drink much at all -- just sips to determine, I'm not a beer drinker.

 



April

 

One of my favourite coworkers was away for part of April and into May, so I had some time to orchestrate one my best office pranks:

 

 

In April, I had been working tons.  We still had all of our students, renters, I was cooking ahead for the students while we were in the UK.  Kent and I were falling into some routine with his new job.  Every evening, I was working on our trip to the UK and cooking and baking. I was madly looking forward to May 1, when we'd leave the house for the ferry.  (Which was free....)

 

On the last day of April, we took our students/renters out for dinner then we went to a movie.  The following day, we'd be off to London. Note:  flash in the movie theatre is not recommended....

 



 

Lucas, Philipp, Angel, Max and Bernardo