In June Melissa graduated from University with a BSc, in Microbiology and Immunology. We were incredibly proud of her. It was so quickly after our trip to the UK, none of us could be there.
We had an opportunity in June we just couldn't turn down. We became Beekeepers!
{Insert Bee stats}
June was back to work and what a whirl wind turned out to be.
In June I had my normal workload plus 3 pay periods to catch up on. Kent had a bunch of training to do -- because July was coming and fire season was in full swing.
Fire Season. We knew Kent would be busy, but we had no idea. In a 62 day period this summer Kent was gone for 31.
So I kept the house going and Kent was in and out. When he was home, he was on call a lot so he was busy all summer.
June we said good bye to Philipp and Angel. They were our German and Mexican students and we were really, really sad to see them go. Philipp's mom and sister came to tour BC, Alberta and Alaska. We had them stay over one night before they were on their way.
July we had 2 new students come for the month. Adrian and Carlos came from Mexico. They were adorable. We again, were sad when the month went by so fast--the amazing thing about having all these students come and go, we have extended family all over the world.
It was in July when Kent said he had to go to Pemberton. Pemberton. The place that people go to but don't come out of. Seriously, all of his coworkers had gone to Pemberton but at the time of his departure, NO ONE had come back. So, I said, See ya, it's been nice knowing you.
Kent was stationed right beside the music festival and they partied until 4.45am and Kent's alarm was set for 6. He came home exhausted.
In August, Kent got home from Pemberton with just enough time to get to Tofino. The Fricker side of the family gathered for Nathan and Emily's wedding in Tofino. It was a gorgeous weekend, we had a blast with our family. I was a very proud Auntie to see Nathan chose such an amazing woman, my sister Arlene looked fabulous -- it was a great weekend.
At the end of August, I had a meltdown. We celebrated out 4th Victorian anniversary--that is a great thing! Although we felt completely alone here. It's difficult to find friends here and I love having time with Kent, Lucas and Max, other friends are essential in life. It's great to have so much time with Kent--please don't get me wrong.
In September, I decided it was time to leave Colwood Church. I'd had enough of feeling included when we were with in the doors of the church, but Sunday afternoon to Saturday night we didn't have any contact with church goers. I made a plan to leave, to finish up the obligations we had. It was announced that the Church was hearing this same thing from many people so they decided to do a Community Groups. We joined a group and have made some friends.
To make friends Kent and I joined Friends of Music Society. We are learning the ukulele in a group. We thought this would be a good way to make friends.....then, first night, I thought, this is a little "different" group....but I couldn't put my finger on it.
A couple weeks in, I asked and the group is called a "mixed nuts" group. Community members mixing with people who have mental health issues and need to be integrated into community. Well, that explained a few things.
In September we had decided not to have any students. The school said if we didn't take 2 we didn't get any......they sealed that decision for us. Then, they called with, we have one.....so we took in Miguel from Spain.
For Thanksgiving, we went to Saskatchewan. We had a weekend with the whole family. We skipped having thanksgiving dinner and opted to serve dinner down the street to the Indian Friendship Society. We loved it--we had a blast! It was really hard to say goodbye and come home. It's always tough to leave Melissa and Jon.
November we opened out house to Anna, she was moving here from Kelowna and we thought it would be good for me to have another girl around. Except, she's never here, she works so much. She has been a joy, she is currently readying herself to move out...she's finding a place this month (January) with her boyfriend.
We took a quick trip to the Okanagan in November. I came home exhausted. We spent the days with my parents but then we would race to Kelowna to see friends. We went on walks with my parents and watched a ton of day time TV. We did have the chance to see a number of friends that are family. We got to hold Lady Aspen Grey right after she was born. We hung out with Kim and Chris Tingstad and their kids, we saw Jadon and Natasha, just before they got married. We spent Sunday at Emmanuel Assembly, it's always going to be home. It's had some big changes, but the people we the same, friendly, loving. Home.
In November, I had an opportunity to move out of Research and Capacity Building and I took a job with Research Ethics and Compliance. It's been a steep learning curve, I love the team and I love my job. Over the next 7 weeks, I did my new job and transitioned out of my old job.
December, I was still transitioning. It was a long hard haul. In fact, as I write this, I am still transitioning. I get calls and emails daily for my old job. Sometimes, I let my phone ring--thinking that if I don't give an instant answer, they'll figure it out themselves. :)
We had a great Christmas, small and understated. Max, Lucas, Kent and I ate, played games, watched movies and chilled. It's the first year in YEARS that Kent had to work the week of Christmas and New Years. I took the week of Christmas off and chilled. I was so happy not to be working.
As I've looked back over 2015, it feels like we are finally hitting our stride in Victoria.
I'm looking forward to what 2016 has to offer. It's gonna be great, right?
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