Fall Already? A Summer Recap Blog!

My goodness, did I miss most of the Summer?  It's been a while since I have posted a blog!  Time for a recap!

This Summer was both busy and fun for us here in Iowa!  After we returned home from our Canada trip in June, it was time to enjoy some beautiful Summer days here in Iowa!  As per my usual Summer routine, I spent a good amount of time at the pool, and Andee and I frequented George Wyth Beach on multiple occasions!  Andee entered into his third year of Residency, and as of now, he has only 9 months left of his program before he graduates as a real Doctor!  Haha!  We are very much looking forward to a less demanding work schedule for Andee! 

Andee and I also had the fun opportunity of taking a trip to Kansas City for a Medical Conference featuring Residency programs from across the U.S.  This year, Karla and I were allowed to attend as spouses of the Residents to offer our input in being a significant other of a Resident, and Andee and the other Residents were in charge of promoting their Residency Program as part of the Recruitment Committee.  We sported some fun 'Iowa' themed shirts (Iowa: 75% Vowels, 100% Awesome), and set up a booth with the Northeast Iowa Family Medicine Residency Program.  After being on the other not-so-fun side of having the odds stacked against us as Canadian 'foreign' graduates from Medical School while applying to Residency programs, it was quite strange to be on the other side and having interested students trying to impress Andee and his coworkers for an opportunity to interview at Andee's Residency program!  We tried our best to be good representatives of the program and to be kind and not intimidating to the applicants that visited our table.  It's rough out there in the Medical School world!

One of the highlights of the trip was touring around with Karla collecting 'swag' and entering a draw by collecting stickers from various booths.  And when I say 'swag, I mean medical supplies, pens, drink coozys, foam animals wearing lab coats (my personal favorite), you name it!  We ended up naming Karla the 'Swag Queen' for her immense efforts in collecting goodies, as well as her winning a Kindle gift basket!  At the end of the Conference Andee left the table abruptly and disappeared as we started to tear down the booth.  He returned with a $500 American Express gift card as the Grand Prize winner of the draw!  As it turns out, his name had been announced (that none of us heard), and with the Conference coming to a close, he almost missed his chance to claim the prize!  The funniest part is that he didn't even enter the draw!  I entered his name instead of mine, since you had to be a Resident to participate.  So, it was safe to say that Andee, the one who avoided collecting all the fun swag, was now the unofficial 'Swag King' for his unintentional winning of the Grand Prize!  And after the rough start to trip on the drive down involving a hurt animal, a $200 vet bill, the kindness of strangers that empathized with our situation and gifted us with money, empathy, and hugs to help cover the costs and burden, arriving two hours late to the Conference, and sad and heavy hearts (and tears); winning the Grand Prize was a beautiful example of how God's love and mercy He has for his children.  I teared up when Andee brought that gift card over...not because I was excited about the money, but because I felt the tangible provision of a good God looking after us.

Oh, and did I mention this was a company paid trip, so all of our accommodations, food, etc. was covered by Andee's Residency?  So with the Grand Prize winning, we actually gained money on this trip!  It was so much fun walking around the downtown area of the city and checking out some shops and places to eat, including Jack Stack for some classic Kansas City Barbecue!  It was also fun spending some time with a few of the other Residents on the trip!  Until next time, Kansas City!

In August we were treated to a visit from my parents to Iowa!  We spent our days doing our usual Iowa activities such as George Wyth Beach, chatting in the living room, eating out at Texas Roadhouse and Chapala (my and Andee's new favorite), and visiting the local Farmer's market!  Andee was on a lighter rotation than usual, and so the four of us were able to spend some family time together!  I love when Canadians come to America to visit!  We will likely not be back to Canada until Christmas, so it was great to have a taste of Canada here in Iowa!

Andee and I also celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary, as well as both of our birthdays over the course of August and September.  We had an early birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse with my parents, an anniversary dinner at Red Lobster, and have entered into the last year in our twenties!  With every passing year of us looking relatively the same, it gets more and more ridiculous to others that we are indeed the age that we are!  And it doesn't help much that Iowan's are built much bigger than the average Canadian, so it may be a while before we look our age.  And I'm okay with that!  We also received some fun gifts from each other and a beautiful handmade gift from Cassie; five wood coasters representing each of the five places we have lived!  From left to right: Ontario, St. Kitts, Maine, Illinois, and Iowa!  So thoughtful! 

We also attended the annual Cattle Congress Fair, which to my pleasure included a tiger show, a sting ray exhibit, and all the usual fun and games of a fair!  The tigers were beautiful, and we even got to pet and feed the sting rays, which was hilarious and cute!  It was also a beautiful day to spend some time outside, and we had a great time!

And, as per usual, we have been spending lots of time with our Church Family, whom we love so much!  Since we have no family here in Iowa, we have really felt loved and cared for by our 'family' here in Iowa!  Andee and I have so enjoyed being a part of the Worship Team, and also spending some time with our growing Small Group!  Four new babies in just the past year in our little growing group, and it has been fun to see so many people become first time parents!  We love Iowa and Prairie Lakes Church!

Our Little Miss Vera has been growing from a little kitten to a cat!  She turned one year old in August, and has been both increasingly more of a snuggle bug, as well as more of a destructor every day!  We love our sweet girl, and even though she is trouble, she is our little Miss, and we love her to bits!  Here are some cute pictures for your enjoyment!

And finally, as we enter into October that can only mean one thing: Playoff Baseball!  And for the second year in a row, our Toronto Blue Jays have made the Playoffs!  After a clutch home run by Encarnacion to win the Wild Card game against the Orioles, the Jays are now two games up on the Texas Rangers in the first round!  And we are excited for them to make it possibly even further than last year!  Now would be a great time to be spending some time back in Canada, but at least we are able to watch them here in Iowa!  Go Jays Go!! 

As we settle into some cooler Fall weather, to make myself feel better about the close of Summer I try to take advantage of all the many beauitiful elements of Fall!  Boots, scarves, soups, chai tea lattes, changing leaves, relaxing indoors, pumpkin bread, candles, and Fall Festivals all make the list of all things Fall that are coming up in the horizon!  We are so thankful for all of God's creation and seasons, and the times of rest he gives us when we are overwhelmed and tired.  And after a month of 13-16 hour days for Andee and a lot on our plate otherwise, this weekend is a perfect weekend for rest!  Goodnight world - see you Monday!

Happy Canada Day!!

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians!  To celebrate, Andee and I are watching Blue Jays baseball with their red Canada Day jerseys, and I am writing a blog about our recent trip back home.  Weren't we just in Canada?  That's right, we were!  Just six weeks after our first Canada visit of the year to celebrate Cassie and Trevor's Wedding, we packed up the cat and the car and headed back home for another week!  This time, though, the weather was much warmer, and we were able to enjoy some of our favourite outdoor activities that can only occur in the Great White North!  Or I suppose it's the Great Green North in the Summer.....

We started out the journey with yet another terrible car ride with Vera, followed by a sleepless night at the hotel because someone (hint: she's covered in fur) kept attacking our feet, meowing, and snuggling against our faces all night.  Running on less than an hour of sleep, we continued for another day of driving, which proved to be just as terrible as the day before.  This prompted me to write myself a reminder in my phone to get some kitty sedatives from the vet when we got back to Iowa, as well as a few other, *ahem* less helpful ideas.  We headed straight up to my parent's cottage for a little time 'up North' with family!  In total, we spent four days up at the cottage, and were able to do all most all of our favourite cottage things!  We went swimming in the lake, ate at slices and scoops for our pizza and Kawartha Dairy fix, and were able to spend lots of time with our family!  Although it is a lot different then when we were growing up, I still love the cottage!

You may be asking, wait a second, you forgot one very important cottage staple in that list - fishing!  Or maybe you weren't thinking that at all, but let's just go with it.  This particular topic requires an explanation.....

'The sea was angry that day my friend.'  Andee and Trevor headed out on a warm June evening just before sundown, the first day of bass season, to try and catch them a monster.  After drifting from their favourite fishing spot only to be edged out by another boat, they grumpily headed to a different location to try again.  After a few tries, Andee cast out and felt a nibble on his line.  He started reeling in, anticipating what was on the other end, when all of the sudden, something happened.  Andee's line started spinning out, and their little paddle boat was being pulled by the sheer force.  Something huge was on the end of the line.  Andee fought the beast for a number of minutes, but shortly after he felt the fish let go.  Disappointing, Andee reeled in the line - to find a surprise on the end.  A substantial size bass was on the end.  Fairly standard for that time of year.  Except that this bass had a giant 4.5 inch bite mark on it's side.  Whatever had let go just minutes before was actually using the large bass as bait.  Such a fish in this lake could only be the elusive Muskey.  The fish that got away.....
* the bass made it by the way, he is now just the toughest looking bass on the block with that scar!

...But there is more to this story.  Excited and jacked up at the prospect of Muskie around them, Trevor changed his lure to the his newest Rapala lure to test it out.  After just a couple casts, something hit - likely another bass.  As Trevor is reeling in this fish, something happens again.  Trevor's line spins out just like Andee's had only a few minutes before.  They can only imagine - it's another muskie!  As Trevor starts to reel this one in, they are determined not to lose this one.  At this point, however, they realize that they have come quite unprepared.  Since they were fishing primarily for bass, they had neglected to bring a net.  They were also in a small paddle boat.  After failing to flag down the nearby boat for the use of their net, the fish was getting closer and closer to their boat.  They had to act quickly.  When the fish was almost to the boat, Trevor yells out to Andee, 'put on the gloves!', referring to the cut-resistant gloves that Trevor had just acquired for their fishing trip.  These gloves are worn by Millwrights to protect their hands from machinery and workplace accidents, so they were legit.  With the gloves on and the fish in sight, Andee tries his best to get the monster onto the boat without the use of a net.  However, with the line wrapped around the fish close to the gills, there was no safe way for Andee to pick it up from the water.  Their suspicions from the beginning were confirmed - this was a muskie!  Known as the fish of 10,000 casts, this elusive fish is quite rare to catch.  There was no way they were about to lost this fish.  So, as a last ditch effort to bring the fish aboard, Andee trusted the cut-resistant gloves, grabbed the fish by the mouth, and brought it onto the boat.  The men had won this round!  In their boat was a monster muskie - the catch of a lifetime!  The muskie was 32 inches long, 14 inches in girth, and estimated at about 15 pounds.  How did our boys feel about this catch?  As stated by Andee and Trevor, 'Best night of fishing Ever!'

Wondering about Andee's fingers?  The muskie's razor sharp crocodile teeth were able to cut through the cut resistant gloves, and the fish punctured Andee's thumb when he brought it in the boat.  Was it worth it?  From the bleeding hand and mouth of the angler, a resounding 'Yes!'  As evidence of their endevor, the bloody 'cut-resistant' glove from the ordeal.  Can I get a 'not guilty?!

We did actually do some other things that didn't involve the lake and fishing this week.  Although, a whole week of cottage the the lake would be pretty great!  The Aldridge family visited one of our favourite nature trails, Lynde Shores, to feed the animals!  We fed saw squirrels, chipmunks, Canada geese, ducks, and lots of birds!  A beautiful, sunny June day in Ajax!

We also tried out a crazy milkshake and ice cream place in Oshawa called Hollywood Cones.  To put it in perspective, my milkshake was topped with two nutella-filled donuts, and Cassie's Reece Peanut Butter cups and cookies!  Dave and Arielle also joined us for the experience!  The shakes proved to be disgustingly delicious!

We also celebrated Father's Day with both the Aldridge and the Luke Families, as well as visiting my grandparents to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary!  We visited the chip truck on multiple occasions with Cassie and Trevor, and enjoyed some delicious Dim Sum with Carol and Bill, as well as lots of other delicious 'Canadian' cuisine!  So many wonderful things to celebrate with our families and friends!

And let's not forget Miss Vera!  Aside from the horrible car rides there and back, Vera quite enjoyed being both a cottage and a house cat, especially now that we have an upgraded bed (as opposed to a single person futon for the two of us) and an upgraded room (to fit the bed!)  She warmed up to Cassie, Trevor and my Mom pretty quickly, and eventually warmed up to 'the big, scary man' (Dad).  Many a snuggle was had in Canada!

Canada Round Two!  Always a treat to be in Canada in the summer, and spend some time at the cottage and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.  Until next time, Canada!