We Made It! First Leg of Trip: Michigan to Wyoming

After a two days of packing and driving we made it to my brother's place in Sheridan, WY! Tuesday morning Liz and I awoke nervous, and a little anxious, after four months, our final day of loading up and moving had finally arrived. Peering out the window we found a soft blanket of snow covering the ground. The moving company was set to deliver a 28' trailer to Liz's parents house sometime in the morning, and shortly after 9, I met it on the street as the driver struggled up the slick snowy hill. I warned the driver of the challenge he faced, backing the trailer down a long wooded driveway with a tricky curve just before reaching the garage. He plodded down the driveway slowly, getting out of his truck, inspecting, hopping back in. After repeating these steps multiple times he made it to the curve, and quickly discovered the challenge. The trailer came inches within at tree, snagged a cable line in the air, and spun his tires. Dave and I scrambled out of the way as we envisioned the cable snapping and coming at us like a whip.

Intelligently, the driver bailed, and ended up parking the trailer a little ways away from the house. It was a longer walk in the snowy conditions, but we made it work, and by early afternoon we were packed and set to go. Liz and her mother were on one end in the house, helping mastermind the operation. I'm not sure if you would consider them the little angels on your shoulder or... but they were there to remind us "that one's fragile!" Although we were limited to 8' of trailer space, it all fit! Dave was a huge help, finding ways to rig up dining room chairs and bikes with rope and bungee cords.

It was great to stay busy the whole day, keeping us distracted form the reality of having to say goodbye. I am consistently amazed at how blessed Liz and I are to have such amazing parents. The whole process of moving has been made so much easier because of their love and support, and this in turn also made it more difficult to leave. I would like to specially acknowledge both moms, aka Team Momma Bear. By the time we left we had in our car enough supplies to keep us fed and warm for a week-long blizzard. Liz and I had to quickly abandon the two bags for the snacks we had set out, and grabbed a laundry basket. Even though we had enough beef jerky, trail mix, treats, etc. to feed a small army, the first question my mom asked me as we neared Sheridan... "have you been hungry?" Before we left she also bought us what looked like a paint can, and was full of "survival candles" and matches. It seemed kind of silly at the time, but as night fell in western South Dakota I began to be much more appreciative. The darkness surrounded us like a dense fog, no moon light, star light, very few cars, and even the hundreds of Wall Drug billboards failed to have lights. As the roads got a little messy I made a mental note to thank Team Mom.

I'm going to skip some of the other details of our trip because you can find them on Liz's blog, but I thought I might include some info that she didn't.

Discoveries/Conclusions I have made since traveling with my beautiful wife...
- Never allow her to have a hand in choosing audio books. I should have know better after a Honeymoon plagued by Nicholas Sparks, and this trip' choice has the title of Friends, Lovers and Chocolate.
- Cheese and Reese's peanut butter cups make a very happy wife.
- I get very bored in the passenger seat, which leads me to clean, fidget, and be kind of a pest. (in her own words)
- Multiple blankets and pillows are needed for a happy wife. As we left from Chris' place in Chicago she quickly became unrecognizable in a nest of anything warm and fuzzy she could find.

So far, the plan is to leave for Langley Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, hopefully making it there for my first YL staff meeting. We can't wait to get to our new home, and I'm beyond excited to start working for YL.  More updates to come next week...

Introduction to My Life With Young Life

Hi All! In January my wife, Liz, and I will be moving to Langley, BC in order to fill an area director position with Young Life. After getting married and graduating this past spring, in order of importance of course, I felt that I was being called into youth ministry. As a volunteer leader with YL for several years, I decided to pursue the unique mission of YL full-time. Since the spring, God has provided for Liz and me in Kalamazoo, and has blessed us with an incredible opportunity in Canada! As we move to a new country, across the continent, I felt that writing a blog would be a great way of keeping everyone in the loop.

For those of you that don't know where Langley is you can check out this map. Our new home town is in the Lower Mainland area of BC, a.k.a. Fraser Valley. Vancouver is slightly NW of Langley, and the next largest city, Seattle, is a couple hours South. At O Ave. in Langley, all that marks the US - Canada border is a small ditch. It might be difficult to see, but the bottom of the picture is the border, and Langley is the second area from the right (West).

For the other half of you that are unfamiliar with where I am from in the mitten state, check out the map below. I grew up with my family in Howell, inbetween Lansing and Detroit. Then in 2006 I moved to Kalamazoo (SW Michigan) so that I could become a student at Western Michigan University.

 Thanks for following my journey with Young Life in Langley, BC! Once I get there in the new year I will be posting weekly on the happenings of YL, and my work as the area director.

Our New Apartment!

Although the main goal of my trip was to start meeting the kids and adults involved with YL, I was also hoping to find a solid place for Liz and I to live. My mom has labeled us as "gypsies" the past few months, and for good reason considering since our wedding we've lived in three different apartments. Although our wandering has been a little stressful, God has been taking care of us, making sure we have a place to stay. Thankfully, fellow newlyweds Pat and Andrea Regan have allowed us to hang out in there spacious basement. Its been fun, but to say that we are ready for a place of our own is an understatement. For those of you who are from Michigan, finding an apartment in Langley is somewhat different. For starters, apartment cost skyrockets in comparison, especially for those of us who are used to the high standard of student housing. Also, most apartments that are available are in the form of a basement suite. A basement suite is where the owners of the home separate their lower level, and rent it out in order to help pay for the high cost of mortgage.

So, after scouring Craigslist and many tours of apartments, one of which contained the overpowering smell of hockey pads, we found a great place! Luckily Jonathan and Carmen were there with me (= rookie) throughout the process. They own a home building business, and also have experience in property management. I met the landlords, Alice and Wally, who were nice enough to let me take some pictures of the place--pictures that I could take home to Liz for her to look over. Carmen and I left with high hopes that the apartment would work out, but we continued to check out a few other suites. Even though they both warned me that it would probably be difficult to find good landlords, we found a few places with supportive Christian owners. 

After bringing home the pictures and looking them over with Liz, we decided that Alice and Wally's apartment was the place for us! We are so thankful that they are willing to hold the apartment until we move to Langley in January. Its a two bedroom apartment located on the ground level of the house. Here are some pictures from the outside and in:

This is a picture looking from the two bedrooms into the bathroom and kitchen. The rug in the lower right hand corner is in our living room. Although this picture doesn't really show it, there's quite a bit of wide open space that we get to fill. Another perk is a ton of storage space. We have multiple closets, and lots of empty cabinets to fill. Gotta have a place for the bikes and camping stuff, right?

The home that we will be staying at is located on a culdesac in the Murrayville neighborhood. It's the one to the right of the basketball hoop.

Once we move in and decorate I will definitely post more pictures of the apartment. Less than two months until we have our own place! 

Journey in the YL Van

In my most recent trip to Langley I had the privilege of exploring the area in the Young Life van. The van is a 15 - passenger monstrosity with a dark blue paint job, and Young Life logos plastered on all four sides. You can't miss the aluminum cargo box on top, which, at the time, was carrying a random bike just in case. No doubt it belonged to one of the YL kids, and was placed there to give me a good scare when I hit a bump, and the thud of the bike crashing back to the aluminum echoed through the roof. Anyways, I was really excited for the opportunity to drive around the area, and to kind of get myself used to the roads in Langley. I left my hosts' home, Dave and Christina's, around 9 with the goal of picking up the fundraiser programs from Staples, and then making my way to the Sonbuilt office to continue the search for an apartment. The day before Carmen helped me pick out a really nice looking map of Greater Vancouver. It was colorful, in book form (not one that had to be unfolded, and then folded again) and seemed to have everything from parks to shopping areas. With my sweet map, I hopped into the monster, and was off.

I kind of felt ridiculous leaving the driveway with 4 rows of of empty seats behind me, but oh well. My first mission was to reach Staples, and luckily I had been there before, so I at least began the day with a solid idea of where I was going and how to get there. I reached my first right turn, and after almost completing the turn, one side of the rear end rocks up and slams down. My first curb casualty of the day.  No big deal, I was used to driving large trucks with trailers attached when I worked at the cemetery and landscaping company. Just as I reminded my self that I could get used to the van, I gazed down at the speedometer and quickly moved my foot to brake. The gauge read 43 mph, and I was in a residential area. Immediately I began to wonder what would happen if I got a ticket in Canada? A few moments later I remembered I was going 43 kilometers per hour, which is just over 25 mph. Metric is weird.

After reaching Staples, I continued to my next destination, the Sonbuilt office. I had been there a couple of times before, but never driving myself. I knew that it was east into Aldergrove, but other than that I knew nothing. Its not fun to explore and can hardly be considered an adventure if you know all the details, right? I know its not manly to admit, but I got lost. Not just a little lost, I lost my bearings for a solid 3 hours. I saw the same intersection multiple times, drove past the same city workers on a few occasions, found some cool curvy roads, gawked at the mountains to the north, but never got remotely close to the office. Probably the most embarrassing part is that people began to recognize me, then again who wouldn't notice a monster van with logos spread on every flat area.

After burning through a lot of gas, and asking for directions at a variety of locations, I stumbled into the office parking. Although it took me over four hours to complete a trip that should have been less than one, it was a success. I definitely got used to driving the ginourmous van, learned more about the roads/areas of Langley, trained my brain to accept metric, and took some cool pictures!

When Liz and I were both in Canada in August there was a solid curtain of cloudy smoke covering the mountains. Suprisingly, August is very dry and there are many forest fires, leaving the horizon hidden. Outlines were barely visible, but Jonathan and Carmen promised they were there. Yeah they were! As I was blundering around Langley I took many pictures to bring back and show off.

This is Mt. Baker in Washington. It dominates the horizon when driving SE out of Langley on the Trans-Canada highway.

Here's a picture of the Fraser River, which is the northern border of Langley Township, and the Golden Ears Mountains hanging out behind the fall foliage.

Trip to Langley and First Club

Liz and I are very blessed that the immigration paperwork was processed as quickly as it was, thanks to Grant (regional director for Fraser Valley) and the Canadian government. My LMO (paperwork that shows I am the best fit for the job) was approved by Immigration Canada the week just before the dessert fundraiser. So, from the date that I was offered the job in August, to the day that we were accepted, it was only two and half months! Nothing compared to a Scotsman hired by Young Life that has been attempting to immigrate for a couple of years.

After hearing that Liz and I are cool enough to become Canucks, the committee chair and his wife (Jonathan and Carmen) rushed to get me to Langley for the fundraiser. The search for the cheapest possible flights began only a few days beforel I needed to depart. Airfare from Detroit to Vancouver at the lowest hovered just below $1,000-- definitely a bummer, but after some more research I was able to find flights from Detroit to Seattle that were half the cost! And luckily, Seattle is only a few hours from Langley, which meant that I could hop on a bus, enjoy a view of the Sky Needle, and arrive in Canada, saving a solid chunk of money in the process.

I was so excited that I was about to be back in Langley, hanging out with the YL kids and leaders, as well as meeting many of the donors at the fundraiser. There was one exception to my enthusiasm.. Liz was stuck in Kalamazoo working at the library. Since getting married we haven't been split up for more than a night. I was crazy busy during my trip, which kept me distracted, and if you want to hear how Liz reacted you can check out her blog post at the "His, Hers & Ours" link to the right.

After my journey from Detroit, to Phoenix, to Seattle, to Langley, I arrived at Young Life club Monday night. You know you're at club when you pull up to find teenagers chasing/attacking each other (of course mostly boys) and others hanging out in the standard cluster of friends. I was so thankful that I could start meeting the club guys and girls, and see what YL club in Langley was all about. The kids were great, immediately I was invited into a game of Ninja with the guys.

The music was incredible! Brendan, Whitney, and Connor jammed as the rest of us sang ridiculously loud and danced around the room. Man was I relieved to see that there were guys and girls who were able to help out with music because I'm not sure if I have a musical bone in my body. Singing and dancing are no problem, especially at club where every shape and form of either is perfect, but playing an instrument is something different. I couldn't even play the recorder in 4th grade all that well.

After some music, games and introductions, Darryl stood up to give a talk on an intro to faith. He reminded everyone that every day you live a life of faith, regardless of whether or not you label yourself as a Christian. People have faith that their cars are going to start in their morning, or the apple they eat for lunch will taste like an apple. He dubbed it the 'fapple' or faith-apple. Luckily I eat a 'fapple' (gala are the best) everyday, reminding me what it means to have faith. I'm looking forward to January when I can be at club every week!