What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday everyone!  I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving how great this week has started!

I'm loving that Stephan's new Social Insurance Number came in the mail on Monday...it makes it that much more official that he is now going to be here permanently.

I'm loving the care package I received from my parents on Monday, full of goodies like spices for baking, chocolate, a purple scarf and coffee, plus a really nice note from them :)

I'm loving the cute new collar I got for Anna yesterday (forgive the photo, she wouldn't hold still for me, this is the best I could get by holding her down)

weekend recap

This weekend was busy!

I was still sick all during the week, fighting a cold into the weekend.  I also had had a headache since Wednesday that would NOT go away. 

Friday after dinner I just crashed.  I had tried everything to get rid of the headache, and my throat killed (I was losing my voice), so I just slept until I needed to drop Stephan off to meet a friend.  I watched Coyote Ugly, and than back to bed for me.

Saturday was busy!  In the morning I had a music seminar at our congregation in Chestermere, which went until noon followed by lunch.  After that, I headed back to Calgary do flowers for the church altar at my congregation.  By the time I finished everything and got home it was 4pm.  Which left just enough time to finish the dinner in the slow cooker (that I had started in the morning before I left).  I spent Saturday getting some stuff done for work, so that I could concentrate on my course on Sunday.

Sunday was church, followed by a long nap because I was exhausted, AND, it was the first day since Wednesday that I DIDN'T have a headache!  I spent the rest of the night getting research done for my assignments in my course. Woohoo, FUN.  Not so much.  I have 2 essays due, small ones, but I'm struggling to pinpoint the main idea of the essays.  Hopefully I can soon, because I'd like to finish them by the end of the weekend.

Here are some pics of the altar flowers I did:

Happy Friday!

Well, I don't have much to report for this week, nothing really exciting or out of the norm. Except that Stephan was scheduled to work in Calgary this week, so he was home every night, which was a nice treat for us. :)

My "not feeling well" from last weekend dragged into this week. I started to feel exhausted and low on energy Tuesday, and on Wednesday when I woke up I started to lose my voice again. But my energy was good, so I thought "Ok, maybe the cold is over and the voice is just an end result", because I felt good all day. And then yesterday...not so much. Yesterday was hard, I was feeling exhausted, sore and tired by the end of the day. I debated about not going into work today, and resting, but I decided to drag my butt into work and finish the week.

This weekend will be busy though, I have to get a lot of work done on my course, finish researching for my essays and start my essays. I also have some things for church on Saturday: a music seminar in the morning, and doing flowers for the altar after that. But Sunday should be not so busy, maybe a nap is planned for then??

What are your plans for the weekend?

Weekend Recap

This weekend wasn't too eventful.

Friday night was quiet, we stayed in and watched some TV and I worked a bit on my course.  Like I said, not exciting at all.

Saturday I slept in until 9am, which for me is quite late.  I think I would have slept in longer, but Anna was demanding her breakfast at that point.  We made some eggs for breakfast, and I got a little cleaning done around the house while Stephan started the laundry (can I mention that I LOVE that Stephan does the laundry....because I really hate folding it).  I had been struggling with a headache on and off since Wednesday, and it was bothering me again Saturday morning so after I finished cleaning I layed down for a short nap, and than woke up and got ready to go out for St. Patty's day/Stephan's friend's birthday.  We were at an Irish pub, we went quite early (3pm) because of how busy it was.  I didn't stay too late, until about 8pm, only long enough to have a drink, some food and socialize.  What was really nice about Saturday was a friend showed up who I hadn't seen in AGES, and who was supposed to be working up north in Fort McMurray until Thursday but got off for the weekend last minute.  I was so excited to see her, and even more excited to find out she has 10 days off now (she usually works 10, and then is off for 4), so we made plans to get together this weekend.  I left the pub, did some grocery shopping and headed home.  Stephan stayed longer at the pub.  I spent the rest of my night working on my course,

Sunday morning was church, I was called last minute to play for the choir (we rotate between me and another organist), as the organist scheduled had to cancel.  I did a few errands after church, including some shopping for myself - I had wanted some new tank tops, but couldn't find any.  I did, however, get 2 really nice tops on clearance for $9 combined, and splurged on a nice scarf to wear with them.  I was really tired again, had another headache, so I took a long nap in the afternoon.  After dinner I did more of the same...studying and watching some TV.

And that was it!  How was your weekend?

And now, catching up with the rest....

Saturday I slept in a bit while Stephan went out for coffee with a friend from work. We didn't do too much, I did some groceries to prepare for Monday (I was having a staff meeting at my house, we made it a German-night and so I had lots of cooking to do), as well as some cleaning. We had some spaghetti for dinner, and watched a couple of movies .Sunday I had church, and the rest of the day was spent finishing the last of the cleaning. I did some baking for Monday, and rolled the rouladen so they were ready to go. I got some work done for church, and some work done on my course. Monday was BUSY. I was opening the school so I could get out earlier in order to get home and cook the rest of the food. So that meant I started at 7am, PLUS I had to also drop Stephan off downtown at his work. I was up before 5am, so that I could brown the rouladen in the pan, make the gravy and get it all in the slow cooker. I finished work at 4, and headed home....I still had Maultaschen soup, spaetzle noodles, potatoes and a salad dressing to make. It was a lot of work, but all in all everything turned out great. They all loved the food, and there was barely any left overs for Stephan. The ONLY reason there was some left is one of the girls had a pipe burst in her apartment, and was unable to make it.

The rest of the week is just catching up on studying...I started my next course this month, but the beginning of March was so busy that I just got a little behind. There's no exam for this course, but that just means the assignments are going to be a lot more work. Which is fine with me, I always do better on assignments than exams. :)

Trip to the border

WOW, things have been crazy busy since Friday!  Let's get you updated a bit!

Friday I finished work around noon, picked Stephan up and we started the 3 hour drive down the border.  Everything worked fine, we got the confirmation letter stamped and signed, along with his passport and his new PR card should be arriving in the mail in 8-12 weeks.  So its official, he's here permanently and he can't be sent back to Germany. WOOHOO!

I should note that on the drive to the border, there were wind warnings of 100km/h + !!  It was VERY windy.  Stephan had been creeping up on the speed every once in awhile, and I was uncomfortable (from my back when I fell down the stairs the weekend before) and sitting on two pillows, one underneath my butt, and one behind my back (everybody should drive like that, its so comfortable).   I had been warning Stephan to slow down SEVERAL times. 
 .......well, guess what happened?  That's right, we got pulled over.  The cop walks up to the car, sees its not me behind the wheel and makes a comment.  Turns out Stephan was going 28km over the speed limit (see, I warned him!!!).  He started asking us where we were going in such a hurry, and we explained the situation.  Than he just started chatting, asked us where we came from, when we moved from Ontario, why Stephan left Germany (duh, ME!), how long we've been together, etc.  He told us about how he and his wife left Eastern Ontario and moved out here.  Then he looked over at me, asked what book I was reading and started suggesting other books by a different author on the same topic.  He stops mid-sentence, looks at me again and asks "What's with the pillows???!"  And so I had to explain to the cop why I have pillows.  And with that, he told me to be Stephan's cruise control, told Stephan to slow down and let us go.

WEIRDEST conversation with a cop. 

We got back to Calgary around dinner time and celebrated by going to the Keg. And me, not liking any of the seafood or chicken options on the menu, ordered and ate my first steak in 14 years.  And I liked it, it was just a lot to handle for my poor tummy.  (Just to make clear, I liked steak I just didn't like hamburger or anything else, so I cut it out along with the rest).  I'd eat it again.  Steak the odd time, or a pot roast.  But I still wouldn't go back to eating it all the time, and I still have no desire to eat hamburger.  But that's another story for another day.

BIG relief for both of us that this immigration process is over. :)

PR card Friday!

Tomorrow is the day. I finish work at 11:30 so that we can drive 3 hours down to the U.S border to get Stephan's permanent residence approval letter stamped, and get his PR card in the mail. An appointment at the immigration office here in Calgary was a 6-8 week wait, and his letter is only good until the beginning of April. Plus, his work permit expires on March 19th so we need to get that letter stamped before that, or renew his work permit. So down to the border we go!

I spent the last few days obtaining and organizing the documents that we need for the border. I love the area down south where we will be driving, near Waterton Park (which I love, and I'm hoping we'll stop in at on the way home!!). But I'm also a little worried about how my very sore and bruised back will take the 6 hours of driving. Its much better than it was on Sunday, but its still not the most comfortable and very tender.

THAT being said, we are both VERY excited to have this ordeal over. Once we get that stamp, his PR card should arrive in the mail in 6-8 weeks. Finally!!

weekend recap

I know I'm a day late with this post again, but I had quite a bit of stuff to get done for work last night, so it kept me pretty busy.

Friday night was quiet. We stayed in, watched some TV. I baked a cake for Stephan's friend's birthday coming up the next day. Other than that, nothing exciting.

We met with our Lawyer Saturday morning to discuss the next steps. He gave us the official approval letter for his permanent residence, and we had two choices to get that letter stamped and get his PR card in the mail - 1.) we could phone the immigration office here in Calgary and make an appointment or 2.) we could drive 3 hours south to the border. Well, we tried the immigration office, but there is a 6-8 week wait and the problem with that is that they only gave us until April 3rd to get this approval letter stamped. Add to that that his work permit expires March 19th, and you can figure out pretty quickly that we can't wait that long. So we decided that on Friday, I will finish work at lunch and we will head down to the border and get it done right away.

After the lawyers, we stopped to pick up a present for Stephan's friend. Around 6, we headed to the party. For me, it was not so great. Getting changed in his friend's bedroom for the hot tub, I came out and fell down the stairs (which were wet). I gashed my elbow open pretty bad, and my back and butt are pretty bruised. HUGE bruises, I look like someone beat me with a baseball bat! :( And I was not the only victim of those stairs, 4 other people fell down them too. It's very painful right now, I bruised pretty deep I think. Sleeping is the worst, because its just sore everywhere. I can't sleep on my back. And sitting on the couch can get sore pretty quick. Sitting at the kitchen table is ok however! I'm hoping it gets better a little bit each day.

Understandably, Sunday was quiet for me. I took it easy, tried not to move around too much. I reviewed my materials for my next course, which is starting now. We watched some random movie we bought and took a chance on (Cyclops), which was disappointing. You win some, you lose some right? Sore and tired, I was in bed before 9.

Not my best weekend.

How was yours??

BIG NEWS!

We got word from our lawyer yesterday that Stephan's application for his Permanent Residence card has been approved!!! So we meet with the lawyer on Saturday, to go sign documents and to figure out what we have to do to get his card now.

YAY!! HUGE HUGE HUGE relief for both of us! We are both very happy and excited! :)