Spring is here!

Tomorrow is May, and spring is here! Weather is usually 10 degrees maybe more during the afternoon, and the sun is up until 7.30 pm. Nathan is doing some cleaning work at our apartment block for the next week or so which is keeping him very busy, and he is trying to do his audio course at night.
No new news about our house, except that we are working at getting the brickwork and a door-frame fixed ASAP.
We are currently looking for a new place to live come the end of May. We have a few leads and are asking around at the moment. We are looking forward to a bigger place!
On Sunday we had a baby shower/bbq which was heaps of fun, hosted by our friends Danielle and Tyler. It was guys and girls, and we had some fun with a role-playing game of getting to the hospital (girls playing the guys and vice versa).
I'm still healthy, getting bigger of course. Some afternoons I'm feeling pretty tired, so I may be back to having afternoon naps before too long. 11 weeks to go!

Nearly end of the year!

Nathan finishes next Thursday - his first year at Regent completed already! He handed in his paper on Exodus and Liberation today, and has 3 exams next week. After that, he will concentrate on finishing his New Testament audio course as well as probably looking for a summer job.

I won some free classes at a gym, and did my first one today. There wasn't a lot of choice of classes, so I ended up doing a class called "Group Power" which uses weights to work on the different muscle groups. So my arms are sore! I did feel a little weird starting a class at 6 months pregnant, but oh well, better now than 8 months I guess! I just used the lowest weights possible, and the instructor modified some exercises for me to compensate for my extra 'baggage' and the change in my muscles and balance.

The weather has been getting a little warmer (when the sun is out). Today I took my gym class outside and I didn't need a jumper! Yay! I was in direct sunlight and sheltered from breezes, but it was so nice. Nathan jumped at the chance to do some study outside in the sun. It's 7.30pm and the sun is starting to set. The cherry blossom trees are all in bloom and are gorgeous. So we hope spring really is here to stay.

We're still trying to organise our house back home at the moment, but we need to wait on some quotes/reports before we make any more decisions. We've really been seeing God provide for us financially, and we are so thankful for his care and for the peace he has given us.

Happy April Fools

Today is April Fools day and the day I start back to work. 12.5 weeks to go til school is finished for summer break (leaving me about 3 weeks til my due date). Nathan has 3 weeks left til his finals are done, then will continue on with his audio course and one spring course til June. We had 'freak' snow/hail on the weekend (as in it took everyone by surprise), but hopefully there will be sunny days and slightly warmer weather this week. I have been lent some nice maternity clothes which is great, so I will have something to wear to work when it does warm up a little. Speaking of work, I really should go! We are still trying to get our laptop back from getting fixed under warranty, it seems to be taking a long time.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!
On Easter Sunday we went down to the beach for 5 baptisms - they were lucky to not get hypothermia, but what a wonderful way to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ! I'm sure it will be a memorable morning for those ladies :)
We've been out quite a bit this weekend sharing meals with friends, it has been a lot of fun! Easter Monday is not quite a public holiday, with classes still scheduled, however some places are closed.
We've had a mixed week leading up to Easter - the contract on our house was cancelled due to the building inspection, so that has caused us a bit of worry. We are looking into that at the moment and are thankful Nathan's parents are able to do some running around for us back home.
On Thursday night our laptop 'died', which leaves us without a computer or phone at home. So we're sorry if we seem a little rude in the next week or so! We are trying to check email everyday, and the laptop is under warranty, however we still will have lost quite a few files. Nathan said it has helped him to get lots of Hebrew done though, as it is something that he can do without a computer!

Another birthday

Well, Friday was my birthday and an interesting day it was! I got a lovely call from my sister Beth on Thursday morning (Friday AM her time), which unfortunately got disconnected after about 15 seconds... :( And I got to talk to my mum that night.

Friday was last day of school before holidays, and my school sang to me which was nice! 3.10pm and Nathan and I were driving to Burlington, WA for the last weekend of our Exodus and Liberation class. I got such a beautiful surprise when we got there, because Leisel had brought coloured streamers and balloons which she and Courtney decorated my chair with. The class sang to me, and Thera had brought cake and candles. A surprise party! :) I really appreciated the thoughtfulness because I am missing my family a lot at the moment.

We stayed an extra night and went shopping most of Sunday, stocking up on great Target clothes bargains.
Many thanks to Grovely Young Adults for the birthday video (click here to see it), it was great to 'see' you all!! Was that Kathy that I saw in the background?

So now two lovely weeks of vacation to look forward to!

Goodbye to our House in Petrie

Well, after a lot of thought, calculations, prayer and advice, we decided to put our house in Petrie on the market. We've decided that we are staying in Vancouver for Nathan to finish his Masters at Regent College, and the rising interest rates in Australia were causing us some concerns. The house was put on the market one week ago, and we have just signed a contract! We praise God for providing our lovely house, however we also thank Him that we could use that investment as a way to invest in studying God's word. The sale will be unconditional come the end of March, with settlement in early May.

Mareesa is finalising report card comments and marks this week, and will be glad when the stress is over. Nathan is progressing well on this term's assignments, and has just written an interesting paper on "The Metaphysics of the Trinity: Bridging the gap between faith and reason". Maybe he'll summarise it and put it on the blog one day! Our weekend series on Exodus and Liberation continues to provide food for thought, and we have our last segment on the 14th/15th of March. Nathan needs to write a 15-20 page paper on a topic of his choice from Exodus by the end of term for that one.

Last week we applied for a position as residential deans at a Christian residence on campus, however we won't hear back until the end of April regarding shortlisting and a second interview. Should we be successful, it would provide discount accommodation and benefits right near Regent, and a small salary which would be very helpful with Mareesa finishing work in June.

20 week ultrasound

Here is a pic from our ultrasound this morning! It is a profile of the baby's head and chest. You can see its left ear, nose, and an eye socket. The bubbles above are the umbilical cord. There may be an arm stretched up beside the head (at the bottom). We had a second picture which we had to get explained, but it looks a little scary as it is the baby's skull (bird's eye view).
We didn't find out the baby's sex - although we were still deciding in the hospital room! I'm not sure if I will regret it, but it is too late now (unless we pay $100 to have another scan).
It's almost Spring break for Mareesa (2 weeks off), with report cards looming. Nathan is keeping very busy having to learn Hebrew at 1000% of the rate of last semester. This weekend we are off to Washington State again for the 2nd installment of our Exodus and Liberation class.
Here is another pic taken last week :)