Is this thing still working? I thought I had lost my account forever...I guess we shall see. What I should be asking is, will I be charged for using this? lol Jode

Yes, you are right, it has been a much longer time than usual. Lets see, my last post was about 6 months ago, and although I can't guarantee that posts will become as common as they used to be, I shall endeavor to do one once a year. Ha, yeah I know, keeping those expectations low. But if on the other hand you feel that I should give the blog up altogether please drop me a comment saying so. Life as I'm sure you can imagine has been very busy. You are likely aware that I became Jody Hackett as of the 22nd of May (if you haven't seen any pictures go here http://freezingtimephotographyblog.com/?p=299 ). Life before the wedding was full of wedding planning, work and, more importantly, Mitchell. Life after the wedding included a honey-moon, and the weekly ritual of getting our lives in order and, still more importantly, Mitchell. :)

I'm happy to report that life has slowed down a little, even allowing me the leisure time to sweep my floors at home. :D

As for the long awaited details of Italy, I shall try to recount some of the highlights.

It was a very looong flight, with very short, and mostly uninteresting entertainment. I was very happy to have company for the trip, as most of my flights had been alone up until that point. Mitch read to me, and we listened to music on his IPOD and entertained ourselves the best we could. I even managed to sleep. Our layovers were brief for the most part, with the longest one being in Ontario, which gave us enough time to switch from Air Canada to Alitalia. We got to hear all of our flight details and instructions in Italian, peppered with thickly accented English from then on. I think it was then that we realized that although we had learned a little conversational Italian, keeping up with the speed, variety and mumbling would be a challenge. Not to mention the challenge of being able to recognize your own name being called for boarding, when it's pronounced entirely different, cutting out some of the sounds, like "J", altogether.

I suppose it's kinda obvious to say that we made it there in one piece, although we had to wait around for over an hour in Genoa because one of our bags decided to take a later flight. We found lunch in the mean while, picked up the bag and caught a train to Spotorno, where we stayed for the duration of our trip (other than day trips). We used monasterystays to book our lodgings. Our hosts were the friendliest people we met our entire trip, and that is saying something. There was a language barrier, but with the help of charades, our mini conversational Italian dictionary, and google translator we managed to get by. We mainly had to satisfy ourselves with the simple niceties such as good-day and so on. There were a few oddities we discovered while in Italy. For instance, people in Spotorno do not own washing machines, they use a wash board or send their dirties the the launderer who would return them clean. Another thing was that they go shopping for their food pretty much every day. We discovered this by the fact that if someone owned a fridge it was no bigger than apartment sized.

Next, I shall cover the day trips we took..but I have run out of time, for I must away to work.

To be Continued...

Jode

Life has been rolling smoothly along. I know, for those of you who are not on my facebook account, you likely thought I was dead. As for the rest of you, you would know that I am engaged to Mitchell, and thus my long absence would only seem natural. I decided from the get go not to have a wedding blog, as blogging about every detail would probably take just as long as it took to choose every detail. These days just getting my laundry done is a challenge. We choose how to spend our time, and for the most part I think I've chosen wisely...hmm, more time with Mitchell, or a blog post..that's a hard one. :P

God is good every day, I do not think I can feel it more than I have lately. He has provided for me in every way I have needed, and pretty much have ever wanted. I suppose the only thing lacking is an even deeper gratitude of all of His mercies upon me. So yes, I have a wonderful fiance who I love deeply, wonderful future parent-in-laws, a wonderful church family that would be closer to me than my own, if my own family members were not members of the same bride of Christ. Even all of the small details have and are coming together..we've set the date for May 22, we've procured dresses at a great price, suits, a building, invitations, and flowers, food and photography are in the works.

God is amazing.

Cheerio,

Jode

Tiss fall so I deemed it safe to put up a new post. I guess I've dropped from once a month to quarterly installments, but I figured I should use it or lose it as the lame saying goes. What is new to my life since my last post? I guess the first major deviation from the "plan" was my remaining in Edmonton instead of returning to a year of books in Prince. I had many a debate over which course of action to take but the doors seemed to open and close to a satisfactory conclusion, resulting in peace of mind, garnished with a sprig of happiness. :)
I was able to keep my job, which has worked out really well thus far, as they were short staffed and I was soon to be short..jobbed? I am currently working to assist a group of maternity doctors, and I generally enjoy my work, albeit, Friday nights are always welcome. There is something to be said about resetting the clock every week. You get to start almost all over again, and you have a chance to adjust and jump back in.
I am now a bona-fide member of the congregation here in town. I don't know if I can find words that are able to express how very, very thankful I am, and how God has blessed me. His mercies last forever, and His ways are past finding out.
Next weekend I'm going to be taking a trip back to PG for a week in order to do some packing/visiting, after which I shall return to Edmonton with Mark and B for the fall conference where we shall enjoy hearing Dr. Murray speak on Leviticus.
And courtship? I'm staying aren't I? I think that would indicate how that is going in and of itself.
And if you somehow missed it, I am an Auntie again! Shawn and Tammy had their little boy last week. He was soon after dubbed Shawnie Fransisco Jr XII Anderson. Er...Simeon Grant Anderson. :D

Now it's off to bed, off to bed..

Jode

Wow, I didn't even realize that I haven't blogged since May. Well, I shall remedy that now. It may be hard to account for everything that has passed in the last couple of months, but I shall try to start from where I left off. :)

I applied for work, I believe that is the starting point. And thanks be to God, who gives us all that is needful, that I obtained employment at a medical clinic in town. I actually applied through a member of the church here, thinking that the likelihood of my being hired was slim. My work isn't quite one to one with what I did in clinical, but I have obtained a large range of experiences that include much of the paperwork side of things, as well as dealing with patients who aren't in emergency, hospital, or long term care settings. I started on the switch board, just putting calls to the caller's desired location. It was a great way of learning who was who with all of my co-workers. From there I learned to sort faxes, attach documents to patients' charts, and then I worked for, and have continued to work for, a range of doctors, filling in for, or helping out, the regular nurses/assistants that work for them. Lots of weights, heights, calls, messages, requisitions, patients in, patients out, results, medications, tests, bookings with the old, the young, and the pregnant. So that is my work in a nutshell. :) And my experience as also shown me that there are a lot of nice doctors in the world, at least if you consider that the clinic I work for has over 40 of them, and I haven't met a mean one yet, not that I've worked with them all...

I've been spending a fair deal of time with the H's as they prepared to, and eventually moved from the house they have been renting for the last few years. Lots of cleaning, packing, planting, and prep work. Which leads to the more note worthy news of my courtship with Mitchell H. No, this wasn't my motive for helping out, but it certainly didn't hurt anything. :) So that is new as of nearly two weeks ago, although it feels like it has been longer as time appears to have wings.

Other news, Dor and Jord just returned last night from a camping trip...and all the kids are still alive, a sign of a successful adventure. Not sure if Dor will live through all of the aftermath, but she is a trooper.

I've truly enjoyed the fellowship of the church here this summer, and feel very blessed in having the opportunity of getting to know everyone better.

Well after such a general post is another summer update really needed? We shall see. :)

The trip out to the camp we were staying at was almost as much of a challenge as finding it. Lets just say that after two days of driving, somewhere around 15 hours in total, both Levi and Natie had had their fill. Their cups were overflowing.....with tears. And no tears in their state could come free from whines. They howled, and as Dor tried to stay focused upon staying on the twisted string of a road, I tried to con Natie into at least a temporary silence so that we could both focus on not missing our turn. I was unsuccessful, but we thankfully didn't miss our turn, and were flagged down by Calvin, who was waiting for us at the end of the drive. I could have kissed the ground when I got out, but the smidge of better sense that I possess restrained me.

Now to the more condensed account.

Manda and her kids were able to come out that afternoon/evening (Josh was also able to join us more towards the evening), and even provided us with food. :D All of the cousins were drawn automatically to the course gravel drive and busied themselves with making roads, piles, and just playing with the dirt in general. This was the boy's number one occupation the entire stay, followed by their natural propensity to wrestle, ie dog pile each other. The girls alternately busied themselves between war and peace. Most of them (Natie, Addie, Lydia, and Geneva and Emmie somewhat) are at a territorial age when it comes to dolls, and doll equipment. The camp owner also keeps two horses, so the girls picked handfuls of grass to feed them. The next day I presented the kids with bubbles and a number of blowers. That kept some of them busy all day.

The last day of M and B's stay we all went into town and spent the afternoon bowling. The kids loved it, and what adult can complain when they're playing in a bumper lane. Manda took hoards of pictures, so hopefully some of those turned out.
Then we went to a very pretty park were we ate an early dinner and the kids played on the sets, and where Calvin fell in the river. He was retrieved, all was well. :)

Tam, Dor, her kids, and I returned to the camp for one more evening. Manda came out again and after lunch we all headed to the local dollar store to pick up traveling bribes...er amusements for Nat and Amos. Then we were off to Spokane, where Tam was to fly out from on Tuesday.

After Tuesday, and Tam's departure, Dor and I were headed back to Edmonton. We again took the trip in two days. For the most part it was uneventful, as we didn't lose our way anywhere, but a portion of narrow road was not the most friendly with its blowing snow. We made it back to Edmonton late in the afternoon, and began the process of unpacking.

Now I'm attempting to obtain a summer position as a nursing assistant here in Edmonton. And if the Lord wills that I do obtain one, my summer will be set out for me.

TTFN,

Jode

PS I shall attempt to post a couple of Dor's pictures of our trip in the near future.

The trip to Idaho was by no means a short one, but it was nice to be able to take a road we've never traveled. We did have some minor hang ups in Calgary, as we missed our turn, but we completely blame it on inadequate road signs...which in my experience is a common problem. But yes, that takes care of all of the self-inadequacy issues that would otherwise croup up. :D Yes, I can read a map..no I cannot read what is not written there. I find it kinda of funny how the driver is typically the one with the best idea of where they are (cuz hey, they are the one paying attention!) yet they are also the least able to look at the map when needed. Thus the one who was not paying such keen attention is brought back to reality to see if they can locate some kinda of make due turn to get them back to good... when in truth they are not entirely sure where they even are. A somewhat daunting task. :) I consoled myself with the fact that we were able to experience more of the city instead of letting the opportunity pass us by. From Calgary it was smooth sailing. We went through mountains, and mountains, and more mountains, and saw wildlife, and wildlife, and more wildlife, and made it all the way to Cranbrook in one day. That actually isn't saying much considering that google maps said that we should have been there hours ago.

But what we the kids doing all of this time? Well, one of my sides got a nice work out, as I reached back to appease Nattie with pretty much whatever I could get my hands on that would interest her. Amos was pretty satisfied with his books and trucks for most of the distance, and really only required reaching help. Levi periodically took naps, cried, was fed, played with, and changed in the ridged, systematic fashion that most destination travelers try to take. By a destination traveler I mean those who travel for the end, not for the sake of the journey. On a couple occasions we tried to momentarily divert/exhaust the kids by letting them out to run around. But 2 minutes outside in the gusty mountain air was about as much as this wimp could take. We also tried to do this for meals, but those or us with long hair tended to spend the meal eating hair with our food.

The next day we made it to the US of A, and had to adjust to speaking of states instead of provinces, and driving in MPH instead of KPH, and spending green cash instead of, well you know, colored money.

Driving through ID was quite pleasant, and I for one was glad to get out of the chilly mountains. Beautiful farm land. We were surprised when we looked down from the road on the giant bluffs to Lewiston below, no one had informed us of it's beauty, with it's huge lumpy hills and winding rivers. Nor did anyone inform us of how big it was, or how many dead-ends and one-ways it has..this would have been useful information. :D Needless to say, we had a very inferior map, and neither Dor or I knew where our turn was this time. We ended up in a graveyard. Who knew gas stations were so hard to find, if they had even carried local maps. We put our brains together, which didn't amount to much. Hey, I would like to see you try, whoever you are that would laugh at our plight. We were lost with three children who equated slow speeds and lostness with crying and screaming. It was like being on reality TV...fear factor. We obviously found our way out or I would not be writing this account, I would be trying to figure out how to create a fire using a granite headstone and a stick.

To be continued again

Hey ho. I'm sure that I have much to post about, and thus I sit down to do so. I am currently writing to my blog from Edmonton..where I sit, but how did I get here? As of the beginning of this year Mark and B had been working to hatch plots involving a trip down to Idaho to visit with Manda. I tried to tune this out as much as possible at the time to avoid disappointment in the case that they were to travel while I was yet in school. At the same time Shawn and Tam were still in Washington, and so the hope was that they would be able to remain there till after Mark and B took the trip---the more the merrier you know. :) It at one point looked like Jord and Dor might even be able to make it down. Thus making it at least four of us girls present, so I held my breath for my finals to be over.

It just so happened that Mark would able to wrap everything up that he needed to four days after my last final, so it looked promising. At the same time, however, Shawn had been unable to extend their stay in WA, and Jord's plans had also been foiled. The day after my last final I found out from Tam, who had just driven all the way to MI, that she was willing to fly back to ID, if we girls were all going to be there. So we called Dor to see if there was any way she would be able to make it, but traveling alone with three little kidlets is a daunting task for any superhero..and Dor was sane enough to know it. :) Three days before take off, and two days after finals, it had been decided that I would take a bus to Edmonton the day before Mark and B were scheduled to leave in order to assist Dorry.

I took the night bus on Monday, which enabled me to be here at a little after 8:00 am. We had to wait a little while for Levi's birth certificate to come in, but all is well that ends well, we departed around noon. Ok, this is off topic, but is all well that ends well? I think not, as it seems to be the same as saying the end justifies the means. But regardless of that, we were headed to ID.

To be continued

Hello, hello,

I had a wonderful Lord's day, which has been further cheered by the fact that I don't have school tomorrow, that I only have two days of classes left, and that by the end of this week I shall only have two finals remaining. One year down, three more to go. However, telling you about school wasn't my intention for blogging, I wanted to post a link to this audio of Richard Ganz on Self-esteem. I've been here and there listening to his book Psychobabble: The Failure of Modern Psychology & The Biblical Alternative. It had been helpful, as well as interesting, after going through another psychology course, sometimes it's hard to know what to do with all of the babble. :)

Here is Levi's baby quilt, which I shall hopefully drop in the mail today. :)

Another proof that Geneva can sleep anywhere. She was looking out the window waiting for the S's to arrive, but between seeing them and them getting to the door she was out cold. She managed to stay there for over half an hour.





When Baillie is older she will wonder why she has neck pain. :)

Alrighty. Well I was going to upload some pictures from the camera as well, but I have yet to find the USB cord for the camera. It shall have to wait until I can ask Mark if he knows of its whereabouts.

TTFN

In case anyone missed it we had a new family member join us yeterday dark and early. :) So that makes another cute little nephew for me, and I can't wait to get my hands on more photos. Here are the details:

"The world has another sinner. At least he's a cute one! Levi Durham Dohms joined the burgeoning Dohms clan at 2 am on Saturday morning, the 24th. The labour went very smoothly and was just about the perfect duration between frantic and prolonged. He came in at 9 lb 5 oz, so well on his way to a good German build. We have all returned home this evening and will be taking it easy over the next few days. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. - Psalm 136:1

Jordan & Doralynne
Amos, Natalie, & Levi"

Hello, hello. Well didn't I say I would blog sometime? Funny, I thought I would during my break, but one thing led to another. I always feel that there is something else I have to do rather than gab on here. Of course, I also said to myself that after such and such an event or outing I would sit down and post. So yes, enough with excuses, here I am, stealing a moment from things that I really do need to do, but such is my method of keeping my sanity...I am going to take a break out and try to expound on the last few weeks of happenings.

After my finals I had hoped to do a lot more sleeping, but that was not to be the case anymore than normal. Other than that I had a great break, we were able to have a couple of families for dinner on different nights. I always enjoy conversing with reformed Christians; fellowship is sweet, and it is a great blessing when it is local as well. We've still been sorting out our lives in regards to our Lord's day and weekly fellowship, but God has been good and continues to provide for our needs.

I took some time to take the kids sledding with a few other children that I picked up and am happy to report that no one died, or was even seriously injured on the hill. Afterwards we were able to go to the W. for hot chocolate and snacks, and then it was time for drop off, and to return home. This was all on the 31st, so after dinner, B, the kids, and I were able to head out to the K. Where we enjoyed all sorts of finger foods and conversations, but we didn't say out until the new year...I don't think Lydia could have handled that..or Geneva for that matter. On the 1st I was able to go out to the D's where we watched Pride and Prejudice, the beautiful 6 hour version. :D I remembered to take the baby quilt that I've been working on, so it was both productive and enjoyable. After half of the movie, the D. girls and I went for a brisk walk and enjoyed plenty of laughs.

I shall have to post some pics of the baby quilt at some time as I'm really happy with how it has progressed, although my progress has lessened considerable since the end of last week thanks to school, which I'm not really grudging. :) I badly need to upload pictures of the kids as well, as I'm sure they have grown a ton since the last time I've posted some. Mark and B took some family ones at Sears, so perhaps when those get in I shall put one up.

I started school on the 5th, so one week down, a few months to go. Right now I'm busy trying to get my reading done as I would like to not fall behind this semester. And that is where I ought to be. Perhaps I'll post about my courses...at some point :D So far I'm quite happy with what I'm taking this semester. Alright, well I've been called for fw, so adieu for the present

PS Tam and Shawn found out they are expecting a baby, that was wonderful news to end 2008 with. Dor is due around the end of January, thus the baby quilt. :)

I just finished my last final for the semester, woohoo!! So that leaves just one Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder project to go, what I feeling of relief. Well, now I'm just dying to know how I did, as tonight was quite a toss-up as it was more challenging than the last midterm. It could have been good or bad, as there are always those variables. You know, the "did I understand properly?", did I go into enough depth, did I even give the right answer. But yes, at any rate I will be thankful that it is done and that despite what tests may show I have learned a lot in the process---God be thanked and praised. I simple love biology, although at the same time it can overwhelm, depending on how much depth it goes into how quickly. However, the more I learn the more I appreciate just how wonderfully we were created, and how the body is so organized, certainly nothing having to do with chaos or chance. :) Alright, well this isn't meant to be an exhaustive blog spot, just a tid bit of an update, so I had best go do some of my reading.

Cheerio,
Jode

The following is a quote by Ted Byfield that Milly sent to me; I thought it was worth sharing. :D And yes, I hope to be blogging again soon, sorry for the dry spell. :)

"...to believe anything at all is to believe it true. To believe something true is to believe that whatever is incompatible with it must be false. And to believe somebody else's belief false is implicitly intolerant. Therefore, if intolerance is an evil, belief itself - in anything - is an evil. So the only way we can get rid of intolerance is to prohibit belief. Which, of course, would be very intolerant indeed."

The above pictures were borrowed from others, as I opted not to be stuck behind a camera :D

Alright, it's high past time that I blog, and as I am briefly in the mood to do so, I shall get right to it. Now where was I? Oh yes, that family reunion, this shall be the very snappiest so that I can be up to date once more.

After we got to Dave and Becky's, and B and I slept on the ground, I think that's where I left off.

The next morning I received a piping hot mocha from Uncle Dave, who is extremely generous with the chocolate and cream, yum, I've been craving these, and their coffee since I left. As I believe I mentioned they have the best bakery on the Island, and I say this with great confidence, even though it's the only one I've been to on the Island (what can I say, I love my family, and am proud of their skills :D) . After this Uncle Dave took a load of us out with two boats, and after getting licenses we went fishing. I can't say I brought in much of anything, other than what I would consider a baby fishy, someone else's line, and a few big things that got off before I could bring them up..that's about it. It was fun, and to top it all of, Uncle Danny had his 12 or so passenger van get stuck on a bolder. :D We returned to the bakery, and helped make dinner, or something of the like. I think Jord and Dor arrived around here somewhere. And hm, I drank my share of coffee after only 4-5 hours of sleep. I think this was one of the nights we had a great family story telling time around the fire, and so we went to bed late.

The next day (Friday) we played several paintball games, with the Warrens and in-laws pitted against the Soles. I won't go into a lot of detail there, but it was super fun, despite the welts. After this a bunch of us took a trip to a beautiful shallow river (at the part we went to), that had a bottom of slate, with various sizes of water filly pot holes in it. So it was like a ton of nice cool bath tubs to play in. Various people began to leave either for home or Jason and Vicky's wedding. Shawn and Tam arrived in the evening, and we worked out all of the details for the wedding travel, and had another night around the fire.

Saturday we headed to Victoria, men in one van (including Clint) and women in the other, for the wedding, where after the reception Jord and Dor headed back to the main land, and Shawn, Tam, Belinda, the kids, and I headed back to Uncle Dave's. We arrived pretty late, and went to bed.

On the Lord's day we visited, and after listening to a sermon we went for a walk in a very beautiful park, where Shawn read to us. Yeah, it was nice, and that sentence certainly doesn't do it justice. :)

Monday it was Shawn and Tam's turn to play paintball, and so I had a lot of fun doing that again, and boy did I get hit. :D I think we had a nice long talk with Uncle Dave in the evening, and Auntie Becky was also able to take some time out to join us...or was that the day before? Hmm

Tuesday, I don't remember much. Oh that's right! We went boating with Uncle Dave, without the fishing part. Walked along the beautiful sandy beach, tossed shells, and got very wet. It was rainy on the way back, and the waves were kinda cutting across the boat, so we, kids and all, were soaked. Had a total Cast Away moment, went Calvin lost a Wilson volley ball, it just floated away. I think after we got changed Tam, B, and I did some grocery shopping, Belinda forgot some groceries in the store, so Tam and I went back for them, and we also had to find some sandals for Shawn, who..hm, got his wet? Then I took Shawn and Tam to the airport, and returned to pack up all of our junk, and somehow managed to cram it all back in.

The next morning it was off for home, we made the ferry, and it was smooth sailing, excepting a big rain storm, but we made it home safely, albeit very.

Ok, so that was it, minus a lot of highlights.

As for lately, I've been keeping crazy busy with school, and there's always more, so it's hard to get things done, and take time for something like blogging. Perhaps I'll have one of my weekly school rants on here sometime, there's always a lot to think about and digest with my classes in this humanistic world. But sleep takes prioity with a busy week ahead.

So until next time, keep fit and have fun,

Jode