Bad Communicators!

Really? It's been since October since we've last spoken? Our apologies, life sure gets busy and before you know it months have passed. So where do we even begin? November? I don't even remember what we did in November. I'll begin with Thanksgiving (US Thanksgiving that is).

I was nannying on Thursday and Nathaniel was busy with school so we decided to move the traditional Thursday Thanksgiving to Friday! We shared a meal with our friend Kimberley of green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberries and then two hours later pulled out the turkey, whoops! It was wonderful and we found ourselves eating leftovers for the next week (isn't that what it's all about anyways?)

During this time we had gotten word that my grandfather was in hospital and not doing well. On November 29th Grandpa Holloway passed away, 4 months after his beloved wife. This was quite a difficult time but were blessed with the opportunity to fly home on December 4th, two days before the funeral. It was an incredible time of honoring Grandpa, sharing stories and being close with family. We learned so much about Grandpa, a life of hard work growing up in Detroit, Michigan living at a YMCA. Playing the trumpet and singing in choirs, joining the U.S. Marines and serving as a Major for 21 years. He was a fighter pilot and flew in over 125 combat missions during WWII and the Korean War, was shot down, captured and rescued twice and received 70 combat metals including 5 Distinguished Flying Crosses. Whew, what a man! We were very proud of him as he always was of us. What a gift both Grandma and Grandpa gave us, a family that loves God and one another so deeply.

We had arrived a week and a half early to Wheaton but were able to stay through the New Year as planned! Thankfully Nathaniel and I have a student schedule and were able to take this time off without any stresses. So we quickly got caught up on sleep, ate lots and lots of food, and visited with our families and friends! It was cold but comforting to be back home.

We did all kinds of fun things, went downtown to the Christkindlmarkt with Scott and his girlfriend Mallory, Cori and Jeff! Out for deep dish pizza with Jon and Jessie (friends from Judson), shopped 'till we dropped (well, mostly Lindsay!), played games and caught up with old friends, went out for sushi with the Holloway family and mexican with the Funk family! It was all in all such a wonderful time to be surrounded by the friends and family we so dearly miss.

On January 3rd, Nathaniel and I left for Fort Worth, TX to attend Todd Caze's wedding (Nathaniel's roommate from Judson). It was soo nice to have a mini-vacation just the two of us, to celebrate with Todd and his friends and family during this amazing time and to experience 80 degree weather in January!!!! We saw Texas at its fullest when we pulled up to Billy Bob's Rodeo for some good 'ol fashioned bull-riding and honky tonk!

We arrived back home to Vancouver on January 7th and moved into the Bed & Breakfast for the remainder of the month. The owners were out of town and we managed the place, taking care of guests and preparing breakfast. Mom and Dad Funk visited during this time and were able to stay there as well and took in all the amenities! We had a nice visit with them, celebrating our birthday's, talking about future plans, stocking us up on groceries and relaxing together.

On January 29th, I celebrated my 28th birthday and arrived home after a day with the boys I nanny for to a clean house, dinner on the stove and a yummy strawberry angle food cake in the fridge!! Nathaniel and I also went and saw the wonderful movie, Enchanted (I got to pick since it was my birthday!) On February 5th, Nathaniel turned 27 and we celebrated his day with lots of espresso (his favorite), a long walk, a roast with potatoes and carrots and mint chocolate chip brownies! Nathaniel wanted to go out on the town so we went to a nearby pub and got a beer together and talked about our wonderfully blessed life and the first birthday's we celebrated together (7 years ago)!!

WOW! Are we caught up now??? Not much has been going on since then! We've seemed to settle back into our normal routine of school for Nathaniel (I'll let him blog about where that's at these days) and a mixture of work for me. This past week we've had sunshine and high 50's which has encouraged us to go for long walks and even a few runs (when I can convince Nathaniel)! We're getting a nice glimpse of Spring and looking forward to what lays (lies?) ahead.

Trust all of you are doing well and we do promise to be better communicators! Our love to you.

The World of My Room (a good seat)

It has been awhile since either of us have posted so I must give a quick recap of recent happenings.

August was a beautiful month of relaxation with friends, family and coffee. Since then however, our lives have sped into a frenzy of activity. Lindsay has been balancing several responsibilities:

Sunday-Harborview Retreat Bed & Breakfast
Monday-Community Bible Study
Tuesday-Nanny Fraser & Kailen
Wednesday-Directing Community Bible Study Children's Program
Thursday-Nanny Fraser and Kailen
Friday-off!!
Saturday-Harborview Retreat Bed and Breakfast.


Lindsay has to be in a different part of town everyday so we bought her a little car to help her out.



I have been busy with school which requires no car, only a good seat.

Sunday-a good seat
Monday-Skin Studio and a good seat
Tuesday-Contemporary Practice and a good seat
Wednesday-a good seat all day
Tuesday-Thesis advisor, Contemporary Practice, Skin Studio and a good seat
Friday-N&L coffee date and Skin Studio
Saturday-a good seat all day.

The term is already flying by thanks to some family visits (see future post) and many project deadlines (no future post). Here's a glimpse into my world at a good seat.

Spilt Milk

I've been a bit hesitant to share something I've been working on but I think it's time..

We became fast friends with our neighbors when we realised Nathaniel and Amaury were in the same architecture classes! (it's a funny story, they were taking the bus home together and got to asking where each of them live and found out they're right next door to one another!) Amaury and Natalie had a beautiful baby girl in December and I had been watching Audrey every once in a while. Natalie and I got to talking one day and I told her about my sewing class and she mentioned she was doing silk screen printing and we thought...lets do something together!! So one evening when the wine was flowing we came up with what is known as Spilt Milk, a baby clothing line!!!! We've been working hard for the past 4 months and this past weekend had our first public introduction at the Deep Cove Daze!! It was a festival with food, music and local artisans. My friend, Kimberley and I manned the tent with her luxurious cashmere and silk hand knitted hats. We received great feedback and have decided to move forward with Spilt Milk! Here's a few pictures from our sale!

Holloway visit!

On August 4th, my grandmother Holloway went home to the Lord after 6 months of much suffering. I was able to fly back to Wheaton to spend time with family, and attend her funeral. It was a wonderful time of sharing funny stories about grandma, going through old photos, catching up with cousins and spending time together. I'm very thankful I knew my grandmother and that her passing was a celebration and a time for our families to come together with joy and laughter. The day after grandma's funeral, her what would have been 8th great grandchild was born, Jack Versylus!!

A week later my parents came to visit Nathaniel and I here in Vancouver!!! We took a trip up to Whistler, to Victoria, and to our favorites eateries and coffee shops in town! We only had one minor hiccup when dad realised his passport had expired two weeks ago! ha ha! So dad stayed in Bellingham while mom and I came home to an overly excited Gredel and a lonely Nathaniel! Dad was able to get his birth certificate over-nighted and we picked him up the next day! Lots of games, laughs and good food!

Summer Nights

Our summer has been FULL!!! We had our friends Jon and Jessie visit from Chicago as well as Simon and Shelly from Washington. We had a wonderful time catching up and showing them our neighborhood! We spent one day up at Whistler doing a little hiking and sunbathing, and the rest of the time laughing and eating (it's what we do best!)

Mom and Dad Funk spent the month of July in Vancouver, visiting with Grandma Funk and spoiling their children (which we appreciated)! We went to Vancouver Island one weekend to celebrate Uncle Mel and Aunt Lorna's (Dad Funk's sister and bro-in-law) 50th wedding anniversary and spent a day in Bellingham visiting Grandma Pfeifer and Aunt Lana (Mom Holloway's mom and twin). All in all is was a fun-filled July and we're so thankful for our friends and family to see where we live and spend time with us (hint hint!!!)

Nathaniel and I haven't been able to spend much time relaxing so we planned an evening of feasting! We took the Sea Bus to Granville Island picking up a bottle of wine, a creamy French Brie and 8yr aged Cheddar, Mennonite sausages and fresh local fruit! Came home and spent the rest of the evening eating and playing games! We're enjoying some relaxation for the next two weeks! Mom and Dad Holloway are coming to visit the second week in August, Linday's job begins the third week in August and Nathaniel begins classes the first week in September! Bring it on!!!

4 years and counting...

July 6th was Nathaniel and my 4 year anniversary!!! We can't believe how fast time goes by and how many apartments we've lived in, ha ha (9 thus far) We were able to celebrate our anniversary with mom and dad Funk as they're visiting for the month of July!!! We went to our favorite restaurant here called Nyala's where we had an excellent Ethiopian meal of Yadoro Watt, Lega Tibs, Yemiser Watt and then some gelato!! We took a stroll along the sea wall and talked about the days surrounding our wedding!
Thanks to all of you who have been a part of our pre and post wedding relationship! We treasure all you readers and love you dearly! Cheers!

Victoria

We spent the weekend of June 23 and 24 (yes, it's been a while since we've posted anything, sorry!) with our friends Simon and Shelly Little. The Littles are friends from Judson that recently moved to Port Townsend, WA and we decided to randevu in Victoria, Vancouver Island! It was a two hour ferry ride for the Littles and a 3hr ferry ride for us! We met up Saturday morning and did a bit of shopping, eating and scootering! We hadn't seen the Little's since Christmas time, so we got to hear all about Simon's final arch masters project, their move, and new jobs. Here's a few pictures of our time on the scooters (Nathaniel led us all over that city!! Much to some of our/my dismay!!)