"We're never moving!!"

Don't be alarmed by the title of this blog, it is simply a quote from my Husband on a rare occasion of pure, sheer excitement and joy, and should not be taken literally.....maybe.  Let me explain myself.  Yesterday, on a gorgeous 20 degree and sunny mid-October afternoon, we decided to take advantage of the above seasonal Autumn weather by spending the afternoon outside by the lake carving pumpkins and fishing!  As I was cheerfully cleaning out the pumpkin guts while Andee threw some casts, a fellow fisherman who was fishing nearby waltzed over with the biggest bass I had ever seen!  We were chatting with this man earlier about our doubts that this lake really had any good fish, and he came over to prove to us that beautiful fish were indeed in this lake!  I even held the fish and posed for a picture!  Crazy!

After this, Andee's curiosity and determination to catch a trophy bass grew substantially!  And when the same man came over with a second bass, we knew we had been fishing with the wrong bait!  We expressed this to the skilled fisherman, and he ended up giving Andee a brand new spinner that he had just purchased!  What a nice man!!  Andee quickly attached the new lure, and with new found hope and excitement, began the bass hunt!  We also finished carving our cute little pumpkins, just in time for Halloween!!

After we finished carving our pumpkins, Andee decided to move closer to the spot where the man found these bass.  We shifted down the lake only slightly, and Andee cast his rod.  And that is when he caught him.  The biggest bass that he or I had ever seen, and probably will see; the Monster Bass!!  Andee guesstimated that this guy weight upwards of 5 pounds, and we got the photo evidence to prove it!  Turns out, all that was needed was some colder waters, and a spinner lure!  After Andee released his prized catch, in his excitement and disbelief, this is when he shouted the phrase "We're never moving!!"  And if you know Andee, showing any form of real excitement is quite a rarity!  He even suggested that he loves fishing more than he loves, wait for it............watching TV!! *gasp*  We finished off the afternoon by catching a second huge bass, not as massive as the first, but still massive!  Andee was so excited about his catches, that he decided to throw a few casts in the morning before work to start the morning right, and low and behold, another huge bass!!  Amazing!!  PTL!!

To add to our awesomely fun weekend, on Saturday we went to a Pumpkin Festival about half an hour from our apartment!  There were hay rides, a corn maze, pig races, lots of food, a petting zoo including a zebra and a gazelle, baby farm animals, and lots and lots of pumpkins!  It was a pretty warm afternoon, with the sun shining for most of the day, and we had a great time enjoying a Fall/Halloween themed outdoor event!  We had forgotten how much we loved Fall!! 

After this weekend, Andee will be starting the second half of his rotation, and will switch from the clinic to the hospital!  Which means that in 7 weeks, we will be headed home for the holidays!!  See everyone soon!!

My Favourite Kind of Town...Lisle!

Hello again!  It has been a while; we have just been so "busy" adjusting to our new life in Lisle, Illinois!  Haha!  And I have to say, we love it here!  Lisle is part of Dupage County, which is about 40 minutes from Chicago, and is the perfect balance between small town living, rural suburbs, and big city closeby!  For example, our apartment complex has nature trails, steams, and lakes all around, (small town feel) but the apartment itself is extremely modern and amazing, and you are never more than a few minutes from fast food or a department store (suburbs), and Chicago is just a short drive away!  Very similar to back home, but it's America, so you know everything is bigger!  The weather is also very similar to home, but tends to be a bit warmer on average, which is great for me!  And our apartment complex is almost always warm!!  And when it isn't just a little bit of heat warms up the apartment in no time!  Yesterday evening, with a low temperature of 4°C outside, I slept in shorts and a t-shirt, and was too warm to sleep with all the covers!!  BEST FEELING EVER!!  It was like St. Kitts in Illinois!!  A warm Diana is a happy Diana!

Andee is quite busy with his first rotation, with a few nights of late hours and very few breaks!  My former "night owl" Husband is now asking to go to bed between 9 and 10 pm!  And of course, I am happy to oblige! He generally gets the weekends off, but worked both days last weekend, and Saturday of this weekend.  It is a pretty demanding rotation, and he will need a good Holiday break in December!

I have also been volunteering twice a week, Tuesday and Friday, at the Church, helping out a couple of the Pastors who don't have assistants!  I'm also attending a Women's Bible Study and Small Group on Wednesday mornings!  It has been wonderful volunteering, as it is very fulfilling to see direct correlations between the work that I am doing, and the impact it has on those I am working for, as well as freeing up time for the Pastor's to assist and help others in the Church who need their time!  It also keeps me busy during the days, and I have met so many wonderful people that work there!  There are a bunch of ladies around my age that are amazing, and it is a lot of fun working with them!  And since it is volunteer work and I'm still not making an income, we are trusting God to provide for all our needs, and we know he will!  Here is a picture of a few of the ladies from Church celebrating Maria's Birthday at Red Robin, Yum! 

On Andee's time off, we have really enjoyed exploring the beautiful nature, critters, and fish that surround our apartment!  On a nature walk we are very likely to see geese, ducks, turtles, and jumping fish in the lakes, and chipmunks, squirrels, birds, otters, and even a beaver on land!  Also, since the apartment is next to a golf course, Andee has made a habit of collecting golf balls that were hit just a little too hard, and end up in and around the stream!  Hopefully we will get to use them next summer!  When Andee is working, I like to explore the area and do some Bible Study outside!  I'm planning on enjoying this as long as possible before winter comes!!

Andee and I have also tried our hand at fishing, since we are surrounded by lakes!  Unfortunately, I think these fish have gotten wise to fishermen, and are very picky with what they will eat!  We got a tip to use hot dogs, dough, and other interesting bait that the fish love.  The result?  Hot dog dough seasoned with garlic powder!  Disgusting to us, delicious to fishies!  We did manage to catch a few little guys with Andee's dough concoction, and Andee made me a stick fishing rod to catch some of the little guys that were hanging out right at shore!  So, it ended up proving the most effective to use a stick, some fishing line, a hook, and some hot dog dough, dangle it right at shore, and quickly catch a little hungry fish!  A little smaller than what Andee and Trevor are used to at "Bass City" on Cameron Lake, but still lots of fun!

Andee and I were also able to try out the tennis courts on one of the warmer days in September!  The courts are beautiful and very well kept, and my swing is getting much better thanks to my Husband/Coach!

After a few years of skipping Autumn, Andee and I have realized how beautiful and fun this season really is!  Of course, I mean real Fall, aka the end of September, and October.  Anything later than that and I consider it to be Winter.  Andee and I walked up the Ski Hill a couple times to see a great view of endless trees and lakes!  The leaves are slowly changing all around us, and I am so glad to be spending time with the Hubby outside!

And of course, one of our favorite pastimes, feeding geese and ducks!   A couple pieces of bread is all it takes for a swarm of birds to realize you have food!  We had forgotten that geese are pretty aggressive, and they are a little terrifying when they get too close, haha!  And the sound of Canada Geese honking and flying around is one of my favorites! 

Andee and I also celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving on Sunday evening!  They were out of Turkey at the grocery store (as if we were in Canada...), and so I ended up cooking a roast chicken!  Also the usual sides of mashed potatoes, squash, carrots, stuffing, and gravy!  There was so much extra food, that we had Thanksgiving for 3 nights, and Chicken Tomato Orzo soup tonight with the leftover leftover leftover chicken! Yum!

Well, I suppose that is all you need to know about our new home!  Come visit us!!