Happy Sunday everyone!

Another exciting week living in Taipei in the books. We are definitely in our routine here and the weeks are already flying by! It was a fun week as we were able to help Sarah’s brother, sister, sister-in-law and my parents book their trips to Taiwan to visit us! We can’t wait to show our families our life in Taiwan 🙂

So back to life in Taipei…as the title of our blog says, “Teaching in Taiwan, Exploring Asia,” a big part of our life here is teaching. We are about to start week 7 of school tomorrow and it’s about time we give you a window into our lives as teachers.

To begin with, we work for a 補習班 (buxiban) which is known as a cram school. A cram school is more than just a school, it’s actually a mix of a couple things. First, a cram school is a business. They exist to make money for whoever owns them. They do this by offering supplemental education to the Taiwanese children as an after school program. The kids attend their normal Chinese school during the day and come to our school afterwards to strictly learn English. There are definitely pro’s and con’s to working for a business-run school. Before we started teaching, I did a lot of research and reading on what it was like working for a buxiban.  I’m sure you can imagine that it totally depends on your school and how the school is run. What’s the number one rule in business? Keeping your customers happy. For us, the customers are the kids and their parents. I’m not going to get into all the “behind the scenes” of a cram school but it’s important to understand what they are because it can directly impact your experience.

Our school

The lobby.

Luckily for us, our school is awesome! Of course there are going to be a few quirks and hiccups that we need to deal with, but that’s the experience! Our school truly cares about the child’s learning, which is a great quality. It seems obvious that a school should value learning, but as I said before, some do it for only the money. As new teachers, it’s been quite the learning curve for us. We both did not have any formal teaching experience or training before arriving in Taiwan, so we were pretty nervous! In a sense, we were kind of thrown into the deep end. I guess this can be good and bad. Being thrown into the deep end doesn’t give you a lot of time to think, you just have to go for it! Thankfully our school has a set curriculum. Our manuals let us know what needs to be taught each day, so we don’t have to do a ton of preparation. The kids need to learn what needs to be taught every day and we just add our own flavor.

So what’s a day in the life like? Taken from our friend Spence, who we met in Korea, “Being a student did very little to be prepare me to be a decent teacher, but being a teacher has taught me everything I ever wanted to know about how to be a good student.” This pretty much sums it up for us. Let’s just say we have a new found appreciation for all our teachers! There are definitely awesome days but there are also horrible days. It can be the most rewarding job ever but it can also suck the life out of you if you let it. Now that we’re over the first week jitters, we show up 20 minutes before class and look over the manuals and print out any worksheets that need to be done. Oh, I should let you know what grades Sarah and I teach. We both teach a first, second, and third grade class. The grades are based on their English level rather than their age, so our kids ages range from 6-14. Ok, back to our day…the kids arrive and we start with review. I have my kids stand on their chairs and play the spelling game “Jump in the Water!” They go around the room spelling their vocabulary words and “jump in the water” if they spell it wrong. Next, we go through the workbooks. Each day is assigned to either phonics, spelling, writing, language arts, grammar, reading, etc. They work through their pages and then I give the younger kids some time to color. Want to know the greatest tool for teachers? WORD SEARCHES! Holy cow, word searches are a gift from God. The kids absolutely love them and the best part? They are quiet! The kids are so cute, but they can be little demons when they want to be. Sarah and I have both lost our voices from constantly telling them to quiet down and sit haha!

My first grade class.

My second grade class.

My third grade class.

Part of Sarah’s first grade class.

Sarah’s second grade class didn’t want to cooperate haha!

Some of Sarah’s third grade class.

I’ve really enjoyed teaching my third grade class. Their English level is very high, so we’re able to joke with each other. I always throw in a challenge word when teaching new vocabulary. Last week’s word? Supercalifragilisticexpialidocius. “No Teacher!!!! That’s so hard!!” They’re a lot of fun to mess with :), but they also know when it’s time to get serious and get work done. First graders on the other hand, love to be around us, but they think it’s funny to not be quiet or sit down. The first graders do not understand near as much English, so it’s a lot of giving them the answers and correcting every single word. I love seeing their little faces when they walk in and say “Hi Teacher Candy!!” that’s my nickname apparently.

Sarah has really enjoyed teaching her first graders. Although the answer to every question is either “piguh (pig), fart, poopy, or trashcan,” they’re just super cute! Sarah is a sucker for all the little kiddies. It’s hard to keep the first graders focused, so the hour and half is full of many games in between learning. A couple of their favorite games include throwing a sticky ball as hard as possible at the white board, hangman, charades for new vocabulary and the all-time favorite…UNO. Another lifesaver! Apart from the organized games, the kids love to fool around and make up their own. Worksheets turn into airplanes, journals turn into drawing books, and pencil boxes turn into footballs!

Teaching is a lot of fun. It can be super stressful at times, but is very rewarding. I love teaching my kids new words one week and hearing them use it correctly in a sentence the next. They study hard and they are becoming great English speakers. You really learn to love your students if you put in the time to get to know them outside of just their studies. We love hearing about their lives outside of school, too. They love to touch my hairy arms, and they are in awe of our blonde hair….which we don’t even have. Because we don’t have black hair, we have blonde hair! Teachers play a very integral role in a child’s life. You never know the impact you will have on a kids life, so we both try to be the best teachers we can be to our kids. Hopefully they like Teacher Kyle and Teacher Sarah!

Have a great week!

Kyle and Sarah

 

Hey!

We’ve had a few people ask about a school blog post. It’s coming next week! We’re still working on gathering the pictures for it.

This past week…what did we do?

First, we found a nice English pub! 30 cent wings on Thursdays apparently. It’s a little far from our place, but it was worth the trip for some wings 🙂

We also heard about a craft beer festival at Taipei Hakka Cultural Park. We definitely had to represent Beer City, USA and sample some of the local craft brews in Taipei. I have to admit we are pretty spoiled to call Founder’s our hometown microbrewery. The local beer in Taipei is decent. There were a couple tasty pale ale’s, but nothing like the Centennial IPA or the Dirty. On the other hand, it was a great place to meet some new people and play spike ball! Who would have guessed. Spike ball is a sport we play religiously with the Brower family in the summer….so we had to get in on the game. Not to toot our own horn, but we creamed them. Don’t mess with us when it comes to spike ball!

On Saturday we checked out the Taipei Zoo! It is the largest zoo in Asia and is home to one of the few panda exhibitions in the world. It was a hot, but fun day at the zoo!

Lastly, we packed up our swim suits and took the train to the famous black sand beach, Wai Ao. Wai Ao beach is known not only for it’s black sand, but it’s also a great place to surf. After the two hour train ride from Taipei, we were on the beach with our board and hitting the waves! Surfing is super hard. I think we both rode two waves all afternoon 🙂 The feeling of riding a wave is incredible though! It’s always nice to get out of Taipei and experience the amazing scenery Taiwan has to offer. Although Taiwan isn’t known for the beaches, the train ride had some spectacular views. We can’t wait to explore more of them in the next few months!

Stay tuned!

Kyle and Sarah

Hi!

Seeing as today is our 2 year anniversary, we spent the day reminiscing about all the adventures we’ve been blessed to experience. We always laugh about how the song “Anywhere With You,” by Jake Owen fits us perfectly. It talks about picking a spot on any map… just as long as I’m where you’re at. We love this line. Picking up and leaving Grandville, MI was hard for both of us (maybe slightly harder for Sarah :)), but what’s most important is that we are doing it together. Our relationship has grown over these past 2 years and taking on this adventure has only made it stronger. We’ve spent more time together these past 6 weeks then we have in the whole 2 years combined! Just kidding…kinda 😉 In all seriousness, being with your best friend and love of your life 24/7 can’t get any better, no matter where you’re at :-).

 

 

Whether we are celebrating with our family and friends at Ivanrest Church 2 years ago, exploring new places, or riding a tandem bike around Mackinac Island, we are so thankful for what God has blessed us with over the past 2 years. We will continue to rely on Him and His plan for us. Our wedding verse couldn’t be more fitting, Proverbs 3: 5-6. It says,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”

We want to thank everyone for their love and support…miss you all!

Kyle and Sarah

 

Hi everyone!

So another week back at it. We had a good week teaching this week and will have a more in depth post for you about teaching soon! This weekend we decided to stick around Taipei and do some more exploring around here. Friday night we were able to get to know our co-workers  a little bit as we all met up at one of the only, if not the only, microbrew in Taipei. The beer definitely doesn’t compare to Founders, but it was fun getting to know the other teachers. . On Saturday we took the MRT (subway) to Dahu Park. Dahu Park is a quiet park a few MRT stops away from our apartment. Even though it’s still blistering hot out, we thought it’d be nice to walk around the park and soak up the stillness of Taipei. It’s hard to find grass let alone stillness here, so when we find it, we embrace it! We hiked up a small mountain while stepping in puddles of our own sweat 🙂 We are definitely getting our exercise in.

 

Rubber duckies anyone?

After exploring Dahu Park, we decided to dive right into the hustle and bustle of Taipei and check out the glamorous district of Xinyi. This area is home to the top brands, malls, bookstores, and the famous Taipei 101! It’s a great place to check out the street performers and do a little shopping. Sarah even found her second home….GAP!

Today (Sunday), we decided to check out a church we found online. This was the only English speaking church we had found so far. Even though it took us over an hour to get there, it was nice to be in contact with fellow believers and be a part of the community. The church was similar to what you would find at home, but coming from a musician….lacked a drum set! However, hearing All Creatures of Our God and King still gave us some goosebumps.

Tonight we had the privilege of grabbing dinner with two of Sarah’s co-workers from Spectrum Health! These two ladies were visiting a daughter who is working for YWAM near Taipei. They were huge supporters of us going to Taiwan. Now what are the chances? Here we are together in Taipei, exchanging stories, and eating a delicious American meal 🙂 It was great seeing them!

Enjoying a good thunderstorm, hope you all have a great week!

Kyle and Sarah

Hey everyone!

How is everyone back home? Can you believe it’s been over a month already since we left Michigan? Wow, time flies…

We had an awesome time this past weekend! Monday was a national holiday here in Taipei, so we made the most of our long weekend and bounced over to Seoul, South Korea! Freaking amazing. 2.5 hour flight and we were downtown Seoul.

Seoul has been in my top 2 places to visit for quite awhile and it definitely did not disappoint. I don’t know what it is for me, but Asian cities just fascinate me. I love getting lost, trying the crazy foods, people watching, and experiencing life in a completely foreign way. Once again, Seoul did not disappoint.

We stayed in the heart of Seoul in Myeongdong. It was a little touristy, but it was a great, central place to crash for a few nights. The main street and the alleyways are all blocked off for pedestrians, so at night the place is just packed full of people. We were able to sample lots of tasty snacks here and soak up the neon lights of an Asian city.

One of our favorite things to do when we visit a different place is to try and meet up with someone we know who lives there. There is literally no better way to see a new place than seeing it with a local. Back in high school, we went to school with Amy Rhee, Jisoo Kim, and Gavin Na, three Koreans who live in Seoul. Once we booked this trip, I immediately messaged them saying we needed to meet up! Our first night, Amy and Jisoo treated us to a mouthwatering Korean meal. We tried the local drink, Makgeolli, and sampled kimchee, tofu, pork, and squid pancakes. Delicious! We ended the night with a typical hostel night… hanging out with people around the globe, more specifically, Ohio! These two guys have been living in Korea for over a year and we had a lot in common with them. They treated us to a fun night out in Seoul.

The last 2 days were spent sightseeing the local markets, finding our new favorite candy (thanks Adema!), pulling Gangnam style moves, and getting the ultimate tour of Seoul with Gavin in his car.

Even though Seoul is the second largest city in the world, we made it a priority to look for a good hike, Sarah’s pick. We hiked to the top of Namsan Mountain and were blessed with a spectacular panorama of Seoul. Oh yea, randomly, Sarah was wearing her Michigan shirt on the hike(thanks Mom!) and a guy stopped and asked about it. He asked which part of Michigan we were from…

“Grand Rapids!” We said. “Me too! Which part?” He replied. Turns out this guy was from Rockford. How crazy is that?!

Lastly, a highlight of our time in Seoul was roaming the Gyeongbokgung Palace on Thanksgiving Day in Korea. It’s a beautiful royal palace built during the Joseon dynasty situated in Northern Seoul. Breathtaking gardens and traditional Korean palaces filled the grounds. Such an outstanding place to visit and observe a wonderful representation of Korean history and culture.

Fantastic weekend.

Take care!

Kyle and Sarah

Hi everyone,

This past week was our last week before we start actually teaching. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were training days at the schools headquarters in a town called Hsinchu. We had to wake up around 5:30AM and take the MRT to Taipei Main Station, get on the High Speed Rail to Hsinchu, and finally take a 30 minute cab ride to the headquarters. Talk about a long transit!

Sarah and I are pretty nervous about teaching as we are both new to it, so training was definitely needed. We were able to learn techniques in time management, lesson planning, and classroom management. Thankfully, our school has a set curriculum so we will not have to plan our lessons from scratch…just add our flavor. Each week, the kids have a set amount of words/lessons/material they need to learn with a weekly quiz. We need to supplement that material with worksheets and games! Both Sarah and I will be teaching a 1st, 2nd, and 3d grade class. However, the classes are not set by their actual grade in Chinese school, but rather by their English ability. So for example, Sarah’s 3rd grade class will have students ranging from a highly skilled 1st grader to a new speaker in 6th grade. It will be interesting to see how we can make our classes engaging for every student. Prayers for the ease of nerves are welcome as we start tomorrow!

On top of training, we’ve had the time to explore more of Taipei. I was able to show Sarah my old stomping grounds at my old dorm in Gongguan, and eat at my all-time favorite restaurant…Toasteria!

 

We also went to one of the largest night markets in Taipei, Shilin. It was fun sampling all the crazy snacks here in Taiwan. You never know what you’ll take a bite of next!

We’ve also made an attempt to plan out some meals to make at home at Matsusei (a grocery store)….we’ll see how that goes. Chicken feet or shells anyone?

Hmm…having a hard time choosing…

Finally, we made a trip to Fulong Beach yesterday. Sarah and I have made a list of everything we want to see this year in Taiwan and why not start with a trip to the beach? It was nice to get outside of the city and see the countryside and ocean. It’s amazing how different the scenery is once you’re an hour outside of the city. We soaked up some much needed Vitamin D and sweated our Rastafarian Nene’s off. Other than the heat…which is RIDICULOUS… I’d say it was a perfect start to our domestic travels in Taiwan!

Hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!

Kyle and Sarah

P.S. This is our address if you would like to send a letter or something! We’d love to hear from our friends and families back at home 🙂

4F-1, No. 19, Alley 25, Lane 92, Yang Kung Street, Neihu District, Taipei City 114, Taiwan (R.O.C)

Hey mates! Again, sorry for the delayed post….

So we had last week off before training for school this week. We decided to temporarily shut the doors to Asia and open the doors to…Australia! We found some cheap plane tickets to Melbourne, which is in Victoria, Australia and had to get them! Alec Green, a friend of ours, has been living in Melbourne the past 8 months and we wanted to see him. Also, my cousin Tim Elzinga, has been working in Mildura, a small city to the north of Melbourne and we wanted to meet up with him, too! It was a perfect opportunity to see them and escape the heat in Taipei as it’s winter in Australia.

You could say our trip was divided into three parts. The first part was meeting up with Al Green on his side of Melbourne. This was the hipster side of Melbourne…full of  small cafes, pubs, vintage clothing stores, and amazing coffee. The coffee in Melbourne is hands down the best coffee you will ever taste. Anyways, it was great to see Al. He hasn’t seen anyone from home in 8 months so he was excited to see some familiar faces as well. We were able to live out the backpacker life with him at the Collingwood Backpackers Hostel. It was an interesting place…nothing like I’ver ever stayed in. Instead of your usual backpackers staying for a week, the people staying in this hostel have been there for months. It’s its own little community. It was fun to hang out and learn the day to day life of these people.

Second part was the Great Ocean Road. Simply beautiful. We spent 3 days with Alec and decided we wanted to get away from the city and see the Great Ocean Road. It’s been Sarah’s dream to wind through those mountain roads ever since she laid eyes on the pictures. We decided to go with the car rental route instead of taking a bus tour as it gave us so much more freedom to explore. In the end it was a great decision, but when I climbed into the car on the right hand side and had to drive on the left side of the road….I was definitely white knuckling. I slowly got the hang of driving and we sped off. We winded and zig zagged through the surf beaches of Torquay and Apollo Bay, to the gum trees filled with koala bears. Climbed the steep, cliff hugging roads of Lorne, and made it to the heart of the Great Ocean Road…the 12 apostles. The 12 apostles are giant, limestone cliffs standing in the ocean. It was breathtaking.

We made our way back to Melbourne later that day and had a very stressful time getting back. When we first rented our car, the lady at the counter said we would not need a GPS as it’s SO EASY to get back to Melbourne. It was not easy at all. We missed turns and went through tolls we weren’t supposed to, and couldn’t return our car when we wanted. I was so happy to get that car out of my hands that next morning. Other than the drive back to Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road was awesome!

The last part of our trip was meeting up with Tim! We were so happy he could come down to Melbourne for the weekend. He also hadn’t seen anyone from home in 2 months, and we were pumped to see him as well. Tim only had 2 days in Melbourne with us, so he had to make the best of it. We did just that! Tim hooked us up with a half hour of tennis on one of the show courts at the Australian Open! We were able to play where the best players in Tennis have played. So sweet!

To finish our fantastic week off, we made our way to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, home of the Australian game of Footy. It’s basically a cross between football and rugby. I’ll let you wiki it, it’s hard to explain. It’s just crazy how such a huge sport in Australia is virtually unheard of in the USA. Another great experience to add to the trip!

We are now back in the muggy heat of Taipei and started training for school this week. Next week we start teaching!

Stay tuned.

Kyle and Sarah

 

 

Good evening!…morning? Just kidding. We are exactly 12 hours ahead of all you people living in the USA. So good morning from us to you!

It’s been a busy, cultural shocking 5 days. We arrived in Taipei last Sunday around 7:00pm after an exhausting 2 days of travel. After an interesting cab ride in (the taxi driver was watching TV while driving), we passed out in a small private room at Walker’s Hostel in the heart of Taipei. If you read the previous post, we decided to come to Taipei without an apartment. A lot of people thought we were nuts for showing up in a foreign city without anywhere to call home! It’s quite the opposite actually. First of all, we only had an idea of where our school was located. The last thing we wanted to do was sign a year lease and find out the apartment wasn’t near an MRT (subway) stop or on a bus line. Secondly, pictures can be very deceiving. Sarah and I both wanted a place that was comfortable, a place we could call home. We wanted to see the potential apartments in person before signing our year away.

So fast forward 1 day. I contacted a friend of mine named Yvonne. She is a Taiwanese who lives in the same area as our school. Let’s just say our first few days here would have been incredibly stressful if it wasn’t for her. She met us the day after we arrived and started calling on apartments we were interested in. After striking out on almost every apartment we liked,  we finally found a nice one. Turns out it was out of our budget….but good thing we ran into a lady on the street that had the exact same apartment for rent 2 floors below! Plus it was within our budget! We met with the landlord to go through all the details and to make sure they were OK with renting to foreigners. They liked us! We found, signed, and moved into our home in Taipei within 2 days! Such a blessing. It’s tough moving to a foreign country without a place to unpack and unwind. Thankfully it only took us 2 days. I have to give a huge shout out to Yvonne for all the help she gave us. It would have been impossible to get settled this quick without her. So thankful for her help!

Neihu is our slice of Taipei. We live a few MRT stops from downtown Taipei and only 1 stop from our school. It’s super convenient. We have a good mix of natural beauty and the hustle and bustle of a large Asian city. There are nature trails and lakes nearby, but also exciting night markets and skyscrapers. Perfect blend. So, without further adieu, here is our place!

Our building is the tall, skinny one!

View from our window!

Upstairs loft and my office. Nerd alert!

Check out the technology on that seat! Butt warmer and butt washer 🙂

Tub/jacuzzi thing.

Sort of like a mudroom. We wash and hang our clothes out here.

We love it. It’s in a brand new building and we are only a 5 minute walk to the MRT. We’ve slowly been discovering how to live life here. As we explore more of Neihu, we’ve been able to find the supermarket, bakery, bubble tea shop, aquarium store! 🙂 and the infamous 7-11’s.

We are so happy to be settled in our apartment. It makes the transition so much easier. As we continue to learn and explore Taiwan, we are excited to open the doors to you through our blog! Stay tuned as we have the next week off….hmmm, where should we go?!

Kyle and Sarah

 

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it’s been so long since the last post. I promise it won’t happen again.

So Sarah and I are sitting at a Costa coffee house in Dubai, United Arab Emirates…perfect time to post on the blog. It’s crazy how small the world is these days. I had been dreaming of going to Dubai for 10 years and now we’ve been here twice in the past 2 months. We did a Middle East trip with our friends Jordan and Jodi in June, and this time we had a 9 hour layover in Dubai. It worked out perfectly. The metro is attached to the airport and brings you right to the tallest building in the world and my third favorite skyscraper…the Burj Khalifa. We were able to hang out for a few hours and watch the famous fountain show.

Now, back to to what this post is all about. It’s been a CRAZY last week. On top of finishing up the final details with our house and jobs, we had the privilege of showing my friend, Filip Sebesta, Grand Rapids this past weekend. Filip was my roommate in Taiwan the first time I went in 2011. Sarah and I visited him in Prague, Czech Republic last year and he promised to come visit this year. Fortunately, he had a conference in Las Vegas and was able to coordinate a visit to Michigan before heading out west.

I’m always amazed at the lasting friendships that can be made anywhere in the world. Filip, along with a few others, and I lived together for 4 months and I consider these guys to be some of my closest friends. I hope history repeats itself this year. Again, this is a great opportunity for Sarah and I to make some lasting friendships. Whether they are from Czech Republic, USA, Taiwan, or Timbuktu, we are looking forward to see what friendships will be made this next year.

So, on top of all the packing and goodbyes, we HAD to make time for one of our BEST friends….cream filled donuts from Marge’s Donut Den! We couldn’t leave the USA for a year without having one last cream filled donut….we also could’t leave without a shake and cheese fry from Steak n’ Shake :D. Got to fill up on all the food we’ll miss this next year!

As I said before, it’s been a crazy week. We didn’t have time to sit back and really think about what we were getting into this next year. It’s a bizarre feeling to leave our family and friends for a year. We never thought it would actually come. First, we’re saying goodbye to our family and friends at a going away party. Then, we’re saying our final goodbye to my parents as they drop us off at the Brower’s the night before we depart. All of a sudden, we’re at the curb emptying out our pile of luggage from the Brower’s SUV at O’hare saying goodbye to them. Where did the time go? Are we really leaving right now? It finally hit home. I know a year doesn’t sound that long, but it’s hard to grasp once it’s happening. Can you remember what you were doing a year ago from today? It’s just weird. I don’t know how to explain it. We’re embarking on a super exciting adventure, but sometimes, it’s hard to overcome the overwhelming feeling of wanting to just stay home. Too late! We’ve been planning this for months now. It’s important to remember why we were doing this in the first place. It’s going to be an amazing year!

Stay tuned as we arrive in Taipei tomorrow. We do not have an apartment lined up yet, but will be searching as soon as we arrive! Sounds stressful, doesn’t it?! Ahhh, sounds fun 🙂

Kyle and Sarah

 

Hey everyone!

So the countdown is 17 days and we have so much to do! Preparing to move your life to a new country for a year is not an easy task. You may be wondering what made us decide to quit our incredible jobs, leave our cozy house, and say goodbye to our wonderful family and friends. Why not? Although we’re going to miss our family and friends like crazy, this is our opportunity to try something daring and adventurous! It’s an opportunity to travel the world, experience first hand what it means to live in a foreign country, and most importantly, grow together in our faith and in our marriage. At times it will be scary and we will want to go home, but we’re hoping the amazing and eye-opening experiences surmount the rough times.

Anyways, back to the preparing to leave part. One of the top stressors of the whole move was what we were going to do with our house. We bought our first house last September and we absolutely love it! We knew selling it wasn’t an option. If selling wasn’t an option, then we knew we were going to have to find some sort of renters or hire a property management company to take care of it. We were both not very keen on having strangers living in our place, but knew we didn’t have a lot of time to find people we could trust. Along comes our cousin Valerie. She mentioned she had some friends, a young family, that were moving back to Michigan from North Carolina. No promises, but she said it was worth a shot. Long story short, two days later we had a perfect family agree to rent our house! Such an answer to prayer. We are so excited to have a family we can trust with our home.

It’s been a hectic few weeks. Things like ordering contacts for a year, dealing with the bank, student loans, insurance, bills, and taxes has been time consuming.  Plus, we’ve had to find temporary homes for our furniture, cars, motorcycle, yard equipment, and our….bonsai tree. On top of all that, we had to take care of a giant tree next to our house. I was dreading the day it had to be taken down, but it was starting to grow into our roof so it had to go.

We had a family friend come and take it down last Saturday morning while we were at the cottage. I’m not sure what we were expecting when we came home that morning, but I wasn’t expecting a PILE of branches over the entire yard!

Don’t get me wrong, the tree guy hooked us up with a great deal and we really appreciate the time he took on a Saturday morning to help us out, but it didn’t include hauling it away. Good thing I have an awesome Dad, brother, and friend to help me out! It looks great!

We’ve got a lot to do yet, but we’re making huge strides in the preparation area. Little by little, we’ll be ready to take off.

Stay tuned!

Kyle and Sarah