Married Life Has Begun

Hey everyone. I'm very sorry for not updating my blog in such a long time. Life has been crazy busy having bought a house on Jan 11th, getting ready for the wedding, and getting the house ready to move into. Add school into the mix for Lesley and we haven't had much down time since.

The wedding day itself, February 16th, went really really well. And quick too. All told we had around 110 people at the reception. The outpouring of love from everyone was quite overwhelming. And work too. We had a lot of help from a lot of people that we will be forever grateful for. Not the mention all the gifts. Our poor little home is practically bursting at the seams... and I still have some things left at my parents still to bring over - most notably my computer. We still haven't really had a chance to relax and enjoy our home. Thankfully we went away on a honeymoon for four nights to get away from the chaos. We both desperately needed the rest and relaxation and wouldn't mind some more any time soon.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much I'll be keeping this blog up to date, but here are a few pictures from our photographer's website: www.paulgraham.ca. Enjoy!


Matthew.

T minus Four Months

We have heard back from the church and we now have a wedding date. On February 16th, 2008, Lesley and I will be married. That's 4 months away or 17 weeks or 123 days. There's still a lot to be done including finding a reception hall, a caterer, and a place of our own to live in. The date we chose, Feb. 16th, has nothing to do with Valentine's Day. Lesley's reading week is the following week so we'll be able to get away for a few days for our honeymoon.

Please pray for us as we plan our wedding day. Pray that we will be decisive and not let others influence our decisions too much. Pray that God's plan for our day will be our priority despite all the dreams and preconceptions we have about what a wedding should be like.

Matthew.

I'm enagaged!

That's right folks. On Saturday September 29th I asked Lesley to marry me. We had spent the night at the church with the youth and shortly after lunch we went to her apartment to enjoy a few minutes of quiet before heading out to run some errands. To her complete surprise I went to one knee, pulled out the ring, and proposed. Before even looking at the ring she said yes and had me back up on my feet so she could hug and kiss me. We spent pretty much the rest of the weekend calling and talking to people to share our excitement. I got a number of comments on my huge smile at church Sunday morning. Everyone is so happy for us. It's nice to know that we're not the only ones who see this as being a relationship blessed by God. The most common reaction was, "Well it's about time!" even though we just celebrated our fifth month of dating.

We don't have a date yet, but we're considering either getting married at the beginning of her reading week in February or once the school year is done in April/May. Once we take some engagement pictures I'll be sure to post them. With Thanksgiving being this weekend I'm sure there will be lots of opportunity for photos.

Matthew.

The Continuing Woes of A VW Owner

Things are still not well in Volkswagen land. New Sudbury Volkswagen (NSVW) has been giving me plenty of grief in trying to get my car repaired. Enough grief that I actually rescinded my recommendation to a friend to purchase a VW.

The Monday after the accident I made all the calls I needed to my insurance company. Since I'm 28 and never had an accident or traffic infraction (in Canada *cough cough*) I'm considered a 9-star driver which entitled me to a "free" accident without incurring a rate increase. My insurance also includes rental coverage so I figured I was set. I went into NSVW to get a quick estimate on the damage. The service manager figured it would be at least $3000 to replace the bumper, front grille, and headlight, but until he took the car apart he wouldn't be able to tell the full extent of the damage. Later that week we heard from the claims appraiser and arranged to have him view the car at NSVW. So on the following Monday I was supposed to drop off the car and there would be a rental car waiting for me.

Monday was a stressful day to start with because I was involved in providing some training for all our principals. I was out of the office providing support for the presenter of the main project I was hired for. Once the principals were settled and the presenter was starting into the talk I snuck out to drive across town to NSVW. When I got there, to my horror, there was no car waiting for me. The guy who was supposed to arrange the rental apparently forgot to and was now on vacation for three weeks. To her credit the receptionist at NSVW did her best to try and find me a rental and even offered to drive me to a rental place herself, but either way it was going to be 45 minutes at the least before I got a car. So as politely as I could I took my keys back and told her I'd be back tomorrow to make the car exchange. She wasn't too impressed because they had already set up the appointment with the claims appraiser, but at that moment I didn't care. They messed up and I needed my car so they could deal with the claims appraiser.

Tuesday I dropped off my car and a shuttle was waiting for me to bring me to National Car Rental. Once the shuttle dropped me off the receptionist at National had no record of a car being reserved for me. So again NSVW didn't come through with their promise. National gave me a pretty dinged up car that smelled of cigarette smoke which did not impress me in the least. I didn't say anything cause I needed to get back to work since I was on borrowed time at that point.

Come Friday morning I get a call from NSVW to let me know that my car is ready. So during my lunch break I get out to National, turn in my car which only cost me $9 for the gas, and the shuffle brought me to NSVW. The receptionist I had dealt with the other day was lunch and the other receptionist didn't know anything about what was going on. She didn't even know how much my deductible was let alone what they did to fix my car. She asked me to call back later and talk to the other receptionist. Which I did but she didn't know what they did to my car either and told me to call back on Monday to talk to the body-shop guy. And on top of that I had asked to get a block-heater put in my car which they didn't do back in November because of a broken tool, and still didn't do because of the same excuse nine months later. But my car was fixed with a nice new shinny bumped so I figured all was right again in VW land.

After work I went to Lesley's and on our way out to dinner I noticed something was wrong with the front end of the car. The grille was sitting too low, leaving a noticeable gap between the grille and the hood. I popped the hood and it looked like the grille had slide down and had a noticeable bend in the middle where maybe they forced it on. I was pretty shocked, but I still gave them the benefit of the doubt that maybe things don't fit well anymore after the accident and my car was "scarred". But I was definitely going to call them Monday morning. Then on Saturday night Lesley and I were out for dinner with Steve and Leah when I went to show them the gap after we ate. Someone left me a present by dinging my bumper, on the same corner as the accident, hard enough to crack the side turning light and knock it out of place, leaving it hanging on a wire. Luckily I was able to snap it back into place leaving me with just the scratches on the side of the bumper.

On Monday I called and it turns out my new grille is on back order so NSVW decided to put my old grille back on my car without telling me. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt still, but that's just plain bad business. I mean how is that going to look other than they tried to make a quick buck off of me and the insurance company by putting the old grille back on. Two weeks later I still hadn't heard from NSVW so I went there after work this past Monday figuring a phone call wouldn't be enough. The service manager was finally back from vacation and said he noticed that my grille was still on back-order and was going to phone around. I told him they didn't tell me that they put the old grille back on, but he didn't react much to that. Or the fact that he forgot to arrange the rental. He called me on Tuesday to say they found a grille in L.A. and it's on its way. I'm guessing I won't hear from them again until tomorrow (Friday) and apparently they finally replaced their block-heater tool which means I'll have to leave the car there for a day again.

So yeah..... I am totally unimpressed and frustrated with the level of service I am getting from NSVW. They are the only VW dealer/shop in town so I guess they feel they can get away with this kind of treatment. I'm not entirely sure what to do because I'm not good at standing up for myself. I'm the kind of guy that always thinks about how I should have gone off the handle after the fact. Would it be wrong to demand some form of compensation? What would be reasonable? I just don't know, cause at this point it will take a lot for them to redeem themselves. I do know I won't be so eager to recommend a VW if it's going to be purchased and serviced at New Sudbury Volkswagen.

Matthew.

Today Was Not A Good Day

On the way out of Blockbuster this morning at approximately 11:30am I unsuccessfully tried to turn left across two lanes of south-bound traffic in order to head north. As I was waiting to turn left, a mini-van was slowing down to turn right into the same driveway I was exiting. Upon checking the north and south-bound traffic everything looked clear. Little did I know that the mini-van blocked my view so I couldn't see an oncoming car in the second lane. So I pulled out to turn left and bam, our front corners met. He couldn't see me either cause he was just as surprised. The one no time for either of us to react.

So yeah. We both pulled into the middle turning lane and he jumped out of his car in a tirade. Asking me at the top of his lungs if I was going to fix his car myself. If it was nice driving a VW since it appeared I had little damage. Asking me why I hit him. And just growling as loud as he could. I don't really blame him, cause his car fared a lot worse. The corner of his nose was pretty torn up, his tire was flat and his rim bent, and the wheel-well even came off. So in comparison my car barely looked damaged at all. A lot of the molded plastic is cracked though and not secured onto the car very well so the whole bumper will need to be replaced. The headlight housing itself quite loose and scratched as well. With the higher prices of owning an import my dad figured it could be around $2,000 to fix.

Luckily an OPP officer just happened to be on his way to the Subway right near where we crashed so he pulled up and called it in to the local police. So all in all the whole process of taking statements and information only took an hour which was amazing considering some of the horror stories you hear. But I think.... no I know I made a mistake in my statement in regards to which direction I was trying to head in. Of course it was something I said after the officer asked if I had anything else to say so it's the last sentence. I guess I got confused trying to think of something else to add. I was definitely still in shock.

Obviously I was found to be at fault and was issued a ticket for $110 and 2 demerit points. The officer suggested that I take my ticket to court and plead for a reduced sentence. I just wish I knew what all the ramifications are going to be. Since it was my fault am I going to have to pay for both cars to be fixed? How much will my insurance go up? This is my first accident and the first blemish on my record. My insurance company is closed until Monday so I imagine I'll be spending most of Monday morning on the phone with them and the shop.

What a nightmare. I know I know. I should be thankful no one got hurt. It could have been a lot worse. If I had gotten further into his lane I could have been T-boned. I just can't help feeling like a complete idiot.

Matthew.

The Intermission

Lesley's job in Buckhorn is now half over. We were eased into our time apart pretty easily at first, with me bringing her to Dana and Andy's for the weekend after the Canada Day long weekend, and then her boss having to come back the weekend after to participate in some interviews. So during the first two weeks we saw a lot of each other. The next two weeks however slowed to a crawl as we waited for her to come back to Sudbury for a wedding this past weekend. As uncomfortable and un-fun as weddings are for me, I was most definitely thankful for the opportunity it gave her to come home.

Communication is always the toughest part of a long distance relationship, and with her only having access to a pay phone makes it even tougher. Luckily she's also able to use a computer with Internet at a mine site once a week. I've never been good on the phone and if I can avoid it I'd rather not have serious conversations while chatting on the Internet, so this experience has been stretching me. I think the hardest thing about chatting is being patient and waiting for the other person to finish their thoughts. A one minute silence in a face to face conversation while thinking about how to answer a question feels more like 30 minutes of silence when typing. It can frustrating trying to formulate a thought and have the other person move on to another topic out of nervousness. The male brain just doesn't process thoughts and especially emotions as quickly as a female's brain. I can type fast, it's just the thoughts that take time.

As our two weeks apart was coming to an end our phone conversations seemed to get longer and longer which is no small feat considering Lesley has to stand in a pay phone at a gas station. I hope she knows how much it means to me that she would do that for me. We've been fortunate that I've been able to be home whenever she calls or she's been able to reach me at work when I'm working late.

She was even able to completely surprise me by coming home a day early from Buckhorn. I was at home, lying on my bed watching a movie on a Tuesday afternoon, when all of a sudden a head pops into view in my door way. She said the look on my face was priceless changing quickly from a lack of recognition to disbelief. I was in shock for at least half an hour. Once I came to my senses she started confessing all the lies she had to tell me to continue to make me believe I wouldn't see her until Wednesday. Even my parents were in on it. I was totally proud of her for pulling it off.

Her week back in Sudbury was so great. I had the week off from work (shorted from two weeks because of a major provincial deadline) so we spent just about every waking minute together. The wedding on Saturday was nice, but it was so very tough not being able to sit with her during the ceremony or the dinner because she was a groom's woman. That's right – she stood for the groom. I was very glad I could be there to support her since she's not a big fan of weddings either. In all it was a very long day, but she looked absolutely stunning in her black gown. I'll post some pictures at the end of this.

Not all of our time together was fun and games. We just can't seem to go a day without having some kind of intense, emotional conversation about our pasts or our futures. As tough as it is, I don't think I'd have it any other way. It is SO nice to finally have someone to share my hopes, dreams, fears, and faults with. As scary as it is to be so brutally honest with her, it's incredibly freeing. We're free to love each other for who we are. I know she loves me, the real me that no one else sees. And for that I will be forever thankful. I just pray I will never take her love for granted.

And now we find ourselves apart once again. This time she's gone for three weeks. They will be the last three weeks for the summer thankfully, but after how hard it was to be apart two weeks, we were dreading saying “see you later”. I might be able to go down and see her next weekend, but I'm not keen on staying there with her and her boss. He's a very introverted, eccentric guy and kinda gives me the creeps. I dunno how she's able to live in a cabin with him. As much as we don't understand why we have to be apart like this, it's definitely made it clear to me how much I can't live without her.

Here are a few pictures from the wedding:

Lesley and her mother, Julie

How did this babe end up on my arm?

Absolutely stunning

The Wedding Party
Matthew.

Time Apart

**ACHOO!**

It's gettin' a little dusty and cobwebby in here huh? Needless to say I've been a little distracted lately by a certain someone, but now she's gone for nearly two months for work. Even though we'll get to see each other a handful of times during those two months, including a trip this coming weekend to see Dana and Andy, it was pretty hard saying "see you later" on Monday night.

As some of you may have read on Lesley's blog, we faces a major hurdle this past weekend - a large enough hurdle that our future together was in question. Of course it only seemed all the worse because she'd be leaving in a few days. But somehow, God helped us work through it pretty quickly. He seemed to look after all the little details to make sure we'd work through it. The irony of it all was my wanting some kind of test for our love - something that would test our mettle. At that time we were assuming that her leaving for two months would be the test. Little did we know, but God is good and brought us through it and our love for each other is definitely stronger. Please pray for us as we go through this time apart. Especially in regards to communication since at this point in time all she has access to is a pay phone which just happens to be mosquito central at night.

Matthew.