Living in the States

So I have been living in the States for almost ten years now. That seems a little surreal to me that I have been in one place for ten years. The only other place I lived for ten years was Canmore, AB where I grew up. But Im not counting that because I didn't have a choice to live there. Here I have a choice of staying. Why have I stayed for so long Im never quite sure. I had first thought when I moved here that I was only going to stay for two years and go back home. 8 years later Im still here. Looking back over the last ten years there has been so many times I thought about returning to Canada, but I never have. To be truly honest- at times it was pure laziness- who wants to pack up a whole house rent a big truck you can't even drive and go back to a country that you may or may not have a job at! Laziness seems to win a lot with me.

I have mostly enjoyed living down here, with a few exceptions. The first being- and because its the most recent thing in my life- is that I miss watching all the sports we get in Canada. I have not seen on the networks or even the sports channels- any of the sports that lead up to the Olympics. How are we to know who the competition is unless we have seen them? Most weekends you will see (when in season) Football- NFL and College, NBA, and very rarely on the networks- hockey. Golf is always there too!!! I miss watching the other sports. Rugby and the CFL I miss the most. The whole Olympics is another blog!!!

Second exception is the money- although I have gotten use to it now- its all the same color!!! and has nothing distinct about it!!! Canadian money is very colorful and its easy to tell how much you have, or don't have!! If you have a blue bill, purple, green- 5, 10, and 20. Here theres green, green, and green!!! I guess if you have it it doesn't matter what color it is!!!! And then we have the toonie and loonie- I hide my eyes in shame- those names seem to say alot....- the 2 dollar coin and the one dollar coin. The coins are cool looking tho.... hehe. I will leave that one alone.

Another exception is the freeways. I never knew what aggressive driving was till I moved here!!! Wow. Thats all I can say is wow! I had never seen so many roads together, so many lanes and cars all going at 70 miles/hr! I thought I drove well enough back home and then come here, it was a quick lesson. Now when I go back home and drive I think I freak people out there- they drive so slow!!!! I remember when I was first driving down here and came to Sacramento at rush hour. I was freaking out that I was going to miss the 99 exit- and with all the cars...geez. Apparently I made it.

Another exception for my friend Jason there is no milk in a bag. Nuff said.

So I can't think of anymore exceptions for the moment- but I will be sure to add more if I think of them.

I have loved the people I have met. My first week here the people at work were so welcoming and I settled in pretty fast. I started going to church at Three Rivers Christian Fellowship and have been there ever since- on and off during the past 10 years.

So I will leave this blog for now saying I think I like living here eh?!