5 Years Ago Today...

I know you can't tell from the photo above, but that is me receiving my University Diploma on April 29th, 2006. The photo pretty much sums up my memories of the occasion, fuzzy and blurry on the edges. It was, of course, one of the milestones in my life, one I will never repeat. In thinking back to that weekend which seems so long ago, I went through my photos and some great memories popped back into my mind...

My whole family drove over from Calgary to Langley, BC and crashed in our tiny two bedroom basement suite. Hubby and I had been married only 10 months when we graduated together. My parents took the futon and the siblings all slept on the floor. (Can you tell we are a missionary family? ;))

This photo was taken at the annual Grad banquet which takes place a few weeks before Graduation. My two friends and I were all in the same dorm in our first year. The rest, as they say, is history...

Here you can actually tell it's me in the photo, walking down the aisle having received my "diploma" - actually a sheet of paper (inside a beautiful folder) that says "if you really managed to complete all your classes, we'll mail your diploma to you."

All the music majors with our professors.

So, given that momentous occasion, what have I done with my life since? Well, let's see...

I've lived on three continents,

Worked three official jobs and several unofficial ones,

Celebrated 5 years of marriage,

Given birth to two wonderful kids,

Traveled to 10 different countries on four continents

and still only know one language! (well, I'm working on changing that one.)

And I probably thought about Graduation day once or twice. 

In the next five years I hope to...

Finally finish paying off my student loans (!!!)

Travel around this new continent I find myself on,

Achieve a reasonable level of Portuguese,

Watch my kids grow up and start school.

Lots to look back on and lots to look forward to!

Before

Before I start this post, let me just say I am a die-hard interior decorator nut. One of the reasons I love moving is that I get to re-arrange, re-organize and re-decorate! I have many more thoughts about this topic which I'll save for another post, but for now let's take a look at our little apartment in it's before stage:
Here is the view from the entrance, looking into the living room and onto the verandah.


Here is the kitchen in all it's bare-ness. Once you enter, the kitchen is directly on the right.


And my beloved window between the kitchen and dining area. This is something I was really hoping for as I know it will make it a lot easier to look after the kids and helps to make the place seem a little bigger. The "open plan" concept is not really wide-spread here, in fact when you do find it, it's called an "American kitchen".


A different view of the "living room".


The kids/guest bathroom. We were very fortunate to find a place with the shower head and doors already installed, as well as having a small cabinet under the sink. These things are often left up to the renter to install.


Our tiny bedroom. We decided to move a queen size bed in, even though there won't be much space around it!


The kids room. Thank goodness they are in a crib and toddler bed, or the room would seem really small!


The office/study/storage/everything else room. I imagine this room will be very full! This room also has access to the balcony which is nice.


Here's the basic layout.


So there you have it, our tiny apartment. Come back for more updates and the after shots!

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