The Talens' Tales

One of the things we needed to do when we arrived on the Island was get into the prenatal classes that are offered by the Public Health Department. Thankfully we were able to get into the class that started the week after we arrived. The classes have been really good. It has helped me to feel more prepared and know what to expect and how the health system works here. Last night was the hospital tour. And for whatever reason, that made the whole birth of our baby seem very real and very soon. We have six weeks yet, but that seems very soon. I think just seeing the rooms and knowing where we have to go and seeing all of the different machines and stuff hit me and made me understand how soon I will be there. I like many of the things that I learned. I will probably stay in the hospital for about 48 hours after the baby is born. They leave the baby in the room with you most of the time, so I will quickly learn what it means to take care of this little one before we go home. I am just so th...

As part of our moving process, we decided to try and downsize as much as possible. And since we hadn't seen with our own eyes the place were we would be living, it was hard to know what large things we would really need or what would work in the house. So, once we got here, we quickly learned what we would need and then set out to find stuff for as cheaply as possible. So, we bought everything used. Here are the great finds. Our computer desk. It fits perfectly in the space we have for it, has a little bit of storage. This was most expensive of our purchases, but considering it is only three years old and fits our space so well, it was well worth it. A dresser. This one is almost identical to the one we sold in Edgerton, but it had a little more wear and tear. So, I put a cloth on top to cover up the not so nice looking part and Wilbert fixed a few of the drawers. For $20 we have a very nice and functional dresser. I really wanted a chair for in the baby's room. We found this g...

When you rent a house, you never really know what you are going to get until you move in. Overall our house is really great, but there are some interesting things about it as well. 1) Wonderful - the floors. If you look back at the pictures that I put up yesterday you will notice the beautiful wood floors in all rooms (except the bathroom, which is tile). I just love them. Eventually I would like to get a few rugs to soften things up a bit, especially in the living room, but overall I really like them. 2) Wonderful - the front door. It is something that is really pretty and unique to the house. It could use a little tlc on the outer side, but it looks really nice inside the house. 3) Wonderful and Weird - the kitchen cupboards. There are somethings I really like. For example, the spice cupboard. At least that is what I am using it for. I can't imagine what else you would be able to put in here. It seems custom made to hold spices. We also have this tip out cupboard. I would imagine...

I think this might be the post that a lot of people have been waiting for. So, without further ado...this is our house: From the back side. If you ever come to visit me, the driveway will naturally take you around to the back side of the house. Please use the back door. We have only opened the front door to move stuff in and other then that, it stays locked. The living room...still a work in progress. We are waiting for some new windows that are supposed to be installed soon. So, we don't really have this room set up at all. I think it will undergo a few changes yet, but it works for now. The kitchen when you look in from the living room. In the kitchen looking at the living room. It is a pretty nice set up, though the stove is really far away from everything else. The dining area. We really like the "L"-shaped counter and how it divides this space. Upstairs now. Can you guess whose room this is? As you can see, we have a bit of work to do here. But, we have the basic ele...

Okay. I have a confession to make. I am a horrible speller. Horrible. I love computers because they have spell check. I would be completely lost and helpless without it. I can most often tell when a word is not correctly spelled, but I would be hard pressed to say what the correct spelling would be. My third grade teacher, who had been teaching for several decades already told my parents at parent teacher conferences that she could not figure it out. I could read anything put in front of me, but I could not spell to save my life. And yet, I was an English teach for the past six years. Grading papers was no problem. I most often caught spelling mistakes and my students are blessed with the wonders of spell check as well. The worst was writing student responses on the board. I would often have a great word in my head to summarize what the student had said, but because I did not know how to spell it, I would have to pick a synonym that I did know how to spell. My students quickly learned ...

This was the leg of the trip that we were the most apprehensive about. Would Canada really let me in the country? Would they make us unload the entire trailer? Would we be there for an entire day? We really didn't know what to expect. We had done several things and made lots of phone calls before we left to make sure we had everything in order. As we packed, we made a list of everything that we taking with us. I numbered and labeled all of the boxes. We did as much paperwork and form filling out ahead of time as we could. So, we left my parents place around 7:00 AM. We had decided to cross the border at Port Huron/Sarnia. We knew it was a busy one, but we also knew they would have the people there who knew how to process all of the things we needed to do. It is also only 3 hours from my parents, so if something went horribly wrong, I knew someone would come and get me. We arrived at the border around 10:30. The first thing we needed to do was stop on the US side of the border and g...

Since my family lives in Michigan, it was the perfect place to stop for Labor Day weekend. We had a nice get together with family on Sunday afternoon and we also spent time with both of my grandma's. A few other family members dropped in here and there, so we saw a lot of people. A bonus is that Wilbert's brother is student teaching nearby, so we were able to see him (and meet his girlfriend). We met up on Saturday to look for Jacob Talen's grave site and found it without too much trouble in the North Holland Cemetery. Here are the boys by their ancestor. We learned that he moved to the US with his second wife and daughter when his son (the great-great grandfather) was 27 and already married and established in the Netherlands. So that explains why all of the Talen's are still in the Netherlands. We also met up with our friends Aaron and Cheryl who live in Grand Rapids. We were able to meet their two month old baby as well. She is a peanut and it was fun to think that s...

Before we could leave, there was a lot of packing to do. I had done as much as possible throughout the summer, but there are some items that you just can't pack until the last minute. Here is Wilbert using his favorite packing method--shrink wrap. This is probably the best thing that we bought to pack with, especially to save space. Wilbert really enjoyed using it for some reason, and he shrink wrapped together all kinds of crazy things from blankets and pillows to his long handled tools. On Wednesday, September 1st, we packed everything into our crazy long trailer and truck. This picture was taken after we had arrived safely on PEI, but it is the only one I have of the truck and trailer. As you can see it was full, but there was still space left. But it was very heavy. So, we were thankful everything fit and that we had nothing more. Below shows the car inside the trailer as well. That was why we bought such a crazy big trailer. Then we didn't have to drive two cars the entir...

Finally we have the internet hooked up and going! I have so many things that I want to post about and that I know so many of you would like to know and see. I think I am going to break it up into some different parts, so be looking for a bunch of posts in the next few days. Just briefly, we are settling into our new home well and getting unpacked. Our house is cute, but certainly has a character all its own. Wilbert went for his first day of work on the farm today, so our routine is starting to be established. I think I will end for now. More to come soon, starting with the trip out here.