My First Blog Post

I really shouldn't be writing a blog. My grades in English class were no confidence boost. I also don't read other blogs so I have no reference for what I am supposed to put down here. Maybe the first thing I should do is introduce myself.

Hey, my name is Leah. I am in my late 20's and I don't know what I want to do with my life. I am a disciple of Jesus, I am married to my husband Cam, and right now I work at a Christian kids overnight camp.

In April my husband and I take possession of our first house. Something I have dreamed about ever since we got married and started the process of building a home together. We were married going into our last year of our undergraduate degrees. We had very little money but a whole lot of love and support from friends and family. Our first apartment was situated right in the heart of Waterloo, between two Universities. The night life was a little crazy and sometimes we had drunk university students yelling in our driveway, but we loved our little home together. It had no laundry and pretty much consisted of one long hallway, but the rent was good and we made it work.

Both Cam and I were scheduled to graduate in 2020. Obviously things did not go exactly as planned. With an unceremonious end, classes were canceled, graduation was canceled and eventually we temporarily moved back home with my family to have some company while we waited out the covid craziness.

After graduating Cam decided to complete a masters of mechanical engineering at the University of Waterloo and I started working for a plant company that would ship plants across Canada. Cam loved the research he got to do, and I was thrilled to be working with my hands after struggling through the studying and deadline formula of my education. Things looked pretty similar for about 2 years. Obviously there are the important details of life but we carried on in our carriers until Cam graduated and I unfortunately got let go from my position. Maybe one day I will write about that experience.

I picked up a marketing internship and Cam was able to continue to work in the lab he had studied in. In this time we were met with an incredible surprise. I was pregnant. Cam jumped into preparation mode and we looked into purchasing a condo, and also looked into taking a position at a company in Brampton. We announced our pregnancy to both sides of the family at Christmas. It was a very exciting time and even though it was logistically going to be hard we were so thrilled. 4 weeks later I had my first ultrasound. My ultrasound was about 3 weeks later than it should have been. I was told that the clinic was receiving a high number of requests. Because of covid I had to go in alone. The results weren't good. Again I will likely write an additional post about the details of this experience. Ultimately what we were told is that the baby stopped developing at around 8 weeks. I had been pregnant for 12. A D&C was scheduled for later that week. We were both heartbroken.

Cam ended up taking the position in Brampton and I finished up my internship after taking some time off. We decided against the condo as we were no longer in a rush to have more space. Cam drove to Brampton for few days before they told him he would be doing a project in Vaughn for a few months. He decided that this wasn't the right fit and quit that day. I have never seen Cam quit anything. So it was a clean slate. No baby, no condo, no jobs for either of us. With all that spare time we decided to take a trip to the exotic Quebec city. It was our farthest trip away together.

After our trip it was job hunting time. I looked and looked and sent resume after resume and no bites. A dear friend of mine told me I should go back and work at a camp I had attended as a teen and had worked at a few years back. I laughed at the prospect of going back to summer camp as an adult. I told Cam mostly as a point of interest. We discussed and playing devils advocate I told him why maybe this would be the next move for us. We are both jobless, we are young and without kids and this had been the camp we met at years ago. As we discussed the pros and cons I think the idea started to seem less and less crazy. I heard through the grape vine that they were looking for a Program Director. I called my previous boss and asked if there was in fact still an opening. After a phone interview I was hired. We were moving to Muskoka!

I took to my role as Program Director and a few months in Cam found an engineering position in Orillia that he fell in love with. I have now worked here for 2 years and just submitted my resignation letter for the fall. Onto the next adventure. I could write a book about my time here and how meaningful and important it has been for Cam and me. I think we will continue to realize it's importance as life continues to unfold.

So that brings us to present day. I have always wanted to be good at documenting important moments more than just through pictures. Maybe this will be the way I do it. I hope through sharing I can speak into an experience that others recognize or find comfort in. So here goes nothing...