A word from Josh

The time is 11:21 mountain time.  I am on a Canadian North Flight to Iqaluit.  After finishing the on flight breakfast and refreshments I’ve pulled out my laptop to settle into a 3.5 hour flight through Rankin Inlet to Iqaluit. I grabbed my iPod and set it to shuffle the songs. The song that happened to come to the playlist is “I will follow Him by Andre Kempen. I am reminded again of Gods faithfulness and provision. Since our marriage began Jocelyn and I have been working towards a job in aviation.

On February 10^th this opportunity began at Summit Air. After two weeks of solid study to write the IATRA I dove into an ocean of new experiences. I spent the last two weeks learning basics for our aircraft such as nose wheel turning restrictions for towing on the apron, temperatures for tenting the engines and wings, fuelling, receiving, weighing, categorizing and loading cargo. In general, taking the precautions that allow the equipment to operate at the lower temperatures. A typical day is 0800 to 1800 unless a plane is going early or coming back late in which case hours flex. Outside of the ramp I make bank runs for company contract deposits, trips to part stores, get Nitrogen, O2 bottles filled, pick up people for crew changes and pretty much everything else you can dream of. There is always lots of opportunity to help the Maintenance Engineers in the shop which allows me to learn a lot about the aircraft systems. I’ve also pulled apart the company VW Jetta to get new seals for the gear box as it was U/S. For paper work I’ve been busy learning the Company Ops Manual, Standard Operating Procedures, Survival Training, Airlaw, TDG for Air Operators, Dornier Ground School, Aircraft Flight Manual, CAT training and the list goes on. I’ve been up on a Skyvan and hope to have an opportunity to do a proficiency check on the Dornier in Iqaluit. All that being said, it’s been a busy but very rewarding two weeks. There is a good atmosphere at the company and business is good. The town of Yellowknife is probably about as close as one could come to what would be my dream in flying. A capital that surrounds it’s airport with plenty of amazing views over Great Slave Lake and the wilderness right next door.

As I head now to Iqaluit I hear the town is in slightly rougher shape, but I look forward to the opportunity. I packed up my entire life in four bags(one for carry on. I was only supposed to be able to check two bags but by Gods grace the lady who checked me in was the one who I had spent time talking to last time I was up to find out more about the town. So onto the planes my bags went). I’ve also sent ahead 26kg of food.

In Iqaluit I will be responsible for all the duties listed above and more, as I coordinate flights that are coming and going with there cargo and passengers and communicate that with the base back in Yellowknife. Living on the mountainous rocky Canadian Shield of Baffin Island I’m told will be something no Social Studies text book can truly describe. Seeing the pictures from the crew I look forward for opportunities to go see some of the most amazing Northern places in the world.

I am so very thankful for my wife back home and miss her. As well as my family and friends who have helped to pack up our home and all their support.

Until next time,

Joshua

On the Move

The last two weeks have gone by in a blur of moving, cleaning, sorting, packing, rearranging, hauling, throwing, sharing, and giving. Tonight I'm officially done moving and cleaning the town house. Phew! It has been a big job that I couldn't have done alone without the help of many family and friends. Thank you! 

I moved back into my parent's place last weekend. It is so nice to be living with people and not be on my own. It does feel weird to move into my little brother's old room, but I'm getting used to it and sure like the company. Teeka thinks it great that she has so many people to play with, bark at and give her lots of attention. Now that the move is done, my plan is to work lots and pray that my interview is a success. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get to Iqaluit sometime in the last week of March. It's been two weeks since I last saw Josh, and although it has gone quickly. I can't wait to be with him again.

Josh has had a hectic two weeks of orientation and training in Yellowknife. It has been very good and he is working on his ground school for the Dornier. Today he left Yellowknife for Iqaluit! It's about a 3 hour flight that puts him two hours ahead of us in Edmonton. He is settling into the new crew house and tomorrow will get to see the hangar and airport. I'm very curious to see pictures of the town and airport. He promises he'll get the internet up and running as soon as he can. 

We've been reading in the newspapers about the exorbitant food prices in Nunavut. Well, Josh has experienced that first hand. A few items from his first grocery shop included:
                   
                   2L milk $6.50                 Cornflakes $13
                   8 oranges $10                 Lettuce $6 


Crazy! Fortunately he also brought big box of food from Edmonton and hopefully our other boxes of food will be able to come on company flights if there is room. Looks like we'll need to bump up our grocery budget! 

Packing Galore

Today is day 5 of being away from my hubby. My best friend tells me I shouldn't keep track of how many days we have been apart, but I find it interesting how quickly it went from day 2 to day 5. It gives me hope that "soon" is a relative term and will come more quickly than I can imagine. That being said, I do not like being away from Josh. I have left home before for varying amounts of time and have missed family and friends. But none of that compares to missing my spouse. It really feels like half of me is missing in a weird, disconnected way. As someone I talked to today said, "the long distance marriage thing is doable, but it sucks."
I concur. 

Despite all the 'missing' that is going on, we're doing pretty good I think. Josh is working hard to learn the ropes of working on the ramp and in the hangar and all the other stuff those guys do. He's had a ton of exams to work through and is now starting the ground school for flying the Dornier. He is enjoying guys he works with and the atmosphere at this company. And despite the fact that the cold weather keeps locking him out of his unlocked truck, he likes being up there. (Although he would like it better if I was with him :) ) 


I have the house pretty well packed up and with the help of my lovely family and some friends, we'll hopefully have everything moved on Saturday. That will be a relief to have all that work done. And I am truly grateful for all the help that our parents and friends have so willingly given. I'm still waiting for an interview for an RN job, but am praying that one will happen shortly so I can join Josh at the end of March. If that doesn't happen, then we'll just wait to see how it all unfolds. 


Until then, I trust and wait.

Welcome to Yellowknife

On the road with our "Flying Java"

This move has come so suddenly and yet so purposefully. Josh and I have been praying about an aviation job for him since before we got married. We had no idea when or what that job would look like, but were up for anything. 

Throughout our roads trips to meet potential job opportunities, we have felt the effect of God's control on our lives in being able to meet all sorts of the 'right' people. The kind of who put us in touch with their boss, email a friend on our behalf or refer us to another company. Through all these steps, we have arrived at Summit Air in Yellowknife. 

Seems surreal that we're moving!

 Josh passed his IATRA exam and on Tuesday we loaded up the truck and pointed it north! Our drive was clear, dry and wildlife free. (Another answer to prayer). We spent the night in a goofy little motel in High Level and then said goodbye Alberta and hello NWT!

The crewhouse where Josh will be living for the next few weeks is a 3 bedroom mobile home about 10 minutes away from the airport. It's fully furnished, tidy and Josh's co-workers are really nice. We enjoyed chatting with them over wings at BPs and learning more about Summit, Yellowknife, Iqaluit and the north in general. Today was Josh's first day on the job, which left me to run a couple errands and explore a bit. Everything seems to run at a less hectic pace here. The speed limits are 45km/hr. The grocery till ladies are in no hurry to scan your shopping, anyone I ask a question to is very eager to help and everyone smiles or waves when they catch your eye. I know this is a small town thing but considering Yellowknife is 20 000 people, I'm a little surprised.  But I like it. 


Tonight I fly home to Edmonton and leave my love in Yellowknife. *sniff*  He has a very hectic month ahead of him as they train him to be an operations manager and also get him checked out on the Dornier. I have a busy month ahead of me as I need to pack up our house, find a job and MC a wedding. It will go by quickly and I'm hoping the days that we're apart will zoom by. We'll meet up next in Iqaluit at the end of March and I'm already counting down the days. 

Goose has flown the coop

It's winter in Alberta,Canada........And the gentle breezes blow, 
40 miles per hour at 32 below! 
Oh, how I love Alberta,Canada..........When the snow's up to your butt; 
You take a breath of winter air 
And your nose is frozen shut. 
Yes, the weather here is wonderful, 
You may think I'm a fool. 
I could never leave Alberta, Canada...
Cause I'm frozen to the stool.

Edmonton had its fair share of winter this year, with the -30C temperatures and 3 or 4 feet of snow in January. We had another couple of cold days this week, with lows of -27 and highs of -23. I had to laugh on Tuesday when I read that Iqaluit's temperature was a whopping-59C! That's doubly as cold as Edmonton. 

*shiver*

This served as a frosty reminder of how badly Josh and I need good parkas! I figured this wouldn't be too difficult of a task, considering we live in Canada! However, Canada Goose is pretty well sold out for the season! I have spent hours on the phone and driving around town trying to find parkas for us that will combat the lovely Arctic weather Iqaluit is experiencing. After several frustrating days of searching, being told "we're selling our spring line now" or finding XXS or XXL sizes only....we finally found Josh a Canada Goose Snow Mantra! What a relief. It is such a warm, well equipped coat for those frigid temperatures. I am so thankful that my hubby will not freeze to death his first day on the job. I still need to find a parka for me, but at least I have a little bit of time before I head north.