Hello, fellow Vander Veens from coast to coast. If anyone didn’t know I’m now living in Red Deer, Alberta with my friend Dave and his family. His dad is a pastor and got called to Red Deer. He wanted Dave to come, so I came as well. We moved at the beginning of September. Dave and I both had to drive our cars out here, so we made a road trip out of it and invited two friends. We took five days to get here and did a bit of sight seeing on the way. We took a detour and drove through the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

So far I’m loving it here. We joined the Young Adults group and are meeting new people, playing on the Red Deer CRC hockey team with Jay Vedder, patiently waiting for cold weather to play on outdoor rinks, and loving the cheap tax. The only thing that sucks so far is the rain, it rains like every other day here. Ugh!

I’m taking Distance Education courses from the University of Waterloo and am working part time at the Red Deer Co-op Home Centre. That’s what fills my days. Keeps me really busy.

So that pretty much sums up my last two months. A couple weeks ago I went to a Who concert in Edmonton. I have a friend who works for a radio station in Edmonton and gets free tickets for us. This past weekend I went canoeing down the Red Deer River with the young adults and played our first hockey game. We lost 7-3 and I almost threw up. Usually happens the first game of the season.

That’s what I’m up to. A temporary change of pace for me in beautiful Alberta. My e-mail address is nvanderv@msn.com if anyone wants to know, and feel free to visit.

Talk to ya later family,
Nick