Wow, what a year. This year alone, I've lived in three different cities across the US and Canada, spanning two states and province and covering a distance of over 4000 km.

I spent 4 months in Apex, North Carolina (near Raleigh) working with a customer. It was the furthest south of the border that I have ever lived. It was also the nicest furnished single-bedroom apartment I have ever stayed in. There I attended Sovereign Grace Church, and had a good time fellowshipping and eating Mexican fast-food. I racked up Aeroplan miles and status segments as I flew to Buffalo every other weekend to get a rental car to drive up to visit Clarissa As a result of the frequent flights, I will enjoy Air Canada Prestige status for 2012. To be honest though, I'm not even sure how that benefits me. I think I might be allowed an extra bag for free now on Air Canada flights, which is nice (though, lounge access would have been nicer ).

I spent 7 months back in Streetsboro, Ohio, where I continued working a variety of projects and continued to attend The Chapel at Tinkerscreek. This was an amazing small church where I felt at home during my stay south of the border. There were some sad times, but with those sad times came reminders of God's sovereignty and of him working out everything for his glory.

Finally, with what started as preliminary discussions at the beginning of the year, I finally arrived in Edmonton, Alberta at the end of November. And as such, I have rounded off the year by spending 1 month in Edmonton - the furthest north I've ever lived. I started attending the South Edmonton Alliance Church, and have been blessed with welcoming friends!

And of course, perhaps the biggest event in 2011 overall: Clarissa and I became engaged

And together we look forward to an exciting new year in 2012.

This past year has been a year of waiting. While I definitely enjoyed my time in each of North Carolina and Ohio, I knew that it was just a waiting phase for when I would be able to move back to Canada to be with Clarissa. So now that we have achieved that, a major milestone is complete and we are eagerly awaiting our marriage next year, as the Lord would allow.

I praise God for holding everything together over this past year. It's not that everything went perfectly; of course there were ups and downs. But the downs gave us the ability to reach even higher highs, which is only be God's grace.

Happy new year everyone