Welcome to La Crete

We arrived a week ago today.

The House:
Our new rental house is much larger then our house in Lac La Biche. There are three bedrooms upstairs as well as three downstairs. It also has three bathrooms, a huge dinning room, and large living room. The yard is very big and fenced, with a garden an many large trees. Across a small grass ally from our back yard, is a huge playground and park, complete with fire pits and picnic tables. This is probably the best feature of the house. The kids have yet to tire of going to the playground everyday, and I get to watch them play from my kitchen window. You can barely see the front of the house from the road, for all the very large conifers growing in front of it. The garage is unattached, large, and has made my husband very happy. The house is probably 30yrs old, and could use some TLC, however, we are extremely happy with it.

The Town:
La Crete has changed in the last 8 years I have been away. The amount of residential growth is astounding. There are still new subdivisions I haven't even discovered yet. Main street is double-lane the whole length, and all businesses are accessed by service roads, with plenty of parking. No parking on main street here, which after Lac La Biche, is a dream.
On my first day here, I took the dogs for a short walk. In that time, I saw one dirt bike, and two families on quads. No one was wearing helmets, and both were just driving down main residential roads. And then to top off the cliche, a large, bright green John Deer tractor came rumbling down my street. Different. Definitely gives the place the small-town farming community feel.

The Shopping:
The grocery stores here are fabulous. Both are very large, very clean, very stocked. And they are open from 8am - 10pm Mon - Sat. Yup, I'm loving that. The drug store in town also is big and beautiful. It is two stories, and has a large rock wall with water running down it from the top story to the bottom. There is a Home Hardware here, and when you walk in, you forget that you are in a small Northern town. They have everything you could possible want in a hardware/homeware store, plus more. There is also a Bargain Shop, which I found typical to any other Bargain shop I have ever been in. There is one convenience store in town, UFA, and it is once again, big, very clean, and well-stocked. Fields, Warehouse One, The Source, a Christian Book Store, Discount Food Outlet, Thrift Store, plus many other small shops also adorn this little town, none of which I have ventured into yet. I have not noticed any price difference between shopping here and in Lac La Biche, and in fact, I think some things may even be cheaper. (Not gas though!) Service at all the stores and restaurants has been excellent, nothing like the poor service and attitude I have become accustomed to. The employees at these establishment really seem to be hard-working, helpful, and friendly. I had forgotten how important that was in contributing to a pleasurable shopping trip.
The other thing that struck me odd when I went shopping... coffee. There seems to be a coffee bar at almost every store I've gone into so far. The Co-Op grocery store, the UFA, the drug store, and the Christian Book store, all have a few tables to sit and have coffee. Some of the other stores just have a little counter where you can just help yourself. I think that taking the time to stop and visit your "neighbour" here, is either an important value or just pass time. I don't know... I can't seem to figure out why else all the coffee!
(Oh, and there is a very small Farmer's Market here on Fridays. I went last week and bought a fun new apron, made out of an old pair of jeans. I justified the $30 by convincing myself surely all SAHMs have a good apron in their tickle trunk)
One thing to get used to though... Nothing is open on Sunday. NOTHING. So don't leave getting gas, or milk, or any other necessity to Sunday. Oh, wait... I think the pizza place may be open on Sundays, however I have yet to confirm that.

The People:
The large majority of people here are visibly Mennonite, just as I remembered. 3 out of 5 women that you come across "downtown", are wearing head coverings and long skirts. I do not feel out of place though. I have yet to see one scantily clad teenager or young women. This makes me extremely happy. Even the "non-traditional" or "non-Mennonite" girls, dress fashionably, but certainly not inappropriately. However, I should probably wait until summer is in full swing before I draw any conclusions from my observations.
People appear to be a bit shy at first, but if you start the conversation, they are very helpful and friendly. I had all the women in the Farmers Market laughing with me in a matter of minutes :)

The Language:
Those who speak both German and English in this town, far out-number those of us who only speak English. You hear fragments of German wherever you go. It reminds me very much of "Plamondonise French". It is not an issue for David and I, however for the girls, it has been challenging at times. Young children here generally learn to speak German before they can speak English, so it is much more difficult for them to remember to speak English when they are around my girls. It's what I expected would happen, and so far, it hasn't really caused any issues.

My Friends:
The best part of La Crete so far: my friends. These were my best friends when I lived here so many years ago, and through the magic of the Internet, we have stayed in touch over that time. The afternoon we pulled into town, my girlfriends Margaret and Connie were here at the house within minutes. We all went to lunch together, and then Connie had us over for supper at her place that night. The next morning, both ladies were helping me unpack my kitchen. By Saturday, we were having Margaret and her family over for a BBQ, followed by her husband, Henry, helping David mow, rake, and trim trees in the very over-grown back yard.
I love these ladies, and I can't imagine what the last week here would have been like without them.


I know everyone wants to see pictures, but our internet is very slow here with our Rogers Rocket Stick, that uploading photos would be a nightmare. I have ordered DSL from Telus though, so hopefully by the end of nest week I will have that all set up.

Thanks again to everyone for their prayers and well-wishes. I will post again soon on how my first week as a SAHM is going, and how David and the kids are adjusting as well.

If anyone wants to come and visit, we have three extra rooms just waiting to be filled in the basement, so come on up North!