on moving away...but also towards ♡

♡ ♡ ♡     1 of 897,487,392 memories made in this sweet home     ♡ ♡ ♡

So, we're moving pretty soon here. It's taken me a little while to write about it. I think I was just trying to process everything internally, and of course, externally with family and friends. Still am, actually. Not because I'm lacking peace about our decision, but more because change requires mulling. Prolonged mulling, when you've got a personality like mine ;) The gist of the situation is this: Ryan has been commuting about 2.5 hours a day to the job he took almost at almost exactly the time we moved to Cochrane and into this dream neighbourhood and home of ours. Formerly, he had been working just up the hill from our new home here in Cochrane, which would have been a two minute commute. 

The timing of this new job opportunity was difficult for us to process at first. Difficult both because we had spent so much time, money and emotional energy envisioning a future for our family here in Cochrane and also because the job was such an incredible opportunity and one that, as a family, we really wanted to pursue. We felt conflicted in that we knew it was the right choice but that knowing, it left us wondering what would become of the future we imagined would be ours.

So, for the last 2.5 years we've been trying to make both things work. The job. Our life in Cochrane. And while we've had some amazing days and some really hard days, it's been the accumulation of the in-between days that had Ryan and I simultaneously reaching the conclusion that our life needed to move towards the wonderful job that was providing for it. See, those in between days were just a little too rushed, left us both a little too tired and frankly, filled with far too little time together as a family. Sure, they were often filled with a sense of accomplishment at work for Ryan and wonderful days with friends enjoying our beautiful surroundings for Navy and I ... but the problem was that they resulted in too little time together, enjoying life as a family. And that's just the whole reason we're all in this thing, isn't it? To relish in as much time spent with our cherished ones as we can.

So, our beloved home here in Cochrane is for sale and we've purchased a sweet little house in Didsbury, that will soon be our new home. It's a precious blank slate...ready to be filled with our family, our furry rascal of a pup and our memories, which should be extra-abundant thanks to all the time we'll have together, yay! Ryan's commute will be 10 minutes versus 1 hr. 15 min, oh happy day! And thankfully, we'll only be about one hour away from our friends and family at the most, and in some cases a bit shorter distance.

So it's not that we're moving so far away we won't see those we love. It's just that, we'll be far enough away for Navy and my daily life, in particular, to change dramatically. And that's what I've been processing most. I feel so at peace with this decision so I don't have hesitation for any of the big reasons. I'm so ready to take this load off Ryan's shoulders. He's done this commute so graciously every day, never complaining because he loved our life here in Cochrane just as much as me. But it's wearing on him and on us. It's time we take this unnecessary burden off our shoulders and most especially, equip him with what he needs to do a great job of his job and even more importantly, what he needs to be here with us as a husband and father more than before.

As for what I'm processing, it's mostly the thought of the daily life I've known since becoming a mom changing drastically...moving away from 'my village'...the people who have surrounded me and lifted me up to help make this new chapter the very sweetest it could be. And also moving to a really small town when all I've ever known is the big city and now Cochrane, my current city-like town. I know we will meet wonderful people in Didsbury. I honestly can't wait to meet them. And I also know that we'll find the time to connect with our dear friends here in Cochrane & in Calgary. I'm just taking this in-between time right now to process that things are changing, that we're moving somewhere different...how that can feel scary but also, that everything will turn out ok. Because it always, always does.

Of course there's more to our reasoning, our timing, our process and this big 'ol story in general (isn't there always?). But a girl can only type for so long before a good night's sleep becomes just too enticing to resist. 

that in between place

It seems we've found ourselves at that in between place. That place I had really hoped we'd defy the moving odds and just skip over altogether. But alas, we're there. We are officially mostly-moved-in-with-a-dash-of-moving-remnants-everywhere. sigh. 

The first couple weeks in the new home we were consistently eager to unpack our belongings and lovingly find new homes for each and every item. But somewhere around week three, life caught up to us. As it does. And those last couple boxes and miscellaneous items in each room just got carefully stacked in the corner as we made mental promises to find their real homes tomorrow. Tomorrow would be their day. 

Well. A few tomorrows have passed and still each room wears its little badge boasting 'freshly moved in'. And after a little thought, I think I've realized I'm ok with it. Because while my nesting heart is itching for the chance to really get some projects going around here (and believe me, we will!), my recovering inner perfectionist recognizes that sometimes….it takes time. 

So this is me, focusing on a pretty photo of some happy flowers I photographed for a photography class I'm taking (through the lovely ladies at A Beautiful Mess - total game changer by the way). Because the unpacked items will eventually find their new homes. And in the meantime, I'll happily tackle the everyday life things that might keep me from sorting them with fresh blooms in my kitchen. A kitchen I'm sure glad to call home these days. Whether it's fully moved in or not :)

4 in 4

Ryan had the day off yesterday, which will kind of make tomorrow feel like we've had two weekends this week. And you won't hear me complaining about that. No sireee. All smiles over here :)

After a great day together, I got to thinking about things. It's funny how we've settled into 'normal' life since moving into our home. Almost so normal, I sometimes forget about how weird the four months of moving were. Maybe not weird, just abnormal. Those four months were an absence of what our normal typically looks like, you know? And while we were in it, it felt like forever. And then, almost in a blink, here we are. In our new place, starting a new chapter. 

It really dawned on me  last night as I caught the sunset out our bedroom window. I started thinking about the 4 moves we did in 4 months. The 4 backyards we've had in those 4 months. The memories they're each responsible for. I smiled as I remembered each space as I'm smiling now. Because even though transition can sometimes be trying and uncomfortable, its also often an opportunity for personal growth, flexibility and improvement. I look back on these four spaces thankful for the time we enjoyed them, thankful for what I learned at each interval and thankful for where I am now. 

Our sweet backyard in our previous home; the first home we owned. Lots of hard work went into this yard to make her the little suburban oasis she was. And we loved it. 

Our hilarious, beloved RV loaned to us by a friend of a friend. I'll never forget looking out these windows across the river as I watched our home take shape.

The backyard at the cabin was massive. Practically the length of a football field and rather remote. With such space at our disposal, we were outside during this winter more than ever before. 

Our slice of the beautiful forest as viewed from our bedroom window. This. This vista is one of the biggest reasons we opted for four months of semi-homelessness. And every time I catch a glimpse of it, I'm so grateful for every step that brought us here. 

A quick recap before the fun stuff!

So much happened during the 5 weeks leading up to our move into the new place that I feel I would be remiss and a little out of order if I started writing regularly in real-time without recapping a little. But where to start? Most of it was just busy, everyday life that had us running. Nothing of real consequence worth mentioning except that life just felt really busy. Packing up the storage unit, our little life at the cabin and my borderline hoarding of new-home goods collected over the last four months kept us pretty busy when we weren't working :)

The biggest event though, was on the Friday before we moved. Long story short, it had been a strange day and we were all feeling a little unravelled. Lincoln had been so good with the long hours I was working at the family business. I decided he and I both needed a good walk at the park. Two minutes left to go, we were headed towards the car when unprovoked and seemingly out of nowhere, the poor guy got lunged at by a German Shepherd. The bite seemed small at first, but proved to be much larger upon further inspection. By the time the surgery was done, he had a 10" long wound with 20 staples holding it together and a funny little t-shirt covering the whole mess up. Antibiotics, pain-meds and no exercise for 2 weeks were the doctor's orders. The timing was certainly unfortunate and the whole incident definitely shook him up as we prepared to moved yet one more time. 

We can be very grateful that the owner of the other dog was an exceptionally honourable woman who felt terrible about the incident and paid for the medical expenses without excuse. She was actually a very lovely lady who happened to own a dog who behaved poorly. We can also be very grateful it wasn't a mauling and the wound itself didn't involve muscle damage. 

Lincoln recently got the go ahead to have the staples removed and the t-shirt along with them. The t-shirt cracked us up pretty hard, but we're happy to see his wiry fuzz once again. His left shoulder is shaved down and shows the scar pretty visibly right now. It will take several months for everything to grow in, so I'm sure it will be pictured here on the blog at some point. Thought I would save you the carnage this early into the recovery though ;)

Thankfully the hectic season of pre-move, moving, surgery and physical recovery are all behind us and we have our sweet new home to relax in. 

Now onto the fun stuff! I've been decorating like a mad-woman and I can't wait to share. I plan on doing a mini tour of the house first to give some perspective of what we're starting with and then share where things go from there. So excited to decorate, thrift, DIY and tweak again :)

♡ Home Sweet Home ♡

I can hardly believe the day finally arrived. Two weeks ago today, we received the keys to our brand new home! Its finally ours and we're finally home. These past 4 months we've been 'in-transit' while waiting for our home have felt like an eternity and a blink at the same time. Since moving out of our last place, we've been on quite the adventure. And in it's own sweet and 'uncharted territory' kind way, its been a good time for our little family. Home truly is where the heart is. However, with radical changes in both our home and work lives, we both agree it feels good to finally put some roots down as we begin to carve out our new normal. 

During the last 5 weeks leading up to our possession day, I helped out at the family business. My short time there kept me going non-stop between packing and organizing for our move. By the time moving day rolled around, I was definitely ready to return to normal in so many different ways. I feel like these last couple weeks in our new home (which have also seen me working at home once again) have been so cathartic. Of course, there's always the chaos that comes with the boxes and unpacking. But its a chaos I've welcomed with open arms and a grateful heart. 

Can't wait to share more of our new home as we begin to live our life here in this sweet new space!

A winter to remember

December 21st, the first official day of winter, hasn't yet come and already this is a winter to remember. I can't recall a more relentless, snowy or colder winter than this. Honestly! The snow just keeps falling. Like today. Alllllll day. Snow, snow, snow. 

So what's making this persistent cold bearable, you might ask? It's pretty. And prettiness is one heck of a redeeming quality this silly winter has going for itself right now. 

So winter, you have until Christmas to keep up these shenanigans. Because right now, you're still all winter wonderlandy, baby its cold outside and the like. And that's cozy, considering its Christmas time. Come December 25th at the stroke of midnight however, I'd like a full on melt please. Or at the very least, a little bit gentler January, February and March. While not historically Alberta's nature, I feel like we've paid our winter penance a little early this year :)

belated celebration // lincoln's on the mend

Soooo forever ago our realtor couriered a bottle of champagne to my dad's house (as ryan and I have anything but a permanent address at the moment). Its taken me this long to (a) finally go see our sweet little memphis the cat, (b) visit my dad and siblings at his place and (c) pick up that bottle of champagne. I am a procrastinator of epic proportions…I'm realizing *_*.  So on Friday night we had a very belated celebratory evening-in, courtesy of our realtor. We celebrated 7 weeks of being gypsies, Ryan's new job, the progress on our new home, and just how grateful we are to have each other to go through this experience together. Its been so random and so fun! Definitely worth celebrating. 

In other news, Lincoln is on the mend! We're even letting him have a little supervised time without the cone. And it is GOOD. Even little breaks from that crazy cone hitting everything in it's path…sweet, sweet relief for everyone involved. And I'm very happy to report he'll be officially cone-free after his final visit to the vet this Friday. O happy day!

our first winter walk

On the right side of the above pic you can see our future community. They were shingling today when I walked by.

It seems I have officially misplaced slash lost my battery charger for my DSLR. Boo. Especially considering I just bought another - if I may say, supremely overpriced - charger before our trip to New York this summer. I remember when we were packing up our home saying to myself…'self, make sure you put that charger somewhere verrrrry safe and verrrrrry obvious.' BUT somewhere between our last home, the RV and now the cabin 'tis lost. So! I am now taking all photos with my iPhone until I willingly abstain from Starbucks for 17 days to pay for a new charger ;)

Knowing now, that I only have my iPhone to take photos please join me in drooling over the sunrise Lincoln and I caught this morning. O ma werd. Breathtaking. And take my breath it did! Friends, it was -17!!! Like my body, let alone my mind, is no where near ready for that kind of cold. I'll be the first to admit we turned around halfway through our walk. It seems my winter hardiness has a little hardy-ing yet to do. 

I keep wondering, since we moved here, when we're going to witness an average sunrise. Because as far as I can tell, Cochrane is unusually talented in that department. And a little something else I've learned recently? Catching the sunrise is food for this girl's soul. 

29!

On Saturday, I turned 29. 29!

I can hardly believe it. And yet, something about turning 29 feels pretty fantastic. In fact I snapped this pic of myself, while walking by this mirror to let Lincoln inside, because I noticed I just seemed so darn happy. We were home alone enjoying a very low key day, with nothing out of the ordinary planned to  celebrate my birthday (given the transitions we're going through...planning get togethers to celebrate birthdays are waiting until we have a little more time on our hands). I'm typically super bashful about taking pictures of myself. Of just myself. But I said to myself, stop. Take a picture. You're so happy and so content right now. Remember this moment. 

In light of how unusual our life is right now, feeling this content is a pretty big deal for me. Maybe I'm learning, truly learning, that with my family and friends as steady as ever, the external components that make up my normal can be doing backflips and I can still feel firmly planted, secure and content. I hope so. I hope 29 is the season I learn to wholeheartedly practice those concepts that, up until now, were heartfelt intentions. And from where I stand, I feel like I couldn't be in a better space to make that my reality. Feeling grateful and excited for what this year holds!

Life, lately

We're finally feeling settled here at the cabin, just in time to savour winter's first real snow. Something about our current living situation having a wood burning fireplace and a lifetime's supply of firewood is making this first snowfall a whole lot cozier than last year. If memory serves. 

And thats a good thing. We need a little cozy right now. See in addition to being in between homes rather unconventionally, Ryan and I are both experiencing transitions in our professional lives. My business is in an evolution of sorts. Good in many ways, just different ... a departure from normal, but at the same time, exciting in a way that has me looking forward to the future with anticipation. Regardless, change is change and it seems to always require adjustment and adaptation. At the same time (because why shouldn't everything happen all at once right ;), a tremendous career opportunity surfaced for Ryan. While he loved his previous job, this new opportunity is such an exciting and obvious next step for him. Its an opportunity he's worked passionately for and is sincerely excited to pursue. So on Friday, after five years at his previous job, he started his new job. 

I so grateful that everything we're dealing with (I guess I'm talking about change in general, here) is a result of opportunity. I'm very aware that the change we are experiencing is good change, just higher in volume than I would have personally bargained for at one time...let's say ;) We are blessed and I feel so fortunate. And so even though all of these changes surfaced right as we were packing up our home and about to begin living like gypsies as we wait for our new home to be completed, I remain grateful for everything that's happening. Lately, when chatting about our life right now, I often remark that if I had my choice I wouldn't have asked for everything to happen at once. But then I'm reminded ... we can't write our futures. I sometimes think I can encourage outcomes and plan things down to the last detail. But in reality, I can't. And if this season of change is teaching me anything, its to be flexible. to be open to a future I couldn't have planned for myself; because in my experience, staying flexible has often yielded the most happy and contented chapters of my life. 

As the days go by, I'm beginning to realize that nothing feels better than remaining open and flexible to our present and our future. A gracious frame of mind if you will. I'm still learning, but I feel like a whole lot of practice lately is helping me learn that much quicker :)

2/3

Last Sunday we moved out of our beloved little RV. What was originally an interim solution to span the gap between when we had to move out of our previous home and when our more permanent rental arrangement would come available, turned out to me a truly wonderful mini-chapter in this crazy moving adventure. We couldn't be more grateful for those 20 days!

Eventually though, we knew we had to relinquish our sweet little mobile home and get settled in our actual rental while we wait for our home to be completed. And so we did that, last Sunday. We started the day with a quick check on the new house. At that time the basement had just been poured and the foundation walls were curing. As I write this though, framing has started and the first and second stories are already constructed! Of course, before they were able to start on the roof we were hit with our first snow storm of the season. A big one, too! Here's hoping this week brings warm weather so the snow can melt and framing construction can pick up shortly :)

But back to move 2 of 3. A full week later and its feeling like we're finally settling into our new home before our home home. Because we're staying in someone's place while they take an extended vacation, its a lot of our stuff meets theirs. Well at least the first few days really felt like that. Over the last couple days however, we've been able to simplify and reduce our belongings down the bare necessities. Today, after a week of sorting and organizing, we brought several bins back to our storage unit.  Thankfully, things at the cabin are feeling a lot less cluttered and a whole lot more settled. And let me tell you....that is a good, good feeling. Here's to a fresh new week; one I hope is peaceful, productive and a slightly more normal feeling than the last :)

Sister Sleepover

All photos taken by my incredibly talented sister, Brooke: @alittleriver on Instagram

Something about life feeling shuffled up sometimes prompts me to recluse and, albeit unintentionally, avoid things I typically enjoy. I'm not sure why, but when coping with change I occasionally forget that the most important things...those things that remain constant no matter where I'm at in life...are where I should place my focus. 

Knowing this about myself, I made an extra effort while we were living in the RV to welcome everyday life as best I could. I enjoyed visits with friends, family get togethers, daily walks with Lincoln, date nights, work days in coffee shops and movie nights in :) I feel like incorporating more of my normal into our new and foreign living situation helped me savour the time we spent there. That has been, and continues to be, one of my personal goals as we live rather unconventionally over the next few months. While I'm very excitedly looking forward to our new home, I also don't want to wish any of this interim time away quicker than necessary. Choosing to focus on the good and constant things in life, as much as possible, has helped me better cultivate joy and contentment as I pursue my goal of remaining present and peaceful no matter my circumstances. This has been a happy realization for me and the encouragement needed to keep growing in this direction. 

One such good and constant thing was that my sister and I were able to sneak a sleepover in, before we left the RV. We had the BEST time. It was so nice reconnecting with her and enjoying an entirely girly night in. The next morning before breakfast we took a walk along the river and over the bridge into our future community. I loved showing her where our home will be; where I hope to host many family get togethers and future sister sleepovers. She captured the morning beautifully and shared her lovely photos with me. I love them! Thinking of framing one or two of them for the new home :)

RV Tour!

Ok, so, we're moved out of the RV. As of yesterday at 4 pm or so. 

Super, duper sad face. And who would have thought! I kept thinking this was going to be the most challenging part of the multi-stage move we had planned. But instead, it turned out to be a unique and sweet experience we're grateful to have enjoyed! And while we're feeling a little sad that it's passed we also have to be thankful we squeezed every sweet moment out of our time there. Up next? Begin settling into our current living situation; a sweet cabin style home, just outside of Cochrane recently left in our care by a couple of happy vacation goers and sweet friends of friends. The last and final place we'll be living before we move into our new home, o happy day.

I'm going to save the details of our new living arrangement for another day and instead, share a little picture tour of the RV we were just in. For your viewing comfort, I've made all the pictures black and white. It turns out there is no way to aesthetically photograph 'RV brown', which by the way is definitely a colour. I know. I've been living with it, intimately, for the last 20 days ;) 

And so, without further ado ... THE rv ... 

Master Bedroom

Office Nook

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

It was a sweet little space and it housed this little band of gypsies well. So grateful for the generosity of friends and friends of friends. And on that note...onto living arrangement 2: the cabin on the lake! :)