Our Cottage Near the City

We are here. The disarray of our new house makes me want to hyperventilate but I am too tired to do anything about it. A couple of life lessons learned in this move:

1. Stop accumulating misc.crap. It's seriously lame moving boxes of junk from one place to the next.
2. 2-year-olds adjust way quicker to their surroundings than their elders. They are ready to run around the house naked and switch on the gas stove within the first 24 hrs. of residence.
3. Heating a 70 year old house is a daunting task. No central heat means getting really creative with warmth. Never pictured myself using a wood burning fireplace on a daily basis.
4. Old oak floors don't show dirt. I have not even touched my broom yet and they look pretty darn great. Just don't wear your bright white socks in my house.

I would just like to throw it out there that I am in denial that I will be returning back to an office setting for the first time in 2.5 years on Monday morning. Excited about trading in my ratty lululemons for some sleek threads. Not super excited about waking up in the wee hours of the morning just to share my air with passengers on cramped public transit. Thrilled that Lil will be able to spend lots of one-on-one time with her dad over the next couple of years. Bummed that I couldn't be there every moment too... but I will deal. The fact that I have a free lunch at a swanky restaurant my first day on the job helps with the pain, just a little bit.

On with the next life Chapter... stay tuned.

Live, Love, Trust

I am back! After a brief October hiatus, I am ready to share my thoughts, kid pics and bizarre tidbits of info.

The other day I had a close friend email me and ask 'so, you have not updated the blog for a long time? What's actually going on?' Ahh... this sweet friend knows me so well. There has actually been a lot going on in our lives during the month of October and quite frankly I do not usually share the inner workings of my personal life via social media.

When I take a break from blogging it's usually because I am concentrating on 'life' stuff and unable to share openly. I am  not one of those people that announces to the world over facebook updates like 'I just got in the biggest fight of my life and now my husband is leaving me.' THAT DEFINITELY DID NOT HAPPEN- just an example of the types of updates I have actually read. I think that when people update in this manner they are either 1. lonely 2. a bit narcissistic 3. just really, really open with their personal stuff.

Onto, my update.
As many of you know I have been hunting for a job for about three months. When Ben decided that he wanted to pursue law school, I said 'cool, let's figure out how to pay the bills.' I have been blessed to be able to work for myself through http://www.twistconsulting.com/ over the last couple of years, but it made me quake in my pants to think that I would be soley responsible for my family's livelihood based off of being self-employed. So, I am basically a wuss and decided to figure out another work situation. I have been praying over the last several months very specifically about what I wanted 1. A job that was fun (I can't be bored out of my mind). 2. A job that will adequately take care of our finances. 3. A job with a decent work/life balance (so I can still see my kid every so often. )

I am thrilled to say that we have been completely taken care of and I just landed my dream job that perfectly meets my criteria. Starting mid-November I will be commuting into San Francisco and working for a multi-national cosmetics company doing their marketing. I couldn't be happier! There have been many ups and downs in this process but I feel immensely blessed and totally provided for.

Next on the agenda.... looking for a new house! We need to be closer to a BART station (that's the subway system to those of you Canadian readers) so that I don't have to spend all of my days commuting.

The Coast of Two Countries

It has been 6 months since we have been back in the land of the red, white and blue, and the following are a few of my musings when contemplating/celebrating the differences of two unique areas on the same coast.

Observations on Being Back in Nor Cal
1. There are a disproportionate number of the 'beautiful people' here. Whether 'they' be self-made (there is a silicone epidemic here) or genetically blessed, 'they' are everywhere.
2. I have missed heat for the past 10 years. Sorry Canadian friends, a sunny day of 12 degrees C is not warm.
3. I adore frozen yogurt. These places are on every city block. .
4. You can't beat being able to buy a t-shirt, pair of shoes and pair of pants all for $20 at Ross.
5. Green is the new Black. For the first time in my life I am making a conscious effort to conserve natural resources. This is mostly due to the exorbitant price of utilities in this state, but we can pretend that I have just connected with my inner tree-hugger.
6. Private health care is a new frontier (at least for us). Still undecided on my final verdict of the system.
7. The people here are very guarded. You get the sense that they are telling you 'I already have all of the friends I need, so back off.' Not crazy about this one.
 
Observations About BC
(Obviously missing people are at the top of my list, but I am not going to wax mushy on you).

1. White Spot Burgers are hands-down one of the tastiest things ever. Enough said.
2. Public walk-in clinics rock, especially when you have a sick child on a Friday night at 8pm.
3. Girls in Canada wear their hair shorter. This is definitely a hasty generalization (and not true of most of my friends) but as a whole the female Canadian population seems to favor cropped locks more than their neighbors to the south.
4. Canadians are more patriotic (at least more than the average population in Nor Cal, I cannot account for the folk from Texas). Canadians are more willing to stick a Canadian flag or Maple Leaf on their bags, clothing and in their decor.
5. People in Canada (at least in BC) are not trying to keep up with the Joneses. They are OK with where they are at and generally do not give a lot of thought as to whether or not their 5 year old will one day get into an Ivy League school.

I feel blessed that I have been able to experience living in two different countries in my short lifetime. They say that once you have lived in more than one country you start to think of yourself as a global citizen. You don't ever feel 100% at 'home' wherever you live because a piece of you is still in those other places. Just look at my husband! 3 different countries in 30 years, completely a global citizen. As we grow together as a couple and now as a family we have learned that we can be joyful wherever we live as long as we are together. I am not saying that there are not certain perks about living in a particular place (hello warm sunshine!) but it is nice to know that it really does not matter where we store our 'stuff' because that is not what gives us our contentment.

The Woes of Renting

This moving business sucks.

This past weekend we decided to post our house up for rent and pray for the best. We were thrilled when we had response to our ads within a couple of hours! Wow, will it be this easy? Um, apparently not. We had 3 showings yesterday and I felt like a bonafide realtor.We took all the necessary steps to make the place presentable- we de-cluttered, put on soothing spa-like music, lit a scented candle and sent the maniac toddler to play at Grandma and Far-Far's. Everyone claimed the home was 'beautiful' but nobody was ready to commit.

What gives?! In part I think people in Victoria are looking for a killer deal. Do you know that someone actually had the nerve to ask us to lower our rental price by $500 a month? When I didn't budge they wanted to know if the place could come with the furniture. At this point I told them to get lost... Rent in Victoria is bizarre. Considering the cost of real estate is pricey (even comparable to much of the Bay Area now) rent is still pretty low. I think the only landlords making a profit (or even covering their mortgage) on this island are ones that purchased their property 20 years ago. OK, I am done with my rant now...

Please pray that our home will rent quickly to awesome tenants. It would be a huge load off our shoulders to have our housing situation wrapped up...