The life we lead...interesting where it takes you.

So Tomorrow....or in about 12 hours our time...marks our 5th wedding anniversary. It seems like just yesterday but in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago. We used to joke about what it would be like when we had been married 5 years, wondering how many children we would have and where we would be living. Never did I imagine the answers to be anything like they are today. I would never have guessed that we would be living in a semi-tropical climate-in a land full of rich history, learning a new language and way of life and having 2 beautiful children with us. Somehow I thought we would still be at home (canada) working and living life like most people.
Looking back, I am amazed at the descisions we made that brought us here. They were not surprising decisions, as we knew this was the direction we both wanted to go in before we got married. Small decisions it seemed at the time that started events rolling. Picking up the phone, setting up a meeting, talking about our hopes and dreams and now 5 years and 2 children later we are here.
We have seen some incredible things in life up to this point. Some together and some on our own before we met. When I look at the things I have been able to see/do I am amazed.
I have swam in the Indian, pacific and atlantic oceans. Got wet in the red and marmara seas. Climbed Mt. Sinai, where Moses (maybe?) stood to watch the sunrise. Stood at the foot and gazed upon the great pyramids of Egypt, rode a camel through the desert, watched Niagara Falls thunder down, Lived on the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Africa, hiked and camped in the Grand Canyon, visited 5 of 7 continents and visited the Ayasofia and Blue Mosque.
When I look back I think, how in the world did I do all this? It doesnt really feel like me. I am realizing how the decisions I make can impact life, mine and others. I am so grateful that I have been able to experience all that I have.
Somehow when I think of all that, the thing that really sticks with me is the people. The people I met, the people I travelled with, the people I have cried with or cried for. The little girl who was healed from not being able to walk to being able to run, the orphaned and abandoned babies I was able to love and care for, the begger ladies on the street and yes, even the men who held me up at gunpoint in one particularly memorable event. I still think about them and wonder how their lives have been since that time. These experiences and these people have shaped me and made me who I am today. I would not be the same person I am now had I not experienced this. I want this for my children, I dont want to shelter them from the world but I want them to learn compassion and how people all over the world think. How to treat others who have a different skin colour, language, or religion with respect and love. How to really get into people's lives and share with them.
I guess all that is to really say, Its been a crazy 5 years but they have been great. I am excited to see what other adventures we will have together in the next few decades.

Parenting on those days!

Sometimes being a parent is hard. I knew becoming a parent would mean, changing diapers, being up in the night (or all night sometimes!) dealing with tantrums, sticky fingers and messes, but somehow I thought it was easier to solve those problems. Even when I had just one baby, I only had just one kid. Only one kids mess to clean up and deal with. Nobody else to worry about if I left the mess behind while I cleaned up the said child.
Now I have 2 kids. When one makes a mess the other one joins in. For example, today as I was changing a diaper, the other child decided it would be a good time to get into the nail polish and paint himself and whatever else he could find. Not realizing this, I put the other child down and she wandered off. I quickly tidied the room I was in and went to see what they were up to.
 Literally I was only out of sight for 2 minutes.
I went into the bathroom and there they were happily painting away. After I got over the initial shock, I stuck them both in the tub, clothes and all while trying to find something to clean the floor with. Realizing it wasn't going to come off easily, I wiped up what I could, and proceeded to clean the kids off. I stripped them and while cleaning one child, the other one decided to poop and play with that. While dealing with that mess (thankfully its all contained in the tub), the other child who I was trying to clean turns on the tap and sprays water everywhere. Now I finally have them mostly cleaned and they are having a bath, while I am sitting here trying to figure out how to attack the now dried on mess they created. Oh and its lunch time and someone needs a bottle and a nap.
I love my kids but somedays I do not like them very much, and I seriously wonder what I was thinking when I wanted kids. I somehow assumed that being a parent at some point I would get some decent sleep and could deal with all problems and tantrums in a calm and collected manner-every time. When I have been gone out of the house with full time language study and have not gotten a decent nights sleep, somehow that idea of being calm is a fuzzy memory. Its survival mode somedays.
Although I do have to be honest, today has not been all bad. They are happy to explore their creative selves and at least they were playing together nicely for a change. When I first came in the room to survey the damage I did get a warm welcome of hi mommy!! Big smiles and giggles. Don't you like our artwork?
Somehow it does help me stay somewhat calmer than I might have been otherwise. On the other hand though, it is infuriating when you are trying to measure out some sort of discipline and they just laugh themselves silly as they think mommy is just oh so funny.
Just a typical day in our house. Well nail polish is not a normal occurrence but messes are. And for the record, I really do love my kids and I know that in a few years time (ok more than a few) they will be gone and have kids of their own and Im sure in some strange and twisted way, I will be missing those messes. Because along with the messes they make, there is also bed time story cuddles and sloppy wet kisses and I can fix all their problems (generally speaking) by sitting with them on my lap and comforting them. I know they won't want to sit and cuddle with me for too many more years. So I will treasure this time and hope that I can find a good scrub-brush and nailpolish remover to get rid of the mess they made today.

Great finds

I think I have mentioned before how much I enjoy the weekly bazaar. We get whatever is in season. The strawberries are almost done and we are getting lots of watermelon, corn, cherries and apricots now. The apricots are truly amazing. I guess that is why this place is world famous for them. One thing they do not have here though is blueberries or salsa. I did find blueberries at a specialty shop but they were $8.00 for about 30-40 blueberries. I just could not bring myself to do it. So I guess we will have to wait until we are back home to have some. I miss the days of having neighbours drop of flats of berries for us! They were so good.
They also dont really have anything mexican. They do sell tortillas occasionally but that is about it. At this same specialty shop I had heard that they sold tortilla chips. It took 3 visits for me to finally score some. They were always sold out. The next task was to make salsa. I have been doing it since we got here but not I actually have chips to go along. Cilantro is a hard find but there is one vendor in the market who sells it. Those are my finds for this week. Also animal crackers. The kids love them and ask for them every day at snack time.
On a different topic, the last few days have been slow and relaxed. A is done language class and my classes start tomorrow so we had a few relaxing slower days in between. It has been nice. This morning we finished breakfast (usually around 7am as the kids are up at 6.) Then we cleaned our house just in time for the painter to come and do some touch ups and fix the wall in a few places. The kids have been peeling paint of the wall and the smallest child has eaten it. So we wanted to get it fixed obviously since paint is not a healthy part of her diet. We fed the painter lunch and cay which is a staple drink here and now he is still busy painting and fixing the walls. I just hope we can keep the kids from touching the walls until the paint dries. I think I might take 1 or both of the kids to the park later as it is not so hot today. We did not go yesterday as it was too hot to be outside in the full sun. There is very little shade on any of the playgrounds here.  This week will be busy as I become a 4 day a week student again on top of regular daily activities. Only for 2 months and then we will take a bit of a break. Our friends here are having a baby at the end of summer so we want to be available to help them out. Summer is looking busy as we have several different groups of people traveling through the city that we are hosting and have some work related things to do that will take up some time. We are enjoying the hot weather although I do miss a good air conditioner. We have some wall units in the house so some rooms stay cool. We will just be spending lots of time in those locations.

politics and protests...

Its been awhile since I posted. Things have gotten interesting and busy around here. We are still busy with language learning and that has been very busy. A has been taking a course 3 days a week while I am home with the kids. On the days between his classes, I have my language helpers 3x for a few hours each time and then in the evenings we do homework and study. Saturdays have been our day off where we spend the day all together as a family. Last Saturday after our kids were in bed, we were sitting in our living room relaxing, we started hearing tons of noise outside. It seems we are in the midst of some political reforms and protests. Not to worry though, we are fine. Actually it always seems worse than it is in the media. The media tends to portray things negatively. It has been pretty peaceful in our area, just a bit noisy at night until around 10:30 or 11pm. It will be interesting to see where things go from here.
During the day it is business is usual, we still take the kids to the park, go to class, go to the shops etc. Yes, things have happened and there has been some violence and their is tension between people and the government but it has been portrayed worse than it is.
It brings back some memories of another city I lived in where a political uprising took place, (kenya 2007 election) however that one was much worse. That one had people being murdered in the streets and was essentially a mini genocide. I think because of that experience a few years ago, I am not as freaked out as much as I might have been otherwise. I am not naive either in thinking it can't turn into anything serious but at this point, we are taking things one day at a time.
So if you are wondering about us, now you know. We are hoping for peace to be restored and that the people will be heard the way they want to. It is definitely different being in a country that is not considered free. Where women don't have many rights, and it is illegal to protest as there is no freedom of speech or religion. I often remind myself of how lucky I am to have been raised in a free country where I can pretty much do what I want. As challenging as it is to live here some days, I am glad for the opportunity to experience a different world view and teach my children about different cultures and worldview outside of N. America.

Trains, Planes, and automobiles....almost...

There are many different kinds of transportation available to take. Pretty much everything I have heard of and then a few I had not heard of until coming here. Last week Monday we had a day where we used almost every kind of transportation available to us. Here is how our day went:
Monday Morning A is out the door to catch a train for 7am for his language class. He goes early on monday as our teammate T also has class that day so they have an early morning coffee before starting lessons for the day. We had been told a few weeks ago that there was a group for 4 girls coming from Canada and they had a 1 night layover here in the city before heading to their final destination the next day. The plan was that someone from our team was going to greet them at the airport and help them get to their hotel for the night and make sure their transportation to the airport was arranged for the next morning. Since A & T had class closer to the area of the city where the airport was it made sense for them to go after their class. However, the kids and I had been feeling sort of housebound and we thought we would come along for the adventure and so there was another female with the group since it was all girls.
The kids and I packed up and headed out. First we have to navigate down 4 flights of a winding staircase to get out our building. I carried both kids and the stroller (just a small umbrella stroller) and had the backpack on all the way to the bottom. Then I put one child in the carrier, one in the stroller and the backpack on and headed for the train station- abut a 2 minute walk. There I have to go down one flight of stairs and through a tunnel way and then up a flight of stairs to get to the other side of the tracks for the direction of the train I was taking. Thankfully people here are always willing to help when you have kids so someone carried the stroller for me all the way to the train platform while child #1 walked and # 2 was attached to me so it wasnt to bad. We had about a 20 minute train ride to the stop we got off on and made our way down an escalator where A & T were at the bottom waiting. Then we all hopped on a city bus (thankfully we had seats available) and took a ride across the city-another 20 minutes or so. Then we got off at one of the stations and made our way to the other side of the highway over a pedestrian bridge. Then we were in the subway station. We got on a subway and headed to the airport-another 20 minute ride or so.  Then we made our way to the arrival gate where we successfully met the girls and got them on their shuttle for their hotel. We had to take a taxi to the hotel as there was not enough room on the hotel shuttle. Once we got to the hotel and they were checked in we took them for supper. We got on a bus-a different kind than the first bus-more of a city bus -so a bit smaller. We had to transfer to a tram (kind of like an electric street car) and then we had arrived! After spending some time eating and walking around we headed home by tram. As we were waiting to catch the bus back to the hotel we decided to head home and let T bring them back as it was getting late and the kids needed to get home. From the location in the city we were at it was easiest for us to take the ferry. So we got on the ferry which we transfers to the train on the other side and the train then brings us right to our stop-2 minutes from home.
That was our day of travel.  Train-metrobus-subway-taxi-citybus-tram-tram-ferry-train. I think the only thing we did not travel on was a plane and a mini-bus.

Would we consider getting a car here? It would be easier in some ways but more costly-we paid less than $10 each for all the transportation (kids travel free). It is also faster to take the public transit as traffic is horrific in this city. We mostly enjoy the transportation. The kids love it and its a good way to meet people and practice our language skills. We also see more of the city than we would otherwise. Although I have to say, I do miss packing up our car , strapping up our kids and going from A to B. I miss car seats. In taxi's we dont use them so its always a challenge to get them to sit still and not open the doors while we drive. Most of the time there is no seatbelts so I cant strap them in. I have the small child in the carrier but its still a pain. We avoid taxi's if we can. The other methods are easier as you can stand up and the kids like sitting on the seats as its more open I think.
Anyways, just another thing we are adjusting to here.
This was just another day here for us.

A day at the beach

We are really starting to feel at home here. More and more everyday. However, we do miss aspects of home also and sometimes wish we could go back.  Recently we have been busy with language learning and just daily life. Its been fun to see our kids grow and change and experience this culture in their  own way. They are starting to play together more and more and that is fun to see. People always think they are twins even though I think there is a clear size and development difference in the fact that they are almost 1.5 years apart.
The weather is starting to become warm, even hot somedays. Today was no exception. We woke up to cloudless skies and a bright, shining sun, and it progressed to get warmer all day long. I really should get a thermometer, but according to the local weather station it was 26 C today. Not the hottest day we have had but it feels like July and its only April. I can only imagine what July will actually feel like. Fortunately we live close enough to the water that it is just a 10 minute walk and we are at the green space by the water where there is a cooler breeze coming off of the sea.
        For supper tonight we loaded up with Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches, fruit, almonds, water bottles and of course the local favourite- Simit. (sesame-seed, pretzel, bagel type of thing-kids both LOVE it.) We took it all to the water where - with about 300 other families- we had our supper. I must say that our dinner was probably very lame compared to the majority of people. Most people had little BBQ's and were roasting chicken, vegetables and had salads and bread. We saw lots of people also making Cay - a staple tea here-and it all smelled and looked great. We even saw people with little round tables that sit about a foot off the ground that they were sitting around eating  and some had even brought plates and glasses. Not the disposable stuff. It is a great cultural experience and like anywhere we go with our kids, we quickly become an attraction. Everyone has to stop and watch them as they are running around in the grass. Especially our youngest child who is 1. Everyone thinks she is the cutest and they all look at here and try to get her to come to them. It was especially funny to watch their reactions when she confidently goes to the top of the "big kids" slide and proceeds to throw herself down laughing and giggling all the way only to do it again over and over. Some of the 4 year olds would not go down but there is our little 1 year old with no fear. At first we got some glares like we were being irresponsible letting her go down but they soon saw how much fun she was having and that she was having the greatest time of everyone. Anyways...that is a typical day at the beach during a warm sunny sunday. Sundays are the busiest day because no one works that day.

Emotions

Well we are back from a weekend away over easter. It was great! Our children were able to take place in the childcare program for 3 days which was an awesome blessing for us. We took an afternoon off and went swimming one day- just the two of us! I dont think we had done that since before we had kids. The kids loved the childcare workers so we didn't feel too bad ditching them for a day.
A conference like that where we were surrounded by people who understood where we were at it was hard not to feel lots of emotion. It was the first time in almost 2 years where I felt like I was really understood. Not that I wasn't understood before when we were still living in Canada but its just different when it comes from people who know what it is really like to transplant your family with two small kids halfway across the world to a very different culture, religion, city, language, foods etc. It was great to hear people share their experiences and helpful advice. It was also great for our kids to be in a setting where they had english speaking grandparent figures to love on them for 3 days.
We came home tired but happy.
Now we are getting more into routine with language learning and its hard finding a balance between studying and lessons, time to just hang out as a family, personal downtime (which is hard for any mom I think regardless of where they are located) and time as a couple. As well as just exploring the city. So I get emotional sometimes when I feel overwhelmed about it all and when I miss things from home (mostly people-but a good bag of tortilla chips and some salsa would be awesome right now!).
Im not really a fan of tears and I dont usually take alot of time to be emotional. It seems here that it is one way to adjust and process. All of us even the kids have had days where for no reason we are just grumpy and moody. Its different from home during those times. I can't quite put my finger on it but I know it has to do with being in a new place like this and not having the familiarity of things we are used to.
However, there are things I absolutely enjoy and love about being here too. The people are great with kids. At home, if I would have trouble with the kids while in a store or out for a walk or something, generally you dont expect anyone to help you. Here people help all the time. As I walk with the kids to the train station which is 1 flight of stairs down and 1 flight up (we have to go underneath the station to get to the shops) almost always, somebody carries Child #1 up or down or at least holds his hand while I hold the other hand. And the few times I have used the stroller, there is always someone willing to help carry it up and down the stairs. People are very willing (sometimes too much from what I am used to) to hold our kids and play with them.
I also love the food. Despite the absence of anything decently Mexican (no salsa or nachos!) and no cilantro or basil- we are all really enjoying the food here. I also love the weekly bazaar where you can get everything from great produce to kitchen wear to slippers and hair accessories and pretty well anything you can think of. And it is all super cheap. I got Pajama pants for less that $1.50.
So overall we are doing well. And I think I have to remind myself that it is OK to feel emotional at times. We have experienced so many changes over the last 18 months its hard to process them all sometimes. (not all are bad changes but still changes-even good ones add stress sometimes).
Well I think thats it for now. My goal tonight is to sort out some potential tax confusions due to us leaving the country.

Who wants to watch TV?

As we are feeling more and more settled here one of the things we have begun doing is language learning. If you have ever tried learning another language you know how difficult it can be. Every single day, whenever we go anywhere, we feel in adequate and usually a bit dumb or silly when we don't know the basic words for things. Thankfully, it seems most people have a good sense of humor about it and we are able to figure things out after awhile. However, it does get frustrating when you are looking for something specific and you have a crying toddler and the store has been rearranged and you can't ask where they moved the item to and you are in a hurry because people are starting to glare at you for having a screaming child ... you get the picture. Times like that are not fun and you wish you could just say...where did the milk go? Where can I find....?
Recently, we went to a gathering of sorts where there were a number of other foreigners that spoke English. It actually felt strange to have an intelligent conversation in English and be understood and understand the whole thing. Our kids seemed to really enjoy it and I think it was because it was the first time they had heard someone other than us, speaking English in over a month and there were English speaking kids their age. Things you never really thought you would miss or take for granted until you are here.
While I am excited to learn another language and I am hopeful that my children will grow up bi-lingual it is still a challenge. Everything is a language lesson. I had 6 hours of language learning this week and while that might not seem like much, its almost more than I can take in. Trying to remember it all is a challenge.
So we watch TV. Something we took for granted before and to be honest, we never really watched TV. We didnt even have one for the last year and a bit. Now however we find ourselves watching lots of kids shows. Not in English. This is a great way to learn as they speak slower, often repeat things, spell things, count, show objects with the words etc...its helping kids learn things like "apple" which picture has an apple? Helpful for us since this is our level of the language. Learning the alphabet and how to count and all that basic stuff. And I think our kids will learn this way too. I am feeling a sense of accomplishment that I can now say (and spell) the fact that I am wearing a blue shirt. My language teacher was doing a happy dance for me. Also, i know know what to call a tree, pencil, the sea, a boat, open and close the door, stand up, sit down...etc. I feel like i have learned alot until I try to have a conversation and then...well I probably just have a blank look.
Just as a side note...it took 3 language lessons before I was able to correctly pronounce the name of the town we are in. Every time I take a taxi and say the name, they give me a look. When I said it to my language teacher she gave me a look and we spent the next while working on it.(She speaks no English so I am forced to learn and communication is interesting. I think it will be good though)
Anyways....
that is all for now. We are off to a retreat/conference thing for the weekend. Should be good.

Its been awhile

Sorry It has been so long since I have posted anything here. We had internet from our neighbours but we unknowingly used up their quota and so neither of us had internet for about 2 weeks. Then we had to wait a while for TTNet (the local internet company) to get our internet up and running. Let me just say that while it is great to have companies who come to the house and do things for you, it is always interesting when you dont speak their language and they dont speak yours. I think they came 4 times before everything worked properly.
The place we live came with a dishwasher. We were told it was broken so we did not use it. Then our landlord asked us to try it so that he could get someone to fix it. Since it is here it might as well work. It leaked all over the floor. We had to roll up our pants and cook in puddles for 2 weeks before it stopped leaking. We had the plumber come (3 times) to look at it and finally the company that sells that brand came and fixed it withing 10 minutes. No More Water!! Works great! Why that company did not come in the first place??? No Idea. Just another cultural thing apparently. (at least that is what our landlord keeps saying-you are experiencing the real way of things here!)
Anyways, now that most of the little issues have been fixed we are feeling pretty good. We are still waiting for the TV guy who has called numerous times but as soon as we say anything in English he hangs up. Even when we did say (in the language) call our landlord and gave his number - he still hung up. We are so thankful to have a landlord that is fluent in English and can help us out. He has called on our behalf many times and taken Andrew places to get things done. Definitely faster and easier when you have someone who knows how things work and can speak the language.
Other than sitting at home waiting around for people to show up, we have been exploring. We have gotten to know the grocery store well as we feel like we are there every other day. We are learning that we can only buy enough produce and milk for about 2-3 days at a time or it goes bad. WE bought the same amount of milk as we were used to at home but the 3rd day it had all congealed in the container and was sour.
Thursdays (today) are the days when the bazaar is in our area. I checked it out last week with child #1 and it was great! Awesome produce, great selection! You can buy everything from underwear, slippers and clothing to salad bowls, tongs, hair accessories, jewelery, produce and cheese, baby items. Literally everything. Its like superstore but outside. I will definitely make one of my produce shopping days the day of the bazaar. For some reason the grocery stores rarely sell things like bell peppers, artichokes, and zucchini, all of which I found at the bazaar and they looked like super good quality. The one thing that I have not found yet but I am told one guy sometimes sells it at the bazaar is cilantro. Hopefully I can find some as I have been making my own salsa since that is something else they don't really have here.
We have been enjoying the food here and other than cilantro and basil (fresh or dried) you can pretty much get everything we are used to. Since there is no pork products here most of the lunch meat and sausage is made from beef or chicken. We tried some sausage and while it tasted great, we all came down with the flu/food poisoning that night so needless to say, i dont think we will try it again at least for awhile.
This week we are starting language learning. I have a few language helpers I need to call and Andrew is meeting with a guy tomorrow night for his first lesson. Wish us luck. Not sure how this learning will go but I am encouraged by all the other foreigners I have seen that are decent and have been here under 3 years. Ok. Well I will post again soon. Not as long as last time.
I am on a fast this morning as  I have to run to the hospital to do some (routine) bloodwork so hopefully it goes smoothly and I can eat soon. Im not very good at not eating. Anyways, until next time.
R

Settling In

This post is probably going to be a bit long-Its been a busy 2 weeks. 

We arrived here in the city on Feb. 9^th and spent the next week staying at our teammates house and looking for an apartment to rent. After lots of looking we saw the place we wanted on Friday. We signed the papers on Saturday and had the keys and we were able to sleep there Saturday night. Things can move very quickly here.

            We were able to move in so quick partly because we were willing to clean it for a discount on rent for the first few weeks and because it was already furnished. There was beds, appliances, and kitchen items so we could mostly eat and cook right away. Often you have to hook all the water, gas etc. up and buy a fridge and stove so we got lucky and it saves us lots of money having those items here already. So we have been cleaning as it was quite dirty and slowly unpacking our stuff. We have made lots of trips to the grocery store and we are mostly good for food now. We have also spent a good chunk of time at IKEA as we needed to buy furniture for the kids room such as a crib and toddler bed. We also bought some bookshelves and dressers and then some kitchen items that we still needed. They had plates and bowls and such here but we felt more comfortable using our own stuff since we would be replacing whatever broke anyways-and with the kids that is bound to happen. They also had no Tupperware or kid friendly dishes so we picked that up as well, along with mats for the bathroom and some storage containers and shelves for the kids toys, books and art supplies.

From what we understand from hand gestures and pointing at the calendar, we are fairly certain our stuff is coming today.

Yesterday we went and bought a dryer. Most people here do not use one but after the 3^rd day of our jeans still being damp, we went and bought one along with a vacuum and they were both delivered and dryer installed within an hour of being in the store. We also bought a mattress for us. We wanted to sleep on something comfortable and something that we knew where it had all been and the mattress here was none to comfortable. We already had a frame and beautiful dresser in the master bedroom so we are all set there.

So we are getting there and this place is starting to feel like home a bit now that our clothes are all hung up in a closet and folded in drawers. They have been in suitcases and bags for almost 2 months now.

This is a city where you really can get almost anything. It is very modern and seems to be efficient at most things. We have had lots of conversations where we are talking in English and they in their language and we smile and nod at each other because neither understands the other. It will be nice to know the language for sure, but so far we have found someone in most situations who understands enough to help us.

The people here are very fascinated with our kids. Especially Elijah as he has such blond hair. They are always pinching his cheeks, rubbing his head and kissing him, sometimes on the lips but we are usually able to stop them before this happens. He tolerates it and has learned to run away or push their hands away when it gets to be too much. Azariah has been in the ergo carrier every time we have been out so they leave her alone for now.

 I will try and post pictures of our new place soon. It is on the 4^th floor so we have a great view of the sea but we have no elevator-good cardio workout everyday when you have a 20 lb child attached to you and an armload of groceries since we walk everywhere to get things.

We got a duplex-2floors and it is technically 4 bedroom although 2 are quite small.

On the main floor there is a great kitchen that has an enclosed balcony off of it and a living room/dining room that opens onto the balcony. Then there is the kids room, a bathroom with a Jacuzzi type tub-minus the jets and a separate shower, and the master bedroom that has a toilet and sink en suite. It is small only one of us fits at a time but it is handy.

Upstairs is more of an attic type room with the sloping ceiling. I can only stand upright along the one wall and even then the ceiling is pretty low. This is the kids play area. It is a great size to fit their toys and have them be able to play happily. Elijah really loves playing up there. There is a small toilet and sink bathroom up there and the 2 smaller bedrooms. One is an office and has always been from the way it is set up with a desk and wired for internet. It would be hard to fit a queen sized bed in there. The second room is slightly larger and fits a futon and a small dresser. Not much room besides those. This will be a guest room/storage area for now. Again, I will try to put up pictures soon.

So this is home for the next while 3 years?? We are getting to know the area and the stores. We are a 2 minute walk from the train station and about 10 from the closest grocery store. It takes us about 15-20 minutes to walk to our teammates house-depending on how fast Elijah walks. We miss everyone at home but we are settling in here. The kids are doing well. We are glad they are doing good. Azariah had a high fever for 4 days right after we first got here and so we now are familiar with a pediatrician that speaks English and the closest private hospital. Not sure what she had but we are glad its gone and she is back to normal. As a side note-Elijah is absolutely loving the olives and feta here. Our usual morning snack is almonds, olives and dried apricots-sometimes with cheese.

Hope to hear from some of you soon.

Travel

Well...we have made it. We are finally here. After many hours of travel we are glad to finally set our bags down and get some sleep. We left Canada on a very snowy day. We had to dig out the truck to get out of the driveway and it took us much longer than normal to make the drive to the airport. But we arrived and had lots of time. Our flight, surprisingly was not cancelled, although we did sit on the tarmac for awhile getting de-iced. We flew for 7 hours and Child # 1 cried a good part of the flight but we were very thankful that we were sitting with another mom and her child as well as a guy who had a small child at home and a nice elderly grandpa who did not mind, and in fact welcomed, having kids crawling on him and crying in his ear.
Flight # 2 was smooth. We all slept for the whole flight. We landed, paid for our visas had our passports stamped and got our bags. We had arranged for a local here to pick us up with a big van, so we got everything loaded and drove 2 more hours to get to the place we are staying. Both kids thought it was great to ride in a vehicle without a carseat. (they are not really used here so we didn't even bring them).
It was great to see T & R and they had supper ready for us so we had something to eat, let the kids play for a bit, gave them a bath and then we took showers and went to bed. It feels great to have a hot shower and lay in a real bed after being on a plane for a long time. T took Andrew out to the store last night so we could get toothpaste and deodorant after we couldn't find ours.

 The kids did pretty well. Slept until 1am and then went back to bed around 3am and slept until we woke them up at 9am this morning! Hopefully tonight is just as good or even better. We have not ventured out today. we have just been taking it slow and napping a bit. Tomorrow we have about 7 places lined up to look at for us to potentially rent, so we will get out and explore then. So far nothing has stood out to me to much. My first impression has just been like any other mega city I have been too, lots of people, lots of cars, and crazy driving. I'm sure we will have more to say on that once we get out in the city a bit.
Well that's about it for now. Its warmer here- feels like May in BC about 15 C today and a bit rainy.

small town life.

Small Town Ontario. This is a town I grew up in but I often forget what it is like to live in a small town and the daily events that make the paper. Small towns always have their eccentricities and an example was this weekend. My younger brother and his buddies came back to town to participate in the annual Plunger Toss contest.  Yes, it is what it sounds like. A bunch of people throwing toilet plungers into empty toilets that stand in a field. You get points depending on where in the toilet the plunger lands. 10 points if it stands upright in the hole. Keep in mind that this competition takes place outside and today it was -22 C. That did not seem to deter anyone. My brother left all layered up this morning and came back 12 hours later as the grand prize winner. He and his team even had their picture taken and will make it onto the front page of the local paper.
These type of events make me smile. Its seems funny to me that these type of events are a big deal but they are. Its these silly kind of things that I will miss. Having lived in larger urban areas for the last 8 years, I am used to locking up everything and keeping a close eye on my purse, children or any belongings. I seem overly paranoid here when nobody else locks there doors and all the neighbours know each other and recently, this town was (supposedly) deemed the safest community in Canada (or Ontario??) by McClain magazine.
(That is until the other night when my mother saw someone trying to break into our car which resulted in her calling the police and all the neighbours having a chat over the phone about it the next morning-and Police cruisers driving down the street in front of the house an hour after she called.)
I forget how big of a deal this is. It is refreshing in alot of ways to be in a slower paced community that is looking out for their neighbours and enjoys participating in community events.
Having lived in an area with fairly high crime rates and lots of drug trafficking, I forget what it is like to live this way again.
We have enjoyed our time here (other than the temperature). The kids are settling in nicely and we are ready to go. We had an open house today to say goodbye to friends and family. We were privileged to be here when one of my closest friends had their baby and it was nice to be able to bring them lunch at home a few short hours after the birth and see the new baby. Just to be around with life happening. So this is where we are for a few more days until we head out into a major metropolitan centre.

transitions....

We are halfway through our time here. Halfway through this transition period. Some days have been good and others hard. We stayed with my grandma for the first week that we were here and that was good. My parents finished the renovations of their basement enough so we could move in and now we have been settling in here. Its been hard to watch our kids, particularly child #1 struggle with the changes. He was happy and comfortable at home. Then we packed up his stuff, gave some of it away, left everything he knew and came here. He knows his grandparents and they are somewhat familiar but it is not home. He has had a rough time going to bed or letting us out of his sight. He has been trying our patience. He is  displaying his discomfort with the transition and his insecurities of leaving all thats safe and familiar behind. He is physically showing what we are feeling mentally and emotionally. Its hard living out of a suitcase and not being able to picture home - because we don't have one and don't know how long it will be until we get a home again. We are visitors here, but when we leave we wont be going home. We will be heading into the unfamiliar.
 Overall though it has been a good 2 weeks. We have stayed healthy despite the cold, and have enjoyed seeing family and friends.
With less than 2 weeks before we fly away, we hope to see more people. We hope our bags arrive on Wednesday with everything intact and then reorganize things a bit so we don't have a billion carry on bags to deal with. There are a few last minute items to purchase, places to go and papers to file-but we are seeing the end in sight. Or the beginning. Whichever.
We are so thankful for child #2 who is always smiling. Having someone always happy and smiling around helps balance the emotions. Doesnt matter what happens, there is usually a smile. She wakes up smiling, and sleeps smiling, and when Child # 1 knocks her down, usually she thinks its a game and smiles. Although it is challenging at times having 2 small kids, we are so grateful that she is easy going and happy. She keeps us sane.
Well, they are both napping and we have to prepare to go to someones house for dinner. We have met these people once, so we do not know them well, but they have young kids also so that should help us fit in. Travelling in the winter is something I have never had to do with our kids and it takes us about 20 minutes longer than normal to get out the door. I am thankful for the snowsuits we have borrowed for the kids. Perhaps I will post pictures of them soon.

Saying Goodbye...

Saying Goodbye is a strange thing sometimes. Over the last number of months we have slowly been saying goodbye to people or places.
Often I would find myself somewhere and wonder, will this be the last time I am here for a long time? Is this the last time I will be taking my kids here? When will I see this person next? Its not easy to say goodbye. The last 2 weeks we have said goodbye to so many friends and family. Tears have been shed and many hugs given. As I sat on the plane and watched the mountains disappear into the horizon, I couldn't help but reflect on the last few years. I was not quite 20 when I moved to BC. I made the journey and did not know anyone. I was ready for something new, excited for the people that I would meet and the experiences I would have. Little did I know that I would leave 8 years later with my husband and 2 kids and so many memories.
We have left family and close friends behind. I have so many memories with many of you. I am so thankful for all of you who have shaped and influenced my life and have poured your time and energy into my family and my children. I sincerely hope that we will remain close. I am sad when I think about the fact that I although I want to remain close to all of the people I know, sadly, many people will not stay in touch and will move on without us. I have hope though that we will remain close with many of you and that this journey will deepen our friendship.  I hope to see some of you when you visit.
As we go into the next few weeks before we leave, we are preparing for more goodbyes and more last hugs and more tears. I will cherish this time with family and even though I know we will meet again (hopefully soon) it is still hard. I know we will miss weddings, birth and unfortunately, probably some funerals too. But we know in the end that this is what we are called to do and even though it is hard and a big part of me would rather stay in my own house with all of my stuff, I know this is the step we must take and have been working towards for many years. We are excited to embark on this adventure and hopefully, you will come along too; whether visiting us in person or sending us updates on your life and adventures here at home.
So thank you to all of you who have made me who I am and have spent time with us as we got ready to leave. We feel so blessed by you.

Packing..with two kids

Its an adventure packing. For anybody. But throw 2 kids 2 and under into the mix and a small space and its nearly impossible. One of the favourite activities for our kids is to "help". They love to help unpack and unload things. This is useful except when we are actually trying to pack. Yesterday, we got rid of our changetable dresser -its a two in one- and taking all the clothes and diapers out was fun but trying to keep them organized in a suitcase where the dresser was is a challenge. They like to jump on top, unzip it, climb inside, throw the clothes out and put them back in. Whatever- I guess if there is nothing else in their room its not a big deal. We have 7 full hockey bags and 1 rubbermaid packed and ready to go. We are hoping to only have 3 bags more at most. Everything else is in bins of give-away, throw out, MCC, or maybes-if we have room we will bring it and if not...well...hopefully we will find a spot for it somewhere else. We dont want to leave anything in storage. Some things are on loan indefinitely.
So that's our house right now. Child #1 is doing OK with the craziness- a little clingy and sensitive, crying at the drop of a hat. I think he wonders whats going on and even though we explained to him whats happening, I think he is a little insecure as he sees his dresser leaving and toys and books being packed up. Child # 2 couldn't be happier. Other than deciding to sprout 2 teeth this week, she is in great spirits and thinks all of this is exciting! Everything should be done by Friday when our bags are getting picked up to begin their journey across the country. As sad as that day will be, I'm looking forward to be done packing and can focus on cleaning and getting rid of whats left, and packing our smaller bags that we will be living out of for the next 6 weeks or so. Happy organizing to us!

The beginning

We are two crazy people embarking on a crazy adventure with our two small kids. If you want to hear what we are doing and the adventures we are having please check in here. No promises about how often we will post but we hope we can give you a bit of a glimpse into our life as we prepare to leave N. America and head into the great, wide world and all the adventures I am sure we will have.

Currently, we are packing our lives into 10 hockey bags and getting ready to head to Ontario in 2 weeks where we will spend some time with my (Renee) family before we leave the country. We will post again soon. Its always an adventure trying to pack with our two very active children who love to help unpack!