Our Little "English Cottage"

I wanted to share a few snapshots of the place we are now calling home.

We don't know how long we'll be here, but I intend to enjoy it as much as I possibly can while we are here!

 An old, mysterious looking barn-like structure.  I love the vines crawling up the side!

 As a little girl, I always thought weeping willows were some of the best trees, and I envied those who actually had such a tree in their yard.  Now I have joined the ranks of the envied. :)

 The most darling little garden ever!  It's mostly weeds right now, but as you can see, I've started pulling them out, going on a treasure hunt for what plants might still be growing there.  It's been fun...a word I never really thought I would use to describe gardening.  I'm actually quite excited about planting some herbs of my own there, it's not really big enough to do a whole lot else with, but having a few fresh things in my garden will be fun!

 Not much to look at on the outside, the inside is definitely much cuter!

 Our dining room.  I love how low the window is, it's the perfect height for looking outside while you're sitting at the table.

We were so blessed to have lots of friends help us unload the truck when we arrived, and two of my best friends, who had driven out to help us move, stayed around for a day or two to help us get things set up.  

Having books on the shelf, and pictures on the wall goes so far to make a house a home!  I love seeing the transformation from a plain-ish, empty house, to a cozy place to call our own!

Whistler Highlights

Recently, (four days after we moved, to be precise :P) Stephen and I got to go to Whistler BC, for a week alone together!  It was such a treat to get away, especially after all the craziness of late, and just have some time to relax, catch up on sleep, enjoy some amazing nature, and spend time together.  

There were so many delightful little things about our time, I wanted to share some of them with you, along with some snapshots I took along the way......

 * Getting time alone with this guy.... it was like a second honeymoon! :)
*Being flexible and having fun when plans changed, sometimes drastically!

 *Seeing amazing displays of nature, like the Brandywine Falls
*Driving through more of BC, being in awe of what a beautiful province we live in!
*Really good visits, with awesome relatives!

 *Water is one of my favorite things in nature to see, and there were an abundance of streams, big and little to feast my eyes on! :)
*Seeing the ocean again

 *The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company. Enough said.

*Wandering around Whistler Village

*Getting an "arm massage" in Lush, seriously, I felt so relaxed for the next hour at least! :)

 *Staying at The Aspens.  So beautiful!
*Coffee shops around Whistler

 *Taking three hours one day to go to the top of Blackcomb Mountain via chair lift.  The scenery was amazing! 

 *We saw four black bears, plus two cubs!  

 *Being surrounded by breathtaking mountains

*Journalling at Starbucks

*Walking and talking with Stephen, enjoying being together

 *This made me smile. :)

 *Riding the "Peak to Peak Gondola," the longest gondola in the world!  Oh, and we rode on the one with the glass bottom, so we got an amazing view down, not just out the windows!

 *Cozy, rainy days, spent walking around, and inside fun little shops.

*Eating breakfast at a funky little bakery: cinnamon rolls and coffee....one of my top favorite breakfasts!

*The view from our balcony....

*Swimming in the pool
*Visiting more awesome relatives in Victoria on the way home
*Seeing a lacrosse game for the first time
*Seeing Victoria for the first time
*Coming home to our baby - I have to admit, I've never been that excited to come home from a vacation! :) 

Moving

After an intense time of decision-making, followed by packing up and deep cleaning nearly the entire house in less than two weeks, we're back in BC.  It's been a long journey, much more than just a physical one.
We were only gone for six months.  In some ways, it feels like we hardly left, in others, it feels like we've been gone for years.  Like in those stories where the characters leave, have a plethora of experiences, and return  to find that nothing has really changed where they came from.
I used to have a really hard time with change, especially if life was comfortable, and going smoothly.  "Why mess things up?" I thought.  But really, keeping things the same is only one step away from stagnancy, and that's a bad thing.  
Although I'm still not always a huge fan of change, I'm beginning to embrace it more and more, learning to adapt to different homes, different people, even different ideas.  
The last one is tricky, finding the balance between being open-minded, willing to admit that you may not know the complete truth, but also being grounded in what you do know to be true, and not budging on that.  
So here we are, in our little "English cottage" in British Columbia.  Things are settling down, it's looking more like a home every day.  We're adjusting to being back here, with the people we love in BC, away from the people we love in Alberta.  It's good to be back.