Tuesday, May 10, 2011

So Whats The Deal?

Wow! It's been almost an entire year since my last blog post... that's shameful. I am sure some of you are wondering what the deal is and I wish I had a really fantastic excuse but the truth is, I have just been super
lazy. Lazy and uninspired. That however is all about to change (I can hear my readers snickering with sarcastic criticism). I am turning over a new leaf and am planning on keeping you all updated regularly from here on out ( now I can hear my own head issuing remarks of un-belief). Anyways... Life has been busy.
In order to give you a full-length update of the past year this blog post would take you a full year to read so I am gonna touch on the important parts that most of you know about already anyways but I can't really omit them from my update or this wouldn't really be an update... make sense? good :)

So it's no big secret that we packed up our life and headed North to the not so big, so very cold, city of Fort McMurray...We have been here for 6 months now and are finally starting to settle in. I'm not gonna lie, it's been a pretty rough transition but I think that is to be expected when you up-root so quickly the way that we did.  The kids actually haven't missed a beat but Dan and I have found the last 6 months to be a little more challenging. The biggest shock to our system has definitely been the weather! Our coldest day here this winter (with wind chill) was -42 and let me assure you... that is some freakin cold!! We literally couldn't walk from our front door to our car without feeling like our hands were going to fall off! "Why didn't you you just put some gloves on?" you may ask... well... funny thing is Dan and I were under some kind of crazy assumption that people from the Northern provinces lied about the cold so we came here very ill equipped for Winter. In fact, I didn't even own a pair of shoes other than sandals until my 3rd week here. Pretty stupid I know. Anyways, we finally got ourselves suited up quite nicely.... snow pants, boots, heavy jackets, toques, face masks, scarves, thick gloves, long johns, etc etc, and were able to enjoy a few of the outdoor activities that other winter-likers do. Luckily for Dan his work supplies him with really great winter gear so he doesn't have to spend a tonne of money on a set of good winter clothes AND a set for work.. at least, we think they do anyways... Dan put in his request for his winter clothes 5 1/2 months ago and still has yet to see them.... maybe they will be here in time for next winter... for now though, I'm just glad we have some sunshine and have been able to retire the sorels for hopefully a few months at least!
The boys loved the snow forts they got to build this winter!



Dan is now working for a company called Syncrude. He is doing the same work as always (heavy duty mechanic) only now he is working on machines the size of a house... literally, these things are massive. I haven't had the opportunity to go to his work site as they don't allow family members to visit his particular mine but, the pictures he brings home are insane. He loves his job immensely and would like to retire here. I don't know if he will cuz that would mean we would have to live in Fort McMurray for many many years but who knows what our future holds. Fort McMurray is actually a really great little city that we feel at home in it's just that it's so far from everyone we know and love and that's the hard part. I will say though, This is the very first time that Dan has been so content in his job and that alone is enough to make the sacrifice worth it!

We found a really great house here. It's actually a duplex but it's big and cozy and we absolutely love it! Currently we are renting because we still own our house in Abbotsford (anyone wanna buy it??) but we hope to purchase this house this year or next. Our landlord is really great and she lives in the Yukon so we don't have her hanging over our shoulder which makes renting a much nicer experience. Real estate in Fort McMurray is ridiculously expensive though so we will have to wrap our heads around that before we take the plunge! Remember when $150K was an expensive house? That's what we paid for our first town house and when we signed those mortgage papers we both stopped breathing for a good 10 minutes I'm sure! It's crazy how things change! Ok, now I am just sounding like my parents (back when I was a kid..... blah blah blah). Anyways, you get the point... Houses aint cheap! ha ha ha

In case anyone would like to picture us eating at our table or doing dishes or sleeping in our beds ( ya creepers) here are a few pics of our humble abode....

My master bedroom... when we moved in all the walls were the color of the green blanket on my bed.... awesome.

little hallway down to our master bathroom
 
View from my kitchen to the front door/living room

View from front door - stairs lead to the kids rooms and a bathroom
Kitchen... obviously...

Door to backyard, you can also see a little of our bedroom... at first I hated where the master bedroom was placed but now I love it... I can't imagine living in a house without the master on the main floor.... AWAY FROM ALL THE KIDS!

view of the main floor from the top floor

view of the living room from the top floor


Our backyard.... the grass is still a little dead from the snow but the yard is big and the kids play hard!

House is a duplex..... we love it.


Everything else in life pretty much remains the same just in a different city. Kids are good, growing like weeds.... Evan is in kindergarten this year and is doing very well academically. It's been hard on Logan having his big brother gone so much because he feels very left out when Evan goes to school but it's been nice to have the time to bond with Logan a little when Evan is gone (and Aidan is napping!). I am looking forward to next year when Evan AND Logan will be in school and I will have Aidan all to myself... that has never happened before and I think it will be very fantastic! :)

I am sure I have tonnes more stuff to tell you about but I am starting to run out of steam here and don't want to turn you off of my future posts ( and yes, there WILL be future posts!)

Please continue to uphold our family in Prayer as we carry out this phase of our life. I am hoping that the toughest part is behind us but knowing that our friends and family are supporting us through this provides much needed comfort.

I'll be back soon so check in often ;)

Much Love,
Tanisha & Family

1 comment:

  1. nice to have you back! I was stopping in to check your site before i deleted it from my favorite's list. Lucky you updated it or you would have been gone :) love you lots. Love the Cooks

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