If there’s one thing I’ve done a lot in my life, it’s moved. My gosh, have I ever moved.
One Christmas several years back, my brother and I got out a notepad and listed every single home we’d each lived in just for fun. It started out as one list, split into two separate ones during our teenage years, and then came back together for several summers while I was in university. It was LONG. And thank goodness I had Gar there helping sort it all out, because sometimes my memory is total crap.
My gosh… Our move. We’ve now been in Vernon for a little bit more than a month, and while I wouldn’t say we’re ‘settled in’ just yet {there’s still so much to do!}, we’re certainly settling in. Thankfully, this move has been one of the more low-key moves we’ve done, and let me tell you – we’ve done quite a few moves in our time.
My gosh, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I didn’t mean to just disappear for the summer, but despite my best intentions, I just never really made it onto my computer for any length of time other than to write my posts for CBC Parents.
It was a crazy couple of months.
Very quick recap. Back in the spring we decided we wanted to buy our own home, but with the Vancouver real estate market being what it is, that meant having to look elsewhere. I wasn’t happy to be leaving, but we agreed to look in Victoria, West Kelowna, and Kelowna. I’m pretty sure we both spent several hours a day looking at house listings, but when we hadn’t seen much of anything we liked within the budget we had set out for ourselves mid-June, a wildcard option was thrown out. Vernon. My hometown. To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about the idea {and I’m still not sure I am}, but after much discussion and several pros and cons lists, we decided it was the right move for right now, as so we went with it. We made several trips back and forth to see houses, ended up putting in an offer on a house at the very end of June, went back and forth with the homeowners for a week, had our counter offer accepted on July 6th, had just over a week to remove our subjects, and took possession at the end of July. {I’m exhausted just replaying all of that in my mind.} We spent 10 days or so camping out in the new house at the end of July / beginning of August, had my family from Alberta up, got a bunch of work done in it, organized some trades workers to come in while we were away, and headed back to Vancouver on August 8th to begin the task of packing up our rental home. With some help from a few of family members, we got that done in just over two weeks, stayed in our empty Vancouver house for a few days to soak up as much of the city as we could, and then headed back up to the Okanagan on the 28th. Brad had an orientation for his school district the next day, we needed decide on a schooling option for Miss G, and then it was September.
Whew.
And here we are.
In Vernon, getting settled in our new home.
Wish us luck.
Whew. What a whirlwind few weeks. Busy, but so, so good. Being exam time, I tutored more than ever, plus we made time to do several special meet-ups with our closest friends, and I managed to sneak in several nights out with my girlfriends too. During the days that Miss G and I were not busy making memories with friends, we sorted, organized, and cleaned our entire apartment top to bottom. Important stuff made its way into our Canada shipment bins, some items were sold, and tons was given away. In between, we cleaned a disastrous apartment a couple of floors up, moved the majority of our furnishings up, and set everything up for a new family coming to Kuwait. We made scrapbooks for our closest friends, snuck in quick trips to some of our favourite spots around Kuwait, and were totally spoiled by our desert family. On our very last full day in the country, several of our friends met us at the Jumeirah Beach Resort for a day of sunshine and swimming. It was wonderful. Afterwards, I snuck home to tuck Miss G in bed, did a few final jobs, snuck in a shower, and wrote a CBC post before heading out the door to a friend’s place for one last night with my mama friends. We ate sushi, drank wine, gossiped, and said goodbye, and that was that. Another chapter of adventures comes to a close… Goodbye, Kuwait. We’ll miss you.
Pizza making with friends.
Sooooo…. We have some news to share, but instead of sharing it myself, here’s us telling Miss G last week. She didn’t want to sit and chat initially {I mean, hey – whose got time for sitting nowadays, right?!}, but her reaction is pretty priceless.
Hahaha! I think I could watch this again and again forever. That grumpy little face turned wide-eyed smile just melts me and I’m so glad she’s happy.
In order to get through our move, Miss G spent a lot of time playing independently, which is difficult when the majority of your things are packed and life as you know it is being turned upside-down in front of your eyes. In order to make things a little bit easier for her, each day that we spent packing, I’d set out a couple of very simple invitations to play with whatever was around at the time. I have to say, she handled the situation very well and even created a few fun activities of her own. Here’s some of what our little lady did last week…
Only 5 days to pack and a ton to do.
A going away gift. We have the very sweetest friends.
Progress…
All of the toys, books, games, and puzzles Gracen will have in Kuwait are in these two bins.
2 a.m. and finally feeling good enough about the progress made to go to sleep before picking up the moving truck the next morning.
Loading day.
Nearly finished.
A sad final dinner in her 2nd home… A towel as a picnic blanket, a bento box for a plate, a spoon borrowed from the downstairs tenants, not a vegetable in sight.
Farewell, little house.
Halfway through the 6 hour drive back to the Okanagan.
An hour away from our destination and dinner is served… In a car seat. Sardined between bins.
Whew! What a week it’s been. I’ve got to say that moving is probably one of my least favourite things to do ever. Several Christmases ago, my brother and I sat down with a pen and paper and listed off all of the houses we’ve lived in in our lifetimes and if I’m correct, this move will be my 52nd. Oy. I must say, it does get easier… Moving frequently has caused me to really think about what I hang onto and in most cases, if I haven’t used something within the last few months, I’ll happily give it away, recycle it, or get rid of it rather than moving it just so it can collect dust somewhere new. That being said, moving with a toddler {and only 5 days to pack an entire house} is not, in any way, easy. Gracen was wonderful through it all, but it was definitely tough. Between trying to be an engaged parent, keeping up with making healthy, homemade meals, attending final play dates and outings, and packing everything into boxes while a curious little somebody wants to take everything out, I felt spread thin to say the least. Sleep was even less plentiful than normal, which means patience was too. Buuuuuut, thanks to a lot of help from Brad’s parents in the final two days, we did it. We packed everything up into a moving truck {and two vehicles}, scrubbed down the house, handed over our keys, and said goodbye to the little old house that has been our home for the last two years {since we arrived home from our first stint in Kuwait}. Now we’re in the Okanagan for the next few weeks until our big, BIG move and I’m happy to report that we should be able to get the bulk of our stuff sorted/stored/put away this morning. Here’s to a little bit of downtime before our next adventure begins!
♥
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Today we finished packing and cleaning and said goodbye to our home in Vancouver. I’d been so focused on accomplishing all of the tasks on my to do list that I hadn’t taken the time to think about about how much I’ll miss our little old house – the one in which our baby girl learned to walk, where she learned to talk, where she said so long to diapers, where she graduated to a big girl bed, and so many other important things… It all hit me when she walked into her empty bedroom for the final time, called out, “Goodbye, room!”, and then leaned into the wall with big open arms and gave it a kiss. Ugh. Tears.
They snuck up on me again as I took this final photo of her on our front porch, ringing the doorbell as she always does, just one last time.
So long, little house in East Vancouver. Big changes are ahead…
♥
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My Darling Little Girl,
As your mama, my job is to help you live a happy, healthy, and fulfilled life. Of course, this means making many decisions on your behalf, especially now while you’re so little. Some of them, like making your sleep a family priority or ensuring your body is nourished with healthy, wholesome foods, are easy. They’re inarguably what’s best for you and they’re worth every extra penny and every bit of extra effort. Other decisions are not as simple…
For the last few months, your papa and I have been talking about one of those kind of decisions. One of the ones that don’t come as easily. We’ve weighed our options and made the lists. We’ve discussed it with your grandparents and talked about it time and again… And after all of it, we have some big news, Baby Girl…
We’re moving.
And not a little move…
We’re moving back to the Middle East.
Back to Kuwait.
Now I know you might be thinking, didn’t we leave there only a year and a half ago? Didn’t you guys choose to come home to Canada not that long ago? And you’re right, sweet girl. We did. At the time, you were still so wee and had only had a chance to spend a few short weeks with your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We knew we needed to get you home to get to know your family members and develop those relationships. And you have. We’ve spent the last year and a half camping with your cousins, spending holidays with your grandparents, and experiencing all of the wonderful things that come with being a Canadian… From brightly coloured autumn leaves, to ice skating, to a backyard garden full of veggies and hills of fluffy white snow. It’s been wonderful, Lovey.
But soon enough, we’ll say goodbye to this little life we’ve worked hard to build in this beautiful city and begin anew. We’ll carefully pack all of our essentials, make the 36 hour trek we’ve come to know well, and set up our new life overseas in our second home. It’s bound to be full of challenges, and yes, our families will be far away, but Sweetpea, it’s going to be wonderful. There’ll be new friends, old friends, constant warm weather (sometimes so hot we won’t know what to do with ourselves), days spent at the Hilton, and travel adventures throughout the seasons. I can’t wait for you to meet the kids we’ll live with, for us to play in the courtyard each afternoon, to take you back to Dubai, and spend our first real European Christmas as a family (I promise we’ll make it further than the Frankfurt airport this time around). We’ll walk through the sand to the bacala in the afternoons, we’ll close up our apartment when the dust storms roll around, and we’ll cool ourselves in kiddie pools filled with cold water when the heat becomes too much. There’s bound to be days… Days when your papa and I become frustrated with living in a country so different than the one we grew up in, but it’ll all be alright. The three of us will be together and as cliché as it sounds, that’s truly all we need.
You don’t know all of this just yet… Seven months is still a long ways away and the concept of time is a hard one when you’re two years old. We’ll talk all about it this summer when the packing and prepping begins, and it’ll quickly become clear that big adventures are headed our way. But until then, Baby Girl, my promise to you is that your papa and I will do everything we can to ensure that you spend your days happy, healthy, and thriving, no matter where we are in this great big world.
Love you always and forever,
Mama
xox
hanging out at home // our apartment // your nursery
adventuring in mahboula // courtyard afternoon // a walk to the bacala
poolside // hilton baby // on the shore of the gulf
on a wild ride // boxing day walk along the gulf // fahaheel lunch
a walk along the gulf in egaila // waiting at the kuwait airport // evening at egaila park
♥
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‘hello?’ // cousin Kinslee
girl talk // funny faces with Uncle Gary
Tonight Uncle Gary called and after not so successfully talking to Grae on the phone (he couldn’t hear a thing), he suggested a FaceTime chat. It was so adorable to watch Miss G and her cousin Kins chat, sing songs, and show each other things through the magic of technology. And though it will take some planning with the huge time difference, I’m so thankful we have this with our impending move.
♥
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