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Showing posts from 2018

Are we really doing this?

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We are at the 35 days until we go marker and it feels weird.  Who's idea was this? To stop everything we know and do and move across the world to live somewhere foreign, where no one speaks English, and we know no one or anything. Oh right.. it was my idea. It sounds amazing right? Jeff and I seem to be in a bit of a fog trying to prepare mentally and physically for this experience.  I think.. as everyone tells us.. it will be amazing! However, when you stop and think about all of the  things that you do that you will no longer be doing when in France, it's not worrisome, but it gets the wheels turning.. at all hours of the day. Lets just say that we haven't been sleeping too well over here. There aren't any specific major concerns.. just questions we are asking ourselves about what the day to day concerns might be. I feel like I am going to realize what I appreciate about our life here in pretty quickly. I'm pretty sure that friends & family will be one of

Visas have been approved!

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I can finally take a breath and let all of this excitement sink in. For several months I have been a ball of stress stressing over the approval of my leave from work and more importantly, the approval of our France Visas. In order to stay in France (or any Schengen Country ) for more than 3 months, you must have a visa.  When I first started researching the visa process it seemed a little overwhelming, but definitely doable.  My research told me that the earliest I could apply for our Visas was 90 days before our entrance into the Shengen Area (France). Alright.. so I enjoyed our summer and then logged back in to start our Visa applications in September. ... uh oh! Things had changed. The French Consulate had handed over all of the interview and first steps of the Visa process to a private company called VFS. All of the required documents had changed, the application process was different, and the reviews online said horrible things about VFS. The wait time for visas

Mommy & Me in the Lavender

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I have always wanted to get some photos of me with my littles. It helps that a lovely local photographer was doing mini sessions in a lavender field up Island a bit. We headed up to Damali Lavender Farm one Sunday evening to have some photos taken and the lighting was so lovely! Even thought it was a mommy & me session we were able to sneak Jeff in for a pic too :) So thankful for these sweet pics!

Spring has sprung

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For several years I have been thinking about getting into road biking. Last year I told everyone that I was going to buy a bike, hoping that by telling everyone I would stay true to my word. The year went by without a bike purchased, but I did buy some padded bike shorts! Anywho, this past March I finally wrangled my bike friend to help me out and followed through with actually buying one! I don't know a lot about the bike, but if my bike friend says to buy it, then I knew it had to go with it because he knows what he is talking about ;) Over the past few weeks I have been testing it out both on my own and with friends and have really been enjoying the freedom it gives me to explore, and the great butt workout. You can go so far in such a short amount of time :) Jeff has also bought a road bike so we will be able to start riding together... if I can keep up!  Let the training for France bike rides to wineries begin!  Last week I biked along the Lochside Trail up to

Spring Break Fun!

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Thinking back to the lovely Spring Break we had... thought I would post some photos of our time out in Ucluelet.  The views along the lighthouse trail in Ucluelet were spectactular and the beaches were breathtaking. We spend part of one day testing out some boogie boards and Jeff and I could have spent hours out there flopping around in our suits. Hopefully we will get a chance to return in the summer :)

Where to go.. ?

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The house search has been taking over my brain for the past few months. Here are some questions that have been constantly running through my brain from the moment I wake up until the moment my eyes close.. much too late at night.. due to too much thinking! Who would have guessed it :-p Where to go? What type of house? How many bedrooms? Small town or bigger town? Does it have quick internet? Is there a grocery store? Not a corner store... Are there activities or rec centre or library? How about a weekly market? Does the town nearby have schools for the children? Will the children actually be allowed to attend the school? I hope to ride bikes.. is it super hilly? How many minutes from a larger town is it? Is there transit to the larger town or will we need a car? How far from the nearest airport? Where does that airport fly to? I have been emailing and googling and google street viewing and searching blogs for ideas... my brain is done and I think we have found someth