Tommy and the mountains (view from Burnaby Mountain Park)
Me and Madison in my office
I guess I should begin with the move. We had a rather fun time packing, actually. Meg and Scott (our downstairs neighbors in Emigration Canyon), Ali, Liana, and Josh (along with Meg's parents, who were in town visiting) helped us pack the van, and then we all (yes, myself included) ate the holy grail of BBQ: Scott's famous smoked Briskett. I couldn't resist. I mean, I've been eating meat off and on all summer, but I always have good intentions of not eating furry creatures again. I've been pretty good about it since we've been in Vancouver, but I digress, so I shall go back to the moving story. So packing and loading weren't bad, but saying goodbye to our friends was. Scott and Meg have been the best downstairs neighbors and friends we could have asked for--an unexpected surprise while living in the Canyon. Ali, Liana, and Josh were staples in our lives in SLC, and we can't wait until everyone comes to visit (just not all at the same time).
We drove and drove and drove--on through Idaho (the most boring state in existence besides Wyoming) and into Washington (one of the prettiest states in existence). Tommy sent me a text from the moving van while we were in Washington, and suffice it to say that he's in love with the Cascades (the mountain range that includes Mt. Ranier). Ahhh, mountains, you surely are Tommy's best friend. Around Seattle we started encountering some traffic, and Mads started doing the I-really-have-to-pee-or-poop-and-I'm-about-to-do-it-in-the-car dance (just imagine Madison dancing around in the backseat of the Corolla while I navigate Seattle traffic following Tommy, who's driving the U-haul. Uncool.). Turns out that Seattle does road work at night, and it took us TWO HOURS TO GO TWO MILES. It was ridiculous. We had been in the car for over 16 hours at this point, and finally Madison just collapsed in the backseat; I guess she just resigned herself to never using the lawn again.
Needless to say, we finally arrived at our friend Maeghan's house around midnight. We awoke the next morning, after about five hours of sleep, and headed to the border. I was incredibly nervous. What if they didn't let me in? What if they didn't let Mads in? What if Tommy didn't get in? I was trying to decide who it would be harder to live without, Mads or Tommy, when the border guard told us to pull over and go inside. Fabulous. I instantly imagined all of us being detained separately and questioned mercilessly (I imagined Madison nonchalantly laying on the ground and refusing to answer any questions in true Madsion fashion). Turns out I just needed to pay (yet another) fee for my study permit. We were then released. Not too many questions. No cavity searches. Thanking the Canadian border patrol people, we then headed toward the apartment.
Luckily, T had the brilliant idea to hire people from Craig's List to help us unpack. Me and Madison told everyone where to put things, and she barked at all our new neighbors. It was/is probably safe to say that everyone hates us. The next few days were spent unpacking, which proved a daunting task after all the boxes filled up ALL 574 sq ft of this place. T's first mission was to fill up our storage locker, which ameliorated a little bit of our space problem (the storage locker is literally bulging right now). We then set about unpacking, while also running lots and lots of errands. Bank accounts were set up; my office was visited; I got a Social Insurance number, etc. etc. Then (dun dun dun), T's phone died a sudden and rather untimely death. This was the proverbial straw on the back of the moving to Canada camel. We both immediately felt the pressures (both emotionally and financially) of moving up here, and it sucked. I was a bit afraid that Tommy was going to bail and give me the proverbial finger, but thankfully he loves me enough to go through moving to another country (don't say that it's just Canada).
It's been two weeks now, and things have definitely settled down. We've really enjoyed having my friend Rosie (friend from my Montevallo days) here. Tommy has been working, and Rosie and I have been exploring. It's been good to have someone to learn the ins and outs of public transportation with. I start school on September 8th, so that's another challenge that begins soon. I still can't believe that we made it here. Sitting on the balcony, with Tommy beside me learning random facts about random things from a random book he's reading, I feel like everything's gonna be ok. And it will be.
Love from Canada,
Sarah
