wildlife and retail therapy...

I am still trying to adjust to our new life here in the Okanagan.

 Life has been full of challenges and chaos since we arrived.

My boys are half way through their spring break and my daughter has just begun hers. I don't recommend having kids in different school districts...

and still spring is nowhere in sight.

The boys are enjoying the snow and despite all the challenges I am finding joy in the little things.

This morning as I was making breakfast, looking out the window at the heavily falling snow I was entertained by four deer wandering through the back yard...

I love watching the wildlife that has made our backyard home. There is the family of four deer and also a family of five raccoons who knock on our back window at night looking for food. They are so cute and always bring a smile. The kids have also enjoyed watching them and there has been a little less begging for a pet lately. 

Last week I also enjoyed the arrival of something I have been wanting for a long time...

I love this bag...

actually, I love almost everything in Jeanne Oliver's shop. 

I have been eyeing up her bags for some time and I finally bought one! It is amazing what a little shopping can do to lift a girl's spirits...

I am really looking forward to a week off of schedules and maybe, finally, having a little time to think...

Buried Alive

This is how I have been feeling lately.

I was very surprised to realize that it has been almost two months since I last posted.

I have been VERY busy trying to unpack, organize and finish my courses. The kids are all settled into school, the house is somewhat unpacked...not sure if I want to unpack everything as we are not sure how long we are actually staying... and I have two weeks left before my course deadlines. Shakespeare has taken over my brain...which is actually more muddled than anything. I am hoping I will be able to organize my thoughts before my exams arrive. I am SO looking forward to being finished with these classes this semester so I can take a few moments to think...

and maybe see what I have missed on all the blogs I love while I have had my head filled with boxes and books!

I will be back soon...promise!

Merry Christmas

Let me just say (for future reference) moving the week of Christmas is not ideal.

But, we are moved and in the midst of unpacking. I am hoping to have most of the house completed by late tonight.

We are still without phone or internet service and may have to wait until the new year before we are connected. Apparently our address does not exist. (I spent over an hour trying to convince them that the house does exist; but, I wasn't very effective and they still don't believe me. I'll have to try again after Christmas.)

We have just picked up a tree and will decorate tonight. I am hoping to get in a bit of Christmas baking tomorrow. Hopefully all will go well and everything will be organized for tomorrow night when my family comes over for Christmas Eve.

I am REALLY looking forward to a relaxing Christmas day with my family. I am so grateful that we moved safely - driving over the mountains and through a blizzard. I am grateful we are all together and I hope we can give the kids a somewhat normal Christmas. It will be a memorable one at least.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and New Year!

Hopefully I will be reconnected by then and back here on a more regular basis!

Best Wishes!

Christmas is coming!

Winter on the West Coast of British Columbia is really unlike winter anywhere else in Canada.

In some ways it is wonderful. No mittens, no touques, no boots, no snowpants. Getting ready to leave the house is just as quick as it is in summer! There is no worrying about finding matching gloves for four kids as they head out the door...mittens and gloves are so much like socks in my house...I try not to think about how many have been lost to the black hole in the dryer.

We can leave home without coats on most days. The weather is really great.

Except...

I am having a VERY difficult time believing that it is almost Christmas! I miss snow. It doesn't help that my decorating this year has consisted of mountains of packing boxes cluttering every spare inch of my house. We are preparing for our move just a few days before Christmas.

Luckily for me, with the lack of snow the kids are also not feeling very Christmasy yet either. I did get them to make and decorate a few cookies which they really enjoyed and if nothing else gets done at least we have done something!

I am hoping that we can VERY quickly unpack when we arrive in the Okanagan in time to get a tree set up for Christmas Eve...with decorations and baking...oh and shopping, I have yet to finish my Christmas shopping as I did not want to have excess to move...I think due to time constraints it will be a bit of a scaled back Christmas at our house this year. We are just going to really enjoy a week off together as a family after not seeing much of each other since summer. And for me that is going to be the best Christmas present of all.