What a Ride!

Wow ... it has been over six months since my last post and well, that's because Jenn & Ben went back South!! Yup, after almost three marvelous years in Calgary, we decided to move back home to Nashville. (Which was always the plan, but we didn't expect to love life in Canada so much, or for the decision to be so difficult!) Since my first ever blog post was a "by the numbers," I offer up another numbers list for all those who are like me, and want to see things come full circle!

8,000 - miles put on our car for road trips alone
3 - number of apartments we rented in as many years in Calgary
116 - number of blog posts
1 - visits it took to the Canadian Rockies for those mountains to steal our hearts
2 - times I bit the dust on an icy sidewalk
1 - number of highly embarrassing ski-lift misses
1 - number of times I successfully got on the ski-lift while simultaneously knocking Ben out

Oh, I could go on, but these are some of my favorite numbers! As we reach a point of becoming settled in Nashville, I am finally beginning to process all that's happened in the past few years. What a ride it has been and how lucky I feel to have experienced the amazing lifestyle and people and scenery of Alberta. I get heart pangs still when I see photos of the Rockies, or piles of snow, or a grassy plain with a turquoise river cutting through it.

But the people of Calgary are definitely what I miss most. Over our last few months there, we spent lots of time with friends (here we are at the Danish lunch we hosted in our condo):

And then we enjoyed a final long weekend at the mountains:

  I can't wait to take Max back year after year to visit his birth-place and share with him this part of our lives that is so deeply ingrained in both me and Ben's hearts and minds. I will never forget the killer view from the last place we lived (a huge positive that came out of our mothball fiasco, which you can read about here.)

And yet, we're also overjoyed to be back in Tennessee with family and close friends, to be settling into life here with a renewed interest in exploring and making the most of all this area has to offer - which is a lot!

I'm sure I will use this blog as a dumping ground for a few more reflections on Canada, and maybe eventually set up a new one for the family goings-on and home projects/updates happening here in Nashville these days! Thanks for reading!