My last northern post.

The movers have packed our stuff and moved it out to the airport. I sit in an empty house (well, empty of my stuff anyway) and reflect on our time here in Nunavut. We've had some fantastic times, met some amazing people and have seen and done things most Canadians never will. It hasn't all been roses, especially the last 6 months here in Pang. Some people have done their best to make things difficult for us but I refuse to let that taint the fond memories I will keep of our northern adventure. During our time here I've learned many things about myself and I'm very thankful for that. It has solidified my marriage in many ways too. I think Nick and I are stronger for this place where much of the time you have nobody to entertain you but each other. I'm so proud of the work he's done, the life we've built and the  sacrifices we've made.


I think the best way to celebrate our northern adventure is to revisit some of my favorite photos. They're not all great pictures but they do have the best of my memories attached.

Our first day in the north. July 16, 2008.

Feet in the Arctic Ocean.

Dog walks with great friends. Photo by Jennifer Eichenberg 

Love my amauti. Photo by Jennifer Eichenberg

Northern Lights

Learning to make parkas.

The Bowhead whale in Cape Dorset.

New years eve 2009.

Snowmobiling

Polar Dip. July 2009

Exploring Pang.

At the top of Mount Duval.

Nunavut Day Barbecue 2010.

The views never get old.

Neither do the sunsets.

So this is it.

I’ll miss being part of the northern blogging community as I’ve made friends with many other bloggers along the way. I hope you will continue to follow the our little family’s southern adventures and watch as our kids grow. I’ve decided that I will be sticking with this version of the blog as it seems that is the popular opinion and am already looking for ideas to update my header to reflect our new location.

Finally, I want to thank Nunavut and it’s people for it’s hospitality. For being the first home our kids have known. I hope to get back here someday and be able to show Oliver and Isaac the beautiful land they may not remember considering their age. I’m proud to have been a Nunavimiut, if only for a short time.

Just an update

For those of you who may have missed it, we're moving back to New Brunswick on Saturday. Nick got posted to Oromocto which is about 20 minutes south of Fredericton and is the home of CFB Gagetown. We are thrilled to be within an hour of our families after being away for almost 7 years and are happy to have them be a bigger part of the boys lives. And what's almost better than the proximity to family? We've bought a house and I can finally have colored walls back in my life. So many colors to choose from.....

Today's the last day before the movers come and I had a list as log as my arm of things to get done. Most importantly, figuring out what we need to bring with us to get us started. We don't get any excess baggage at all so it all has to fit in 4-70lb bags.... Yes 4... 70lbs each.... I'm so thankful we're leaving on First Air and not Air Canada. I can't imagine trying to fit our lives in to 2-50lb bags. Yet another thing I'll miss about the north. Oh and the full service meals and the fresh baked chocolate chip cookie, and the free 'special' coffees. But I digress...

The last week has been spent organizing the house, selling what we can, throwing out junk and trying to keep Isaac happy. It was a great decision to leave Oliver at my mom's because it's been much easier just having Isaac to deal with while trying to do all that. O has apparently had quite a full calendar himself and doesn't seem to miss us at all. He actually cried the other night when my mom made him talk to Nick on the phone preferring to go eat his Smarties instead. At least I know he's happy and content. But that's Oliver. Nothing fazes that kid and that will stand him in good stead in the future.

I have to admit although I've miss Oliver I've really been enjoying my time alone with Isaac. He's at such a fun age right now and he is such a character that I laugh all day. He's also an amazing sleeper so we've been enjoying sleeping till about 930 every day which is a rare treat. I forgot how easy having one child is compared to having two and it's been a nice break.

Just three more sleeps in the north....

Bum in the water please....

... my mantra for tub time. And this is why:

Nick is calling him Georges St. Pierre cause it looks like a fighting injury.

Last night Isaac took a header in the bathtub. He slipped and caught his face on the side of the tub and split his eye lid. It was a pretty gaping wound and I figured he'd need some stitches so off we went to the health center. When we got there the nurse told us we would have to medivac him to Iqaluit and have him sedated in order to actually stitch it so she used the glue instead. He was the perfect patient and with Nick and I holding him down, she had him fixed up in no time.

I was really dreading seeing him this morning because I thought he was going to wake up with it swollen shut or a huge shiner. It was a relief to see that the swelling isn't much worse than it was last night and although he does have a bit of a black eye but it's pretty subtle. If he wasn't as fair as he is I doubt you'd even really see it. I'm very thankful for that.

I don't dout this is just the first of many trips to a medical facility being the mother of two boys. Unfortunately I'm sure this is the last time I'll get to walk right in, have the whole center to ourselves and be out of there in an hour. I'm over all pretty critical of health care up here but there are undoubtedly some perks to the northern health system.

Why Canadians need heated seats

My brother Ryan sent me this yesterday and I loved it. When I read Kara's blog today I thought it would be cute to post the video. This four legged Canuck is having his own Canadian right of passage. Too bad Kara's husband didn't have heated seats when poor Hunter had his.

Enjoy

The final countdown

We arrived back in Pang yesterday. This is significant for a couple of reasons. One: We were able to get back all in one day.(shocking I know)  And two: It's the last time I'll be doing that trip. How weird to think that. Flying (and often the lack of flying) has been such a staple in our lives for the last few years. I can't say that I'm disappointed though. If there is anything I won't miss about the north it's the long and unpredictable travel you have to endure to get here. Now that we're back I've gone from vacation mode to madly sorting, cleaning, throwing out and organizing mode. The packers come a week from today and there is so much to get done.

It's strange but when we landed, for the first time Pang didn't feel like home. I guess my brain moved south when we left on vacation in December and I kind of feel like these final 10 days are a technicality. I've spent the last few weeks buying furniture, decorating my new house (if only in my head) and working on my resume. I'm already stressing about finding a job and getting the kids in to daycare. Funny how you can just fall back in to the rat race after living a blissful, isolated, relaxing life. Not that being a stay at home mom is relaxing at the best of times but my life in the north is overall, pretty calm.

Over the last month I've been mulling over a decision on whether I should keep up the blog, start a new southern version or just stop all together. You may have noticed that when I'm down south I'm not exactly a great blogger. It's not that I don't have things to talk about it just seems hard to take the time to actually do it. Having said that, I've already decided that stopping is not the answer. That leaves sticking with this one or starting another one. The only reason for starting a new one is to separate the north and the south. I get many requests for 'moving north' advice and hope that I get to continue doing that. Leaving this one as a northern blog would make it easier for potential Nunavumiut to find me. On the other hand, this is way more of a mommy blog than a northern blog so north or south, the subject matter would be pretty much the same and the northern posts would still be there to find. Decisions, decisions. 

9 more sleeps till we leave. 1657 things left to do.

Getting Creative

This Christmas Nick and I decided to keep our gift exchange to a minimum. I followed the rules and bought him a video game, he bought me a house! Or at least that's what I tell people. In reality I asked Nick to get me a measuring cup which he did. He also got a little creative and gave me a card with this inside.

It's called VETO

Read here:

It gave us all a good laugh on Christmas Eve when we were opening gifts. I haven't used it yet but I'm hoping we make a stop at Ikea on our way back up to Pang next week.

The short version

The last 3 weeks in a nutshell:

Landed in New Brunswick
Had a Morena day or shopping, nails and hair
Went house hunting
Found a house
Oliver and Erik's birthday party
Shopping
Lost the house
Started looking again
Went on a dirty weekend, in the middle of the week
Found a house
Christmas
Christmas
Christmas, because we were SPOILED
Bought a coffee table and a dining room set
New years
Quiet few days at the cottage
Got house offer finalized so I think we have a house, but shhhh don't jinx it
Heading into the weekend.....

Here are a few random shots of some of the above mentioned events.

At the Play Place for the big birthday party

The cake was super yummy

Isaac loved the balloons

Trying out his birthday gift with Opa. 

Lovin' opening the loot.

Sporting their christmas outfits

Superhero's in training.

So there it is. The short version. I'm sure I'll elaborate later on some of these events but then again, maybe not. I have lots to say on so many subjects but just can't seem to find the time. I'm loving our vacation and am milking the last month long live in babysittiing situation I'm ever going to get.

Life is good. I'm very happy right now.